Feminism does not have a simple fundamental and simple definition. The definition of feminism varies with the beliefs of a person. The best way for me to describe feminism is it refers to the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of women. Before I even entered this class, I had never really heard of feminism or the issues behind it. I did not know if I was considered to be a feminist or not. I remember the first day of class and Dr. Pendley asked what five questions we wanted to get answered out of this class by the end of the semester. I remember my first question being “what is feminism?” I kind of felt retarded for writing that since the whole entire class was mainly about feminism and the history behind it. Another question that I asked on that sheet of paper is “was I a feminist?” There seemed to have been students in the class who knew much about feminism and felt strongly about their feminist beliefs. Since I had no idea of the main topic that was being talked about in the class this is what made it very interesting for me. With the help of all our class discussions, videos, and articles I do have to say at the end of the semester both of my questions were answered over a period of time and I was able to grasp the true concepts of feminism and meaning of being a feminist. Our textbooks for the class also helped me read more about feminism and what it meant.
Feminism went through three different ways to get equality for women. The first wave was for the right to vote. During this time women were not considered part of the legal document that women could vote. Many of women saw this as inequality and believed that they were citizens and should have the option to choose and pick their certain representatives. Many of men did not want women to have to choice to vote because they did not believe that they were smart enough and did not know the right reasons to be choosing a person to represent them. The first women rights convention was held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. It was led by two women Elizabeth Cady and Lucretia Mott’s. The suffragist fought for the right to vote, but the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1970, and did not grant voting rights to women. Despite this downfall, this did not stop other woman who still believed that women should be considered trued citizens and have the right to vote. Another woman Alice Paul rose and was the founder of the National Women’s Party. She was able to organize a party of ten thousand women at the inauguration of President Woodrow. These women protested in allowing women to vote. Finally all their hard work paid off and in 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment was passed and ratified and American women voted for the first time in their presidential election. This voted did not come easy, but it paved the way for women to start speaking out and getting their voices heard. The movie that we watched in class depicted the first wave tremendously. The film was called Iron Jawed Angles that displayed the scenes and events that happened while women were fighting to get the vote passed. The film also help me better understand the first wave and what actually occurred during it. The right to vote was not all that involved in the first wave it also consisted of getting contraceptives available for women. Even allowing them to buy condoms was an issue. A main one that is still a problem today was abortion, was still the talk back in the first wave also. Even though it seemed that a lot was conquered during the first wave, there was still a long ways to go before there would be changes.
The second wave focused a wide range of issues. Mainly like official legal inequalities, sexuality, family, reproductive rights, electoral advocacy, and many other issues that women wanted to address. The second wave started around the 1960’s and it consisted of a new generation of women. Many women wanted to liberate themselves from the traditional roles of being a stay-at-home mother and wife. Women wanted to get back in the workplace and be offered the same opportunities that the males were. While second-wave women fought for fundamental rights, the movement did not go without criticism—and not only from misogynists. Many allege that the second wave represented mainly the concerns of middles-and upper- class white women, and did not focus on the voices, and many of the issues, of women of color and lower-income women. Often the fact that white middle- and upper- class women frequently faced very different daily struggles than women of color and poor women was not even acknowledged (Rowe-Finkbeiner, 26). The second wave crashed with the defeat of the Equal Rights of Amendments in the 1970.
The third wave of feminism consists of the women today. Our generation is what makes up the third wave. It goes to show how this movement do not stop, but is continuous. The third wave brings together the second wave’s fight for women to have professional career opportunities and the idea that “traditional” gender roles and actions do not need to be thrown
out the window. A new culture of open-mindedness is emerging in the third wave: there are many ways to be a woman (Rowe-Finkbeiner, 31). I did not even know we were still considered to be in a movement. The term post- feminism began to rise during this wave, which was to describe a backlash against the second-wave feminism. Women in this wave seemed to be more involved in work now and not in the feminist movement.
We have seen a loft of documentaries of feminism that helped describe and explain feminism to its fullest. With every documentary that we watched online, not one person had the same definition of what a feminist is considered to be. In one film, some people did not see themselves as being feminist, but after being asked questions on certain topics they soon came to realize that maybe he or she is a feminist. Certain things that I did not think would apply you as being a feminist I soon to realize that it could. The class of Women’s Studies intersects with feminism because it looked from different aspects of how feminism could be defined. I did not know anything from the beginning so every word that was said was taken in by me. Not only did the Women Studies class focus just on feminism, but we were able to learn a little anthropology things from Dr. Pendley. Belle Hooks book was also a good reading that helped explain the issues that women have been fighting for. Her book bring up numerous of issues that I do not agree with also, but she still makes good points that I was not aware of before.
AM I A FEMINIST?
In the beginning, I did not know I could classify myself as a feminist. I never looked at things as me being discriminated because I was a female. I always thought maybe that person had problems or just did not know what they were missing. I never like to play the “I am a female” card and because of this I did not get that job, a raise, promotion, or treated a certain way. Now that I have realized that this really does exist its makes me second guess myself. I do believe that I am a feminist because I do want equal rights for men and women. I do not believe in treating people differently because of the gender. Gender should have nothing to really do with anyone’s situation. Just like I have said numerous of times women are just as capable to do any job or do anything if not as good as a man but better. Even though society tries to make it seem like things are getting better for women, there is still much that need to be improved definitely in the United States. They can start by giving mothers more pay maternity leave and more job security after having a child.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Final: Part 1.....My 5 readings
In this years Women Studies Class, I have learned a lot and have also read numerous of articles that I do not think I would have read before. Each article and lectures that we read in class brought up numerous discussion, arguments, and points. Most of them I had never heard about or mainly all of them. Each of the reading where about different topics which was able to broaden my horizon and further understand the concept of feminism. They were different views that many of the readings came across that explain how feminism or inequality existed. None of the readings were the same or touched on the same subjects. I am glad about the selection that the ones that were choose in class. Out of all the reading my favorite five would have to be Opting Out by Belkin, Globetrotting Sneakers by Enloe, The Beauty Myth by Wolf, Eternal Feminine by Castellanos, and Taking Sides by Browne and Hyde. Each of these to me seemed too had bring up the most discussion in the class. Everyone including myself had different arguments about the situations that these reading brought up. All of these articles of course are related because they all are expressing about women and either how they should be treated or how they are not treated equally. These articles have helped me understand Women Studies because I did not know many of these issues even existed or were even considered a problem with society. I knew some of them were issues, but I did not see how they could have been considered feminism. Women seem like that always have to prove themselves, whether it is dealing with they are able to work just as well as men are, if they are smart enough, if they can do the job better than a man. Women have different roles and for that we are judged upon or not treated equally.
