Feminism-Just Above The Universe and Just Below The Pyramids on the People's Scale Of Understanding

I'm not talking Facebook or the word that rhymes with duck

Facebook is an incredibly easy way of gathering opinions as people seem to rather enjoy sharing them, when solicited and not.  Sometimes, a post will hit on a topic that I am passionate about, and I find it hard to resist joining.  The following is a post made by a friend (Person A) and two of his friends (Person B and Person C). 

Person A (boy):
"To everyone out there that feel as though feminism is all about equality of the sexes... please look up Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar. Their basic theory according to one of my books is that men's art should be banished for an extended period for retribution for doing the same to women in the past...."

Person B (boy):
"Most feminism isn't for equality, but rather for the addition of privileges to the female sex. As said by the Amazing Atheist, "Feminism is the idea that we can make both sexes equal by focusing solely on the issues of one of them."

Feminists often insist that women are constantly downtrodden, however women do have quite a bit of leverage when it comes to things like domestic abuse (How many people take domestic abuse of a man seriously?) and child custody (usually the mom gets the child). Also, prison sentences are usually a lot less harsh on women, not to mention that women don't have to sign up for the selective service and such.

Anyone that reads this though, do not think I hate women or feminists. I love women, I think they're great and have much more beautiful bodies. But there are severe upper hands that women have concerning some issues.

That's just my two cents though, forgive me if I ever sounded hateful during this."


Person C (girl, or “female”):
" ughhhh... feminists just need to stop giving females a bad rep. i'm soooo over this shit."

It was after the last comment that I lost my ability to abstain from commenting. 

I feel as if the word ‘feminism’ has deliberately been given a bad rep and has been made to be harder to want to claim.  Whether this is because there are those who want to maintain the status-quo of power and patriarchy,  or it is perhaps not as serious as that, I can’t know.  Person C’s attitude and belief differs far from my own, and perhaps it agitates me more because it is a girl or woman that is damning the very movement that is fighting to keep and promote equality for her among others. 

True enough, feminism can mean different things for different people; I won't presume that my understanding is shared by everyone (clearly, it's not).  However, there are just some definitions that are so perverse from what I understand it to be, it's just astounding. 

One would think she’d be “soooo over” being paid 23% less than a man, or “soooo over” having her reproductive rights endangered, but yet she feels “soooo over” this “shit” that is feminism. 

Power in Words

    The other day in class the phrase "douche bag" came up in conversation and we shortly discussed the meanings behind it and the power that it holds.  Being the daughter of a librarian and a teacher, words have always been a very powerful tool to me.  Words can be used in a number of ways, but sometimes we don't think about how these words come across to others.  The kaleidoscope metaphor is perfect for breaking down the usage of words; someone's personal patterns and possibilities make all the difference in how they will interpret words.  Everything from someone's generation, education, background, race, ethnicity, sexuality, economic status...etc. all have a chance to change the way we understand the words people use.
    There is a group on Facebook called Guerrilla Feminism that is a place to post all kinds of feminist photos, images, messages and news.  The idea is to create awareness and to encourage communication between people about these issues.  The other day I saw this image posted on the Guerrilla Feminism page:

 

    While this image , and does, refer to many things, I immediately looked at the word "slut" and thought about the power behind it.  There are many words in the English language that have cruel, hurtful and demeaning connotations.  The origins of these words differ, but many of them come from things that aren't negative at all.  Pussy, gay, cunt, dick, twat, bitch, fag...just to name a few.  

    Alone, words have immense power.  But, they have even more power in the ways in which we choose to use them.  We have the power to make words hurtful.  We also have the power to talk about these words and ask people not to use them.  This is one small way that we can make a difference in our world; we can call people out on these words and challenge them to make sure that they understand what they're saying.  I have caught myself using words that after I thought about it, are never appropriate, and that if I heard someone use them, I'd quite possibly be offended. 

    I guess it all comes down to the old Golden Rule: treat others how you'd want to be treated.  If you find any negative words or phrases offensive, chances are that many other people will too.  There are millions of alternative words in the English language, we just have to get creative.  Name-calling has never solved problems, and it never will.  We simply have to rise above that and use our words to communicate and educate others.  As Thumper in the Disney movie "Bambie" said, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Coming out in Fairbanks and RTRT

Tonight I went to go see As Sure as God Made Little Green Apples, which in case you weren't in class last Tuesday, is a stage performance by Revive The Red Tent Productions made up of the stories of local Fairbanks lesbians under the age of thirty. The show includes several movement pieces, mixed with some reading of stories, and monologues/dialogues. It was very interesting to see what is essentially a work in progress of a show, that will, once finished become extremely powerful and well put together.

As the stories were told, I began to think about myself, and my experiences with friends coming out to me, and my own eventual coming out as bisexual. Do I have a story? I'm not particularly certain that I'd say that I do, coming out for me was pretty uneventful for me. The first person I told was one of my two best friends, and she had divulged her own sexuality to me a couple of years earlier, so the whole event was relatively low stress.

I Would say that quite possibly the worst portion of the whole process was that everyone else already knew, and told me so. When I told my mother, all she said was that she had thought that I might be. I have yet to tell my father, and it is questionable whether or not I shall do so anytime soon. I have always been very well supported, and have only been hassled about my sexuality once or twice.

There is a bit more to my story, but that is more recent history and has yet to be fully resolved, and this doesn't seem quite like the time or place for that. (Which is kind of stupid of me, considering this class is sort of an excellent place for it to be discussed, especially considering we were just talking about how personal stories and the like can be tied into learning)

I apologize for how ridiculously late this is.

