Liberal Feminism Ch. 1

     In this entry I want to explore the idea of Liberal Feminism and how it is outlined by Tong in chapter 1.

    The movement is all about combating sexism and oppression by anyone; regardless of gender.  They have the idea that all things must be fixed; with a specific focus on equality and economic dependence. These are the women who fight for equal pay and attempt to eradicate the "glass ceiling" that oppresses women on the pay scale.  The start of the Industrial Revolution was what what helped spark this movement.  With the men going out of the home to perform more laborious jobs and the women staying in the home was where the differences started to form based on what was "work" and what wasn't considered work or as seen as "less work". 
   I thought it was interesting that we talked about how this type of feminism is seen as "anti-male".  While it may seem like this at first, the women are still striving for equality with MEN and to reach the same scale as MEN.  It is still a movement guided or directed towards ideals that were set by men.  They fail to challenge the idea of males in our society, and are constantly reinforcing that that is the way to be.  I found this interesting, and found myself feeling more as a Post-Modern Feminist where you can be who you want and define feminism in your own terms.
  I also thought it was interesting to note that if you put a man in the home and deprive them of certain opportunities that they would end up developing the same attributes that women have.  That was something I never really thought about, but even thinking about men I  personally know that stay at home with their children (which isn't many), I can see some of these more feminine attributes and qualities among them.
 
Until Next Time.

Class 9-30-10 Biology/Sociobuiology, Gender Heirarchy, and Labor

      During this class period we talked about a few different aspects of gender.  We talked about many biological aspects of what it means to be male and female.  Some things we talked about were:  Fitness, Parental Investment, Evangelical Conservation, and Behavior. 
     In the sense of Fitness we talked about the aspects of sperm and egg and how most men can have hundreds of offspring, if they so choose, and how most women can only have as many children as they do eggs, or as many as time and conditions, permit.  In the sense of Parental Investment we talked about the amount of time and energy each parent is generally required to their offspring.  Men have to invest less time in each of their offspring,  whereas woman, for the most part,  have to provide more time and resources for each one of their offspring.  When talking about Evangelical Conservation we came to the conclusion that most women feel they need a man to provide for them, which generally leads to marriage.  Lastly we talked about what causes certain behaviors in males and females.  We talked about things such as nature vs. nurture, evolution, hormones, and physiological brain measure to evaluate why men an women behave the ways in which they do.


Legal documentation is required for the passing of property and assets.

    Another one of the main topics we covered was about Gender Hierarchy.  We talked about how hundreds of years ago communities would help care for all the children in that particular community and share resources among them.  However, now this is usually not the case.   Now parents want to be able to pass things down to their offspring such as property which means there is no more sharing of resources and taking care of one another in a communal sense.  The legitimacy of children has evolved to be something we have come to expect in our culture.

   Lastly we talked about the roles of males and females in relation to labor.  In regards to physical labor we talked about how men are the ones who are usually doing the more rigorous and labor-induced jobs.  For example, this past week while Moore Street was being paved and we all had to manage to get around it and to class on time, it was easy to see where the division of labor was.  The men were the ones running the machines and the women were the ones turning the street signs.  In regards to the psychological aspects of labor we talked about how women are more perceived as being the creative type, whereas men are seen as the more logical type.  This could have an impact on who receives a certain job position of the other.  We also talked about how men generally make more money than females who are holding the same positions.  Women generally reach a glass ceiling and can't receive any higher wages.

Phew. That's enough for now.  Until Next Time.

Pop Culture Gone Wild

   This was the second article we read by Jessica Valenti thus far in the course.  I really enjoy her writings and feel that she makes valid claims that are easy to understand. 
    In this article she talks about how sex sells, which is basically all about selling women, not men.  She makes the point that pop culture is becoming increasingly pornified and I would have to agree.  Going along with what she said about Playboy pencil cases for kids, I have seen plenty of Playboy merchandise in stores that are directed to young girls.  Some of this merchandise includes: shoes, shirts, hats, socks, purses, etc.  I feel that by doing this they are trying to send the message to young girls that, being a Playboy Bunny is the way to go, when in fact that shouldn't be the case. 
   I also found her talk about Girls Gone Wild interesting as well.  I personally find it highly demoralizing for a girl to subject herself to all of these people for just fifteen minutes of fame.  About a half a year ago the Girls Gone Wild bus came to a local bar by my house and the amount of girls that I know from high school that wanted to go and try to get on television was ridiculous.  I just couldn't believe they would want to do that just to be seen.

Until Next Time.

9-23-10 Biology, Sex, and Gender- Dr. Widman

   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.   

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.