The first article that I feel like that impacted me the most was Opt Out written by Lisa Belkin. Even though she only took the views of wealthy, college graduated, stable white women she still made a clear point that caused a lot commotion and discussions about her view on certain areas. Her main thesis and purpose was that once women get up to that high level of social status in work they choose to all of sudden start a family and leave work. Most people argued that this is not always the case not all women have that option. You always hear the part where women always want to succeed over the male or become high in the corporate world as the male does. For some reason when they did get that chance or close to be their some choose to leave and go home to be stay-at-home moms. Belkin also expresses the problem that jobs do not offer flexible hours for women who do want to stay and work and proceed on the ladder of success. For some people, they are not financially stable so opting out for some is not even thought to be a question. The fact that many of the jobs will not offer more flexible hours or pay while these women are out with their children can be looked as being inequality. Just because the woman is the one who carry the baby should not allow businesses to not be fair. On the other hand, there are numerous of women who were able to climb up that social ladder and become the CEO, partner in a law firm, doctor, and many other professionals and still be able to be the mom at home her child or children need her to be. Belkin make some good points in her article, but the fact that she only looks at it from one point of view makes her accusations not fully accurate to me. One thing that I can look at our women are more usual to opt out of course than the men are. Since women are seen to be the ones at home even though there are a few dads who do decide to stay at home and be the kids and let the woman be the bread winner for the family.
The second article I chose that interested me the most in this class was Globetrotting Sneakers by Cynthia Enloe. This reading touched me the most because it talked about the working conditions of women across the countries, which were making sneakers for certain sneaker companies. The working conditions that were given would not have been considered acceptable in the United States. Enloe’s main purpose was to stress the fact inspectors need to straighten up the conditions that these women and children are working in. The fact that many of the sneaker corporations packed up their corporations from the United States and moved to the other countries because they knew these women would do anything to make money for their families. This once again shows how the women are capable to do anything to support their families. The way they were being treated and the working conditions they were working in were unacceptable. Once again this showed how women were being treated unequal. Not only were they working in unfair conditions, but they were not even getting paid enough to support their families. This reading shows how opting out probably never occurred to these women or if they even know what it is. They have to work day to day to support their families no matter what conditions they are put under.
My next article I chose was Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. Her reading focuses on the beauty myth of women. I had never even heard of anything called the beauty myth. The beauty myth seems to have many definitions and differ throughout culture. The beauty myth shows how women should be a certain way. Modern women seem to be growing, moving and expressing their individuality. The beauty myth is looked at as being timeless or genetic so it tends to differ between generations or the different feminist movements that we have gone through. The beauty myth try to show that women’s body had boundaries. In her chapter, after the beauty myth I love how she expresses that we should stop blaming ourselves and other women for the beauty myth and start being the women we choose to be.
The Eternal Feminine by Rosario Castellanos was my fourth reading that I chose that I liked reading. The Eternal Feminine took a different approach on how she addressed feminism compared to the other readings that I talked about so far. She brought a more humorous and non- serious side. She showed different approaches of women in her skits. My favorite was Act II, which was the wig scene. With each wig she put on, she would take on a different personality. It was kind of hard for me to understand the whole meaning of her piece. I realized that she was trying to exam the stereotypical roles that were given to Mexican women. She contrasts the excessive attention paid to women’s external appearance with the neglected state of woman’s inner lives. Act II also talks about a group of legendary women, who painted the way for women in Mexican history. This goes to show that women are strong leaders too and are capable in making a difference in our society.
My last and final reading that I chose was Taking Sides by Janet Hyde and Kingsley Browne, who brought up the argument “are women and men more similar or different?” Each author brought up their reasons for either why they believed that they were or were not similar or different. They each brought up important points, but neither of them had sufficient sources of enough background to prove their cases. Of course women and men are different biologically, and that is really all that I could agree with them on. The main purpose was to prove that men and women were either similar or not. It seems to me that they are always trying to prove that men are better than women in some sort of way. Just like in all of the other readings that I have expressed about women are capable of much more than they are given.
These readings have shown me a lot of insight that I was not aware of before. I now know that I have options, and even though as a woman things may not come easily to me I am very capable of overcoming anything. This really will not impact my future schooling, but it will my career. Going into a field that is mainly dominated by women I feel more empowered and encouraged. Will women ever stop being stereotyped? In the years to come will more women rise and take advantage of the opportunities to succeed? Will changes occur so that the choice of opting out will not be so unreasonable for those who do not want to opt out? Do people still live by the beauty myth today?
The first article that I feel like that impacted me the most was Opt Out written by Lisa Belkin. Even though she only took the views of wealthy, college graduated, stable white women she still made a clear point that caused a lot commotion and discussions about her view on certain areas. Her main thesis and purpose was that once women get up to that high level of social status in work they choose to all of sudden start a family and leave work. Most people argued that this is not always the case not all women have that option. You always hear the part where women always want to succeed over the male or become high in the corporate world as the male does. For some reason when they did get that chance or close to be their some choose to leave and go home to be stay-at-home moms. Belkin also expresses the problem that jobs do not offer flexible hours for women who do want to stay and work and proceed on the ladder of success. For some people, they are not financially stable so opting out for some is not even thought to be a question. The fact that many of the jobs will not offer more flexible hours or pay while these women are out with their children can be looked as being inequality. Just because the woman is the one who carry the baby should not allow businesses to not be fair. On the other hand, there are numerous of women who were able to climb up that social ladder and become the CEO, partner in a law firm, doctor, and many other professionals and still be able to be the mom at home her child or children need her to be. Belkin make some good points in her article, but the fact that she only looks at it from one point of view makes her accusations not fully accurate to me. One thing that I can look at our women are more usual to opt out of course than the men are. Since women are seen to be the ones at home even though there are a few dads who do decide to stay at home and be the kids and let the woman be the bread winner for the family.
The second article I chose that interested me the most in this class was Globetrotting Sneakers by Cynthia Enloe. This reading touched me the most because it talked about the working conditions of women across the countries, which were making sneakers for certain sneaker companies. The working conditions that were given would not have been considered acceptable in the United States. Enloe’s main purpose was to stress the fact inspectors need to straighten up the conditions that these women and children are working in. The fact that many of the sneaker corporations packed up their corporations from the United States and moved to the other countries because they knew these women would do anything to make money for their families. This once again shows how the women are capable to do anything to support their families. The way they were being treated and the working conditions they were working in were unacceptable. Once again this showed how women were being treated unequal. Not only were they working in unfair conditions, but they were not even getting paid enough to support their families. This reading shows how opting out probably never occurred to these women or if they even know what it is. They have to work day to day to support their families no matter what conditions they are put under.
