The class today I felt mainly looked as women with relation to their sex. It talked about how as a culture were so used to placing men and women into gender specific categories that we forget who the person really is. The three texts that we read for the class today really talked about the role that many women are put into.
The text called Women’s Sexuality, which came from the book Challenging Sex/Gender Binaries talked about how women and men aren’t born into their specific roles, but as a society we shape what our children become. I thought that this outlook was really interesting because I didn’t even really realize that that went on. I guess even before a child is born they are placed into the categories that their parents want them to be in. Many times they will be given the “gender appropriate” things such as a fire truck or a ballerina costume, even if that is not truly who the child is. The article talked about how there has been a new push to break out of these gender roles and I found that whole notion really interesting. I guess that I never looked at it in that way.
The article, Night to His Day, looked into the idea of gender specific roles also. It talked about how the clothing that we wear down to the way that we brush our hair are all gender traits that we individually pick up. It talked about how the clothes we wear hides out sex, yet at the same time gives us a gender. I thought that this was a really interesting way of looking at things. The way that we dress and the way that we carry ourselves does tell a lot about us with out really showing who we are. However, at the same time, I think that it can really hide who a person is at the same time.
The final article, Introduction to the Second Sex, I found a bit more difficult to read. It talked about how everything is really relative. What I found most interesting in this article was how they compared “eternal feminine” to “Jim Crow”. As a woman I had never thought of myself as being oppressed in such a way but now, looking back I realize that women were treated just as poorly but it was hidden from outsiders.
The articles today were really interesting because I never had thought of things in that light. I realized that we make ourselves what we want to be, and we are shaped by what our parents feel is best.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Day 5- Reading Response
The readings today were all about women and the workspace. The main ideas I think are about how women have never been seen as really anything more than a caregiver to the family, even when it is not truly the real mother. The articles took a deeper look at the roles that women have been pigeonholed into.
The first text, Maid in LA, looked at the idea of an absentee mother. The text focused on nanny’s and housekeepers and how children become attached to their nanny’s. When a child does not have a true mother figure they attach on to their nanny and treat her as a mother. Many of the nanny’s have their own kids back in their home countries and are not able to be mothers to their own children because they are busy being mothers to other peoples children, an idea that has been called transnational motherhood. It was really interesting that almost 75% of the nanny’s that were surveyed were Latino. I’m from California and I guess I never really realized how many of the nanny’s in my area were Latina’s. The article I think brought up some interesting views as to how many mothers are scolded in the eyes of society for not being there for their children however, at the same time there has been a huge push for women’s rights in the workplace.
The second text, Making a Home Making a Living, brought up a great point however about how women are being treated like second-class citizens in the work place. Many women are place on the “Mommy Track” or become victims of the Glass Ceiling. This is interesting because yes, while many women have been afforded opportunities in the work place the opportunities that are available for them are the low-paying jobs. Even if a woman is just as capable and smart as her male counterpart she often times does not receive the same good acknowledgement. This is ironic to me because the last text was about women and how they have nanny’s and housekeepers (granted that the article was focusing more on the job of being a nanny rather then the women who employ the nanny’s) but still it seems that women leave their children at home to go out and be treated poorly by male bosses. The whole notion to me is just so backwards.
The articles today really took a look at women in the workspace and how they negotiate their individual lives and their jobs.
The first text, Maid in LA, looked at the idea of an absentee mother. The text focused on nanny’s and housekeepers and how children become attached to their nanny’s. When a child does not have a true mother figure they attach on to their nanny and treat her as a mother. Many of the nanny’s have their own kids back in their home countries and are not able to be mothers to their own children because they are busy being mothers to other peoples children, an idea that has been called transnational motherhood. It was really interesting that almost 75% of the nanny’s that were surveyed were Latino. I’m from California and I guess I never really realized how many of the nanny’s in my area were Latina’s. The article I think brought up some interesting views as to how many mothers are scolded in the eyes of society for not being there for their children however, at the same time there has been a huge push for women’s rights in the workplace.
