Taylor O’Neal
Women’s Studies
Final Paper : # 2
Feminism to Me
Feminism is a powerful word. It is one word that represents a long list of other conflicting words. Feminism has a sense of history, self-worth, strength, empowerment, pride, and triumph. Yet, it also carries the burden of devastation, misery, struggle, and constant controversy. How can one word come with an endless amount of opposing characteristics? One single word has caused problems for many people for many years because it involves so much background. This word is constantly disputed over because it can contain numerous meanings, and as time presses on, this word continually evolves and reforms. Feminism can hold many different meanings for many different people, but feminism to me is the struggle for equal rights and fair treatment for women anywhere, at anytime, and with anyone.
Today, the word feminism sadly has formed a negative reputation. When most people hear the word feminist, other words such as dyke, man-hater, liberals, bra-burners, and violent protesters come to mind. This so-called feminist stereotype has completely taken a misfortunate path because feminism should be thought of as a positive movement. In the book The F Word written by Kristen Rowe-Finkbeiner, examples are shown where feminism is mocked and frowned upon in today’s society by using words such as “feminazi”. One quote in the introduction of the book sarcastically stated by Cheris Kramerae says,” Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings“. Such sayings and descriptive terms of feminism should be frowned upon because they are wrongly informative on the true meaning of being a feminist. Yet, the most agreed upon correct definition of feminism (also firmly stated in the book) is: the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.
In Women’s Studies this semester, we watched a video called “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” that was on YouTube. It discussed how anyone can be a feminist no matter your gender, age, size, race, religion, or ethnicity. Men can even be feminists! Being a feminists is like being in one huge club full of supporters for women’s equality; it has no restrictions or code to join. The only criteria needed to be accepted into the “feminist club“, is to fully believe that women and men are created equal and that everyone should be given fair treatment. This short 2:49 minute long video fully explains what being a feminist looks like, and how it looks like anyone, because anyone can be a feminist!
Feminism is a movement that started centuries ago, that has since continually progressed. The movement continues to grow, and evolve into different issues. Beginning to start women’s right to vote transforming into fighting for abortion rights today. As it changes, it loses and gains supporters. Some women and men are scared to refer to themselves a feminists, worried that it might associate them with controversial beliefs, because the movement has strayed from its original purpose.
So far there have been three remarkable waves of the feminism movement. The first wave of feminism, beginning in the 1900’s, focused mainly on women’s right to vote. Women were powerless in political decisions until 1920, meaning they had to obey and follow the laws, yet had no say in making them. Women were subjective to men, and socially ranked beneath them. Without the right to vote and share their opinions on matters that involved their daily lives, women weren’t counted fully as citizens. After years of struggle, protest, and oppression women finally were able to speak their opinions, and take part in political processes. They also began working outside of the home, and gained jobs that seemed unusual for women to attain, which gave them more economical status. The first wave began the individualism of women, by giving them their freedom and their voice.
In the second wave of feminism more political and educational rights were gained. More women began achieving higher educations by pursuing college, which came along with more substantial paying careers. By putting themselves through college and rightfully earning respect through their intelligence and dedication, women slowly reshaped the common idea of women staying at home with the children. Also during this wave of feminism, the movement began to take on broader controversial issues. Feminism became a more diverse movement as various sexual rights joined the cause. While women started fighting for their sexual rights such as the rights to contraceptives and abortion, many other women started fighting for homosexuality rights. By bringing these issues to the movement, many more trials and problems were brought to the publics attention, that before went unspoken and ignored.
Finally, the third wave of feminism is still taking its course today. Feminism has evolved into a variety of issues mainly all relating to sex in one aspect or another. These issues are either problems based on sexual rights concerning the body such as abortion, or problems with different sexual orientation rights, or even problems due to the discrimination based a person’s sex or gender. The feminism movement has greatly conquered most of the issues it use to stand for, such as the right to vote, etc., yet most people still don’t see the obstacles that women still face today, and how the stereotypical role of women still commonly stands in our culture. While in this third wave of feminism we face issues of body images, and women in the work force, and sexual insults in the media. The third wave is still pressing on strong. At the rate the feminist movement continues to strive forward, the issues we face today will shortly be the new history we learned about before.
With gay and abortion rights coming into play, the feminist movement strayed away from the original problem at hand. The main goal for the feminist movement is equality in society for women. I believe including gay and abortion rights in the movement increased the negative reputation on the feminist effort, causing a decrease in support, because it weakens the focus on the main feminist issues. Homosexuality and abortion movements should become a separate effort, that way they each effort receives the undivided attention it deserve. When these struggles are broken down into individual issues, I believe they can be better understood and supported, leading to an overall progression. Imagine if each of these issues were divided and then conquered; our society would be a much more peaceful environment.