My next article I chose was Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. Her reading focuses on the beauty myth of women. I had never even heard of anything called the beauty myth. The beauty myth seems to have many definitions and differ throughout culture. The beauty myth shows how women should be a certain way. Modern women seem to be growing, moving and expressing their individuality. The beauty myth is looked at as being timeless or genetic so it tends to differ between generations or the different feminist movements that we have gone through. The beauty myth try to show that women’s body had boundaries. In her chapter, after the beauty myth I love how she expresses that we should stop blaming ourselves and other women for the beauty myth and start being the women we choose to be.
The Eternal Feminine by Rosario Castellanos was my fourth reading that I chose that I liked reading. The Eternal Feminine took a different approach on how she addressed feminism compared to the other readings that I talked about so far. She brought a more humorous and non- serious side. She showed different approaches of women in her skits. My favorite was Act II, which was the wig scene. With each wig she put on, she would take on a different personality. It was kind of hard for me to understand the whole meaning of her piece. I realized that she was trying to exam the stereotypical roles that were given to Mexican women. She contrasts the excessive attention paid to women’s external appearance with the neglected state of woman’s inner lives. Act II also talks about a group of legendary women, who painted the way for women in Mexican history. This goes to show that women are strong leaders too and are capable in making a difference in our society.
My last and final reading that I chose was Taking Sides by Janet Hyde and Kingsley Browne, who brought up the argument “are women and men more similar or different?” Each author brought up their reasons for either why they believed that they were or were not similar or different. They each brought up important points, but neither of them had sufficient sources of enough background to prove their cases. Of course women and men are different biologically, and that is really all that I could agree with them on. The main purpose was to prove that men and women were either similar or not. It seems to me that they are always trying to prove that men are better than women in some sort of way. Just like in all of the other readings that I have expressed about women are capable of much more than they are given.
These readings have shown me a lot of insight that I was not aware of before. I now know that I have options, and even though as a woman things may not come easily to me I am very capable of overcoming anything. This really will not impact my future schooling, but it will my career. Going into a field that is mainly dominated by women I feel more empowered and encouraged. Will women ever stop being stereotyped? In the years to come will more women rise and take advantage of the opportunities to succeed? Will changes occur so that the choice of opting out will not be so unreasonable for those who do not want to opt out? Do people still live by the beauty myth today?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Blog 10: Important Organization
A topic that is important to me is helping inmates who are just being released get back on their feet. My mother and her friends got together and just opened a half-way house in Tulsa,OK. They take in women who are just getting out of jail and do not have a place to go. Either their families do no want to take them in or they do not have friends or family who are willing to support them. Some of the women just do not want to go back to their origianl homes for fear of going back to their old ways and going back to jail or prison. These women need support groups that many of them do not have. The percentage of women that return back to being locked up is high. Offering them a place to stay and giving them that person who is willing to see nothing but positive things come out of their lives. Not only does certain organizations help get them back on their feet but they give these ladies the encouragement they need to hear in order to succeed in society and not just be looked upon as being a convicted felon.
A New Way of Life Reentry Home, a sober living residence for women with no place to go after they get out of prison. It is ran by Susan Burton, who understands what these women are going through. Susan was incarcerated herself for 12 years during a 20 year journey back and forth to prison 6 times.She has watched 80 women leave and try to get back on their feet. Unlike many halfway houses that reject clients with mental health, drug, and financial problems, Burton does not turn anyone away. As long as a woman is committed to her recovery, Burton will take her in. Since 1980 the number of women entering prisons have increased over 400 percent, doubling the rate of men. This number is outright ridiculous. Federal, state and local governments do little to rehabilitate women in prison, or to assist them in re-entering the community. This is why I feel so strongly behind this subject to be apart of. There are numerous of strong women and men who are incarcerated today that just need that one person or that little bit of help to do great things for their lives. There are a lot of strong women who are capable of doing great thing but just do not have the support group or encouragement that they need. I love the fact how Susan who was once in their shoes decided to give and help someone else turn out great like she did. In the future, I would love to open numerous of rehabilition homes for not only women but men also. I would love to see the rentry rate lowered.
A New Way of Life Reentry Home, a sober living residence for women with no place to go after they get out of prison. It is ran by Susan Burton, who understands what these women are going through. Susan was incarcerated herself for 12 years during a 20 year journey back and forth to prison 6 times.She has watched 80 women leave and try to get back on their feet. Unlike many halfway houses that reject clients with mental health, drug, and financial problems, Burton does not turn anyone away. As long as a woman is committed to her recovery, Burton will take her in. Since 1980 the number of women entering prisons have increased over 400 percent, doubling the rate of men. This number is outright ridiculous. Federal, state and local governments do little to rehabilitate women in prison, or to assist them in re-entering the community. This is why I feel so strongly behind this subject to be apart of. There are numerous of strong women and men who are incarcerated today that just need that one person or that little bit of help to do great things for their lives. There are a lot of strong women who are capable of doing great thing but just do not have the support group or encouragement that they need. I love the fact how Susan who was once in their shoes decided to give and help someone else turn out great like she did. In the future, I would love to open numerous of rehabilition homes for not only women but men also. I would love to see the rentry rate lowered.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Gender
Rosario Castellanos play made a couple of gender points in her play "The Eternal Feminine". Every act had a clear point to me in which gender could be illustrated. My favorite scene of the whole play was the end of the play in Act 3. Act Three consisted of the scenes where the dress owner gave her numerous of wigs to try on since she decided that her hair was not going to be finished because of the blackout and all the interruptions she had been having at the shop. With each wig that Lupita tried on she would try on, you could say she had a vision or dream about what the wig stood for. She took on different personalities that came to her when she tried the different wigs on. With each wig, Lupita had visions of being a single woman, a prostitute, a reporter, and a secret lover of another man.
