Tuesday, February 26, 2008

the average full-time salary of a black female college graduate is less than that of a white male high school drop-out...

-the newspaper designer's handbook 6th ed. tim harower

Monday, February 25, 2008

Once in cabinet we had to deal with the fact that there had been an outbreak of assaults on women at night. one minister suggested a curfew: women should stay home after dark. I said, "But it's the men who are attacking the women. If there is to be a curfew let the men stay home, not the women.

-Golda Meir, former Israli prime minister

Saturday, February 23, 2008

the namesake

in the beginning of the movie the namesake, Ashima gives up her friends, her family, and her entire country to marry a man that she meets for the first time. this is what their families want them to do. this is what they are expected to do.
i would rather give up my husband than give up my life. maybe that's why american marriages fail so much, or maybe i'm just not ready for that.
the point of the movie, however, did not strike me as being about gender as much as it was about freedom. at the end, Gogol goes off to travel, and be free. i want to travel like that and be free for a while.
the namesake was a good movie. it made me want to be free.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

christian feminists...

this semester i realized that it's totally ok to be a Christian and a feminist. Egalitarians believe that God created men and women equally in his image. they also believe that men and women are equally responsible for sin.
Egalitarians reject the idea of the hierarchy and believe in mutual submission in marriage.
They believe that the curse that followed the Fall of man was descriptive, not prescriptive. When Even and Adam ate the apple the curse is what happened because of that. It was not necessarily what God wanted to happen. Adam would struggle with wanting to dominate Eve, and Eve would desire Adam.
In the church, egalitarians believe that men and women can both be leaders. They believe that in marriage, roles should be determined by giftedness and situtation, not by gender.

men and women are equally created by God. they may be different at times, but they are both equally capable of leadership and equally respsonsible to God.

so if I get married, the man will have to understand how i feel about this and be willing to deal with it (maybe he'll even agree with me)

Monday, February 4, 2008

Men's Movements

and then men reacted...

Men’s Movements
-Many men lived in privilege based on their biological sex, however, this privilege was based on ethnicity, race, social class, age, physical ability, and sexual orientation
-Frederick Douglas, James Mott, Henry Blackwell—advocated women’s suffrage.
-Max Eastman 1910 founded Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage
3 developments that challenged traditional men’s roles: 1.technological advances 2. distrust of established institutions 3. women’s movement
-1960 convergence of women’s rights movement, antiwar movement, and the new left wing movement
-feminism forced men to reconsider men’s roles
-1970s men’s movement (or trend, rather) involved consciousness raising groups, focused on individual and group growth
-til mid ‘80s, one guiding ideology: the elimination of the belief that one sex is superior to the other
-1960s and 1970s- fathers’ rights in divorce and child custody cases. (At first men got custody most of the time be they took the possessions from the marriage, but then at the turn of the century women were viewed as more important to young children than men, so women were awarded more custody then men.)
-Andrew Kimbrell- says that it’s important to change our culture’s view of men and fatherhood.
-Mythopoetic movement- men are encouraged to seek out different parts or roles within themselves.
-Robert Bly- help men find the “community inside the psyche” 1990
-promote men’s self-discovery and masculinity thru nature and tribal rituals
-Million Man March- Oct 16, 1995- 400,000 men, Washington D C. Organized by head of the nation of Islam, Louis **rally the black community and strengthen black families by emphasizing the role of fathers
-Bill McCartney and Dave Wardell—the Promise Keepers. held first conference in July 1991, 4,200 men.
-“Christ-centered ministry dedicated to uniting men thru vital relationships to become Godly influences in their world”
-Promise Keepers concerns some feminists bc they think that they are trying to return men to their “rightful” place at the head of the family.

· Profeminists (or male feminists) worked to make their behavior match their egalitarian attitude. They believe that men and women should have the same privileges, opportunities, rights, roles, and societal status. They fight for equal pay, men embracing their feelings, and ending violence against women and men.
· Masculinist movements believe that men are the ones who suffer from gender discrimination. They want to restore pride in being “real men” (tough, rugged, individual, macho, self-reliant). They believe that men are oppressed by military drafts, shorter life spans, more health problems, and unfair child custody laws. (include Mythopoetic movements and Promise Keepers)
· Antifeminsim opposes any measures that advance women’s equality, status, rights, or opportunities. First tried to prevent women’s right to vote, then stressed the conventional view of women as sex objects, then stressing morality and submission.

