This article by Pamerla Paul really hit home for me. One day, when I was in the 7th grade, three of my best friends suddenly decided they hated me. Actually, one of them decided they hated me and convinced the other two that they should take her side along with anyone else she could persuade. What possible reasons could one 7th grader hate another? Well, looking back I guess it probably was a result of parenting. For instance, the article says that the mother of a mean girl would probably say things like "you don't look nice today." I am almost certain that this girl received this type of criticism. At the time, however, I was told all sorts of ridiculous reasons for them not liking me such as my shorts were too short (not true), I was a slut (even though I had a boyfriend?) and that I jumped from friend to friend (this really made no sense to me and was not true). One day, this girl got on the bus and pulled out a list of things about me that she did not like. Most 7th graders are pretty insecure and want to fit in so to sit there and listen to a number of things that I now had to be insecure about in addition to whatever I already was insecure about was really hurtful.
It was a constant struggle to put up with the hatred coming from these girls because they were everywhere, in my classes, on my sports teams, on my bus, at any parties I was invited to, just everywhere. Even when I was at home I wasn't free from it. One day, they called me and pretended to want to be friends again just to further torture me and rub it in my face that they didn't like me. In order to deal with the harrassment I cried a lot and even kept a journal to let out my anger and sadness.
This issue of young girls treating each other in this awful way is a serious issue, in my opinion. The effects are long lasting which I can attest to. I am constantly afraid that my friends do not like me or are going to turn on me. Because of this I often do not allow myself to get close to others. I often do not speak up about my feelings because I do not want to give someone a reason not to like me. It may seem ridiculous to feel these things due to something from so long ago but it truly was scarring to me. I guess I don't know for sure that I am like this because of these past events but I think it has certainly contributed to it.
I think that there are a few things that could be done in order to help this problem. Perhaps the topic of bullying could be addressed in school at an earlier age. Like the article said, children are maturing sooner which is increasing this behavior at an earlier age therefore it should be addressed sooner. Since parents are a part of the problem, somehow addressing them could help fix the problem. However, I cannot think of a good way in which this could be done. Maybe parents of students in elementary school could be required to recieve instructions on how to prevent and deal with bullying. Another way that could possibly lessen the problem would be to provide television that does not have socially aggressive characters which was thought to be a problem in the article.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Boys Do Cry
I was happy to see another reading by Jessica Valenti on the reading list since I really enjoyed her first one. In this reading, Boys Do Cry, it states that men are affected by feminism too. I am sure that a lot of people probably do not realize this, me being one of them prior to this article/class. Men are expected to be masculine and thus not feminine. The problem is that violence often gets tied up into this idea of "manly." There is a lot of pressure on men to act a certain way and in particular the media promotes the tough guy exterior. For instance, the article talks about how in one commercial a man who acts girly gets killed by a beer can. This type of message just reinforces how dangerous it is for a man to step outside of the box. A man who acts girly may not actually be killed in real life but they will most likely experience harrassment and might even get beat up.
There has been a resurgence of boyhood being the cool standard opposed to how it used to be cool to take care of your family. I would assume that this degression is probably related to increased feminism awareness. The more powerful women become, the less powerful men become which goes against what they think it means to be a man. This loss of power in men is then probably related to an increase in violence against women. Violence is a way to show power and it is conceivable to claim that the less power men feel they have, the more likely they are to be violent in an attempt to gain power.
Valenti says that in order to fix the problem, the whole concept of masculinity has to go. This sounds like a great idea but I cannot come up with any way in which it could be done, at least not all at once. The only way I think men can get rid of the extreme pressures to be manly is through a slow and gradual change in the way we define masculinity. One thing that could help, at least some, would be a change in the way the media portrays men. If the media portrayed it as acceptable for men to avoid violence and be sensitive, perhaps that would help.
There has been a resurgence of boyhood being the cool standard opposed to how it used to be cool to take care of your family. I would assume that this degression is probably related to increased feminism awareness. The more powerful women become, the less powerful men become which goes against what they think it means to be a man. This loss of power in men is then probably related to an increase in violence against women. Violence is a way to show power and it is conceivable to claim that the less power men feel they have, the more likely they are to be violent in an attempt to gain power.