The second text, Making a Home Making a Living, brought up a great point however about how women are being treated like second-class citizens in the work place. Many women are place on the “Mommy Track” or become victims of the Glass Ceiling. This is interesting because yes, while many women have been afforded opportunities in the work place the opportunities that are available for them are the low-paying jobs. Even if a woman is just as capable and smart as her male counterpart she often times does not receive the same good acknowledgement. This is ironic to me because the last text was about women and how they have nanny’s and housekeepers (granted that the article was focusing more on the job of being a nanny rather then the women who employ the nanny’s) but still it seems that women leave their children at home to go out and be treated poorly by male bosses. The whole notion to me is just so backwards.
The articles today really took a look at women in the workspace and how they negotiate their individual lives and their jobs.
Day 5- News Assignment
The article that I found was in the magazine Good Housekeeping. The magazine itself I think can be used as an example of the many issues that women today face but the article I choose to take a closer look at dealt with the idea entertaining and etiquette around holiday parties.
The article talked about how a woman should behave at a holiday party and how a hostess should act. The article was written in a way that stated how a woman was in charge of the party and how it was her responsibility.
In the articles that we have read we have taken a look at how women get put into character molds and how they are pigeonholed into a certain view and this article definitely demonstrates how culture has allowed this idea to continue.
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food/manners/holiday-party-etiquette
The article talked about how a woman should behave at a holiday party and how a hostess should act. The article was written in a way that stated how a woman was in charge of the party and how it was her responsibility.
In the articles that we have read we have taken a look at how women get put into character molds and how they are pigeonholed into a certain view and this article definitely demonstrates how culture has allowed this idea to continue.
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food/manners/holiday-party-etiquette
Monday, December 28, 2009
Day 4- Reading Response
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Today we read about women and literature, as well as watched a movie. The focus of today’s class I felt was breaking the norm and how women have been placed into stereotypical roles.
In Virginia Wolff’s A Room of One’s Own it talked about the suppression of women. The article talks about William Shakespeare’s hypothetical twin sister. The article talks about his sister as though she is truly the brilliant one and it uses this to demonstrate how women were oppressed. The article is about how women were excluded from the educated and literary world. She talks, using the twin as her example, about how it must have been for a woman during that time who were just as gifted but were never given the opportunity to learn and excel in the academic realm. I think that it is a really good interpretation of the hardships that a woman would have faced was trying to break the mold. Wolff herself was a rarity; she was a woman author during a period when there were very few women who chased a life outside of being a mother. She is essentially writing about how women would be put down by everyone, men and women alike, even if they were the most talented purely because of their gender.
Castellanos article, Woman and Her Image, however looks at how women have allowed men to treat them this way. The article speaks about how women conform to traditional values and ideas and don’t try and change what is acceptable. It talks about women making themselves into mannequins and relying on men. This dependence on men and what they think of women, be it attractiveness or domestication, has made it harder for women to push forward and achieve equality.
One of the reoccurring themes in this class is the idea of women and a rise to power. In the beginning women were the ones with all the power, but over time men gained all of the authority. The texts today looked at how women have given away the power and how as a culture we have allowed women to become objectified.
Today we read about women and literature, as well as watched a movie. The focus of today’s class I felt was breaking the norm and how women have been placed into stereotypical roles.
In Virginia Wolff’s A Room of One’s Own it talked about the suppression of women. The article talks about William Shakespeare’s hypothetical twin sister. The article talks about his sister as though she is truly the brilliant one and it uses this to demonstrate how women were oppressed. The article is about how women were excluded from the educated and literary world. She talks, using the twin as her example, about how it must have been for a woman during that time who were just as gifted but were never given the opportunity to learn and excel in the academic realm. I think that it is a really good interpretation of the hardships that a woman would have faced was trying to break the mold. Wolff herself was a rarity; she was a woman author during a period when there were very few women who chased a life outside of being a mother. She is essentially writing about how women would be put down by everyone, men and women alike, even if they were the most talented purely because of their gender.
