Blog #16- Gender Politics, Food, and Cyberspace
A woman needs to have the power to make her own decisions. If a woman wants to have a baby without being married, she should be able to. It is her body and she has full control over her actions. No one, like Amina Lawal, should be sentenced to death for having a child. If she wants to have a baby, she can. Other people can voice their opinions and how they feel, but no one should call death upon her for something like this. That is absurd and should not happen! This first article I did not completely understand but I knew the e-mail sent out to everyone was a very smart idea to help the woman… But in the end it seemed it made things worse.
The other article did not interest me much but it related to media almost talking of the new Asian women with red streaked hair and realistic clothes. Maybe, they wanted to show that they were more updated or new, but this is more unrealistic. The media puts things off that are not right. Like when we talked about the women and men modeling for Abercrombie…. They were naked. We discussed how much this did not make sense. If you are walking into a clothing store, the models should be clothed in the store’s clothing.Cyberspace is like a fake identity. Someone can easily take a picture of someone else and post it as their self and lie about who they are. They can write something they are not. Cyberspace is almost a place where someone can be the person they want to be.
2 comments November 11, 2009
Blog #15.5 – Imprisoning Women
I was assigned to read the article, “Some Days Are Harder than Hard.” It was incredibly long and at certain points it was not very interesting. It talked of drug addiction and women. It talked of the impact drugs have on a women. I believe drugs are not a good thing for anyone. I, for one, hate taking something as simple as Tylenol because after a while I realize I take it every day every four hours because I feel like I need it. Then when I try to stop taking it, I can’t. Some women are given drugs to help disorders… But is this really right? Women can get hurt or sick from being given a drug. Drugs can seriously damage a mother’s child.
As long as you take care of yourself, drugs are not necissary. By taking vitamins, gargling with salt water, washing your hands, and taking care of yourself, you can avoid many sicknesses, like the flu… without drugs. People, especially women, abuse drugs. Times do get stressful, but there is never a reason to turn to drugs to get out of it.After being a person addicted to drugs, you have basically ruined the rest of your life for yourself. Jobs will no longer be easy to get. You will get looked down by people, maybe even family and friends. It is a hard thing to go through. It will be almost impossible to get hired once looking at your background record. A woman being on drugs is a difficult thing, but it is something that should and CAN be avoided. It bothers me that people go to drugs but I maybe would look differently at it if I were in that person’s shoes.
Add a comment November 10, 2009
Blog # 15 – Work & Women
When looking at the assigned reading “Work and Women” and before I read, I thought to myself ‘Oh. It is probably more readings about slavery’ but it was not. It talked about jobs for women. For example, a Hispanic or black woman may not be able to get the job a white woman can get. The Hispanics and blacks will get the jobs nobody really wants. Is this right? No and we have talked about women’s rights like this in class many times but we have also discussed this in my English class. In my English class, we talked of the lower class people getting the lower class jobs and those lower class people mainly consist of Hispanics and blacks. We then talked about how, if they did not do the lower class jobs, then no one would. We need there to be garbage men and mail men because they ARE important. People look down at garbage men and mail men like they are pretty much useless, when we really actually need them because a person who goes off to college to get their doctorate is not going to be a garbage man, so who is?
It bothers me because this is all true and there is nothing we can do about it. It bothers me because lower class people are so important, but no one sees that at all. It surprised me to know those women are very confident with what they do and take pride in it. I for one am someone who can relate to Spanish people. When applying for a job, sometimes you must mark off whether you are white, Spanish, black, etc. The boss will look at me and give me such a negative vibe until they read that I am white and question me, “You are not Spanish?” When I say no I get treated so differently and it is absurd. I do not understand how I would be a different person if I were not white. I wish all race women were treated the same because it is not right for them not to be.
Add a comment November 2, 2009
Blog #14 – Displacements and Relocations
It is funny to think gender has played its role since slavery. In some places, like the United States, women were not treated differently from men in the work load they were given, but in places like, the Caribbean, women were treated as almost like a minority. Why is it that gender always comes into play, even when it came to the slavery? I think it was because the women were looked at as weaker than man. It is crazy to think even the lowest of the low were separated by gender. And it seems women will always be looked at as the stay at home people. In the Caribbean, women were house slaves.