· If women have equal rights, then why one woman in four the victim of assault by a man? Why do women make 86 cents to every dollar that men make for the same jobs?

Monday, January 28, 2008

shout out to the feminists of the past...

these are the women to thank for all that they did for womankind, as well as the movements of feminism in the US...

Women’s Movements in America
liberal feminism- women and men are alike and equal in most respects
cultural feminism- women and men are essentially different
Colonial Women: Emma Hart Willard- first female educator, founded Troy Female Seminary in New York State; Prudence Crandall- opened first public high school for girls in 1824; Mary Lyons- 1837 opened Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in Mass.; Charlotte Perkins Gilmore- wrote The Yellow Wallpaper, radically feminist; Henrietta Rodman- 1908 “marriage is not misconduct”;

First Wave: 1840-1925
1840 Lucretia Coffin Mott- excluded as a Representative to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London bc she was a woman.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Mary Wollstonecraft- first feminist; Susan B. Anthony
American Woman Suffrage Association- Lucy Stone. kept maiden name.
1848 Seneca Falls Convention, first vocal women’s effort to try to gain the rights in the Constitution. “Women’s Rights Convention”
initial links between abolitionists and women’s rights.
black men gained the right to vote before women did. (1870)
1872 Susan B. Anthony attempted to vote and was arrested. Victoria Woodhall ran for president.
Cult of Domesticity
“true womanhood”- domesticity
belief is moral virtue led these women to fight for prohibition, child labor laws, rights of women prisoners, and peace.
mostly white women.
1920 women gain the right to vote
Alice Paul and Carrie Chapmen Catt- organized massive demonstrations, staged boycotts and hunger strikes, destroyed property, chained themselves to public buildings.
Harriet Tubman and Sojouner Truth.
1940 over 6 million women join the workforce during the war, most laid off when men return. Rosie the Riveter.
Civil Rights Movement: Rosa Parks.
Sexual Revolution
Margaret Sanger- birth control was the key to Women’s equality.
1938- 300 abortion clinics nationwide.
1960- FDA approved manufacturing of ‘the pill.’
1965- states couldn’t ban the distribution of contraception to married ppl
1972- contraception purchase was no longer limited to married ppl.

Second Wave: 1960-1995
1953- Simone de Beauvoir- The Second Sex. Women have always been free, but trapped by limiting conditions.
radical feminism- the oppression of women is the most fundamental form or oppression on which all others are modeled.
1968 radical feminists met and developed new forms of communication that focused on equality. chip system.
Guerilla Girls- wear masks to insist that identities are irrelevant, campaigns against sexism, racism, and elitism in the art world.
Today, 70% of women participate in the paid labor force. 1 they need the money, and 2 they enjoy having a life outside the home.
1963 Betty Freidan published The Feminine Mystique. “the problem that has no name.”
1966 Nat’l Organization for Women, NOW, ‘women and men are alike in important respects and are therefore entitled to equal rights and opportunities.’
Liberal feminism has become more inclusive of diverse women and the issues in their lives.
Gloria Steinem- Ms. magazine, renowned feminist.
1973- Roe v. Wade legalized abortion.
1981- Sandra Day O’Connor first female justice on the US Supreme Court.
1983- Sally Ride became the first female astronaut.
separatists- strive for lifestyles and communities in which women live independently in mutual respect and harmony.
lesbian feminism- only women who do not orient their lives around men can truly be free.
use their voices to respond to social criticisms of their sexual orientations
adopt proactive rhetorical strategies to assert their value, rights, and integrity.
revalorists- aim to increase society’s appreciation of women and their contribution to society.
use unusual language to call attention to what they are doing, ‘re-covering,’ not recovering women’s history.
celebrate women’s traditional activities: support exhibits of weaving, quilting; festivals that highlight women’s creative expression.
enter into debates to secure unique legal rights to women.
1974 ecofeminism- highlight the connection between efforts to control and subordinate women to the quest to dominate nature. Unites intellectual and political strength of feminist thought with ecology’s concerns about our living planet. Oppression itself is the primary issue.
bell hooks “it’s a mistake to think that feminism is just about women or women’s rights…feminism is about justice”
1970s Womanism- many black women see womanism as addressing both their racial and gender identities.
black women are more often single, have less formal education, bear more children, are paid less, and assume more financial responsibility.
goals include: reforming social services to respond more humanely to poor women, and increasing training and job opportunities so that women of color can improve the material conditions of their lives.
Multiracial Feminism- what gender means and how it affects our lives varies as a result of economic class, sexual orientation, race, and so forth.
the key to understanding anyone’s identity lies in the intersection of multiple categories.
1990s Power Feminism- contends that society doesn’t oppress women bc women have the power to control what happens to them. Naomi Wolf says that the only thing holding women back from equality is their own belief that they are victims. Endorsed by ppl who have access to power.

