Guest Speaker

I thought that the guest speaker today in class was very interesting and her work is also exciting.  The videos that she showed us were very powerful but sad.  It was interesting that these people were able to open up and allow themselves to be subject to judgment from what they have done.  Domestic violence among husbands and wives is a very scary thing that goes on and for people to talk about what happened is very courageous.  This cleansing that these people were able to experience is very powerful and helpful to not only them but the people they have hurt.  Her work with prisoners was very interesting as well.  The fact that she was able to get them to open up about their crimes and how they express their guilt and sorrow for the families was amazing.  These prisoners are considered monsters because of the things that they have done, however, there are multiple things that goes into the way these men were raised.  These men had parents or relatives that instilled this violence and rage inside them but that fact goes ignored because society just wants to blame the man for being a monster and a killer.  The way she is able to express these people’s feelings about battery and murder is quite compelling because it is a difficult thing to do.  To have prisoner’s write music or poetry about what it is like to be in prison is interesting because I would not think that these men would have these feelings or be able to express them in the extraordinary ways that they did.  The struggle that these men go through on a daily basis is awful and every day they have to live with their mistakes from when they were younger.  That would be a very difficult thing to deal with to know that you are not the same person you were 20 years ago but are still in prison for the same crime.  She was a good guest speaker because she informed me about the ways the arts can help express conflict and understanding.

Gender Identity and Expression

The presentation on Tuesday was very interesting and but kind of confusing.  I did not really realize the difference between gender identity and gender expression.  These are two terms that I thought were similar however, the “ gender-bread” paper sorted out these two terms for me.  Your gender identity does not have to match your gender expression.  How you identify your gender could be different in the way you choose to express your gender.  The way you express your gender could be how you dress or how you do your hair (mostly physical appearance).  When Nikki shared her family’s story about her niece it was very sad.  It shows the struggle that most teens have with their parents about gender identity and acceptance.  I know that it is difficult for parents to accept their child’s choice of being gay but they should also accept it because it makes them happy.  I wish that the group would have spoken more about sex-change surgery because I find it to be a very complex surgery and there are a lot of pieces that goes in to it.  The idea about tax payer’s dollars going towards paying for sex-reassignment surgery is a difficult question for me to answer because I do not know the specifics about the surgery in general.  The presentation overall was very informative and cleared up difficult vocabulary terms that I was confused about.  

“You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down”

I thought that the article written by Alice Walker was very interesting but kind of concerning at the same time.  It was interesting to read about the black couple and how the husband viewed not only black women in general, but also his wife.  I think that is pathetic that he cannot get over the fact that black women yes were mistreated and it was awful that were treated that way but he cannot take that out on his wife.  Just because he cannot get over does not mean that his wife is like those women or make her suffer from his own insecurities.  The wife should be proud of her heritage and not hide behind it just because her husband disapproves.  I just do not understand why the husband believes that her body has belonged to someone else and why he cannot love her as she is.  The whole idea of lynching and pornography is still confusing to me.  However, from what I understand is that lynching and sexual exploitation of enslaved black women were just ways for white men control the black people of their community.  For example, the text says “American slavery relied on the denial of the humanity of Black folks, and the undermining of our sense of nationhood and family, on the stripping away of the Black man’s role as protector and provider, and on the structuring of Black women into the American system of white male domination...”  The husband struggles with the fact that he is not a white male but he tries to be because he hides his afro and tries to straighten it.  He is struggling with his identity in society and that is why he is attracted to white women, because if he is attracted to white women then he should be considered white.  It makes sick to think that her husband could feel so negative about his wife and not even be able to look her in the eye.  This idea of culture and race and sexual exploitation is interesting to read about, however, this idea was new to me and it definitely grabbed my attention while I was reading it.

Sports and Media Presentation

The presentation on gender and sports was very interesting and brought up a good discussion among the class.  As a student athlete, I understand the gendered bias in sports.  I have experienced it all my life from unfair gym times, to equipment and uniforms.  It is very difficult to a part of this gendered bias because you can work twice as hard as a male team and still not be credited as "good" enough.  As far as the media is concerned, when ESPN placed more female broadcasters on air, I was shocked.  I was shocked because I never thought that it would happen because most women are not taken seriously in sports.  Media coverage is slighted towards women because their sports seem not as interesting or as "violent."  I enjoy watching  both men's and women's sports equally but after this presentation, I have realized the difference in media and how it effects the overall image of that sport.  The research done on this topic is also interesting to look at because no one thinks to look at what TV channel covers women's sports more than men's or vise verse.   When I watch ESPN, the top plays are my favorite.  However, it is very rare that you see a women's sport on the top plays because of the lack of coverage or lack of interest.   Overall, I thought the group's presentation was interesting and had really good facts and information.

Gender and Healthcare Presentation

The presentation on Tuesday was interesting and brought to life new ideas about the healthcare system that I was not aware of.  The whole stigma around abortion is highly contradictory and very controversial.  I am not sure where I stand on the pro-life pro-choice debate because I believe that once you are in the situation, your opinion can change in a heartbeat.  The decisions that you make about abortion also have to do with the religious background you come from and how your parents also view the situation.  I know that my parents have two completely different views on the issue and it makes it difficult for me to form an opinion about abortion.  I am also not very educated about the laws and ideas about abortion either.  The education in my school about sexual education and that kind of stuff was minimal.  You learned about sex from word of mouth because no one wants to have that talk with their parents.  I thought that the group’s presentation was informative because they provided information about the legislation concerning abortion and the lack of education surrounding the issue as well.  I believe that a woman should have the choice if she is in a situation where she needs to make the decision of abortion, however, I do believe that there should be some restrictions placed on the time and term of the pregnancy.  I also think that there needs to be more education in schools and programs that provide information about sex in order to prevent abortions and high risk pregnancies.  

Women and Politics

I thought our presentation went really well today.  I enjoyed Dr. Plane’s introduction into our topic because he has a good insight into the first ladies and what their role in the White House is and how it has evolved.  I enjoyed the class discussion about the box activity and the stereotypes that are placed within it.  We had a lot of material to cover in our presentation about the roles of the First Ladies and then we looked at 4 different first ladies individually, however, we did not make it to that part of our presentation because there was such a good discussion going!  The video that we played for the class did a really good job at summarizing the point we were trying to make about the stereotypes placed against women in politics and how they are always in a lose/lose situation.  I hope that the chances of women in the political world begin to change because there are women out there that are capable of holding office and doing a good job at it.  The presentation allowed us to organize the way we want to write our literature review paper because we could organize our material and gain a better understanding about it.  The focus of our paper will probably be centered around the idea that the advances in media have allowed for the progression of the first ladies to occur but it is also the fault for the many stereotypes placed against these women in politics.

Women of Liberia

The presentation about Liberia was new information to me and very interesting.  I had no idea that there was a war going on in that country and it is scary to think about.  I do not think that it was fair to un-arm these women because that is the only protection that they have.  The UN tries to support these women; however, with the UN it is an all or nothing.  They either support women completely, or they ignore them completely.  I think that the women of Liberia should be supported and given more respect because they are the ones trying to enforce change.  I think it was a good thing that these women fought for equality and change because it is what they deserve.  They did not deserve to forced into war or conflict.  What upset me the most during this presentation was about how rape is used as form of force against these women to get them to join the war.  This is awful and no woman ever deserves to be placed in a position where they do not have a choice.  I thought that the group’s presentation today was very informative but also scary to think about at the same time.  Their presentation really forced me to think about rape and violence outside of the United States.