Late Post :(

Last semester I started to have immense pain in my lower region right after a stressful and unjustified few days in jail. My period had just ended before I was incarcerated and not even a week later I started bleeding horribly. My temperature was dropping, I couldn’t stay awake, and my skin color was changing. I tried to just play it off like it was the stress; I was fighting wrongful charges, meeting with various lawyers, court appearances, etc. but I kept on bleeding for two and half weeks. The other symptoms only kept getting worse and the pain was increasing. My partner was finally fed up with my ignoring it and forced me to go to Urgent Care.

I ended up seeing a male doctor who couldn’t have been less of a help. Despite all of my symptoms he persisted to tell me “all women’s bodies are different and your so young, it’s nothing.” Then when he was feeling my lower stomach, I was cringing in pain and my eyes were watering however he kept hurting me. My partner and I were both horribly disgusted by this treatment. Luckily, I insisted on getting an ultrasound. My mother had a full hysterectomy in her later 20’s which worried me and I knew something was wrong. He hesitated, but gave me the recommendation I needed.

It turns out I had ovarian cysts as well as varicose veins in the left side of my uterus.

I am writing about this because of what I read in Leah’s blogpost. There is just NOT the proper education out there about women's health care and as Leah pointed out, certainly not enough research in motion. I had to push to get an ultrasound to find out this news and now am stuck having to undergo surgery or tackle symptoms with birth control. I am seeing an OBGYN that has suggested the surgery due to my moms history and the “strangeness” with my conditions.

But alas, they know nothing and still might not be able to do anything after surgery...

This certainly isn’t the case when a mans solider wont salute...

Bongo Drums Are Not Just For Boys!

         A couple evenings ago my 7-year-old daughter was working on an optional assignment for her class: make a musical instrument.  After trying many different prototypes of many different “instruments”, she was so excited with her final product.  She had duck taped together two empty hot chocolate cans to make bongo drums (one had rice in the bottom which made an additionally cool sound).  She was having a great time playing her drums up until bedtime.  When I announced that it was time to get ready for bed she began frantically making another instrument.  I asked her what was going on, reminding her that she had already made an awesome instrument and that it was time to go to bed.  “The boys in my class will laugh at me if I bring drums,” she said, “I’m gonna make a harp.” 

With that simple statement I was instantly up in arms, so many flags went up inside me:  How could my daughter care what those stupid boys think anyway?  All these years of my subtle and direct teachings about how girls don’t have to do girl-y things!  What makes bongo drums not girl-y anyway?  She should stand up to these bullyboys and play her drums! 

After a moment of silent shock and outrage I used all my momma/facilitator skills to move us into a constructive and brief conversation about this bongo drum injustice and then we brushed our teeth and headed off to sleep.

            On a daily basis I come face-to-face with the clash of mainstream U.S. social constructs with that of my own values and culture as an Indigenous woman and mother.  Yet, while this conflict within has been raging for most of my life, I continue to be astounded and agitated by it. I know it is because I am the mother of three girls.  In my own life I have fiercely built within me a place of peace and strength amidst my sometimes-chaotic battle with dominate culture. However, whatever peace and wisdom I have found through my own experiences, I know my daughters have their own work ahead of them. 

            In class we have talked about the many ways women and girls are under “attack” in the United States, both directly and subtly.  From the violence of rape or domestic abuse to the disrespectful slanders of drunk men; from the patronizing halls of legislatures to the everyday “innocent” exchanges in the grocery store checkout lines, what this society expects of females surrounds us both straightforwardly and subtly.  I believe the subtle spaces are just as dangerous to our daughters as the direct, for it is in the subtle spaces that room grows to allow blatant injustices.

            In the book Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher, PH.D., Dr. Pipher talks about the detrimental effects mainstream culture has had on young women.  In the book the author gives numerous examples of girls from many different backgrounds and their struggle with the daunting task of finding balance between contradictory messages of woman-hood.  More and more fall victim under the weight of it all and must then work to survive drug abuse, eating disorders, depression and violence inflicted upon ourselves and from others.  While this book was first published in 1994 it’s content remains painfully relevant in 2012.  The short article "How To Talk To Little Girls" by Lisa Bloom (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/how-to-talk-to-little-gir_b_882510.html?ref=fb&src=sp) gives a glimpse at some current day statistics.  While this reality might be difficult to deal both these writings offer positive ways to endeavor forward. 

            It sometimes terrifies me to imagine all that my daughters will have to endure in their lives because they are female.  I know I can not shelter them from the world instead I must prepare them to meet it.  I only hope that I can give them the tools to build their own peace amidst the chaos. As their mother I strive to help them construct their warrior gear - strength of identity and place, of self-worth and responsibility - so that they might meet their future adversaries with self sustained power and strength.  Whether they are our daughters, our sisters, our nieces or the little girls yet to be born, I believe it is our responsibility to find ways in which all can be supported to play their drums loudly and proudly!

She Didn't Want To Do It, So End Of Story.

Rape. 



That word is heavily charged; a sort of trigger-word.  It’s been my experience that many people have one scenario for rape-a woman, conscious, being forced by a man.  There are many different scenarios and circumstances regarding rape, some people consider these “gray areas” of rape.  For example, there are court cases where the accused is not convicted due to various reasons.  The victim was perhaps intoxicated and unable to give consent.  There are those that personally believe that that does not constitute rape.  Perhaps the victim agreed initially but later said no.  Some people do not count that as rape.  Sometimes it even comes down to what the victim was wearing or how they were behaving, as if that made her consent irrelevant. 

I do not presume to speak for anybody regarding their experience, because surely every situation is different and each person is unique.  There are people that would argue with me that even though I was too inebriated to give consent, that was my own fault, I set myself up for my particular situation, and I should have prevented it.  The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board recently displayed ads targeting young people to be conscious about their alcohol consumption.  One of these ads has a young woman on the bathroom floor with her boyshorts around her ankles, with the text “She didn’t want to do it, but she couldn’t say no”.

