Today we had Dr. Widman, professor of Psychology, talk to our class. I was interested in a number of things he had to say. I found it really interesting that the things that men find attractive about women are not just superficial, but also have deeper meaning like being able to support a healthy birth. I was also interested in the Parental Investment Theory and how women have to invest much more time and resources in the offspring. I never thought about how a man doesn't have to invest in his offspring, but thankfully they usually do. I also was interested in the discussion of oxytocin and how it is the hormone that creates trust. This was something I was never aware of before.
I felt like the discussion was pretty scattered at times and that there was a constant conflict going on between members in the room. I felt like this took away from the discussion and I would be interested in hearing from him again, when he wouldn't be interrupted and/or constantly challenged. It did make for an interesting class, but I just wish I would have been able to take more out of the discussion aside from remembering it as being one big argument.
9.22.2010
Power, Gender Identities, and Conflict
In class my group talked a lot about how we are affected by our own gender identities in conflict. We talked about the ways in which men and women are "supposed" to act in situations of conflicts. For example, we said that it would not be considered normal for a woman to yell at a man and the man just subdue and cry. We also talked about what the implications would be for this man if this argument would have taken place in a public setting. The notion that is constantly reinforced in our society is that men are inherently aggressive and are the ones who normally triumph in conflict, but what happens when this is not the case? Then there are questions raised about the man's sexuality and his masculinity is challenged.
We also talked about the role of power in relationships. We talked about how most men will just sit back in attempts to avoid arguments when in the home, but when they are around friends, say in the bar, they will not subdue to their wives, they will usually exhibit that power and argue back to prove to their friends that they "have the upper-hand". Therefore; there is some variability in the ways power is exhibited based on the context and setting of the situation.
When dealing with power and gender identities there is constant reinforcing that is coming from the societal level. People want to be seen in the light of their peers as desirable. If a man's sexuality becomes questioned what happens to his social life, especially if he is involved with sports? He will be ostracized by his teammates and peers or could even have violent acts cast upon him. Although most of these events are situational and vary based on personalities, etc., for the most part there are strict guidelines and rules that are "known" about the ways in which men and women are supposed to act, and specific guidelines as to who has the power in a given situation.
As social creatures we've all been transformed to think and act in ways that are pleasing to the society as a whole. I think now we need to challenge those "norms" and create new ones in hopes of better lives for those who follow.
Until Next Time.
We also talked about the role of power in relationships. We talked about how most men will just sit back in attempts to avoid arguments when in the home, but when they are around friends, say in the bar, they will not subdue to their wives, they will usually exhibit that power and argue back to prove to their friends that they "have the upper-hand". Therefore; there is some variability in the ways power is exhibited based on the context and setting of the situation.
When dealing with power and gender identities there is constant reinforcing that is coming from the societal level. People want to be seen in the light of their peers as desirable. If a man's sexuality becomes questioned what happens to his social life, especially if he is involved with sports? He will be ostracized by his teammates and peers or could even have violent acts cast upon him. Although most of these events are situational and vary based on personalities, etc., for the most part there are strict guidelines and rules that are "known" about the ways in which men and women are supposed to act, and specific guidelines as to who has the power in a given situation.
As social creatures we've all been transformed to think and act in ways that are pleasing to the society as a whole. I think now we need to challenge those "norms" and create new ones in hopes of better lives for those who follow.
Until Next Time.
9.20.2010
Week 3/Gender vs. Careers
This week's readings and class discussions focused a lot on the dynamics of gender and career. We explored the concept that women usually have to make the choice between having a career and having children.
I personally think this is a really hard situation. I have the biggest problem with employers who would prefer to hire a less qualified male canidate over a more qualified woman canidate who is pregnant or thinking about starting a family. I often think of what is going to happen to me when I am in the same situation sometime within the next ten years. So the question I ask myself: Should I continue on with my education and strive for a good career, when as soon as I get out of school it's going to be the ideal time to start a family? I think this pressure adds a lot of extra stress on women, especially those who are trying to do well for themselves and have a family at the same time.
We also talked about the roles of stay-at-home moms. I think it's a shame that some people don't consider being a mom a full-time job in itself. It clearly takes up more than 40 hours out of the week, it's never-ending. I think it's a great thing when a woman can balance a career and a family sucessfully and I hope that one day I will have that same kind of luck.
Until Next Time
I personally think this is a really hard situation. I have the biggest problem with employers who would prefer to hire a less qualified male canidate over a more qualified woman canidate who is pregnant or thinking about starting a family. I often think of what is going to happen to me when I am in the same situation sometime within the next ten years. So the question I ask myself: Should I continue on with my education and strive for a good career, when as soon as I get out of school it's going to be the ideal time to start a family? I think this pressure adds a lot of extra stress on women, especially those who are trying to do well for themselves and have a family at the same time.