Valenti says that in order to fix the problem, the whole concept of masculinity has to go. This sounds like a great idea but I cannot come up with any way in which it could be done, at least not all at once. The only way I think men can get rid of the extreme pressures to be manly is through a slow and gradual change in the way we define masculinity. One thing that could help, at least some, would be a change in the way the media portrays men. If the media portrayed it as acceptable for men to avoid violence and be sensitive, perhaps that would help.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Types of Feminism (Liberal, Psychoanalytic, Care, Postmodern/3rd wave)
For Tuesday's class each group was required to read a chapter from Tong's book that corresponded to a different type of feminism. The 4 types of feminism were liberal feminism, psychoanalytic feminism, care focused feminism, and postmodern and 3rd wave. In class, each group explained their type of feminism to the rest of the class.
Liberal feminism:
Liberal feminists are against sexism and oppression. They believe that differences in men and women come from women not having the same opportunities and that racism, classism and heteroism contribute to sexism. They focus on equality and economic independence. This movement was sparked by the industrial revolution. Some examples of issues that liberal feminists would pursue include equal pay, women in the military, and assumed roles in careers. Liberal feminists are criticized for being anti-male and one-sided (white middle class).
Psychoanalytic feminism:
Psychoanalytic feminists have used Sigmund Freud's writings to better understand women's oppression. According to Freud, children go through psychosexual developmental stages that ultimately determine their gender identity. Men that develop through these stages normally will have masculine traits and females that develop normally will have feminine traits. According to Oedipal phase the son rivals for the mother's attention and the daughter rivals for the father's attention. This points the children towards heterosexuality. If children do not resolve the Oedipal complex there will be conflict. Some examples of psychoanalytic issues include upbring of children, men being able to adopt, incessed, and vitually any episode of law and order. Psychoanalytic feminism is criticized for not including social agents.
Care Focused Feminism:
This type of feminism focuses on how ethics for men are in terms of justice whereas for women ethics are in terms of care. They believe that the care of private spheres needs to be brought to the public sphere. Schools need to teach about the power of sympathy, empathy, and imagination in order to equip students with caregiving skills because people that think maternally are more likely to promote peace and sustainable economy. Care focused feminists are criticized for being too focused on personal relationships.
Postmodern and 3rd wave feminism:
Postmodern feminism is based on the rejection of ideas based on an absolute world that is male in style. These feminists reject feminist thought of having a single explanation for why women are oppressed. They believe that there is no single formula for being a good feminist. They are criticized for their indivualistic nature which makes it hard to form a movement and for being too abstract.
Third wave feminists push to take feminist thought in a new direction. They accomodate diversity and change and welcome conflict. They are criticized for having no core values.
I had never heard of these types of feminism prior to this class. Actually, I did not know of any specific types of feminism. I found these different types of feminism to be interesting but a little too extreme for me. Although I recently determined that I am a feminist after reading the Jessica Valenti article, I do not think that I can classify myself as any of these types of feminism.
Liberal feminism:
Liberal feminists are against sexism and oppression. They believe that differences in men and women come from women not having the same opportunities and that racism, classism and heteroism contribute to sexism. They focus on equality and economic independence. This movement was sparked by the industrial revolution. Some examples of issues that liberal feminists would pursue include equal pay, women in the military, and assumed roles in careers. Liberal feminists are criticized for being anti-male and one-sided (white middle class).
Psychoanalytic feminism:
Psychoanalytic feminists have used Sigmund Freud's writings to better understand women's oppression. According to Freud, children go through psychosexual developmental stages that ultimately determine their gender identity. Men that develop through these stages normally will have masculine traits and females that develop normally will have feminine traits. According to Oedipal phase the son rivals for the mother's attention and the daughter rivals for the father's attention. This points the children towards heterosexuality. If children do not resolve the Oedipal complex there will be conflict. Some examples of psychoanalytic issues include upbring of children, men being able to adopt, incessed, and vitually any episode of law and order. Psychoanalytic feminism is criticized for not including social agents.
Care Focused Feminism:
This type of feminism focuses on how ethics for men are in terms of justice whereas for women ethics are in terms of care. They believe that the care of private spheres needs to be brought to the public sphere. Schools need to teach about the power of sympathy, empathy, and imagination in order to equip students with caregiving skills because people that think maternally are more likely to promote peace and sustainable economy. Care focused feminists are criticized for being too focused on personal relationships.