Third Wave Feminism now
includes women of different ethnicities, (dis)abilities, classes, appearances, and sexual orientations.
5 features:
Solidarity to Incorporate Differences Among Women- trying to create identities that accommodate ambiguity and our multiple personalities.
Building Coalitions- we can’t do the work for men…we want to meet men in the middle, not do all the adjusting ourselves.
Integrating Theory into Everyday Life- emphasize the rift between legality and reality, theory and practice, structural changes and everyday life.
Political is Personal- politics are personal and emerge from everyday lives. Personal actions are a key way to instigate change in both individual and collective lives. Politics are also interpersonal, about how we talk and relate to each other.
Celebrating Girl Culture- sexual statements can be powerful instead of passive. Seeks to engage pop culture and shape it to suit women.

Gender inequality is built into the organization of marriage, families, work and the economy, politics, religion, the arts, and other cultural productions and the very language we speak. Making women and men equal, therefore, necessitates social and not individual language we speak.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

superbad

Psychologist Joseph Pleck found that these are the characteristics of masculinity in our society: displaying high status in one’s social group; exhibiting toughness and self reliance; aggression, violence, and daring; and avoiding anything associated with femininity.
Sociolinguist Deborah Tannen described male speech as “report talk,” where men try to establish and maintain their status through communicating. Each male wants to put themselves in center stage during the conversation, so male communication is a verbal battle of king of the hill; each male is trying to usurp the others to get to the top.

Fogell: Yo guys! Sup?
Seth: Fogell, where have you been, man? You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack. Let me see it. Did you pussy out or what?
Fogell: No noooo, man. I got it; it is flawless. Check it!
Evan: [examining the fake ID] Hawaii. All right, that's good. That's hard to trace, I guess. Wait... you changed your name to... McLovin?
Fogell: Yeah.
Evan: McLovin? What kind of a stupid name is that, Fogell? What, are you trying to be an Irish R&B singer?
Fogell: Naw, they let you pick any name you want when you get down there.
Seth: And you landed on McLovin...
Fogell: Yeah. It was between that or Muhammed.
Seth: Why the FUCK would it be between THAT or Muhammed? Why don't you just pick a common name like a normal person?
Fogell: Muhammed is the most commonly used name on Earth. Read a fucking book for once.
Evan: Fogell, have you actually ever met anyone named Muhammed?
Fogell: Have YOU actually ever met anyone named McLovin?
Seth: No, that's why you picked a dumb fucking name!
Fogell: Fuck you.
Seth: Gimme that. All right, you look like a future pedophile in this picture, number 1. Number 2: it doesn't even have a first name, it just says "McLovin"!
Evan: What? One name? ONE NAME? Who are you? Seal?
Seth: Fogell, this ID says that you're 25 years old. Why wouldn't you just put 21, man?
Fogell: Seth, Seth, Seth. Listen up, ass-face: every day, hundreds of kids go into the liquor store with fake IDs, and every single one says they're 21. Pssh, how many 21 year olds do you think there are in this town? It's called fucking strategy, all right?
Evan: Stay calm, okay? Let's not lose our heads. It's... it's a fine ID; it'll... it's gonna work. It's passable, okay? This isn't terrible. I mean, it's up to you, Fogell. This guy is either gonna think 'Here's another kid with a fake ID' or 'Here's McLovin, a 25 year-old Hawaiian organ donor'. Okay? So what's it gonna be?
Fogell: [grinning] ... I am McLovin!
Seth: No you're not. No one's McLovin. McLovin's never existed because that's a made up dumb FUCKING FAIRY TALE NAME, YOU FUCK!