The one that stood out to me the most was Lupita playing the role of secret lover when she tried on “The Soiled Flower” wig. With this particular wig, Lupita had a vision of her becoming a prostitute and having to sell her body on the street. She ran into a man Cinturita who seemed to be a pimp. This scene portrays gender to me because it seems as if they are always trying to portray the women as being weak and having to take orders for a man. Just like in numerous of ads we have seen in this class and all around the media, people are always trying to sell the woman body as an object and not a human being. Cinturita at first seemed nice to Lupita, but the way he talked down upon the other prostitute was outright demeaning. For him to call her a “slut” and yell at her the way he did was unacceptable. Men are believed to be the dominant figure in relationships and once again this scene proves it. The assumptions that women are helpless, fearful, and subjective and the men are strong and powerful are shown here in this scene. For a woman to sell there body is degrading, and for a man to encourage it and accept is disturbing. Cinturita called himself “protecting” them, but at the end of the day he was worried about his money then the protection of the ladies. When she placed “The Usurper” wig on she became the secret lover of a married man. She was looked at being naïve from her maid her knew all the things that were going to happen between her and her secret lover. The fact that she accepted being okay for not being important in his life and not being shown in public showed again how men try to take advantage of women. Not only was the husband being unfaithful to her but to his wife. In this case, it’s not just Lupita’s fault for standing up for herself, but the man’s for not taking responsibilities and being faithful. Men may think it is okay to cheat around and think nothing of it, but when a woman does it they are considered to be “hoes” or “sluts” for it. I am not sure what point Castellanos was trying to get across with these different scenes in this act, but maybe to show how some women feel or go through everyday.
The one that stood out to me the most was Lupita playing the role of secret lover when she tried on “The Soiled Flower” wig. With this particular wig, Lupita had a vision of her becoming a prostitute and having to sell her body on the street. She ran into a man Cinturita who seemed to be a pimp. This scene portrays gender to me because it seems as if they are always trying to portray the women as being weak and having to take orders for a man. Just like in numerous of ads we have seen in this class and all around the media, people are always trying to sell the woman body as an object and not a human being. Cinturita at first seemed nice to Lupita, but the way he talked down upon the other prostitute was outright demeaning. For him to call her a “slut” and yell at her the way he did was unacceptable. Men are believed to be the dominant figure in relationships and once again this scene proves it. The assumptions that women are helpless, fearful, and subjective and the men are strong and powerful are shown here in this scene. For a woman to sell there body is degrading, and for a man to encourage it and accept is disturbing. Cinturita called himself “protecting” them, but at the end of the day he was worried about his money then the protection of the ladies. When she placed “The Usurper” wig on she became the secret lover of a married man. She was looked at being naïve from her maid her knew all the things that were going to happen between her and her secret lover. The fact that she accepted being okay for not being important in his life and not being shown in public showed again how men try to take advantage of women. Not only was the husband being unfaithful to her but to his wife. In this case, it’s not just Lupita’s fault for standing up for herself, but the man’s for not taking responsibilities and being faithful. Men may think it is okay to cheat around and think nothing of it, but when a woman does it they are considered to be “hoes” or “sluts” for it. I am not sure what point Castellanos was trying to get across with these different scenes in this act, but maybe to show how some women feel or go through everyday.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Blog 9: Non-governmental organization (NGO)
The non-governmental issue that I chose to talk about is WYSE which stands for Women and Youth Supporting Each Other. This organization is a national mentoring organization and project of Community Partners. WYSE has been dedicated to strengthening the lives and communities of women and girls of color through a curriculum based, group and one-on-one mentorship program that strives to address all the issues that can contribute to their disempowerment. The mission of WYSE is to provide women and girls with a mentorship experience that enables and inspires strengthened lives and strengthened communities by, 1. Providing middle and high school girls with the resources and support necessary to make informed decisions about relationships, sexual health, their futures and to take leadership roles in creating community change; 2. Providing college women with the skills and insights necessary to become lifelong mentors and advocates for expanded opportunities for women and girls; and 3. Providing a national network of support and friendship as women and girls work toward positive changes in all our nation?s communities. This is a great organization that is definitely worth contributing time, effort, and money towards. There are a lot of young girls who do not have the supporting mentors or role models to look up to. This is a great opportunity to input positive goals and determination in these young ladies lives. To start them on the right track now and informing them on how women are powerful will stick with them on their road to woman hood. This is a gender issue because their are many of young ladies who are being left out and are not getting the proper guidance that they need to become a strong, courageous, independent woman.
Response to reading:
Enloe's article was talking about the sneakers production factories that are all over the world and their working conditions. Most of the major sneaker making factories are overseas and not in the United States where most of the sales are targeted. I believe that these companies take their businesses overseas because many of those people just want to work and are not worried about the working conditions that much. Americans know what they should get and deserve working for someone. The working conditions that are in some of these factories are just out right ridiculous and inhumane. Many of the workers are women and the way that these people treat them should not go unrecognized. These women are just trying to earn a living like anyone else would to support their families by working on a wage that can barely by a drink here in the U.S.. Better working conditions need to be given to these workers or consequences need to be given. Kumar and Ryan's article was mainly about Asian feminism. Chapter 8 in FIFE focuses on global feminism an in this movement we need to still focus on global equality. I believe the part where the white liberal women should be the main leaders in feminism is totally insane. If anything is going to move forward or happen in this movement everyone has to work together if there going to achieve the main goal they have set out to complete. There can't be discrimination going on because that is taking away from the main idea. Other than that issue the chapter had great points.
Response to reading:
Enloe's article was talking about the sneakers production factories that are all over the world and their working conditions. Most of the major sneaker making factories are overseas and not in the United States where most of the sales are targeted. I believe that these companies take their businesses overseas because many of those people just want to work and are not worried about the working conditions that much. Americans know what they should get and deserve working for someone. The working conditions that are in some of these factories are just out right ridiculous and inhumane. Many of the workers are women and the way that these people treat them should not go unrecognized. These women are just trying to earn a living like anyone else would to support their families by working on a wage that can barely by a drink here in the U.S.. Better working conditions need to be given to these workers or consequences need to be given. Kumar and Ryan's article was mainly about Asian feminism. Chapter 8 in FIFE focuses on global feminism an in this movement we need to still focus on global equality. I believe the part where the white liberal women should be the main leaders in feminism is totally insane. If anything is going to move forward or happen in this movement everyone has to work together if there going to achieve the main goal they have set out to complete. There can't be discrimination going on because that is taking away from the main idea. Other than that issue the chapter had great points.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Ethnography
The thought that a woman should only be a mother or stay at home mom flatters me. Now in today’s time, things have changed and the woman is coming up to become the bread winner for the family or main provider. Women used to be overlooked at as not being able to perform certain jobs are duties that were set out for only a man to accomplish. But thanks to many woman who spoke up and overcame many obstacles, have paved the way for many successful woman to climb the career ladder. Even though women have come a long ways in today’s workforce, I still think we have a long ways to go. Lately, we have been talking a lot about women in the workforce which is spoken about in FIFE. For this particular assignment I decided to research more about how do women who are working in a male dominated office feel like they are being treated as equals. Do they feel intimated or more motivated to succeed in the company? Are women being looked at as to succeed in companies?