Postmodern and 3rd wave feminism:
Postmodern feminism is based on the rejection of ideas based on an absolute world that is male in style. These feminists reject feminist thought of having a single explanation for why women are oppressed. They believe that there is no single formula for being a good feminist. They are criticized for their indivualistic nature which makes it hard to form a movement and for being too abstract.
Third wave feminists push to take feminist thought in a new direction. They accomodate diversity and change and welcome conflict. They are criticized for having no core values.
I had never heard of these types of feminism prior to this class. Actually, I did not know of any specific types of feminism. I found these different types of feminism to be interesting but a little too extreme for me. Although I recently determined that I am a feminist after reading the Jessica Valenti article, I do not think that I can classify myself as any of these types of feminism.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Men as "Gendered Beings"
When I look into the mirror I see a woman just like the white woman from the article," Men as 'Gendered Beings'." According to the article I do not see a white woman because being white is like being raceless. I do not see a human being because being being female is not like being genderless as is being male. This is something that we previously discussed in class and we said how black females unfortunately are not raceless or genderless. So what is so great about being genderless or raceless? the answer is that tools that which grant us privileges are often invisible to us. Thus, white males are privileged for two reasons and black females are oppressed for two reasons. I must say that in thinking about this I realized that when someone describes another person to me they do not include race if the person is white but they do include it if they are black. I agree to the reasoning behind this to a point, however, I think that part of the reason is also just because the difference in population. I know personally I grew up in a predominantly white area so when referring to someone, race was only mentioned when it was different from the norm. I would assume that in predominantly black areas this would not be the case and perhaps even reversed but I honestly would not know.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Towards a Gendered Understanding of Conflict
In Bryne's article she attempts to utilize feminist thought in order to execute a gender analysis of conflict. She objects the essentialist views and suggests ways in which conflict redefines masculinity and femininity.
She points out how men and women are not only both victims of war but they are also actively involved in either supporting or protesting violence. I think a lot of people probably overlook this and simply equate war with men. Women can be victims of sexual violence in war but they can also partake in the violence. Furthermore, not all men choose to participate in war nor are they all inherently aggressive. These facts contradict an essentialist view of males and females.
Although there are men and women that go against the norm in war situations, they are faced with consequences. Women are often "de-sexed" when they take active roles in war whereas men are harrassed or even killed for not fighting because they are not being manly enough. As we have stated before in class, the worst thing a man can be is a woman and in this case not fighting is typical of women thus it is unacceptable for a man to make that choice. Also in class we said the worst thing that a woman can be is a woman. Although I am sure women are not always easily accepted into these positions in war, it becomes more acceptable if they are "de-sexed" losing their femininity.
Gender plays a role in interventions in conflict situations which the author makes clear stating that "no intervention can be regarded as gender-neutral." For instance, distribution of resources will affect gender relations and ultimately reinforces where men and women stand. In analyzing intervention situations it becomes clear that women are often excluded such as in decision-making. Because conflicts are a time of change, it is possible that positions of women could worsen. However, a gender analysis can help prevent that from happening.
She points out how men and women are not only both victims of war but they are also actively involved in either supporting or protesting violence. I think a lot of people probably overlook this and simply equate war with men. Women can be victims of sexual violence in war but they can also partake in the violence. Furthermore, not all men choose to participate in war nor are they all inherently aggressive. These facts contradict an essentialist view of males and females.
Although there are men and women that go against the norm in war situations, they are faced with consequences. Women are often "de-sexed" when they take active roles in war whereas men are harrassed or even killed for not fighting because they are not being manly enough. As we have stated before in class, the worst thing a man can be is a woman and in this case not fighting is typical of women thus it is unacceptable for a man to make that choice. Also in class we said the worst thing that a woman can be is a woman. Although I am sure women are not always easily accepted into these positions in war, it becomes more acceptable if they are "de-sexed" losing their femininity.
Gender plays a role in interventions in conflict situations which the author makes clear stating that "no intervention can be regarded as gender-neutral." For instance, distribution of resources will affect gender relations and ultimately reinforces where men and women stand. In analyzing intervention situations it becomes clear that women are often excluded such as in decision-making. Because conflicts are a time of change, it is possible that positions of women could worsen. However, a gender analysis can help prevent that from happening.