Women’s Studies invites our molded, conformed minds to see the world of women versus men in different ways. It teaches us to recognize certain aspects of life that once went easily ignored, such as when we learned about sexual advertisements. Before taking this class, most students didn’t give ads in magazines, television, and internet sources a second glance. Yet, after taking this course, we can see the sexual degradingness these advertisements in our culture contain. Women’s Studies also educates us on the history of the women’s movement, and helps us appreciate the rights that women fought for centuries ago, that we still take for granted every day. This class invites us to think out side of the society’s “norm”, and stand up for what we believe in, and live in the ways that make us happy. Women’s Studies, I believe, plays a big role in feminism, because it is the class that reveals the truth about our culture. Most people don’t even realize when they are subjected to gender harassment, or when they are referred to as lower beings, or judged based upon sexuality. This class teaches the difference between the “normal” and the justified.
Feminism to me stands for something empowering. I proudly own the title of a feminist. Saying I am a feminist means that I believe I am equal to every one else in this world as they are equal to me. Being a feminist doesn’t mean I hate men, and it doesn’t mean that I am a lesbian because I have a love/respect for women. This also doesn’t mean I believe women deserve better treatment then men, or that women deserve more in life than men do. It only means, that I believe in equality for anyone and everyone. Mostly I consider myself a humanist - and a feminist is only a subcategory of being a humanist. Overall being a humanist describes myself and my personal views. I personally believe that anyone has the right to be treated fairly. We are all humans, and we all struggle. Everyone deserves equality and respect whether they are male or female, black or white, gay or straight. Being a feminist plays a small part in being a humanist, so I fully consider myself a feminist. Feminism has become a part of me and my life. Even though the word feminism continues to represent various meanings, some bad, and some good, feminism to me stands for compassion, peace, love, equality, motivation, personal growth, and individuality. So why wouldn’t anyone want to be a feminist?
References:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YA13GNT8Mc
The F Word by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
final paper # 1
Taylor O’Neal
Women’s Studies
Final Paper : #1
The Problem with Feminism
Feminism has conquered many of the issues it has fought for over the centuries. Women activists have gained women the right to vote, the right to get an education and a career, the rights to protect themselves with contraceptives, and it has brought many different sexual issues to the public‘s attention. However, the feminist movement continues to possess one flaw- the fact that there still a necessity for the movement at all. After years of progress and success, why is there still a requirement for the feminist movement? In this day in age, it’s shameful that in spite of everything it has accomplished, the need for the movement still exists. Our culture constantly evolves and progresses, one improvement after the other, yet social, political, and economical equality of women remains an issue. The feminist effort has been raging on for over a hundred years in our world, and yet we still face equality issues between men and women today. The women’s movement has triumphed over many objections through years of struggle and oppression, you‘d think the problems would be solved and forgotten by now.
This semester we learned a great deal about the feminist movement and the meaning of the word feminism. We’ve learned about the beginning, middle, and now the present stages of the feminist effort. The main concern for me now is: how come there hasn’t been an final stage yet? Five of our assigned readings in class cooperate well together on the issue that there still even an issue of feminism in the world today. The readings : White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack by Peggy McIntosh, Feminist Frontiers by Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp, He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know by Jessica Valenti, The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, and lastly The Will to Change by Bell Hooks, are all relating on women’s issues, and greatly connects to the most important detail that, the feminist movement is still necessary today.
The article written by Peggy McIntosh titled White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack is presenting how feminism and racism are very much similar. Men are constantly unaware of the advantages they have over women, just as many white people don’t realize their upper hand they have opposing to many black people. McIntosh begins the article by calling these men, and white people “privileged“, yet towards the end of her message, she transforms her idea of privileged, and it then becomes an “unearned advantage and conferred dominance“. We didn‘t earn the right to consider ourselves higher ranked above other human beings, but our society and culture teaches us to do so. Our society still maintains the ideas of women’s roles as being subjective to men, which has been born and bred into our culture, and therefore goes unquestioned and unnoticed. Her study of how men go through life unable to notice these advantages they have over women connects with the morality that there is still a need for the feminist movement, because this type of ignorance shouldn’t stay tolerated and unmentioned. Just because oppression isn’t popular, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be changed. The feminist movement opens the eyes to create this needed change.
Feminist Frontiers by Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp studies bicoastal women working in harsh conditions crafting products for the use of the United State. Women in the United States would never be expected to work in the condition as those that work overseas. The hourly wages in footwear factories are dramatically lower than the wages here in the United States. In China, the hourly wages are as low as $0.10-0.14 compared to our $7.38-7.49. With women being the majority of these factory employees, it proves that women in other societies still face feminist issues. In some countries the feminist movements are sadly paced behind ours, meaning that they have many more years of hard work ahead of them to achieve the progress we have accomplished here in the United States. Articles such as the Feminist Frontiers are just more supportive examples representing the present need for the feminist movement.