 A huge backlash erupted from victims and the PLCB was forced to withdraw the particular ad, but only after they realized that it “made them feel victimized all over again”.  It’s important to be aware of how often victims are made to feel at fault for rape.  Not only is this placing blame on the victim, but the victim’s friends-it is your fault if your friend is raped at a party.  It does not matter how a person dresses or acts in regards to rape-the only thing that should matter is clear, legal consent.  There certainly are male rape victims, but women are disproportionately victimized for this particular crime.  It is just another interesting aspect in the differences that sex or gender makes in your life in that gender kaleidoscope we so often talk about.


http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/09/386110/pennsylvania-liquor-control-board-pulls-ad-that-blames-women-for-getting-date-raped/?mobile=nc 

Women Pay More For Health Insurance Than Men

I couldn't think of anything to write for this blog post, so I posted on Facebook asking my friends for some help. I got a comment telling me to check out the USAFV Facebook page. USAFV stands for Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence. On their page are a bunch of links for feminist topics and other information. I picked this one about health insurance gaps between genders because it seems to relate most to our enduring concepts.

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Unalaskans-Against-Sexual-Assault-and-Family-Violence-USAFV/10150134411305099

Website: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/health/policy/women-still-pay-more-for-health-insurance-data-shows.html?_r=4

Why do insurance companies charge more to women than men? How is this gender gap fair? Women and men should be considered equal in every way yet there is still many gender discrepancies.

In the article I read that a woman with a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan in Chicago pays $375 a month, that is 31% higher than what a man pays. Insurance companies today still incorporate gender and age into rate quotes unless it is against the law.

Why are women considered more at risk then men for insurance companies? Is it all just a sexist thing or are there actual facts making it so insurance companies have reasons to charge women more for the same coverage a man receives.

I believe that this gender gap with insurance companies goes against all fairness and should be leveled out. I understand the reasons insurance companies charge more to people who smoke but just because the person is female doesn't mean that they are less healthy than a man. In my eyes men are more risky for insurance companies to take on. I had no idea there was so much gender gaps still to this day.

Social norms in Japanese history (Connecting to recently read Memoirs of a Geisha)

I have recently finished reading the book Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. I began reading the book over Christmas break, having no idea that I would be reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan for this class. However, reading the two side by side has proved most enjoyable, but also quite sadly disturbing. Although the two books were set in different times of the 20th century, there are social constructs and norms that are brought up and featured prominently in both plots. The majority of these sadly revolve around the lack of free will and choice that these women possessed. What I focused on the most was the connection between the arranged marriages in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and the lack of ability to choose "clients" (for lack of a better word) in Memoirs of a Geisha. I feel that these two themes coincide directly each other.

On a personal level, it was troubling to read about these women who had very little choice in their own lives and the goings on within. Although I realize that we still have far to go in women's equality, I feel somewhat blessed to be born into a society and time where I am able to (for the most part) make my own choices and decisions regarding how I wish to carry out my life. I possess freedoms and liberties that these women could never imagine in their arranged marriages and troubling careers of performance. But also, rather than imagining how these women would feel in my place and what great and powerful things they would have the freedom to do in my position, I feel that it is necessary and important to also sit back and think about what we women (and three men :P) would do if we were to be in their positions of social constriction. How would we react to being told who we are to spend the rest of our lives with, and being reminded that we shouldn't bother fighting it because we have no choice in the matter? How would we react to growing up having our feet repeatedly broken so the bones could grow back into a smaller form, appearing more beautiful to the strictly trained eye of society? These questions, and many more wafted through my mind as I read these books side by side, appreciated my tea and social freedoms with every page.

~ EM

kamut

     Before I disclaim anything else, I thought I’d like to mention that, thanks to Planned Parenthood who e-mail my friend Sam who e-mailed me who e-mailed Dr. Sunwood about an Alaska Legislature hearing concerning use of public funds for access to abortive services, Dr. Sunwood was able to call in to the hearing, for the whole panel and everyone across the state listening to hear, and give them her (and I think our) opinion about the necessary nature of the availability of abortive services to women of all statuses. I am pleased that I can have had a part in the process.

     This is anyone’s cue to give me their opinions about abortion and the meaning of life, et cetera. If you comment on my post, I promise to comment on yours.

     Now, instead of my regularly scheduled program, I thought I’d dispense a brief treatise on abortion, just to get it out of my system for a while. My disclaimer is that my opinions do not have the slightest weight to them because their author doesn’t have a uterus, ovaries, or personal experience of the cultural stresses associated with being “female”. If what I’m saying makes you want to dig me a nice 6-foot hole to . . . chill in . . .  feel free to inform me that my opinions are backwards and hurtful and should stop at the source.

     From what I hear, or often decide not to hear for extended periods of time, abortion is fought with arguments in favor of saving precious human lives, often supported with evidence about the appearance of brain waves, heart beats, and other movements of a fetus/zygote at very early stages in the first trimester. I am perhaps stuck in a habit of not researching curios, but to my understanding, there is no internationally recognized definition for life, as it is commonly referred to (my evidence comes from my high school AP Biology class). This brings me into another point of contention with the right-to-life hypothesis: if none of us can unequivocally claim that we are alive, and if it is reasonably easy to regard a developing blastocyst with a fair amount of indifference, why do people care so much? What about rape-zygotes whose mother would have no economic facilities for child-rearing? What about zygotes whose clinically-tested reputations for being stillbirths precede them? What about the fact that there are more than 7 billion humans are already trying to use 1.5 times the biocapacity of this planet? This last bit finally releases my pent-up inability to leave the word “precious” alone, in context of human lives. I don’t mean, of course, that murder is a moral means of human population control: rather, I see not being allowed access to an abortive procedure as being less respectful to the planet than allowing the zygote of a rapist and an impoverished woman to remain unborn.