The best person I knew to get more information on this is my older sister, who just graduated and entered the workforce world. Right now she is currently employed working as a computer programmer for Phillips Conoco. She is surrounded by many of men in her particular field daily. Since she lives here I decided to shadow her a little bit while she was at work to get some of my questions answered and to see if things were how I thought they may be.
Questions:
1. Do you feel like there are enough women in your field of work representing? No, I do not believe many women are representing this particular field because she thinks the computer field is mainly a man’s part of field and they do not promote it enough to women.
2. Being surrounded by all these men do you feel intimidated by them or more motivated to move up in the career ladder? I feel more motivated because sometimes I know more than they know and it is at the point where it does not really matter anymore
3. Does it bother you that there are not many women in your field? No, it does not bother me, but I wish that they were more women who where in my field of work to prove the fact that women are capable to do this job just like anyone else.
4. Are you getting treated the same as the men in your office? Yes, because they know I am able to do the work fine if not better
5. Do you have more women supervisor or men? Why do you think this? There are more men who are supervisor, but surprisingly there are a lot of women also which I love. This encourages me to do my job well so that I can move forward in the company.
After analyzing all my data and talking to my sister further about the situation. I came to realize that it is more of a mental issue to be surrounded by a lot of men in her work. People can either look at the situation and be intimidated by them or motivated to succeed. I agree that it should motivate woman to become and do more in the business. I was not surprised that not a lot of women were in her field since it seems that working with computer is targeted for men. What I think is missing is asking women what makes them not enter the computer field. This could answer a lot of questions for the reason why.
The best person I knew to get more information on this is my older sister, who just graduated and entered the workforce world. Right now she is currently employed working as a computer programmer for Phillips Conoco. She is surrounded by many of men in her particular field daily. Since she lives here I decided to shadow her a little bit while she was at work to get some of my questions answered and to see if things were how I thought they may be.
Questions:
1. Do you feel like there are enough women in your field of work representing? No, I do not believe many women are representing this particular field because she thinks the computer field is mainly a man’s part of field and they do not promote it enough to women.
2. Being surrounded by all these men do you feel intimidated by them or more motivated to move up in the career ladder? I feel more motivated because sometimes I know more than they know and it is at the point where it does not really matter anymore
3. Does it bother you that there are not many women in your field? No, it does not bother me, but I wish that they were more women who where in my field of work to prove the fact that women are capable to do this job just like anyone else.
4. Are you getting treated the same as the men in your office? Yes, because they know I am able to do the work fine if not better
5. Do you have more women supervisor or men? Why do you think this? There are more men who are supervisor, but surprisingly there are a lot of women also which I love. This encourages me to do my job well so that I can move forward in the company.
After analyzing all my data and talking to my sister further about the situation. I came to realize that it is more of a mental issue to be surrounded by a lot of men in her work. People can either look at the situation and be intimidated by them or motivated to succeed. I agree that it should motivate woman to become and do more in the business. I was not surprised that not a lot of women were in her field since it seems that working with computer is targeted for men. What I think is missing is asking women what makes them not enter the computer field. This could answer a lot of questions for the reason why.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Blog 8: Belkin and Work
There were numerous of responses to Belkin's essay that either agreed with her and disagreed with her. I think the main argument against Belkin's essay is that the fact that some women just do not have the choice to so called "opt out" of their working careers. In Belkin's case she was married and had a husband who was well off I'm guessing and with her college degrees she was able to get well paying jobs that could probably secure her financially to not work. But that is not the case for a lot of women. Her essay was targeted to white, college degrees, high paying job women. There are numerous of women who are either single mothers or just struggling day by day to make ends meet and can not afford to stay at home with their children even though they may want to, it is just not an option. In Belkin's case she might have loved her job and wanted to stay, but like a lot of women working the jobs are not understanding of a mother with kids. Many mothers do not opt out, but are instead pushed out by workplace inflexibility, failures of public policy, and workplace bias. Some jobs do not understand how hard and difficult it is to work from 8-5 and then go back home and work and second shift raising your kids. In Belkin's article she had a woman who was a TV anchorman who said she would have hung in their but the job kept getting more and more demanding causing her to work 60 hour weeks instead of 50 hour weeks which is still considered a long day. I am not a parent, but when I was growing up both of my parents worked in corporate office which meant 8-5 everyday. My mother of course stayed at home with us at the beginning but had to go back to work once her maternity leave was over. This meant days at a baby sitters everyday until it was time for them to get off. There jobs were very demanding and we really only saw them at night time. My parents finally decided it was too much and my mother was the first to come home and work out of the house because she wanted to get more involved in me and my sister's life. After a couple of years my dad retired and came home also. They both worked out of the house as owners of the 2 real estate businesses. I have to say having both parents at home was kind of weird and took some getting used to. But at the end I am glad they decided to do what they did because we got quality time not with just one of our parents but with both.
RESPONSE TO READINGS:
Belkin's essay was very controversial since it was looked at only one point of view and that was from white, college degree, successful women. But I personally do not believe that these women are opting out, but are making a choice to stay at home and raise their children and not let someone else do it for them when they can. I can see how it would be a hard decision for some because they do want to overcome those sterotypes that women should just be homemakers when they can succed in the carrer ladder just like any man can. For those who do have a choice and can stay at home are fortunate because many women out there do not have that choice and wish they did. I do believe jobs should be more flexible to mothers and allow them to raise their children and work if that is their choice.
Chapter 9 in the F-word talks about the different acts and laws that women have been through to get equal rights. Second wave feminists believe that the third wave feminist are not doing enough in the electoral and legislative areas. Many believe that one reason rew women aren't actively engaged in electoral and legislative politics is they believe they are too busy juglling careers, children , and home (pg 186). Which I think is true now that the first and second generation fought to have equal rights and women votes to women working; the third generation is utilizing the tools given to them to succeed that many women back in the day did not believe would happen. Women have come a long ways but there is still more to accomplish.