Next, the sarcastically comical assigned reading “He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut” by Jessica Valenti perfectly describes several different stereotypical scenarios where women receive unfair treatment just because the fact that they are indeed a woman. This article demonstrates that feminism should still be an issue in our culture with absolute perfection. The notion that men and women are thought of differently, and even if they perform the same actions, their consequences can be drastically different. For example, the stud/slut theory: when a woman has sex with multiple partners she is then considered used, promiscuous, and “slutty”, however, if a man has sex with multiple partners, he is given the reputation of a pimp, player, or “stud”. When this double standard is actually given thought, it seems ridiculous, yet the standard remains and endures. Also, the idea of the stay at home mother, and the big business man that works still stands in our society today. Slowly these standards presented in Valenti’s article are starting to falter and women are progressing against the stereotype, yet women still face these common misconceptions everyday.
Women are constantly subjected to body images in our society. Our culture still views women based upon their looks or their sexuality, instead of their minds and their personality. In The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, she discusses the timeline on the idea of “beautiful” that women are judged by. Wolf brings up an interesting point that the myth can destroy feminism, because it turns women against each other through jealousy-jealous of other women having what the others do not involving beauty. Year after year, the idealistic role of beautiful alters and so the women follow suit. Women stress about their weight, their wrinkles, their skin color, their hair styles, their outfits, and every other superficial aspect of appearance. Even though men are also judged upon their looks, women are greater looked after as objects instead of people. The third wave of feminism taking place today is struggling to fight against this so-called beauty myth, because the idea of beauty shouldn’t be categorized according to outward appearance, yet it should be determined by a person’s mind, personality, and soul. What determines beauty anyhow? Beauty isn’t something that should give women constant low self esteems, it should be something that is individual, and makes women love themselves because everyone is beautiful in their own way. The controversy over the Beauty Myth proves that there is still a dire need for feminism.
Lastly, the whole idea of feminism isn’t that women are better than men, or that men should lower themselves to women. Feminism is the idea that women are equal to men, and men are also equal to women. In an article by Bell Hooks called, The Will to Change, men face a lot of the same issues that women face when it comes to their personality and identity. Masculinity can be related to the beauty myth in our culture, because what defines a person’s masculinity or beauty? In the article Hooks expresses that boys at younger ages are more expressional of their emotions because they haven’t been taught to be tough and manly yet. However, as boys get older, they are treated with less emotional care than girls are, in order to toughen them up, and to avoid weakness. This stereotype that men should be masculine is the same wrong conception that women should be feminine. Our culture has determined masculinity as emotionless, strong, handsome, rough, and stable, while femininity is characterized as dainty, fragile, emotional, ditzy, and pretty. These misconceptions of “normal” men and women cause the problems with diversity in our society, making individuality hard to express with out facing ridicule. If women should be treated equal to men, then male issues should be brought to the table along with female issues. By recognizing the similar problems that men share with women, the feminist movement invites more controversies to cover and resolve. This results in prolonging the final wave of the feminist movement.
Each of theses assigned readings have taught me a great deal about the role of feminism still existing today. I strongly believe in the feminist movement, yet I can’t wrap my head around the problem that there still is the need for one. Our culture is so advanced in almost every aspect, yet we still can’t seem to get past the stereotypes of men and women roles in our society. Knowing that there is still a need for the feminist effort in the world I live, and plan on growing up in, makes me aware of the ignorance our culture still holds on to. This ignorance, I believe, will eventually be resolved, and men and women will hold equal respect for another. Yet, until then, the feminist movement presses forward because it will not give up on equality until every bridge has been crossed.
References:
The Beauty Myth “How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women” By Naomi Wolf
The Will to Change “Men, Masculinity, and Love” By Bell Hooks
Feminist Frontiers By Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp
White Privilege : Unpacking the Invisible Backpack By Peggy McIntosh
He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut “And 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know” By Jessica Valenti
Women’s Studies
Final Paper : #1
The Problem with Feminism
Feminism has conquered many of the issues it has fought for over the centuries. Women activists have gained women the right to vote, the right to get an education and a career, the rights to protect themselves with contraceptives, and it has brought many different sexual issues to the public‘s attention. However, the feminist movement continues to possess one flaw- the fact that there still a necessity for the movement at all. After years of progress and success, why is there still a requirement for the feminist movement? In this day in age, it’s shameful that in spite of everything it has accomplished, the need for the movement still exists. Our culture constantly evolves and progresses, one improvement after the other, yet social, political, and economical equality of women remains an issue. The feminist effort has been raging on for over a hundred years in our world, and yet we still face equality issues between men and women today. The women’s movement has triumphed over many objections through years of struggle and oppression, you‘d think the problems would be solved and forgotten by now.