Castellanos article, Woman and Her Image, however looks at how women have allowed men to treat them this way. The article speaks about how women conform to traditional values and ideas and don’t try and change what is acceptable. It talks about women making themselves into mannequins and relying on men. This dependence on men and what they think of women, be it attractiveness or domestication, has made it harder for women to push forward and achieve equality.
One of the reoccurring themes in this class is the idea of women and a rise to power. In the beginning women were the ones with all the power, but over time men gained all of the authority. The texts today looked at how women have given away the power and how as a culture we have allowed women to become objectified.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Day 3- Reading Response
The focus of today’s reading was women who lived as men and about social exclusion. I found all of the articles to be very interesting and informative. The one that I found the most interesting was the last one, Women and gender in early modern Europe. The article itself is not just about women posing as men but it takes a deeper look into all aspects of a woman’s life during that time period.
The article makes a good point about how there were many different steps in a mans life but how there were just here for a woman. The three stages were virgin, wife, and widow or daughter, wife, mother. I found it interesting that the three stages of a woman’s life were still centered and dependent around and upon a man however. When a woman is a daughter and a wife she is dependent upon the male in her life for clothes and food and all of the basic necessities. When she is a widow she is dependent upon a man still because she takes over his estate and goes about doing the things that the man should. In early modern Europe a woman that had been widowed often looked for another husband as well because it was considered necessary to rely on a man.
This article, as well as the one on Catalina de Erauso, talked about women dressing as transvestites. During that time period if a woman were able to successfully dress as a man then she was able to have a more free and enjoyable life. In the case of Catalina de Erauso she was able to help defend her country and her church, something that she never would have been allowed to do if she was a woman. Catalina was able to fool the men into believing that she was a man and I think that that is amazing. In the last article that we read there was a reference to Anna Bonny, she two chose to dress in men’s clothing and thus enjoyed a more feel life as a free willed pirate. It seems that if a woman were able to pull of living as a man and get away with it then it wouldn’t be all that bad. They would be able to live the life that they wanted and not be questioned all the time as to whether or not their actions were correct. However, if they were caught it seems like there was a no tolerance policy towards this type of behavior. In the reading it talks about how women who were found guilty of living as a man were sometimes sentenced to death. Back in that time it was considered to be overstepping your boundaries of womanhood, a line that would not have needed crossing if woman had been afforded the basic rights that men were.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Day 2- Reading Response
The poem, La Malinche, by Carmen Tafolla, was written in 1978 and was inspired by a poem, Yo Soy Joaquin, written during the Chicano movement of the 1960’s. Tafolla wrote the poem as though la Malinche was writing it and it speaks of how life must have been for the woman from Teticpac forced to do the Spaniards bidding.
La Malinche was not her given name. Her given name was Malintzin Tenepal and when the Spanish conquered her they changed it to Dona Maria, but the name that has stuck throughout history is Malinche, or traitor. The people of Montezuma’s’ empire believed that she was “screwed”, that she was raped and she was used but that was not the case. She truly was a valued member of Cortez’s team.
The poem is written from the perspective of the woman called la Malinche. The position taken by the poem narrator about herself is that she was truly one of Cortez’s main advisors. Her family sold her into slavery, but she believes that was the best thing that ever happened. Once she had been sold to the Spanish a whole new world opened up for her, she was respected and valued by Cortez but most of all she was revered. Her people could not understand how such a powerful man could have such loyalty, but she was his “Interpreter, Advisor, and lover”. They said she was screwed, but in actuality she was able to survive and create a better life for herself.
When reading the poem, la Malinche should not be considered to be a pawn in Cortez’s army, but rather she should be considered to have had her own personal agenda. Her people had thrown her away so she wanted to get back at them for selling her to the Spanish; she was not a pawn to Cortez, he was a pawn to her. She used him just as much as he used her. She was “Not tricked, not screwed, not a traitor”; she saw happiness and used Cortez to reach it. She escaped, with his child, and was able to make a better life for herself, a life away from the hatred that she endured in her land.