RESPONSE TO READINGS:
Belkin's essay was very controversial since it was looked at only one point of view and that was from white, college degree, successful women. But I personally do not believe that these women are opting out, but are making a choice to stay at home and raise their children and not let someone else do it for them when they can. I can see how it would be a hard decision for some because they do want to overcome those sterotypes that women should just be homemakers when they can succed in the carrer ladder just like any man can. For those who do have a choice and can stay at home are fortunate because many women out there do not have that choice and wish they did. I do believe jobs should be more flexible to mothers and allow them to raise their children and work if that is their choice.
Chapter 9 in the F-word talks about the different acts and laws that women have been through to get equal rights. Second wave feminists believe that the third wave feminist are not doing enough in the electoral and legislative areas. Many believe that one reason rew women aren't actively engaged in electoral and legislative politics is they believe they are too busy juglling careers, children , and home (pg 186). Which I think is true now that the first and second generation fought to have equal rights and women votes to women working; the third generation is utilizing the tools given to them to succeed that many women back in the day did not believe would happen. Women have come a long ways but there is still more to accomplish.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Blog 7: Movie Review
In this weeks blog, the first movie that came to my mind when given these question is a movie that came out in 2005 called "North Country". This movie is about a single mother trying to make an honest living to support her family by working as a miner, which is condsidered a man's job and is male dominated. It is manily about a woman named Josey Aimes who takes a stand against the injustice men in the North Coutnry mines committed towards the women that worked there. The fact that women worked in the mines became an issue for the families, communities, and friend. The women were not respected and given their benefits like the men were. This is a great movie it is a little sad and makes you angry, but the outcome of it is what makes is a phenomal movie to watch. This movie shows that women are just as strong as men are and can work the same jobs as them. But most of all shows hows women are not afraid to stand up for what is right and can;t be treated like trash just because they are a woman. The movie was advertised as like a typical movie of how men are always using the woman and getting away with it. The trailers showed her getting mistreated and not taking seriously from her fellow male co-workers.
This movie has a lot of gender issues that arise from it. It seems that the men get away from this cruel acts, while the woman who have done nothing wrong are considered whores who work in the mines. The wrong always seems to be turned around and looked at, as being the woman's fault when they did not ask for this mistreated acts to be brought upon them. There also was a part where Josey's mom gives her a talk about how her job is suppose to be to her children and she shoudln't work at the mines. Some of society believes that woman should be stay at home mom's which I don't have a problem with, but what is wrong with going to work and trying to make a living just like a man is suppose to be. Women are capable of doing the exact same thing a man can no matter the circumstances. Josey in the film and is not taking serious by her co-workers or boss who tells her to "take it like a man". Women have voices and should be heard and not silenced. The woman in the movie are the strong, the uncertain, the flirty, the weak, and every other characteristic a woman can show during her life. But at the end they overcome all the obstacles that were thrown at them and were finally heard and respected after all the mess. I admire how strong and courages Josey was in this film even though she wasn't portrayed in a good way at all times she managed to get through it and get her voice heard.
RESPONSE TO READING:
In chapter 7 of the F-word it expresses how marriage was once a value that all women wanted but now it seems to be that more women are single and there are more divorces going on in this wave then in the first wave. The author writes, "Through the hard work of women in the second wave, there have been tremendous changes in the experiences and expectations of marriage. It is no longer common for women to lose their identity shortly after walking down the aisle." In the early days women were perceived as house wives to stay at home and watch the children and clean house. Now a days women have become more independent and therefore do not lose their "identity". Roles have changed for the woman and they are capable to go to work and provide for a house hold with or without a man. In Chapter 8 of the F-Word it focuses on the balancing act of trying to raise kids and work at the same time. For many mothers this is difficult to deal with it, but it can be accomplished. The fact that some jobs do not pay mothers on maternity leave is ridiculous. Just because they are not in the office everyday and are at home caring for a young infant 24/7 does not mean they should not get paid. It's another job to take care of children whether or not the mother is raising them or if its by childcare which can raise a costly bill. Some mothers feel the need to stay at home and raise their children then go back to work which is great, but not all mothers have that opportunity and have to go back to work. My mother went back to work after she had me and my sister, but then started working from home so she would be around us and raise us.
This movie has a lot of gender issues that arise from it. It seems that the men get away from this cruel acts, while the woman who have done nothing wrong are considered whores who work in the mines. The wrong always seems to be turned around and looked at, as being the woman's fault when they did not ask for this mistreated acts to be brought upon them. There also was a part where Josey's mom gives her a talk about how her job is suppose to be to her children and she shoudln't work at the mines. Some of society believes that woman should be stay at home mom's which I don't have a problem with, but what is wrong with going to work and trying to make a living just like a man is suppose to be. Women are capable of doing the exact same thing a man can no matter the circumstances. Josey in the film and is not taking serious by her co-workers or boss who tells her to "take it like a man". Women have voices and should be heard and not silenced. The woman in the movie are the strong, the uncertain, the flirty, the weak, and every other characteristic a woman can show during her life. But at the end they overcome all the obstacles that were thrown at them and were finally heard and respected after all the mess. I admire how strong and courages Josey was in this film even though she wasn't portrayed in a good way at all times she managed to get through it and get her voice heard.
RESPONSE TO READING:
In chapter 7 of the F-word it expresses how marriage was once a value that all women wanted but now it seems to be that more women are single and there are more divorces going on in this wave then in the first wave. The author writes, "Through the hard work of women in the second wave, there have been tremendous changes in the experiences and expectations of marriage. It is no longer common for women to lose their identity shortly after walking down the aisle." In the early days women were perceived as house wives to stay at home and watch the children and clean house. Now a days women have become more independent and therefore do not lose their "identity". Roles have changed for the woman and they are capable to go to work and provide for a house hold with or without a man. In Chapter 8 of the F-Word it focuses on the balancing act of trying to raise kids and work at the same time. For many mothers this is difficult to deal with it, but it can be accomplished. The fact that some jobs do not pay mothers on maternity leave is ridiculous. Just because they are not in the office everyday and are at home caring for a young infant 24/7 does not mean they should not get paid. It's another job to take care of children whether or not the mother is raising them or if its by childcare which can raise a costly bill. Some mothers feel the need to stay at home and raise their children then go back to work which is great, but not all mothers have that opportunity and have to go back to work. My mother went back to work after she had me and my sister, but then started working from home so she would be around us and raise us.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Blog 6: Body Image
Somehow I don't understand why they think women can help sell cars i can see maybe a woman fully dressed driving the car but once again not a woman barely dressed. They are using this ad to show women as a sex symbol instead of a human being. This ad is definitely directed to the male public. The woman is wearing nothing up under the ties which makes her look like an object which offends women as human beings. Not only is the laced tied up around her whole body but it is definitely tight around her face and neck which all you can see is her eyes. Once again making it seem like woman do not have anything to say. Women like to drive lexus too but to this picture you would never get that idea.