This semester we learned a great deal about the feminist movement and the meaning of the word feminism. We’ve learned about the beginning, middle, and now the present stages of the feminist effort. The main concern for me now is: how come there hasn’t been an final stage yet? Five of our assigned readings in class cooperate well together on the issue that there still even an issue of feminism in the world today. The readings : White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack by Peggy McIntosh, Feminist Frontiers by Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp, He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know by Jessica Valenti, The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, and lastly The Will to Change by Bell Hooks, are all relating on women’s issues, and greatly connects to the most important detail that, the feminist movement is still necessary today.
The article written by Peggy McIntosh titled White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack is presenting how feminism and racism are very much similar. Men are constantly unaware of the advantages they have over women, just as many white people don’t realize their upper hand they have opposing to many black people. McIntosh begins the article by calling these men, and white people “privileged“, yet towards the end of her message, she transforms her idea of privileged, and it then becomes an “unearned advantage and conferred dominance“. We didn‘t earn the right to consider ourselves higher ranked above other human beings, but our society and culture teaches us to do so. Our society still maintains the ideas of women’s roles as being subjective to men, which has been born and bred into our culture, and therefore goes unquestioned and unnoticed. Her study of how men go through life unable to notice these advantages they have over women connects with the morality that there is still a need for the feminist movement, because this type of ignorance shouldn’t stay tolerated and unmentioned. Just because oppression isn’t popular, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be changed. The feminist movement opens the eyes to create this needed change.
Feminist Frontiers by Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp studies bicoastal women working in harsh conditions crafting products for the use of the United State. Women in the United States would never be expected to work in the condition as those that work overseas. The hourly wages in footwear factories are dramatically lower than the wages here in the United States. In China, the hourly wages are as low as $0.10-0.14 compared to our $7.38-7.49. With women being the majority of these factory employees, it proves that women in other societies still face feminist issues. In some countries the feminist movements are sadly paced behind ours, meaning that they have many more years of hard work ahead of them to achieve the progress we have accomplished here in the United States. Articles such as the Feminist Frontiers are just more supportive examples representing the present need for the feminist movement.
Next, the sarcastically comical assigned reading “He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut” by Jessica Valenti perfectly describes several different stereotypical scenarios where women receive unfair treatment just because the fact that they are indeed a woman. This article demonstrates that feminism should still be an issue in our culture with absolute perfection. The notion that men and women are thought of differently, and even if they perform the same actions, their consequences can be drastically different. For example, the stud/slut theory: when a woman has sex with multiple partners she is then considered used, promiscuous, and “slutty”, however, if a man has sex with multiple partners, he is given the reputation of a pimp, player, or “stud”. When this double standard is actually given thought, it seems ridiculous, yet the standard remains and endures. Also, the idea of the stay at home mother, and the big business man that works still stands in our society today. Slowly these standards presented in Valenti’s article are starting to falter and women are progressing against the stereotype, yet women still face these common misconceptions everyday.
Women are constantly subjected to body images in our society. Our culture still views women based upon their looks or their sexuality, instead of their minds and their personality. In The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, she discusses the timeline on the idea of “beautiful” that women are judged by. Wolf brings up an interesting point that the myth can destroy feminism, because it turns women against each other through jealousy-jealous of other women having what the others do not involving beauty. Year after year, the idealistic role of beautiful alters and so the women follow suit. Women stress about their weight, their wrinkles, their skin color, their hair styles, their outfits, and every other superficial aspect of appearance. Even though men are also judged upon their looks, women are greater looked after as objects instead of people. The third wave of feminism taking place today is struggling to fight against this so-called beauty myth, because the idea of beauty shouldn’t be categorized according to outward appearance, yet it should be determined by a person’s mind, personality, and soul. What determines beauty anyhow? Beauty isn’t something that should give women constant low self esteems, it should be something that is individual, and makes women love themselves because everyone is beautiful in their own way. The controversy over the Beauty Myth proves that there is still a dire need for feminism.
Lastly, the whole idea of feminism isn’t that women are better than men, or that men should lower themselves to women. Feminism is the idea that women are equal to men, and men are also equal to women. In an article by Bell Hooks called, The Will to Change, men face a lot of the same issues that women face when it comes to their personality and identity. Masculinity can be related to the beauty myth in our culture, because what defines a person’s masculinity or beauty? In the article Hooks expresses that boys at younger ages are more expressional of their emotions because they haven’t been taught to be tough and manly yet. However, as boys get older, they are treated with less emotional care than girls are, in order to toughen them up, and to avoid weakness. This stereotype that men should be masculine is the same wrong conception that women should be feminine. Our culture has determined masculinity as emotionless, strong, handsome, rough, and stable, while femininity is characterized as dainty, fragile, emotional, ditzy, and pretty. These misconceptions of “normal” men and women cause the problems with diversity in our society, making individuality hard to express with out facing ridicule. If women should be treated equal to men, then male issues should be brought to the table along with female issues. By recognizing the similar problems that men share with women, the feminist movement invites more controversies to cover and resolve. This results in prolonging the final wave of the feminist movement.