     I think that may actually be all I wanted to say about that. Again, if you have time, let me know if I’ve been offensive. And one more thing, in the entropic style, is the fact/well-stated opinion from one of the articles in the “Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions” textbook that virginity, that icon on our sexually indeterminate and tumultuous culture, similarly has no concrete social definition. Though I was smart enough to forget my book somewhere out of reach, I seem to remember some difficulties with pinning virginity down including whether penetration is a requisite, or if terms are to be taken from pornography where soft-core acts wouldn’t constitute a “breach” of virginity. There is also the revealing fact that “men” are never choked with the standards of virginity as their counterparts are.

     Stay safe everyfolks.

(Un)Health(y) Care

    A few weeks back our class started a conversation about women's health and it's status in the US today.  Obviously there is a lot going on surrounding birth control right now in politics, the media and within our own social circles.  About a week ago I saw this photo on a friend's facebook wall:

    This image really made me think about what a difficult, and extremely privileged, moment in time American women exist.  As women, we have many options for health care, in most places.  All the while, the rates of research being done on many health issues pertaining to women is astonishingly low.  What would the world be like if we put half the effort into creating erectile dysfunction medication into women's health?  It's difficult to say for sure, but there might be less support groups and more research groups for women's health issues. 
    I mentioned in class my experience with my case of Endometriosis (Endo for short).  This disease is one of the most common gynecological diseases in the world, and it effects over 5 million women in the US alone.  Something this common shouldn't be something that very few people know about.  Endo is a chronic pain disease with no cure. The treatments for Endo are limited, archaic for our time and frequently only mask some of the symptoms while creating others. 
    Of course, being diagnosed with this disease has made me personally aware of the expansive gender gap that lies in the research being conducted in medical facilities all over our country.  Not only do we need to increase the research being done in women's health, we need to change our societal attitude towards women's health.  The shame factor needs to be taken out of going to the doctor with problems with our "private parts".  Men and women should feel comfortable enough to go to a medical professional and ask for help.  I think that this is something that our society is working towards, but I'm worried that politics might make us take a giant step backwards if we don't do something about this ourselves.  We need to educate; ourselves, our children and others.  Women and men should know more about their bodies and not feel ashamed by them.  Education, awareness and research are the only ways that generations down the line a woman will be able to go to her doctor and say, "I've noticed lately that my cervix has been sensitive.  Do you think that my endometrial lining might have gotten lost in my fallopian tubes at some point, causing this sensitivity in my cervix and pain around my ovaries?"  And the doctor would take her concerns into consideration, instead of speculation.
    Here's to the future.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2012 DECLARATION 

from the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance & World March of Women

GGJ is an alliance of many U.S. based social justice organizations, I have worked closely with this alliance in the past and I have great respect for their work.  GGJ strives to build a U.S. grassroots base for social change that reverberates globally.  They just published their declaration for International Women's Day 2012 and I thought I would share just a few lines, a link to the full declaration is below.  -enei (NOT FOR GRADE)

http://ggjalliance.org/node/957

"We stand in solidarity with women and peoples’ in resistance and in struggle in all territories at war, under military control or the threat of it, or who are experiencing the negative impacts of foreign military presence. Despite these extreme situations, we women continue to defend our territory, our bodies and land from the exploitation by official and non-official, state and private, armies.

"We denounce the globalized mass media’s collective strategy that seeks to revitalize conservative dogmas and values and to put at risk the achievements and advances of women around the world. Spaces for participation are closed off, protest is criminalized, and the right to make decisions about our own bodies is undermined. Our reproductive self-determination is threatened in those places where we have already achieved it, such as in diverse North American and European (Portugal, Spain, etc.) countries, where abortion is legal, but where this right is undermined in practice by cuts in public budgets for hospitals and pregnancy interruption services. ....

"We stand in solidarity with all women who continue to struggle and confront the police, public services and the unjust justice system, as well as those who struggle against violence and its perpetrators.

"In the face of such situations, we are present in the streets, we create our alternatives, and we put them into practice. Once again, we demonstrate our resistance and our self-defense through our bodies and our territories. We strengthen our struggle for structural changes in our lives and we will continue on the march until we are all free!

"We call for the networking between our movements and the strengthening of alliances with other movements; for it is in this way that we will construct a free world.
Around the World, March 8 2012"

Best to be a women in Iceland

NOT FOR GRADE

Next Thursday as we all know is the 101'st International Women's day. The British newspaper The Independent decided to look at the current status of women in the world today. Iceland came number one once again and I think it is the third year in a row. When everything is drawn together Iceland scores the highest points.

Rwanda is the only country where women are in majority on the congress (45/80). It is best to be a mother in Norway and worst in Afghanistan. It is best to be in sports in the US but best in Sweden for those who are into arts.

I couldn't find any sources where The Independent got these results and many of them might be a bit sketchy. But it is a good article to read and it has many interviews with women all over the world.

Heiðar


Source:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/revealed-the-best-and-worst-places-to-be-a-woman-7534794.html

Women, War & Peace FIlm Series

This is not for a grade - I was just sent an e-mail about this film series and it completely relates to the "Meet Me at the Bridge" event so I thought I'd share.  It premiered in the fall of last year so some of you might already have seen it.  But if, like me, you haven't seen it you might want to check out the website.
-enei

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/#1
Women, War & Peace premiered on PBS from Oct. 11 – Nov. 8, 2011. Now watch all five episodes online, and check your local listings for any rebroadcasts.  Download the Women, War & Peace viewing party guide, which has additional resources and discussion questions to enhance your viewing experience.