In this scene, Fogell, Seth, and Evan are constantly trying to one-up each other. Evan asks Fogell “did you pussy out or what?” What he means by this is, did you chicken out? He phrases it that way to make sure that Fogell knows that chickening out is only worthy of the worst of insults. The word pussy ties it to something feminine, aka, something humiliating. When he assures them that he did not chicken out, Seth and Evan start to make fun of the name that Fogell has chosen, “McLovin.”

Fogell tries to explain his plan to the guys, trying to prove that he is smarter than them, while they shoot him down. They tell him that he chose an uncommon name; Fogell counters with the fact that he almost chose Mohammed—the most common name on earth. Seth and Evan tell him that he will not pass for a 25 year-old, he says that everyone’s fake i.d. says that they’re 21, so his will look more authentic. At the end of the conversation Evan is trying to convince himself that everything is still going to work out, but Seth ends the scene by yelling that there is no McLovin because it is a dumb fairy tale name, another feminine reference to insult Fogell.

In this conversation there is a lot of name calling that would result in tears among many girls, but with these boys the conversation keeps going, as if to say that name calling is not that out of the ordinary. As they continue talking, the conversation gets more heated and they talk louder and louder, each trying to establish their place at the top of their social group and prove that they are correct above the others. They exhibit toughness by cussing each other out and trying to make themselves feel stronger than the other two.

“For My Love” by Bethany Dillon

Masculinity is defined as being independent, aggressive, self-control, and achievement.
Femininity is defined as nurturing, relational and caring for others.
After the fall, the curser that was placed on humankind was that the women would desire her husband and he would have power over her.
Early gender roles had the man as the hunter and the woman as the gatherer who stayed home with the children while the man was out hunting.
As children grow up, they begin to learn the appropriate behavior for their gender and act in such manners.

BETHANY DILLON
"For My Love"
Walk towards me
I want to hear
The heavens singing over you
When you breathe
And look at me
I want to be captured by you
Gaze into my eyes
And let me know you’d fight
Thousands, for my love
Slip your hand in mine
Ask me to dance with you tonight
Just ask me for my love
I want to hide
What’s deep in my eyes
I’m scared to be known by you
But when I turn my head
And see you there
I want to be pursued
Gaze into my eyes
And let me know you’d fight
Thousands, for my love
Slip your hand in mine
Ask me to dance with you tonight
Just ask me for my love
A dream I won’t wake from
A story that will never end
The ground your feet walk on
Let me be there, let me be there
Gaze into my eyes
Let me know you’d fight
Thousands, for my love
Slip your hand in mine
Ask me to dance with you tonight
Just ask me for my love


This Bethany Dillon song refers to the way girls desire for boys to ask them for their love. She refers to an old gender role of the hunter when she says that she wants to be “captured” by the boy. She also refers to this when she says she wants to be pursued. Both of these phrases equate masculinity with something that is aggressive and attempting to accomplish a goal. As a girl herself, Bethany is desiring a relationship with the boy. This shows the feminine need for connection and relationships, and the curse that women will desire their husbands. She also desires the boy to fight for her love, another reference to the old hunter role or men and their aggressiveness.

Bethany also says “just ask me for my love,” meaning that the girl desires the boy, but she must follow the gender role of a girl and wait for the boy to ask her to dance or to ask her to be in love. The girl is supposed to wait for the boy to initiate things or she is being too forward. This role is one that most children learn from birth. It may be starting to fade, but it is still prevalent, especially in some places, like much of the church community.

In the United States, little girls are taught from an early age that they have to wait for their prince to come rescue them. Disney movies enhance this myth so that every little girl knows that one day her very own prince will come to take her away to the castle. This song is a girl waiting for her prince to come ask her to dance and fight all the other princes for her love. This myth can be encouraging to the not-so-pretty little girls in junior high when they wonder why they are not loved as much as the other girls, but what happens when they realize that their prince might never come?

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

why hello there

so i needed a place where i could vent and keep track of my thoughts from my gender and comm class to track my mental progress and to just see what the heck is going on in my head. this blog could amount to nothing, but i'm a writer and this is what i do...

hopefully i can come up with some good thoughts to put up here so i don't waste my time and look silly... :)