Each of theses assigned readings have taught me a great deal about the role of feminism still existing today. I strongly believe in the feminist movement, yet I can’t wrap my head around the problem that there still is the need for one. Our culture is so advanced in almost every aspect, yet we still can’t seem to get past the stereotypes of men and women roles in our society. Knowing that there is still a need for the feminist effort in the world I live, and plan on growing up in, makes me aware of the ignorance our culture still holds on to. This ignorance, I believe, will eventually be resolved, and men and women will hold equal respect for another. Yet, until then, the feminist movement presses forward because it will not give up on equality until every bridge has been crossed.
References:
The Beauty Myth “How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women” By Naomi Wolf
The Will to Change “Men, Masculinity, and Love” By Bell Hooks
Feminist Frontiers By Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp
White Privilege : Unpacking the Invisible Backpack By Peggy McIntosh
He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut “And 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know” By Jessica Valenti
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Reading Gender Paper
Taylor O’Neal
Women’s Studies: Reading Gender Paper
The Eternal Feminine by Rosario Castellanos
In the play The Eternal Feminine there is a particular scene where the main character Lupita goes into a circus tent to see “Eve”. After meeting this performer portraying Eve, Lupita gets to hear a different version of the story of Adam and Eve.
In this version of Adam and Eve, Adam is a power tripping, uptight, organizer working for God, instead of a strong-willed, wise man as told in the real version of the Bible. Adam in this new revised version, annoys Eve by ordering her around and forcing a the name “Eve” upon her. Eve is completely different in this scene too compared to the original version of the Bible. This new and improved Eve is witty, and independent. She gets annoyed by Adam’s repetitive story telling and is bored by the typical life style of the Garden of Eden. Eve doesn’t take any demeaning orders from Adam, and she is rebelliously curious about her other life style options.
I chose this particular scene to display gender issues because the story of Adam and Eve is the first story of men and women. According to the Bible, Eve was made out of Adams ribs, which began the whole issue of women being controlled by men. It is generally believed that women must be below men, or subjective to men, because of the story of Adam and Eve. People all over the world have misinterpreted the Adam and Eve story, to falsely rank women below men.
Although this new version portrayed in The Eternal Feminine isn’t the one being printed in the Bible all over the world, it can be relatively eye opening, because it openly mocks the actual story of Adam and Eve. It reveals how ridiculous people are for basing the status of a woman to a man according the Adam and Eve tale. This new version looks at the story from a different perspective, one where Eve isn’t just a gullible woman that is easily talked into eating the forbidden fruit. Instead, Castellanos’s version represents Eve as a sophisticated woman who is open minded about other options. The newer version of Eve owns a very confident, independent personality which was frowned upon in Castellanos’s society.
I think Rosario Castellanos wanted to reveal another way to look at the story of Adam and Eve. Her play mockingly makes fun of the way women were undermined by men and all the frivolous tasks women would do for them. She even sarcastically makes fun of the traditions these women follow. The evil serpent in Castellanos’s scene doesn’t have to manipulate Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, yet discusses with Eve that she has other options in life. Eve, having a severe case of boredom in the Garden of Eden, doesn’t even think twice, but bite the apple, and sassily talks Adam into doing the same.
Understanding gender in society shouldn’t be based upon the story of Adam and Eve. Even if Eve was created from Adam, women shouldn’t be submissive to me. Through her play, she gives off the impression that women’s behavior is often silly, and that being submissive to men is idiotic. Rosario Castellanos’s stance on women equality is definitely encouraging. She thoughs outside of society’s “norm”, and wrote her play with motivation for women’s growth behind it.
Women’s Studies: Reading Gender Paper
The Eternal Feminine by Rosario Castellanos
In the play The Eternal Feminine there is a particular scene where the main character Lupita goes into a circus tent to see “Eve”. After meeting this performer portraying Eve, Lupita gets to hear a different version of the story of Adam and Eve.
In this version of Adam and Eve, Adam is a power tripping, uptight, organizer working for God, instead of a strong-willed, wise man as told in the real version of the Bible. Adam in this new revised version, annoys Eve by ordering her around and forcing a the name “Eve” upon her. Eve is completely different in this scene too compared to the original version of the Bible. This new and improved Eve is witty, and independent. She gets annoyed by Adam’s repetitive story telling and is bored by the typical life style of the Garden of Eden. Eve doesn’t take any demeaning orders from Adam, and she is rebelliously curious about her other life style options.