She was considered by her people to be not loyal, to be conquered woman, and screwed. Some called her a survivor, but the name that she is remembered by is traitor. However, when looking deeper into the text a different person emerges. The poem is written so that the strong and calculating character that truly was la Malinche is shown.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Day 1- Reading Response
Step 3, Study Question A:
Juana Ines de la Cruz, also known as Sor Juana, was a well-educated woman who lived in Mexico during the 1600’s. She was a self-taught scholar, mathematician, poet and nun. She is considered today to be a Mexican writer who wrote at the start of Mexican history. She is considered by many to be a child prodigy because by the age of 3 she had learned to read and write, by 5 could do math, and at 8 had written a poem on the holy sacrament. She was sent to Mexico at age 16 and begged her parents to allow her to disguise herself as a student and attend the university. However, when her parents did not allow her to do this she continued her studies in private. In the late 1660’s she entered the convent and stayed a member until her death.
Sor Juana was accused of acquiring too much intellect. Basically she was said to be to smart and that she was educated beyond that which a woman should be educated. It could be justifiable to accuse a nun of “too much intellectual interest” because if they were too smart than they might recognize that women were not inferior to men; an idea that the church rested its laurels on. The church did not want women to gain intellect because it could threaten their power. If women gained knowledge and realized that they truly were of equal intellect to men then the church would not have been able to hold onto the power that they had. The political reasons why women were not allowed to gain intellectual knowledge (power) are that once in power women could change the sexist social structure that was in place. Also, if they gained intellect they would realize that all women should be allowed to be educated and that would lessen the grasp that the men of the era had over their women. If women had been allowed to go to school and be educated the way that men of the era were allowed to then we would live in a very different community today.
If you were a woman in the 1600’s the best idea for you was to never let a man know how smart you really were. Sor Juana was a well-educated woman, but I doubt that she ever really showed the extent of her knowledge, which is a shame because women needed to demonstrate their intelligence in the 1600’s.
Juana Ines de la Cruz, also known as Sor Juana, was a well-educated woman who lived in Mexico during the 1600’s. She was a self-taught scholar, mathematician, poet and nun. She is considered today to be a Mexican writer who wrote at the start of Mexican history. She is considered by many to be a child prodigy because by the age of 3 she had learned to read and write, by 5 could do math, and at 8 had written a poem on the holy sacrament. She was sent to Mexico at age 16 and begged her parents to allow her to disguise herself as a student and attend the university. However, when her parents did not allow her to do this she continued her studies in private. In the late 1660’s she entered the convent and stayed a member until her death.
Sor Juana was accused of acquiring too much intellect. Basically she was said to be to smart and that she was educated beyond that which a woman should be educated. It could be justifiable to accuse a nun of “too much intellectual interest” because if they were too smart than they might recognize that women were not inferior to men; an idea that the church rested its laurels on. The church did not want women to gain intellect because it could threaten their power. If women gained knowledge and realized that they truly were of equal intellect to men then the church would not have been able to hold onto the power that they had. The political reasons why women were not allowed to gain intellectual knowledge (power) are that once in power women could change the sexist social structure that was in place. Also, if they gained intellect they would realize that all women should be allowed to be educated and that would lessen the grasp that the men of the era had over their women. If women had been allowed to go to school and be educated the way that men of the era were allowed to then we would live in a very different community today.
If you were a woman in the 1600’s the best idea for you was to never let a man know how smart you really were. Sor Juana was a well-educated woman, but I doubt that she ever really showed the extent of her knowledge, which is a shame because women needed to demonstrate their intelligence in the 1600’s.