Peace and Women's Rights
Before reading "Women and Peace: The Meaning of Peace for Women," I took a moment to jot down some things that came to mind when I think about the word peace. I came up with getting along, without problems, calm, no conflict, and not at war. This reading showed me that my definition does not come close to describing the complexity of this term. First of all, I have never heard of negative peace and positive peace before. This reading not only explained these terms but it proved to me that the distinction is necessary when researching peace. The discussion of the word negative and positive peace is clearly summarized in a table that breaks it down into negative peace, two levels of positive peace (indirect violence leading to a shorter life vs. reduced quality of life), unorganized violence and organized violence. These conditions form six boxes that the author claims are independent from one another meaning that it is possible to have one of the boxes occurring or multiple in various combinations. The author says that it is possible for connections to exist between the boxes. I think it would be interesting to explore that idea further however it would require some extensive research.
Reading "Women's Rights Are Human Rights" reminded me how fortunate I have been in my life to not have experienced any violence and hardly any inequality. Even during my short lifespan there have been major changes to women's rights. The reading discusses how in 1993 women's rights were brought to focus due to the Global Campaign for Women's Rights. The conference lead to some important changes. States were required "to prevent violations where possible, investigate them when they occur and punish perpetrators." Not only has there been great progress in addressing violence against women in the US but internationally as well. In the last decade, international treaties have provided governments with guidelines on how to deal with the problem of violence against women. Although I know there are still places in the world where women's rights are not what we would consider just, the progress that has occurred internationally thus far gives me hope for these places.
Reading "Women's Rights Are Human Rights" reminded me how fortunate I have been in my life to not have experienced any violence and hardly any inequality. Even during my short lifespan there have been major changes to women's rights. The reading discusses how in 1993 women's rights were brought to focus due to the Global Campaign for Women's Rights. The conference lead to some important changes. States were required "to prevent violations where possible, investigate them when they occur and punish perpetrators." Not only has there been great progress in addressing violence against women in the US but internationally as well. In the last decade, international treaties have provided governments with guidelines on how to deal with the problem of violence against women. Although I know there are still places in the world where women's rights are not what we would consider just, the progress that has occurred internationally thus far gives me hope for these places.
Biology's Role in Gender Differences
I really enjoyed Dr. Widman's presentation to the class. It was especially interesting to me because we spend a lot of time thinking about how culture plays a role in gender differences but we do not put a lot of thought into the biology behind these differences. Not only are there obvious physical differences to men and women but there are mental differences. For instance, Dr. Widman spoke of the differences in the hypothalamus. He said that there was a clear difference in the nucleus (males being organized and females not). The study also found that homosexual males actually tended to lack a clearly defined nucleus. He provided more evidence along these same lines that indicate that homosexual males possess different mental features than heterosexual males. The research has caused Dr. Widman to conclude that homosexuality is not a choice. Although I think that this research is interesting and I somewhat would agree with it, I think that despite these mental differences culture plays an important role. This is the idea of Nature vs. Nurture in which I believe it is a combination. I lot of people want to figure out what percent of behaviors are a result of nature and what percent is from nurture. I think that this percent varies between different people and between the behavior being studied. I also think that it would be nearly impossible to accurately measure this because they are so intertwined. I do not think finding this percent is important.
Another part of his presentation that I found interesting was about the selection of mates and how it differs for males and females. Within this discussion he talked about how in one study they found that women did not like hookups but felt that in order to get more attractive males they had to partake in them. This topic links back to when we talked about how women are expected to be pure and not just engage in random hookups but then they are also expected to be sexy and live up to expectations from the media. It seems like we always come back to this idea of women having to face contradictions. There seems to not be nearly as many double standards for men as for women. I do not understand why that is the case.
Another part of his presentation that I found interesting was about the selection of mates and how it differs for males and females. Within this discussion he talked about how in one study they found that women did not like hookups but felt that in order to get more attractive males they had to partake in them. This topic links back to when we talked about how women are expected to be pure and not just engage in random hookups but then they are also expected to be sexy and live up to expectations from the media. It seems like we always come back to this idea of women having to face contradictions. There seems to not be nearly as many double standards for men as for women. I do not understand why that is the case.
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