Belonging.

While reading one of the other posts I was captivated by the clash between religion and culture. This reminded me of the internal battle I had between my baptized religion and myself. I had been in Catholic school since Sunday School and always went along with the teachings and tried to live "according to His word”. As I matured, however, and became the woman I am today, these beliefs and rigid “boxes” began to contradict my strong inner feelings.

It was very easy for me to turn away from an institution that was forcing me into metaphorical boxes but then I began searching for a religion that maybe I could fit into. I read about numerous beliefs; I studied and I questioned. I don't know why it was so important for me to find religion, but it was.

I found plenty of "accepting" religions but nothing felt right. I continued to feel like I was being forced into boxes and molds. There wasn't anywhere or any belief system that I felt could give me the comfort I so desired through religion. After a while, I really started asking myself why I was doing this. Was it an internal worry of needing salvation or possibly even rebellion?

My internal quest then switched focuses and I began to wonder what it was that I was looking for through religion and why it was important to me. It dawned on me that I was simply looking for somewhere to belong. All those years in Catholic school and in a religious community had given me a false sense of security. When I began to lower my social blinders I saw my world and myself in a whole different light.

Suddenly I was an outcast.

In my coming out I lost many of my friends, was ridiculed around every corner, and pushed away anyone that tried to care. At a point in my life when I felt the lowest and most useless I found a way to rise above it all. In the midst of trying to find belonging I realized that I had begun to lose the person I was and the strong beliefs that took me on this quest.

I was trying to fit into a box.

I didn’t need religion and I didn’t need to find somewhere to belong. I already did belong in the hearts and minds of those that loved me. My hope is that all people will let their guard down in order to accept those accepting you, love everyone none the less, and strive for love. Not belonging.

Babies, gender and controversy, oh my!

I’ve noticed when someone is expecting, usually the first question becomes “Is it a boy or a girl?”  I found myself guilty of this just two weeks ago.  Now this phrase itself is assuming and suggests that sex and/or gender is a very binary thing-you’re either one or the other.  Announcing that it is a girl brings to mind tea parties, dress-up, frilly dresses, and perhaps most prevalent of all, the color pink.  When an expecting mother states that it’s a boy, people usually picture dump trucks, dinosaurs, rocket ships, and blue (of course).  

When parents choose to raise their baby “genderless” it creates notice in the news.  There is always a hubbub about the “backlash” that it will cause the child.  I’m always stunned to scroll down to the bottom of the comments section on these news stories, expecting to read comments that are varied in nature.  However, almost every single comment has to do with viewing these parents in a negative light, how it will cause identity confusion, and how the child will be subjected to torture and cruelty.  I just find the negativity and overwhelming amount of hate both surprising and appalling.  

There is a popular story last summer about Storm Stocker from Toronto, who at the time was a 4-month-old baby.  Only the immediate family was were privy to the sex of the child.  When Storm was born, the parents sent out an email stating: "We decided not to share Storm's sex for now -- a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a standup to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime."  I applaud their efforts and don’t dare to condemn them raising their child how they see fit, especially when it appears to be out of love.  Many parents believe they have the right to raise their child how they want to, but almost all of these commenters seem to think that that particular rule only applies to them.  

The kaleidoscope of gender has different facets of prisms and shapes as we’ve often talked about in class.  This also suggests that it is changeable and constantly in flux-not static.  How strange it is that we look to shape others lives though through the simple disclosure of sex.

 http://abcnews.go.com/Health/baby-storm-raised-genderless-gender-dangerous-experiment-child/story?id=13693760#.T0QDl3mqazl 

Women in Ads

Last year I stumbled on the work that the feminist author Dr. Jean Kilbourne have made. I was fascinated by her work that spans over 40 years, that mostly is about women and gender roles in advertisements. She has made four movies that have all the same name, Killing us Softly (I, II, III, IV). In the newest one that was released in 2010, there she talks to a large number of students and presenting the shocking truth about women in advertisements.

The normal American is exposed to around 3,000 ads a day and spends over his lifetime watching television commercials. It is a 250 billion dollar industry and something that people do not consider how powerful it really is. People may say that they tune out the ads and manage to block them and that might be true, because "only 8% of the ads message is received by the conscious mind while the rest is worked and reworked deep within the recesses of the brain" - Rance Crain, former senior editor, Advertising Age

So that brings it to my thinking, how connected are advertisements and gender roles? A quote from the movie says "Ads sell more then products. they sell values, they sell images, they sell concepts of love and sexuality, of success, and perhaps most important, of normalcy. To a great extent they tell us who we are and who we should be." Women are objectified as perfect and often there are put together four or five different women to make one, with help of computer technology. Jean mentions because of this it effects the self esteem of the "normal" women and also effects the men who judge to the average women more harshly after being seeing those supermodels.

With the normal ads today, in television, outside on posters and walls, in magazines and newspapers women are made with perfect bodies, something that is impossible to achieve. Studies show that girls feel fine about them from 7 year old to 11 but after that they hit a wall. Their bodies are routinely scrutinized, criticized and judged. Only 5% of women in USA have similar body build as the supermodels. The results are eating disorders and growing popularity in cosmetic surgeries.

Advertisements have also made everything about sex, using phrases and words that can easily be converted to a sexual meaning, "don't unwrap, undress the candy bar" and "your lips looks so lonely can i keep it company. -  the most seductive cookie ever". Advertisements also show women in strange poses, make them object while men are suppose to be dignified and muscular. That opens the door to violence towards women and many advertisement are actually showing that.

