Blog 5

I think these songs are really good representations of gender for me. I really like how Shania Twain sings songs about a women who can wear mens clothing and drink beer and still be "all woman." She also sings about women who are being abused standing up for themselves and saying no more! TLC's "Unpretty" is one of my favorites. It has a great message for everyone, especially young girls who are really feeling the pressure to look perfect. All of these songs are empowering for women.
My taste in music has changed somewhat through the years but not a whole lot. Now, however, I am much more aware of lyrics and what they mean. I do not like listening to music (like a lot of the rap out there) that disrespects and objectifies women.

Response to the Readings:

I thought the chapter in FIFE about feminist class struggle was really interesting. Class struggle between women in feminism was something I had previously not thought that much about before taking this class. I think that it is a shame that as feminists, women who are appalled at the way they are being in today's society, would turn right around and treat other women differently than they would want to be treated. I think that makes feminism as a whole look bad.
Bell Hooks article on boys really hits home how much todays society and culture really dictates how boys, (and when they grow up, men) are supposed to act. The only thing I didn't like about this article is how hooks makes it seem like there is something wrong with being a manly man. I don't think there's anything wrong with being a stereotypical male. The point is you should be whatever kind of man you want to be, whether thats a jock or someone who like to shop!

Blog 4

I'm really interested in taking the Body Image course and the Women Creating Social Change class here at OU. I think I would benefit from the Body Image class in many ways. I want to be able to understand why women (including me), are so obsessed with how they look, how we as a society got to this point, and what we can do to promote change. I think the Women Creating Social Change class would be empowering and I would like to learn about more ways that I as a women can make the world a better place. I'm studying to become a speech-language pathologist and although it is a predominately female field I know I will come in contact with male doctors, co-workers, and even clients. I do not think that my particular profession has a history of having problems with sexism but I'm sure I will find myself in several sexist situations. I have been a waitress for the past 5 years and have definitely been treated differently because of my sex. I have been harassed and objectified many times. Waitresses are often encouraged to flaunt "what they've got" which I find demeaning and insulting.

Respond to the Readings:

Chapter 4 in the F-Word discussed the top ten social issues for women today. The issues in the top ten were not surprising at all but I was a little surprised at the order. I think that societal and media images of women should be closer to the top because virtually everyone is influenced by them and almost all the other issues are influenced by them too. I think that the balance section of this chapter was great. I feel like the women who do it all should deserve more support and respect from everyone. In the FIFE readings feminist theory and offering womens studies courses in colleges was the focus. Feminist theory is important to explain sexist thinking, and by introducing it to the academic world by making womens studies courses available in college (which is a good thing in one sense), has unintentionally shut everyone else out. Education about feminism needs to be available to everyone.

Blog 3

I really liked this movie. It made the womens suffrage movement seem much more real to the women of today so they could really feel like they understood what happened all those years ago. They were women just like us. There were many tensions in this film between the older and younger generations of women. The younger generation of Alice Paul wanted to branch out from the more conservative generation of older women because they felt like what had been done so far was simply not enough. They wanted to stand up for themselves and do more daring things like the White House picketing. Alice Paul and the others were willing to sacrifice everything for their cause, including being jailed and locked up in an insane asylum. The theme of this move was of course womens suffrage but more than that it was about the empowerment of women overall.

Response to the Readings:

In the FIFE readings, hooks stresses the fact that feminism is not anti-male and that women themselves can be very sexist. Women need to be aware that how we are raised very much influences our way of thinking in a way that is almost like brainwashing. hooks feels we must understand and change our way of thinking before we can work to change anyone else's mind. She also talks about how the "sisterhood" of women was once a very strong thing and now has weakened because some women have regressed into a more patriarchal way of thinking again. Women need to learn to be more accepting of other women and need to renew the idea of the sisterhood once more. We must also work to end violence against women before real progress can be said to have been made.

Blog 2

I interviewed my mother for this blog assignment. Here are her answers to the questions.

Question #1: My experience with gender has been very good for the most part. I enjoy being a woman and appreciate doors being opened for me and being treated with respect.

Question #2: My history with feminism hasn't been a very good one. I grew up with a negative opinion of feminists because they were always making the news-but not good news. I think that feminism in the 19320's had its place but now has become something I would not to have anything to do with. I am very conservative and all the feminists I have heard of are much more liberal than I am.

Question #3: I think my definition of feminism would be the idea that women think that they are not treated fairly.

Question #4: Having children made me more aware of gender than anything else

Response to the Readings:

This chapter in the F-Word bothered me a little bit. I am a conservative Catholic and I disagreed with much of the content of this chapter. I do not think that sex should be something that women should be able to do when and with whomever they want. To me that is not empowerment, that is being promiscuous and disrespectful to yourself. I also whole heartedly disagree with abortion all together and the fact that the author was talking about abortion rights being taken away like it would be the end of the world kind of just amazed. I have such different views from the author but I did find the reading interesting and informative to some extent.
The McIntosh article was very interesting to me. I liked with the way the author compared male privilege to white privilege. I think it's really easy to forget just how "privileged" white people are. I like this article because I think it's important to understand the plights of everyone, not just women.