We also talked about the roles of stay-at-home moms. I think it's a shame that some people don't consider being a mom a full-time job in itself. It clearly takes up more than 40 hours out of the week, it's never-ending. I think it's a great thing when a woman can balance a career and a family sucessfully and I hope that one day I will have that same kind of luck.
Until Next Time
9.14.2010
Week 2 / Full Frontal Feminism
I liked that the article by Valenti on Feminism was more laid back and easy to understand. She used real life examples of Feminism and steps in which people are taking(big or small) to promote change. I thought that the Rock and Roll Camp and the group to support rape victims were both good examples of change that aren't really seen as
"extreme" feminist acts. I also never thought much on whether I would consider myself a Feminist or not. However, I would be willing to stand up for equality, so maybe I am.
The different role playing acts in class where interesting to observe. In the example with the two females portraying two males watching football it was easy for everyone, especially the males in the room to point out their errors. This changed however when the two males were pretending to be two females shopping. This time it was the girls who had more input about what the "right" ways to behave were. In both of these instances it was easy to point out the different ways in which both genders reacted in the different roles. I have to wonder though what the role playing would have looked like with two very sports oriented females portraying it and what the shopping scene would have looked like with two metro sexual-like males who actually enjoy shopping. These things may be uncommon, but they are out there.
The third instance of role playing was interesting because of the constant switching of roles. When the male was trying to role play the female being picked up by a male, which was portrayed by a woman the roles felt like they kept switching. It was more difficult for the role playing individuals to stay in character when interacting with the member of the opposite sex. The male in the skit wanted to take charge of the situation, which is something that is not likely to happen, for a girl being hit on and asked out by a male.
Until next time.
"extreme" feminist acts. I also never thought much on whether I would consider myself a Feminist or not. However, I would be willing to stand up for equality, so maybe I am.
The different role playing acts in class where interesting to observe. In the example with the two females portraying two males watching football it was easy for everyone, especially the males in the room to point out their errors. This changed however when the two males were pretending to be two females shopping. This time it was the girls who had more input about what the "right" ways to behave were. In both of these instances it was easy to point out the different ways in which both genders reacted in the different roles. I have to wonder though what the role playing would have looked like with two very sports oriented females portraying it and what the shopping scene would have looked like with two metro sexual-like males who actually enjoy shopping. These things may be uncommon, but they are out there.
The third instance of role playing was interesting because of the constant switching of roles. When the male was trying to role play the female being picked up by a male, which was portrayed by a woman the roles felt like they kept switching. It was more difficult for the role playing individuals to stay in character when interacting with the member of the opposite sex. The male in the skit wanted to take charge of the situation, which is something that is not likely to happen, for a girl being hit on and asked out by a male.
Until next time.
9.06.2010
Doing Gender 1 /Class Activity
I want to start out commenting on the class activity about the ideal man and the ideal woman.
I thought the overall dynamic between the one male poster and the several female posters was pretty interesting. It almost seemed as though the guys wanted to be the ideal type they drew out and the females wanted nothing to do with the image of the female that is portrayed by the media. Many of the female groups had their own versions of the ideal woman as opposed to the media's view. I also found that many of the things written in the "our" sides of the female posters were more inner qualities (i.e. compassion, loving, honest) and didn't have anything to do with physicality. If we're supposed to be striving to be these compassionate, loving individuals then why are we still buying make-up and subscribing to weight loss programs that would in turn lead us towards the media's ideal woman type?
I would have liked to see this experiment in reverse as well. Where the men wrote what they thought the ideal woman would be and the women wrote what they thought the ideal man was. I would like to know if we have higher standards for others as opposed to what we think we should be and vice-versa.
I also enjoyed the reading on the self and how it described one's self identity as an on-going project. I had never thought of it this way but it makes a lot of sense and makes the concepts much easier to grasp. One's self is constantly changing through different experiences and I think the reading really conveyed that message in a way that was easy to understand.
Until next time.
I thought the overall dynamic between the one male poster and the several female posters was pretty interesting. It almost seemed as though the guys wanted to be the ideal type they drew out and the females wanted nothing to do with the image of the female that is portrayed by the media. Many of the female groups had their own versions of the ideal woman as opposed to the media's view. I also found that many of the things written in the "our" sides of the female posters were more inner qualities (i.e. compassion, loving, honest) and didn't have anything to do with physicality. If we're supposed to be striving to be these compassionate, loving individuals then why are we still buying make-up and subscribing to weight loss programs that would in turn lead us towards the media's ideal woman type?
I would have liked to see this experiment in reverse as well. Where the men wrote what they thought the ideal woman would be and the women wrote what they thought the ideal man was. I would like to know if we have higher standards for others as opposed to what we think we should be and vice-versa.
I also enjoyed the reading on the self and how it described one's self identity as an on-going project. I had never thought of it this way but it makes a lot of sense and makes the concepts much easier to grasp. One's self is constantly changing through different experiences and I think the reading really conveyed that message in a way that was easy to understand.
Until next time.
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