I do not want to spoil all the movie. Coming from a country that brags about being number one in gender equality, with "only" 10% gender gap and seeing this movie it leaves me quite shocked. All that progress that we have made over the decades have been transformed into as serious problem as before. We are living in a toxic cultural environment when these information are being dumped far into our subconscious.  It leaves me a bit sad seeing the movie but at the same time more aware of the problems that we face today. I encourage everyone to see this move if you have not, it is about 40 minute long.

Heiðar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujySz-_NFQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E4-1xCf3I7U#!

The internet, the World. this Class, and Misandry

Alrighty, I was reading the archives of one of the bloggers that I follow, and ran past a post they had regarding misandry, and I was interested in perhaps discussing it in class, though I shall post both my initial thoughts and a link to the blog post here first.

For anyone who is not familiar with the term, misandry is defined as 'The hatred of men' and most commonly is used in reference towards sexist behavior, attitudes, etc. against men. Now, while you will never hear me say that misogyny, or the hatred of women, is not a problem, a large number of people, including a large majority of my friends, make generalizations and statements that are blatantly sexist, and in many cases blatantly derogatory towards my sex.

For example: A friend of mine told me about an indecent in which her boyfriend was being unreasonable for no particular reason, and writes it off by saying 'he's a man.' This sort of statement is hear a lot, to the extent that no one really gives it a second thought. It seems to be a rather widespread assumption that when a man displayed aggression, or is rude, it is simply because he's 'a guy.' I for one, do not appreciate people assuming that because I am biologically male I am a jerk. (I have been told many times when meeting someone that they will assume I'm one purely because I am male until i prove otherwise.)

This sort of generalization, while not necessarily to the same degree, is in the same vein as the sort off assumption of fundamental differences that were used to deny women suffrage, with statements such as 'Women are to delicate to handle the realm of politics' paraphrased from Iron Jawed Angles, which uses many direct quotes from political arguments of the time period. (see how I tied this back into things in class oh so smoothly and subtly.)

now that I have approached the topic, here are some various bloggers/articles on misandry:
http://quietgirlriot.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/the-female-of-the-species

http://rachelrabbitwhite.com/guest-post-unpopular-men-representations-of-men-masculinity-in-pop-culture/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rethinking-men/201010/why-some-people-have-issues-men-misandry

Hope to hear you thoughts on this subject!

Passage of Time: Societal Bounds

After finishing the film in class the other day, I got to thinking about just how much societal status and norms have changed for women over the past 100 years (just to take a smaller section of time). Of course, in many countries women have the vote now, unfortunately not all, but we have made so much progress. As I was reading through "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", I saw a distinct connection between the tradition of binding feet in Asia and the tradition of wearing corsets and the United States and Europe (among other countries) in 1800s and early 1900s. Not only is there a physical similarity between the two, with the actual binding of a body part, whether it was feet or waist, but there is also a metaphorical similarity between the two. By the act of binding and constraining certain body parts of their own, the women who partook in these traditions were also putting themselves in societal bounds, controlling their feet and their freedom, to put it cleverly. Certain societal notions became extremely important to female culture, convincing themselves that in order to feel beautiful, proper, sophisticated, etc, they must make physical changes to their appearance. Unfortunately, as I sat sipping my lemon chamomile tea and contemplating change, I realized that maybe things have not changed as much I had liked to think. It is still a societal norm to make certain changes to the body in order to feel accepted by main society. These habits might include body piercings, the application of make up, and certain clothing styles. That is not to say that in order to be beautiful, women must partake in these habits, but according to main society, at least in the western world, these habits have become the norm. Politically and socially, women decidedly have much more freedom in current times than they did in the past. However, it still disturbs me that female culture feels the necessity to make physical changes to themselves in order to feel accepted.

sorghum

         It is with hopes of answering my own questions on-the-fly that I write. It is from the heavily-patched seat of my pants that I write. It is in the wake of certain suggestive points that I spill certain beans.

         To be polite, my concessions are that I am an able middle-class ethnic majority with living parents. That said, I have my moral jitters about the situation.

         For instance, my recent introductory Anthropology class has introduced me, among many other things, to the concept of aversive racism. One might ignore the first word, which I too did not know, and say, “Racism? I’m a citizen of the 21^st century! My parents were smart enough to teach me that all human beings are equally worthy of empathy and rights and necessities, et cetera.” Having scratched further, however, this English language of ours catches us in its talons. Nevermind the fact that “race” as a concept is an archaic means of gradating people according to pseudoscientific genetic differences, aversive racism drags it out again when defined eerily as “a subconscious tendency, by virtue of humans’ inclination to categorize their environments, to disproportionately value ethnic interactions based upon one’s own ethnic affiliation.” This at least gave me pause. The answer I posited above in quotes to the possibility of racist sentiment used to be a satisfaction to me. Now it’s a liability. It’s like having no say in the fact that you start to smell bad in public. It’s like being told that you talk loudly in your sleep about napkins for an hour every night. The very virtue of my belonging to an American ethnic majority makes me terminologically and associatively inclined to subtly disregard the information and inputs of another ethnicity. How do I get around this? How can I use the Gwich’yaa Gwich’inn eighth of my ethnicity to plead the case of what I assume is my genuinely empathetic nature? Am I allowed to constructively criticize a member of an ethnic minority without moral or social damage? My only answer to these questions is that someday, humans, as one of the most genetically similar species on the planet, will have become so ethnically intertwined that we will be essentially “grey” and freed from stifling ethical questions like these.

         These perturbations don’t begin to cover what this might imply about aversiveness to attraction, gender, ability, class, et cetera.