The second ad is a typical ad that you see with women being up under the man but with the particular picture you see numerous men in is surronding a helpless woman or looks like taking advantage of her. This is the gender role that is always being portrayed as men being the dominate subject which have to take advantage over the women and be that strong, aggressive person. Where as the woman seemed to be portrayed as inferior, objectified,and dehumanized just to make the man seem more of a "tough guy". The are images that are seen in a lot of ads across the nation. Women being pinned down trys to show that women are weak but this is far from the truth.
RESPONSE TO READING:
In the reading of FIFE this week it stressed on the facts of womens rights. Women rights to get birth control and have abortions since it is our choice and our bodies. Even though I am not for abortion I still believe that is should be our decision to choose rather or not they want to have a baby or not. This is a main reason for the feminist movement to get women's rights out there. The chapter also talked about women's body image and their appearance. Now a days you do not know what a real woman is suppose to be like since there is so many images in the media that stresses on how a "real woman" is suppose to look like. As woman we should be more acceptive of our bodies and not look at the media to see what we should look like because those images aren't even 100% real.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Blog 5: Playllist
These songs that I have chosen for my playlist all have a meaning behind it that I believe empower women, and portray the message that as women we are strong and can make it on our own. These songs also talk about how beautiful women are no matter what.
The first song is Superwoman by Alicia Keys this particular song is my number one favorite that i think displays women as being a strong individual. That through anything we always come through since we are superwomen. Even when we are down we have to pick ourselves up because as strong women we have to. Another song I chose was was "Video" by India Arie. She is probably my favorite artist. When it comes to singing about being a women, she is not afraid to hold back and to me sings the truth. This song talks about how she is not considered the video girl that most men want. When you think of a video girl you think af a gorgeous women who has everything together with her hair, nails, body, and etc. this song talks about how she is just being her and is fine with that. She talks about how proud and grateful she is for being the way she was made. As women we should be proud of our bodies and be proud to be women. Another song of India Arie that gives the same message almost as "Video" is "I Am Not My Hair". This song to me talks about how we are not our outter appearance but we are who we are by what we are inside. There is more to us as women than just being perfect all the time. "Independent Woman" is another song that I chose that everyone should be familiar with. This song should speak out to all the women who consider themselves as being independent including myself. This song means that we do not have to depend on a man or someone else to get the things that we need when we can do it on ourselves just fine. A woman can be independent and defend and provide for herself just as good as a man could. "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera is a great song for women. The lyrics itself pretty much say it all that we are beautiful in every single way and words can't bring us down. The one line of a song means so much. Everyday a women is getting criticized or judge upon because of being a woman but we must remember that WORDS CAN'T BRING US DOWN NEVER!!!!!!! The last song that I have chosen for my playlist is "Survivor" by Destiny's Child. As women we must not give up on fighting for our rights but work harder to achieving our goals. This is exactly what this song speak about. We have survived this much as women I am pretty sure we can survive anything.
RESPOND TO READINGS
In FIFE it talked about women go back to the workforce and lesbianism. I am all for women working and being able to support their families just as a man can. I believe that the man and woman should work togehter to raise a househould. As for a lesbianism I do not agree in homosexual relationships, but if someone chooses to go that way, that is their choice and I do not look down on them for that. It is just that I personally would not. This is America the land of freedom and we are free to do what we want so with that being said that is a freedom of choice that some people choose. I may not agree with their choose but that is a personal decision that have made and I do not have a say in that.
The first song is Superwoman by Alicia Keys this particular song is my number one favorite that i think displays women as being a strong individual. That through anything we always come through since we are superwomen. Even when we are down we have to pick ourselves up because as strong women we have to. Another song I chose was was "Video" by India Arie. She is probably my favorite artist. When it comes to singing about being a women, she is not afraid to hold back and to me sings the truth. This song talks about how she is not considered the video girl that most men want. When you think of a video girl you think af a gorgeous women who has everything together with her hair, nails, body, and etc. this song talks about how she is just being her and is fine with that. She talks about how proud and grateful she is for being the way she was made. As women we should be proud of our bodies and be proud to be women. Another song of India Arie that gives the same message almost as "Video" is "I Am Not My Hair". This song to me talks about how we are not our outter appearance but we are who we are by what we are inside. There is more to us as women than just being perfect all the time. "Independent Woman" is another song that I chose that everyone should be familiar with. This song should speak out to all the women who consider themselves as being independent including myself. This song means that we do not have to depend on a man or someone else to get the things that we need when we can do it on ourselves just fine. A woman can be independent and defend and provide for herself just as good as a man could. "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera is a great song for women. The lyrics itself pretty much say it all that we are beautiful in every single way and words can't bring us down. The one line of a song means so much. Everyday a women is getting criticized or judge upon because of being a woman but we must remember that WORDS CAN'T BRING US DOWN NEVER!!!!!!! The last song that I have chosen for my playlist is "Survivor" by Destiny's Child. As women we must not give up on fighting for our rights but work harder to achieving our goals. This is exactly what this song speak about. We have survived this much as women I am pretty sure we can survive anything.
RESPOND TO READINGS
In FIFE it talked about women go back to the workforce and lesbianism. I am all for women working and being able to support their families just as a man can. I believe that the man and woman should work togehter to raise a househould. As for a lesbianism I do not agree in homosexual relationships, but if someone chooses to go that way, that is their choice and I do not look down on them for that. It is just that I personally would not. This is America the land of freedom and we are free to do what we want so with that being said that is a freedom of choice that some people choose. I may not agree with their choose but that is a personal decision that have made and I do not have a say in that.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Blog 4: What's Women's Studies
The Women's Studies courses that are offered at the University of Oklahoma do not really apply to my major right now. I would really be interested in taking Women Creating Social Change course. I gathered a lot information from the instructor when a panel of women came to talk to the class about the particular courses they took for their women studies major. The fact that you get to accumulate ideas and create your own "fake" non-organization made the course even more exciting. My major as of now is pre-dental hygiene, eventhough the course may not benefit my major it may be useful to me in the future. In my line of work gender does not play a major role in the job qualifications, because most dental hygienist are females. In my recent occupations, I have worked mainly with females. Therefore being a female did not effect any of my pass jobs. Although corporate managers prefer to have male management over female management. I have experinenced it in sales associates and optic-technician my employer chose male over a female eventhough they had the qualifications in their field. The only challenge that i will face is the competition for my occupation, because many women are interested in my field.