It bothers me that women seem so powerless or less dominant. Women were not put on the world to “clean the house” and men were not put on the earth to do the outside work. One personal example, a close family friend of my family is my neighbor Odette, a married woman. You will always see Odette outside mowing the lawn, week whacking, cutting branches off tress, planting, etc. And if you are to go inside Odette’s house, she will be cleaning, vacuuming, taking care of her grandchildren, cooking, washing the dishes, etc. This is not because her husband Gerry is incapable, but because she is a very independent person who loves to take care of everything by her own. I look up to Odette very much and feel everyone should be more like her. She is an inspirational person and she is one to show that women can be just as capable as a man.
2 comments October 29, 2009
Blog #13 -Gendered Aspects of Travel and Tourism
Why is traveling a something a man should do? Is it really a masculine thing? Because I find it to be more of a feminine trait because traveling has to do with seeing beautiful parts of the world and the arts of it. When it comes to traveling, I would think man travel more to be with their wife and family, or because it is their job, or to simply get away to go on vacation with family or friends, not because that is what they personally want to do. Yes, it is true that people have always looked at women to be the stay home and clean type people, but is traveling really a gender thing?
If a woman does not have a man by her side, she is said to be weak and she will not be respected. It bothers me that women are looked down for something like that. Traveling is beautiful and no matter your gender you should go see the world if that is what you want to do. To think a woman would have to disguise as a man to go travel alone is absurd.I do understand if women were to not travel without a man for their own protection, like maybe other people think the man will guard you from anything bad. It is easy for a woman to be forced into a car and kidnapped, and especially when someone knows they do not live in the country. But you see this is not what the reading talks of. It says how women literally just were not allowed at all to travel… So ridiculous.
Add a comment October 27, 2009
Blog #12 – Playing Unfair
These readings talk about the perfect body and it was the part to interest me most. I, for one, can relate to that. It says a thin and skinny legged is the look for women, with a height anywhere from 5’ 5” to 5’ 8”. That part does seem right because that is the average height of a woman, but that does not mean every girl is going to be that tall or have super skinny legs.
Every culture has a certain way to look. The average (maybe Irish or Polish) white person tend to be long and skinny and tall, but my culture (Italian) are to be looked at as short and dark, skinny but healthy skinny. Anyone can easily look at me and say “She is Italian or Puerto Rican” because Puerto Rican’s have a very similar look to the Italians. African Americans seem to have bigger butts. For everyone, the way to look is different, so why is it that the perfect body is a 5’ 5” – 5’ 8” skinny, long legged woman? A woman can honestly be a good 200 pounds and be in better shape and run a mile faster than a 100 pound woman. This is because it is how you take care of yourself, not your weight or height. I, for one, can speak considering I am 4 foot 11 inches. I love it though because it is who I am and I do not want to be the Barbie doll type girl or make myself into something I am not.
The gay marketing part did very much interest me but I do not have much to say about it except that I honestly do not think people care about the gays, they just know that they are making mega money off of something/someone because it is unique.
4 comments October 21, 2009
Blog 11 – Storytelling and Social Justice
I was assigned to read the article “Activist with a Cause” or “Big Town, Big Heart.” When reading this, I get out that Kayhan Irani was a very inspirational performer to people. Her performances seem to touch the hearts of people. To me, it seems Irani was almost like a hero of art because her performances were based on certain experiences that people may not notice. I, for one, can relate to the arts and can relate to Irani. I am a dancer, a contemporary dancer, who loves to dance, especially if it is for a reason or cause. I have danced for many causes including “Dancers Responding to Aids,” breast cancer, and many others. One of our most recent was a performance for a little girl, Avery Lubrecht, who dies of Brain Cancer at the age of four. She was a student at the studio. When dancing for her or for someone you love, you tend to get more emotional and get your point out to the audience. I love performing for a cause or for someone as little as Avery because all though she was only one tiny person, she affected many people and I feel like her story should be told to others. Irani tries to get many points across to people, one even being to not judge someone just by their looks. “We’ve Come Undone” touches me most and I would love to see that performance based on September 11th. People, especially where I live, are not used to muslums or islams, so I feel as though they tend to look down on them because they are not Christian and believe in different things. Irani had many things she wanted to get out to people and had her own way of doing so and I look up to her for that.