Day 1- Another Women Who I Think Fits The Paradigm
The articles that we have read so far in this unit take a look at the idea of asceticism. In the passage we read called “Witch and Virgin” we get the idea that women who were chaste were able to gain freedom; they were able to make the decision to forgo marriage and have a lifestyle where they abstained from worldly pleasures and devoted themselves to god. The article talked about how women were considered to be inferior and how they could not be trusted.
In the movie Miss Congeniality, FBI agent Gracie Hart experiences what is it like to be discriminated based upon her looks and gender. Through the entire movie she is forced to work twice as hard to be taken seriously. She from the very get go is trying to prove that she is just as capable as her male counterparts on the force and that she should have the same freedoms that they have.
At the start of the movie she follows her instincts and because of this a male officer is shot. If she had been a male and this would have happened it would not have been as large of a deal but because she was female it is shown as weakness and people look down upon her for it.
Later on in the movie when she s undercover she is not taken seriously because of her looks. She is competing in a “scholarship” fund and people do not take her seriously because she is supposed to be the pretty one who looks nice. They do not realize that she is smart and able and disregard her ideas.
At the end of the movie she is the one who discovers who is trying to sabotage the pageant but her boss will not listen to her because she is a “pageant” girl now. He looks past that she is a government agent and can only see the person in front of him, that person being the made up pretty girl. In the end she saves the pageant and is redeemed but in many ways it is hard to break the idea people have of her in their head.
Gracie gains her freedom throughout the movie based on her actions over a period of time, just as women of the medieval age were able to gain their freedom through asceticism.
To Read More About The Movie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Congeniality_(film)
In the movie Miss Congeniality, FBI agent Gracie Hart experiences what is it like to be discriminated based upon her looks and gender. Through the entire movie she is forced to work twice as hard to be taken seriously. She from the very get go is trying to prove that she is just as capable as her male counterparts on the force and that she should have the same freedoms that they have.
At the start of the movie she follows her instincts and because of this a male officer is shot. If she had been a male and this would have happened it would not have been as large of a deal but because she was female it is shown as weakness and people look down upon her for it.
Later on in the movie when she s undercover she is not taken seriously because of her looks. She is competing in a “scholarship” fund and people do not take her seriously because she is supposed to be the pretty one who looks nice. They do not realize that she is smart and able and disregard her ideas.
At the end of the movie she is the one who discovers who is trying to sabotage the pageant but her boss will not listen to her because she is a “pageant” girl now. He looks past that she is a government agent and can only see the person in front of him, that person being the made up pretty girl. In the end she saves the pageant and is redeemed but in many ways it is hard to break the idea people have of her in their head.
Gracie gains her freedom throughout the movie based on her actions over a period of time, just as women of the medieval age were able to gain their freedom through asceticism.
To Read More About The Movie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Congeniality_(film)
A Little About Me
Ok, so here it goes...
My name is Nicole and I am a Sophomore at the University of Arizona. I was born in Long Beach, California but since then have lived all over the US. When I'm not at school I live in Moraga, a small town outside San Francisco in Northern Cali.
At Arizona I am a Pre-Business major with a Political Science minor. I'm in Pi Beta Phi & love it. I played on the women's Water Polo team last year and decided to take this year off and focus on school.
I love music and movies. I'm really involved in politics and eventually want to go into campaigning. I love my family and friends, I really don't know what I would do with out them. I love to be outdoors. I have tons of pets at home & I love my border collie Riley.
My favorite saying is "Carpe Diem"
0;)
My name is Nicole and I am a Sophomore at the University of Arizona. I was born in Long Beach, California but since then have lived all over the US. When I'm not at school I live in Moraga, a small town outside San Francisco in Northern Cali.
At Arizona I am a Pre-Business major with a Political Science minor. I'm in Pi Beta Phi & love it. I played on the women's Water Polo team last year and decided to take this year off and focus on school.
I love music and movies. I'm really involved in politics and eventually want to go into campaigning. I love my family and friends, I really don't know what I would do with out them. I love to be outdoors. I have tons of pets at home & I love my border collie Riley.
My favorite saying is "Carpe Diem"
0;)
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