Response to Reading:
The reading in FIFE talks about how women today are still not considered equal to men. We made be different in some ways biologically, but we should not be descriminated because of our gender. I will say we have come a long ways, but we definitely have a long ways to still go. In Hull's article, is talks about what the stuggles black women had to through. I think they had a double standard to overcome 1) being they fact that they were women and 2) they were also black. To know that racism is still going on in the world is ridiculous to me. Being an Afrian American woman myself I do not want to be judged on just my race and gender.
Response to Reading:
The reading in FIFE talks about how women today are still not considered equal to men. We made be different in some ways biologically, but we should not be descriminated because of our gender. I will say we have come a long ways, but we definitely have a long ways to still go. In Hull's article, is talks about what the stuggles black women had to through. I think they had a double standard to overcome 1) being they fact that they were women and 2) they were also black. To know that racism is still going on in the world is ridiculous to me. Being an Afrian American woman myself I do not want to be judged on just my race and gender.
Blog 3: Iron Jawed Angels
I have to say Iron Jawed Angels was a great movie to watch. I had never even heard about until we had to watch it for class. It went into great details on what struggles and triumphs women had to go through to get the equal right to vote. I also learned that race was an issue with the vote not just gender. I did not know they had to go through so many people and questions to make it happen but they did, and I have to say that I am grateful that the women who did stand up did not give up or I would not have the chance today to have my voice heard and make a decision. The tension of the women was that they were dedicated to getting this law of women's right to vote passed. Even though they were turned down by numerous occasions in the movie you saw how they just kept on moving and never gave up. They overcame many obstacles but still proceeded on getting their voices heard. What surprised me the most about this movie is how the men couldn't even let the women have a simple parade without ruining things for them. It showed to me how superior and better the men thought they were that for a second they could not let the women shine for what they believed in. They finally achieved their political goals by getting the law finally passed.
Response to readings:
FIFE:
This book really opened my eyes to some of the issues feminist stand for or believe in. She talks about the challenging issues facing feminists today, including reproductive rights, violence, race, class, and work. Some issues I agree with her and some I did not believe she had enough facts.
Response to readings:
FIFE:
This book really opened my eyes to some of the issues feminist stand for or believe in. She talks about the challenging issues facing feminists today, including reproductive rights, violence, race, class, and work. Some issues I agree with her and some I did not believe she had enough facts.
Blog 2: Interview
For this particular assignment I interviewed my mother. My mother's definition of feminism is women taking their place as not being second class to men and that women should not be afraid to speak up for their rights since we are all considered humans. My mother says that she was all for women going in the workforce and being able to work just as a man can, but she also believed that children weren't being taken care of as they should have been. She said it was called "latch key kids" because kids were having to take care of themselves because both of the parents were working. So she has mixed feelings about that issue. My mom's first conscious of gender is when she went to catholic schools and she realized that the nouns did everthing to please the priest and the nouns wouldn't say anything that they didn't like and never questioned him. It always seemed to her the priest were running things even though there was only 2 priest and about 10 nouns in the school. This particular experience made her realize that then nouns did not have a voice. My first conscious of gender would be in elementary when they boys would always pick the boys first and they girl last no matter what and I would always wonder why they thought they were better than us or something. It seemed like I was always proving that I could run just as fast as they could but it never made a difference.
Response to the readings:
Taking Sides
I was on the NO side and it was very hard for me to agree with a lot of the evidence and facts that he had. The researcher did not have a lot of information to prove his point it was more case studies and information then true facts. One thing that I do agree on with him is that women and men are biologically different in certain areas and men have a tendency to feel like they are better women. Other than that his argument was not that strong
F-Word (chap. 3 & 5)
Chapter three stresses on the fact of how birth control, sex education, and abortion are such huge issues in the feminism world. I believe that as women we should have the choice to make the decision to take birth control or have abortions since it is our body. The book expresses that women are increasingly ambivalent about abortion rights, but in the end the polls still show strong support for a woman's right to choose (pg 48).
Chapter five talks about the third wave and what exactly does it consist of and if we are really in another wave. The third wave is much different then the first and second wave because they had specific goals that they were tryin to reach in those waves. This wave I would say is all over they place since feminism is considered to be so many things and have many definitions behind it. But with this move the book even says that a large number of women are active in this wave (pg 89). I believe this is true more women have realized that they have a right to speak their minds, also I believe this generation of women are more independent than they were.
Response to the readings:
Taking Sides
I was on the NO side and it was very hard for me to agree with a lot of the evidence and facts that he had. The researcher did not have a lot of information to prove his point it was more case studies and information then true facts. One thing that I do agree on with him is that women and men are biologically different in certain areas and men have a tendency to feel like they are better women. Other than that his argument was not that strong
F-Word (chap. 3 & 5)
Chapter three stresses on the fact of how birth control, sex education, and abortion are such huge issues in the feminism world. I believe that as women we should have the choice to make the decision to take birth control or have abortions since it is our body. The book expresses that women are increasingly ambivalent about abortion rights, but in the end the polls still show strong support for a woman's right to choose (pg 48).
Chapter five talks about the third wave and what exactly does it consist of and if we are really in another wave. The third wave is much different then the first and second wave because they had specific goals that they were tryin to reach in those waves. This wave I would say is all over they place since feminism is considered to be so many things and have many definitions behind it. But with this move the book even says that a large number of women are active in this wave (pg 89). I believe this is true more women have realized that they have a right to speak their minds, also I believe this generation of women are more independent than they were.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Blog 1: About Me
My name is Catrina Burks and I am a freshman majoring in Pre-dental hygiene with a minor in public relations. I am from Tulsa, OK and graduated from Victory Christian School. I decided to take this class because it was a western culture course that I needed for my pre-requisites and the class happened to fit perfectly in my schedule. Not only did I need this class but I had a friend who took this course last semester and he loved it, so I decided to give a try. I am also just curious about this course is actually all about. I had no idea that Women's Studies was a class. The class seems very interesting and I am pretty sure that I will learn a lot of things that I had no idea were even issues. The main five questions that I would like to have answered by end of this semester is 1) What exactly is the purpose for Women's Studies ? 2) What is the true definition of feminism? 3) Am I a feminist? 4) Where did feminism start becoming such a huge issue and Why? 5)What can you do with a Women's Studies degree? These are just a few questions that I have so far but I already know that I will probably have many more to be answered by the end of this semester.
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