          Next, and perhaps less cerebral in importance, is the suspicion/fact that the language mediating this exchange of ideas is in desperate need of a gender/sexuality-referents upgrade. I imagine you have encountered the awkwardness of this situation before: for instance, an ornery old cuss cuts you off in the parking lot. You make an on-the-spot estimation of their gender and knock the spots out of their reputation in the confines of your car. After having waited for them to hurry the hell up, you pull up next to them at an intersection shortly thereafter and realize that the woman you’ve been raging on is, in fact, that unpleasant white guy with the ponytail. This example doesn’t quite cut the butter, however, when considering how to inoffensively reference a hermaphrodite, for instance. As with the awkwardness mentioned in the “Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions” book about bisexuality, a waiter cannot, according to tradition, say,

           “This way to your table, individual.”

             To come up with alternative terminology for this situation takes sand, it seems.

             This begs the question, however, of whether we reference an individual by their sexual firmware, their sociocultural role, or not at all, and what the associated referent terms would be. Certainly, a referencing system based upon sexual firmware has been the culprit of much damage in our world, since it leaves no room for the creative portrayal of all the colors of gender. With the possibility of gender-based referents, we run into the fact that the world’s cultural roles associated with genders often don’t exist, or are so various that to try to memorize them for everyday discourse would involve another separate language. To emphasize the point, consider the fact that the English word “woman” can’t be applied to a culture whose language and gender schemes involve none of things associated with the English word for someone who doesn’t often have a beard. Our language is leaking. Or perhaps it’s taking on water.

              And just for fun, here’s a little bit of media from one of my favorite musical groups along the lines of gender equality.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=emFCNJBOBFI
    

Culture clash with Religion

I am Aleut. My culture is Unangax and my religion is Russian Orthodox. I have never followed my religion how I follow my culture. Russian Orthodoxy is very strict and very precise in how things are done by the way of the church. My culture however is exciting and interesting. As an Unangan it is in my culture to get my lower lip pierced when I became a "woman" aka when I started my monthly gift*. So, when I started my so called gift, I got my lip pierced. It is against my religion to get piercings or tattoos, but then why would it be in my culture to do so? When I dance with my Native dance group, Atxam Taligisnikangis, the girls wear head dresses, paint our faces with lines across our cheeks and down our chins (once you are a "woman") and have our piercings in, because it is in our culture to do so. I have even known some Unangans to get tattoos across their cheeks and down their chins along with the piercings that are in our culture to have, but when we go into our church and our Priest or Bishop sees these so called "indiscretion's" we get looked upon as if we have done something so wrong and evil that we feel as if we shouldn't even be in the church. How can my culture and my religion, two social constructions, clash so severely that we get looked upon as though we are not worthy of being Russian Orthodox? Can't we follow our culture and still be accepted into our religion, or has it changed to much since the Russians took over the Aleutians years ago? Aleut isn't even an Unangan word, it is a Russian word that we were called and that stuck with us. Did my culture and religion once, back in the day, not clash? Is it only because Russians took us over that my religion is so strict as to not even let me follow my culture properly? If I had to make a choice of culture or religion, I would without a doubt choose culture, because that is what holds the values and beliefs that I follow.

Radical Women call for solidarity across the Kaleidoscope

I received the below e-mail from the organization Radical Women.  I thought others might find it interesting if you are not already connected to this organization.  I like that this very feminist group is making a clear connection between women's rights and economic justice specifically.  They make a clear call out to women to stand in solidarity with working-class men and women, the queer community and people of color (both men and women), in the fight for full rights as a means for moving the rights of women, specifically reproductive rights.   

They also appear to be very anti-capitalist and anti-democrats (along with anti-republican).  My question is then: what is the solution, politically and economically?  It looks like the Radical Women's group sees the Occupy Movement as one clear solution and I too believe this is a key step towards demanding equity, however, where do we go beyond the Occupy Movement.  A critical step, and often the hardest work, in all my years of organizing has been to forge strong and strategic alliances. This is very difficult work, we could see a little of those dynamics in the film "Ironed Jawed Angels." However, I also recognizes the relevance of this alliance building work more strongly throughout the 3rd Wave Feminist era that we are in.  In the reading "Gender Communication Theories..." "transversal politics" is mentioned as an important piece of this era of feminism and it is definitely something that rings true for me and in my experience ... anyway, these are just a few of my thoughts as I read this :)

-Enei Begaye

January 26, 2012

Dear Friend,

Happy 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade , the monumental U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion throughout the United States! Abortion is a simple medical procedure that is vital for women to exercise any form of control over their lives. But despite its safety and legality, the fight for full
reproductive health care for all women continues. 

Last year a record 135 new provisions related to reproductive rights were passed in the United States, including bans on funding, prohibitions against abortion after a certain gestation period, forced waiting periods, and mandatory ultrasounds. When abortion is unavailable or unaffordable, it is poor women who suffer because they can't pay the medical fees and travel costs, or take the time to overcome all the outrageous barriers that have been devised by opponents of women's equality. 

But there's good news too. Reproductive rights advocates are mobilizing.  Last summer, activists converged in Maryland to defend Dr. LeRoy Carhart and the Germantown Reproductive Health Services from Operation Rescue harassment. Recently, voters in Mississippi rejected a "fertilized-egg-as-person" amendment to the state constitution that would have effectively banned abortions and many forms of contraception. New legislation has been introduced in Washington State to require private 

insurance plans to cover abortion if they cover maternity care. Young feminists in the Occupy movement are embracing the fight for reproductive justice and gender equality.

Where to next? With a presidential election looming, the pressure is increasing to "elect Democrats to protect us from Republicans." This is an often tried and always failed approach. The Democratic Party is a capitalist party that maintains loyalty to its investment base, not the voter base. The wealth of the 1% rests on the second-class status of women, queers and people of color. Corporate America's massive profits demand the super-exploitation of women providing free labor in the home (cooking, cleaning,
care of the young, sick and elderly) and cheap labor on the job.