I chose this particular scene to display gender issues because the story of Adam and Eve is the first story of men and women. According to the Bible, Eve was made out of Adams ribs, which began the whole issue of women being controlled by men. It is generally believed that women must be below men, or subjective to men, because of the story of Adam and Eve. People all over the world have misinterpreted the Adam and Eve story, to falsely rank women below men.
Although this new version portrayed in The Eternal Feminine isn’t the one being printed in the Bible all over the world, it can be relatively eye opening, because it openly mocks the actual story of Adam and Eve. It reveals how ridiculous people are for basing the status of a woman to a man according the Adam and Eve tale. This new version looks at the story from a different perspective, one where Eve isn’t just a gullible woman that is easily talked into eating the forbidden fruit. Instead, Castellanos’s version represents Eve as a sophisticated woman who is open minded about other options. The newer version of Eve owns a very confident, independent personality which was frowned upon in Castellanos’s society.
I think Rosario Castellanos wanted to reveal another way to look at the story of Adam and Eve. Her play mockingly makes fun of the way women were undermined by men and all the frivolous tasks women would do for them. She even sarcastically makes fun of the traditions these women follow. The evil serpent in Castellanos’s scene doesn’t have to manipulate Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, yet discusses with Eve that she has other options in life. Eve, having a severe case of boredom in the Garden of Eden, doesn’t even think twice, but bite the apple, and sassily talks Adam into doing the same.
Understanding gender in society shouldn’t be based upon the story of Adam and Eve. Even if Eve was created from Adam, women shouldn’t be submissive to me. Through her play, she gives off the impression that women’s behavior is often silly, and that being submissive to men is idiotic. Rosario Castellanos’s stance on women equality is definitely encouraging. She thoughs outside of society’s “norm”, and wrote her play with motivation for women’s growth behind it.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
blog diez.
I am a huge animal person. I still cry over my dog that died 9 months ago. I hate coming home without my dog. Me and my dad decided not to try and get another pet until we were completely over Bear.(that was my dog's name). So even though this might be unoriginal, it is still a very important topic to me. Pets and People Humane society is an amazing organization in Yukon, Oklahoma that gets homeless cats and dogs off the streets, and provides a home for them while trying to find them another home to become a part of. This is their mission statement :Pets & People Humane Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, no-kill humane society that rescues adoptable cats and dogs from municipal animal control facilities across the state of Oklahoma on the day they are to be euthanized. We provide a safe harbor for our pets until they are adopted into responsible, loving homes. All are spayed or neutered to help end the vicious cycle of homeless pets.
In 1992 they associated with PetSmart to begin a separate non profit organization.And sooner after the their organization just rapidly grew. They opened the first dog park in Oklahoma in 1999. They have sheltered thousands of cats and dogs, and helped find good homes for many of them as well.
(To go on your own to find out more about Pets and People go to: www.petsandpeople.com)
Personally, i love this organization, because this is the organization that I adopted Beard from, and he was the best dog I ever had. (well the only one) But hes was an amazing dog. I still miss him everyday. I volunteer at Pets and People every once in awhile, and even though it's really depressing to see all these animals without a home, it's still nice to be able to volunteer and spend some quality time with them. I like the way they run their animal shelter, because they organize volunteers to come out and help with taking care of the dogs and cats. They have a huge play ground to spend time with the animals, and even though it's pretty smelly in the building, they have a really nice place, and take really good care of these animals. So I already participate in Pets and People, but I will definitely continue volunteering there. Especially during the summer when i have alot of free time throughout the day.
In 1992 they associated with PetSmart to begin a separate non profit organization.And sooner after the their organization just rapidly grew. They opened the first dog park in Oklahoma in 1999. They have sheltered thousands of cats and dogs, and helped find good homes for many of them as well.
(To go on your own to find out more about Pets and People go to: www.petsandpeople.com)
Personally, i love this organization, because this is the organization that I adopted Beard from, and he was the best dog I ever had. (well the only one) But hes was an amazing dog. I still miss him everyday. I volunteer at Pets and People every once in awhile, and even though it's really depressing to see all these animals without a home, it's still nice to be able to volunteer and spend some quality time with them. I like the way they run their animal shelter, because they organize volunteers to come out and help with taking care of the dogs and cats. They have a huge play ground to spend time with the animals, and even though it's pretty smelly in the building, they have a really nice place, and take really good care of these animals. So I already participate in Pets and People, but I will definitely continue volunteering there. Especially during the summer when i have alot of free time throughout the day.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
blog nueve.