1 comment October 20, 2009
Blog #10 – Media Representations of Gender
The article I had to read, called “Gender Representation in Notable Children’s Pictures Books,” reminded me a lot of a discussion we had in class once where we discussed the difference between what male children should be like and what female children should be like. When every child grows up, they go through certain phases. For girls, it may be playing with dolls and doing hair and for boys it may be playing with trucks and playing with insects but god forbid a girl played with insects or a boy played with a doll, it was considered to be wrong and they would most likely be corrected for doing it, but why? Why can’t a girl like playing with insects or playing in the mud? This article points out how even books, like children’s books, show how a girl should act and how a boy should act.
A personal story of mine, when I was young I was into playing outside with the boys in the mud, with trucks and cars, and my mom never said anything to me that it was wrong but my dad would always ask me “When are you going to start acting more like a girl?” This bothered me, even as a little girl, but I still would cut my hair short and wear t-shirts and baggy jeans because I knew that was who I was and how I liked to be. I would never change that about myself because, as you can see now, I am very much a girl. I wear makeup and jewelry and paint my nails and love to shop. Why can’t a child figure out for themselves what they want to act like or dress like? I, for one, love that I was a “tomboy” when I was younger because now I have a better understanding of boys and it made me who I am today.
3 comments October 15, 2009
Blog #9 – Masculinities
Ironically, my learning community was just assigned to read about Nacirema in my New Student Seminar class. When reading the article I had no idea they were talking about America. The article was a way to look at our nation in a different way, in an almost diverse way. We were able to look at our culture like it was an almost alien like nation. After realizing Nacirema meant America, it all clicked to me. I then understood what everything else was and meant and laughed at myself because I literally looked down upon MY own culture and beliefs without realizing it. When I first read the title of this reading I was afraid the word Tarfs was going to be translated as Farts until reading the article and realizing it was for Frats I was relieved until reading this certain line, ”If a boy doesn’t eat semen, he remains small and weak.” This grossed me out so much!! And because it says they are also to receive the semen from an older man to become a man. As reading more and more I come to see this article is very disturbing. The Nacirema do not believe in gay sex, they believe sexual acts do not depend on gender whether or not it is heterosexual sex but if two heterosexual males have sex it can be considered heterosexual sex which makes no sense.
Eww!!!!! This article talks about tea bagging people!!!! And the “Walk of the class=”mceItemHidden”> Elephants,” “Anal Egg Transplant,” “Block Party,” “Ookie Cookie,” and “Gnag Bnag” (gang bang = super gross). How can a person, gay or not, do these types of things?! How can someone enjoy or get pleasure out of things like these? These are the most disgusting acts performed on people and I have never heard anything like these. It then talks about norp which after reading is obviously porn. It says many of the rituals would be performed after a football game, which makes sense considering people at college campuses will party after football games and drink alcohol and do certain things they may not do when sober. After reading the whole article though I realized I could not figure out what a jelps was but I can assume it means “pledges.” It states at the end that they do not assume all fraternities engage in these activities and I sure hope they do not because I am very disturbed and disgusted by this article.
Add a comment October 13, 2009
Blog #8 – Communities, Nations, and Feminist Activism
Women’s rights have always been a fight, but during the 19th century women were pushed to the side like they were useless and nothing but housewives. They were excluded and this was so the man was the head of the household, which is not right considering they are called housewives, so would that not make sense for them to be the head of the house? They clean and cook and do nothing else but take care of the house, so how in the end is it the man that is the head of the house? Women came together, especially during times of war to make a pact about their rights and in the end, they won. This was good to me and surprised me as well that for once we read about women making a difference towards their rights and how they get treated. I notice a lot about women from third world countries get treated differently than women from first world countries. This does not seem right considering even the first world women do not have rights as it is. The third world women have even less rights and the first world women do nothing about it, or should I say forget about them. I like reading about organizations in the third world countries because it probably gives those women something to look up to. Why is it that the third world countries get forgotten? Because honestly, they need rights just as much as the first world women did, if not more. It does not make sense. It talks in one part how women are to act the way there culture expects, or with religion, women are supposed to all be the same by either covering all their skin or wearing a cover on their head. Is this really right for people, especially women? I think not and this is something we come to read in many other assigned readings and it bothers me because although you are representing something that belongs to you, it is not who you really are as a person. A person, especially a woman, would never choose to cover all her skin or her beautiful hair. It just is not right.
1 comment October 7, 2009