Many hoped President Obama would be different; that he would champion women's equality. Instead, his policies have repeatedly sided with the far right. Federal health reform sacrificed abortion coverage. In December, the Obama Administration took the unprecedented step of overruling the Food and Drug Administration's decision to remove age restrictions on Emergency Contraception. These are not isolated incidents. Jodi Jacobson's article in Conscience Magazine, "Is Obama Prochoice? " concludes that "the President has presided over the greatest erosion to women's reproductive health and rights in the past 30 years, and a continuing degradation of our rights at the state level."

Instead of diverting energy into electing Democrats, feminists should continue the momentum of the vibrant Occupy movement and demand what workingclass women and men need - things like healthcare (with full reproductive services), food, social services, housing, and union-wage jobs. We must look beyond politics-as-usual to support socialist or anti-capitalist candidates who will take action in the interest of the 99%. Let's make the next year one of tremendous growth for the movements 

for equality and justice!

In struggle,
Anne Slater
National Organizer
Radical Women

___________________________________________________________

National Radical Women
747 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
Phone 415-864-1278 * Fax 415-864-0778
RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com
www.RadicalWomen.org

Donations are needed and appreciated. Please contribute online or mail a
check, payable to "National Radical Women" to 5018 Rainier Ave. S.,
Seattle, WA 98118.

Un-Expected Gender Roles

    As I've been reading Snow Flower & The Secret Fan, I keep thinking about how the women in this novel lead a life so drastically different than mine.  Only after we read "The Social Construction of Gender" did I start trying to find the similarities between the current expectations of women in Western culture versus the expectations of Chinese women in the 1800's.  Our roles as women and men is one that changes; and in a time as progressive as what we are living in, we'd like to think that we are above embodying gender roles. 
    When we analyze the past, it is easy to see how gender roles shaped the people who lived in them.  Women and men took on the roles that were expected of them, most of the time, and tried to live up to those pre-set standards.  As time goes on and the world becomes increasingly inter-connected, we see more people struggling to break free of those gender roles: to be an individual. 
    Growing up, I knew I was a female inside and out.  However, when I was figuring out my sexuality, I wondered if I was living life in my female role just because that is what I had been taught.  An experiment began: I tried different things like wearing men's clothes, finding more gay friends, taking on a more masculine role in my romantic relationships with women, reading more about gender and feminism, and exploring what it meant to me to be a gay woman.  After several years I realized that I didn't have to fit into any one category, I could do it all!  I started performing in both drag shows and burlesque shows, two venues that allow people to play up, or down, gender stereotypes.  This new-found freedom gave me a new perspective on my personal gender role in society, and made me comfortable with my own dreams and aspirations. 
    Now that I've been in a few long-term relationships with women, I've begun to see how gender roles appear on their own.  According to many gay women, I should be using the rights that women before me fought for to go against the grain.  I should deny any inclination to an expected female role in my relationships.  But, when I think about what I really want in life, it is to enjoy my education, and to build a home and a family with my partner.  Oddly enough, I think I might be happy as a stay-at-home mom, focusing on my family and spending time on my creative passions.  Some of these desires are stereotypes that women struggled against for ages.  Is it a biological fact that some women are more inclined to want to be a mother before anything else?  Is that bad?  These are questions that come up when I think about exercising my rights as a woman in a progressive and developed country.  I don't feel pressure to start a family and settle down like many women before me have.  I do, however, feel pressure to not take advantage of the freedoms that are at my disposal. 
     Gender roles come in many shapes and sizes these days, and it is hard to know which one we're falling into, until it's too late.  But here we are, in a Women and Gender Studies class, with the freedoms to discuss the oppressions and opportunities that lay before us and that linger in the past. 

    My only question at this point is: Does it go against everything we have fought for, to want to live in a gender role that was once expected of us?

Hope for Humanity :)

Its encouraging to see compassionate, caring teenagers doing unselfish things for others.
Two teenagers, Danny Manes, 17, and Gary Ramirez, 19, got together to create the Hopeline For Teens blog and only a week later they saved the life of another teen.

That article "Teens Save Life Through Facebook" can be found by following this link.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/02/teens-save-life-through-facebook/

If anyone would like to view the blog, offer your support, or receive advice from peers; the website can be found by clicking the link.
http://hopeline4teens.tumblr.com/


(FYI Dr.Kayt, this is also not for grade)

Not for Grade. Just interesting.

I think that if you click on the photo it will enlarge and allow for better reading. I borrowed this photo from Wipeout Homophobia on Facebook facebooks' page. A link to their website is www.WHOF.net for those of you who want to know more about their cause. For those of you that would like to support their cause via Facebook, their page can be found at www.facebook.com/WHOF1.

Welcome!

Blog entries to our Secret Fan Blog will give you the opportunity to point out connections among the course readings with what you are seeing and hearing online, in newspapers, on the radio, on TV, in magazines and international media outlets. Our Secret Fan blog will be a great place to connect, to share insights, and to communicate with those of us sharing this WGS 201 journey this semester.

You must complete at least 4 Making Connections Blog entries during the semester. You are welcomed to and encouraged to post more frequently. Your first 4 posts will be the posts for which you will be graded (unless you arrange with me to grade other of your posts besides the 1st -4th).

The first blog post will be due at any point between the first day of class and the date indicated on the syllabus. The other posts by the due dates listed. This gives you a great deal of flexibility on when you post your blog entries. Don’t wait until the last minute though :-) Be thinking of what you might post for your blog entries from day 1 of this class. Check the blog often to see what others have posted.

See the blog post examples I have posted below for ideas about making connections (and getting the max points) through your Secret Fan Blog posts.