I chose the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is an organization that uses the law to advance reproductive freedom. This organization is one that I fully believe deserves support. Every woman fully deserves to take care of her body and make their own choices. Right now, they are fighting for Plan B in the military, because it is proven that military bases are not required to carry it. So women do not even have the choice to take it. To think that a woman were to have sex on a military base, and not be able to have a normal backup plan isn't right or fair. So organizations that will recognize then fight for these issues completely have my support, and should be more supported by anyone. These are some of their accomplishments :
Defeating extreme abortion bans in Michigan and Virginia
Protecting teens' access to confidential reproductive health care in Kansas and Alaska
Winning a landmark ruling from the U.N. Human Rights Committee that establishes access to abortion, where legal, as a human right
Negotiating a groundbreaking settlement with Mexico on behalf of a young rape victim who was denied a lawful abortion, the first time a Latin American government acknowledged that access to legal abortion is a human right
Taking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to court over the agency's refusal to make emergency contraception available over the counter to women of all ages
Reframing preventable maternal deaths as a human rights violation
Calling out the U.S. for racial inequities in reproductive healthcare before the UN
Exposing widespread physical and verbal abuse of women in Kenyan maternity wards
Promoting legal scholarship and teaching on reproductive health and human rights
Bringing to light dangerous new anti-choice strategies to overturn Roe v. Wade
Working with federal and state lawmakers in the U.S. to promote progressive policies and defeat proposals that would undermine women's reproductive health
Collaborating with more than 100 organizations in over 50 countries to strengthen reproductive health laws and policies
Go to: www.reproductiverights.org
Those are some pretty real issue that have been fixed or brought to the worlds attention all because of the Center for Reproductive Rights.This is majorly a gender issue because it has everything to do with the rights og being a woman, and being safe with their sexuality. To represent these women bby fighting for rights that most people dont consider to be important is very inspiring, and respectable.
Monday, March 30, 2009
ethnography shyea.
Taylor O’Neal
Ethnography Project
Women’s Studies
Are successful working women intimidating to the men in their lives?
Lisa Belkin’s Opt Out Essay really caught my interest when it came to women and their success in life, which is why I chose Missy Coker. My dad has a best friend named Scooter Coker; they have been friends for years. Scooter is married to Missy, who is one of the most successfully savvy women I’ve ever met, and she‘s merely 32. She has always been around, teaching me funny life lessons, by telling me her wild college stories. She’s is a pharmaceutical rep, and she makes twice as much salary as her husband Scooter. She’s very outspoken and outgoing. Many men are actually intimidated by this 5 foot 2 pixie red head, I know my dad is. She’s very witty, and always stands up for herself. She graduated from OSU with a degree in Marketing. I got to travel with her on Friday in her very expensive BMW business car as she went to two different companies to distribute her brochures and packages of samples of an allergy medicine of some sort. ( My dad loves it, because we get samples of good medicine from her all the time). But I loved just watching her answer her business cell phone in her business car in her business-like voice, and intelligently give others orders about where to visit, and deadlines, etc.
I had two main questions for Missy, to help me better understand success for career women, along with many others after reading Lisa Belkin‘s Opt Out, but mainly:
Does she ever have problems with her marriage because she brings home a greater income than her husband? And she laughed as she told me, “ Nope!, I warned Scooter before we got out of college, that I was going to make more money than him. Since we were high school sweethearts, I’ve always kinda worn the pants, he’s just use to it by now.”
And also, if any men that works under or above her ever acted intimidated by her, for being such a young successful woman? She replied by saying, “ Well Tay, there’s always going to be pig headed men that are intimidated by more successful women, but mostly no. I haven’t come across any that have had the guts to say anything about it.”
It was fun to drive around Oklahoma City while she sang along to Taylor Swift and smoked her cigarette. She told me she works in an office most days, but that day I was lucky because we got to just “cruise“. When we visited this one office, we walked in and I sat in a waiting room in front of receptionist desk where Missy delivered her pharmaceuticals. But there wasn’t any really intimidation coming from the nice woman filling out paper work. (Maybe jealousy at the fact that we got to leave).
I also was wondering if she would become a stay at home mother when and if she and Scooter ever decided to have children, as they currently do not. When I asked her, she said cleverly, “ I love my job, Scooter hates his, if anyone is going to give up their career, it’s gonna’ be him.” (Missy’s husband works as an outside salesman at Drive Train Specialists, which is trucking company.)
I asked her if she always knew she wanted to have a career, and be working a full time job at her age, and she replied with, “ Yes, yes, and yes. Not that I knew this is the career I wanted, but I knew that I would be the first one in my family to graduate college, and I always wanted to be able to support myself - by myself. Just knowing that would be an achievement for me.”
Missy helped me better understand the situation of working women, as well as Belkin’s essay. But to better answer my question, I believe I’d have to study more women as Belkin did. In this day in age, I assume most men are intimidated by successful women. Our society still mainly assumes that men “bring home the bacon”, while women cook the bacon. But women have increasingly become the money earners. So, it’s just a matter of time, til men are no longer intimidated by successful women, yet encouraging and supportive. But you know what they say, “ Oh, they’re just jealous”.
Ethnography Project
Women’s Studies
Are successful working women intimidating to the men in their lives?
Lisa Belkin’s Opt Out Essay really caught my interest when it came to women and their success in life, which is why I chose Missy Coker. My dad has a best friend named Scooter Coker; they have been friends for years. Scooter is married to Missy, who is one of the most successfully savvy women I’ve ever met, and she‘s merely 32. She has always been around, teaching me funny life lessons, by telling me her wild college stories. She’s is a pharmaceutical rep, and she makes twice as much salary as her husband Scooter. She’s very outspoken and outgoing. Many men are actually intimidated by this 5 foot 2 pixie red head, I know my dad is. She’s very witty, and always stands up for herself. She graduated from OSU with a degree in Marketing. I got to travel with her on Friday in her very expensive BMW business car as she went to two different companies to distribute her brochures and packages of samples of an allergy medicine of some sort. ( My dad loves it, because we get samples of good medicine from her all the time). But I loved just watching her answer her business cell phone in her business car in her business-like voice, and intelligently give others orders about where to visit, and deadlines, etc.
I had two main questions for Missy, to help me better understand success for career women, along with many others after reading Lisa Belkin‘s Opt Out, but mainly:
Does she ever have problems with her marriage because she brings home a greater income than her husband? And she laughed as she told me, “ Nope!, I warned Scooter before we got out of college, that I was going to make more money than him. Since we were high school sweethearts, I’ve always kinda worn the pants, he’s just use to it by now.”
And also, if any men that works under or above her ever acted intimidated by her, for being such a young successful woman? She replied by saying, “ Well Tay, there’s always going to be pig headed men that are intimidated by more successful women, but mostly no. I haven’t come across any that have had the guts to say anything about it.”
It was fun to drive around Oklahoma City while she sang along to Taylor Swift and smoked her cigarette. She told me she works in an office most days, but that day I was lucky because we got to just “cruise“. When we visited this one office, we walked in and I sat in a waiting room in front of receptionist desk where Missy delivered her pharmaceuticals. But there wasn’t any really intimidation coming from the nice woman filling out paper work. (Maybe jealousy at the fact that we got to leave).
I also was wondering if she would become a stay at home mother when and if she and Scooter ever decided to have children, as they currently do not. When I asked her, she said cleverly, “ I love my job, Scooter hates his, if anyone is going to give up their career, it’s gonna’ be him.” (Missy’s husband works as an outside salesman at Drive Train Specialists, which is trucking company.)
I asked her if she always knew she wanted to have a career, and be working a full time job at her age, and she replied with, “ Yes, yes, and yes. Not that I knew this is the career I wanted, but I knew that I would be the first one in my family to graduate college, and I always wanted to be able to support myself - by myself. Just knowing that would be an achievement for me.”
Missy helped me better understand the situation of working women, as well as Belkin’s essay. But to better answer my question, I believe I’d have to study more women as Belkin did. In this day in age, I assume most men are intimidated by successful women. Our society still mainly assumes that men “bring home the bacon”, while women cook the bacon. But women have increasingly become the money earners. So, it’s just a matter of time, til men are no longer intimidated by successful women, yet encouraging and supportive. But you know what they say, “ Oh, they’re just jealous”.
blog cuatro.
My future isn't exactly planned out yet, I am just now figuring out what I'm good at and what I might like to do with my life. I'm planning on majoring in Public Relations, and I'm really excited about it, because I think it's what I'm good at, and I can stay interested in it forever. But recently after taking this class, I really am considering minoring in womens studies, because this has been my favorite class this semester. Alot of the classes offered in the women's studies programs sounds amazing, and something I'd be interested in learning about. So if I decide to minor in women's studies, it's good to know all theses incredible classes are offered. I've been thinking alot lately about what kinda of career within my major would, and something I think I'd really enjoy is being a major events coordinator, or planner. Like Ford Center type events. I use to be Student Council President in high school, its something I absolutely loved doing. I loved planning assemblies and fundraisers. In high school , being in charge of alot of things as a girl didn't really bother anyone, but maybe as I get older, and if pursue the career as an events coordinator, I could see how being a woman might be intimidating for some men out there. But I think that career is well rounded when is comes to gender, so I'm not really worried about it too severely. I also worked in a Fabric Store for over a year near Quail Springs Mall, but being a girl really didnt have any effect on that job considering I only worked with other females. But I did work at sonic for a year through high school, and the whole "car hop" role was kind of based on gender. We were told to look presentable and nice to serve people food, and there are rarely any male car hops out there today. The boys were cooks, and the girls serve, which kind of says something on gender roles of women/men. But I know that there are still some areas in our society where women are still expected of typical women roles, but for the most part, I think that our society has progressed to mostly equality in the work place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
