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.  

Rape Presentation

The class presentation on Thursday was about rape culture and how difficult it is to structurally define what rape is.  The group’s presentation was informative and really forced me to think about rape and how I only view rape when it comes to women.  I thought that their presentation was clear and informative and the article that they provided with us to read was also interesting as well.  I feel as though the education about rape and the different ways that it can happen is also important.  Because rape has a stigma that it just has to be violent.  However, there are multiple forms of rape that are not necessarily violent in a physical way but psychological and an emotional way.  I also never realized how many people was that aware of rape and when it could happen, I know that it could happen to me but I never walk around scared that every time I see a man that it could happen.  I wouldn’t mind taking a self-defense class because I believe that they are the best form of protection for a woman… along with pepper spray. 

Feminist Movement to End Violence

I agree with the fact that violence against women is rooted in male domination; however, men are not the only ones that are violent.  Women can be just as violent, but it goes un-noticed because the idea of violent women goes unrecognized.  The idea of white supremacy and capitalist patriarchy are the fault for the rise in violence against women.  I don’t care how masculine or powerful a man thinks he is, in my eyes, they are super weak and insecure if they go as far as to hit a defenseless women or child.  You are not strong because you cannot face the fact that you suck at something or that your wife is more successful then you.  If you truly respected her, you would be happy for her success rather than bitter about it.  In most social situations though, most women try to exert their dominance among a group a women because they feel the need to exercise what power they have and among women it is the easiest to do that.  Women may not enforce physical violence among other women, but we are just as bad when it comes to psychologically and emotionally inflicting pain.  Because most women are caretakers of the home, they instill a large idea about violence among their children.  Whether violence is bad and will not be tolerated, or that violence is the best way to solve your problems.  In my household, violence was not the answer and nothing good ever came out of it.  But with some of my friends I know that their mom taught them to stand up for themselves when they have been attacked.  This continuation of saying violence is okay needs to be stopped because the problem will never be fixed.  I agree that not only violence against women needs to stop, but violence against anyone in general needs to end because no good ever comes out of it except more conflict.

A New Way of Thinking

After taking multiple biology and psychology classes, my idea of what testosterone and estrogen consisted of was pretty concrete.  However, after reading Angiers chapters 14 & 15 my notions of these two hormones have changed a little.  These two chapters have challenged the way I understand testosterone and estrogen.  I did not really realize how over-exaggerated testosterone in males is but it is an overstated subject.  People tend to forget that women also have testosterone in our bodies; however, the degree to which it is expressed is minimal.  It said in the chapter that testosterone is linked to those umbrella terms under aggression.  There is not one significant way to say that just because someone is aggressive; it is due to the amount of testosterone in their body.  Women get mad and angry but we do not have high levels of raging testosterone in our bodies.  This aggression among females is learned at a young age.  There is a sentence in the chapter that says “the first job of being a girl is learning to survive in a group of girls.”  I couldn't agree with this statement more because even in kindergarten, if you couldn't stick up for yourself, you were screwed.  In my experience, every girl as the tendency to be aggressive among a group of girls.  It is this notion that we need to be heard before we are judged and if we are misunderstood that’s not okay because then people will judge us.  But in my opinion, people are going to judge either way so even if you do say something the wrong way, at least you got it off your chest and was blatantly honest with that person.  I believe that the use of indirect aggression is worse than direct aggression because at least if a person is willing to be blunt to your face, they have respect for you.  In high school, I would have rather called nasty names by my “friends” rather than find out from someone else who isn't really my friend.  Being stabbed in the back by your best friend hurts… a lot.  Because then where does the confrontation come in?  it would be hard to go to that friend and say well so and so told me this…but then nine chances out of ten, she will say “oh no I never said that,”  bullshit.  This is why I have a hard time believing in female solidarity.  To me there is no such thing in my generation because women are out for themselves and that’s about it.  There is always a competition between women that never seems to end.

Questioning of Femininity

The “ Ain't I a Woman” article brought to life the stereotypes of what it means to be feminine.  My opinion of the article was that femininity is the fault for women not having rights.  There was a quote from the article that states “If God had desired the equality of woman.  He would have given some token of His will through the birth, life and death of the Savior.”  This quote is basing the idea of that creation of sin by the women “Eve” is the fault for God not granting women rights.  I disagree with this statement because it is not fair to base the events of creation off of the sins of Eve.   Women are not respected or granted rights because of the stereotypes that are placed upon them.  In her speech, she asks the question “ ain't I a woman?”  She asks this question because to most men, she was not a woman because she was an “amazon” and “un-feminine.”  She believed that women do deserve rights and equality no matter how they exude femininity.  She also said that people are wicked in their opinion of women and I agree with this statement.  This statement is true because most people cannot get past the stereotypes of how women are and how they should be.  It bothers me that most people do not fully respect women because we have to work twice as hard as men and we barely are succeeding.  I hope that things will begin to change but right now in the workforce for women, the statistics are against us.

Why Is Homophobia a Threat?

The Gender Treachery article by Patrick Hopkins answers the question as to why homophobia is a threat to the idea of masculinity.  There is standard that men and society create for themselves to define their masculinity.  Personhood is a person’s personal identity and how one describes themselves.  Therefore, if there is a threat to manhood, then it is a threat to personhood.  Gender treachery is a new term to me because I did not know there was a term to describe homosexuality or bisexuality in a broader sense.  These types of gender treacheries are considered a threat to some people’s identity.  I do not understand why some men feel threatened by homosexuals because they are still masculine just in their own way.  Homosexuals still have masculine qualities they just define their personhood in a different way.  The term hetero-sexism is new to me because it is such an obvious trait that a person can possess.  Hetero-sexism is characterized as valorizing and privileging heterosexuality, but I believe that people take this term to the extreme.  An extreme form of hetero-sexism is when a person physically or emotionally acts on their idea of hetero-sexism towards a homosexual.  I agree with the statement made by Hopkins when he says that “Homophobia is a product of institutional hetero-sexism and gendered identity.”  Because if our society told us that homosexuality was normal, we would not have worry about the threat that homosexuality perceives.  Instead, we would just understand that homosexuals differ from us just in their sexual preference.

Men and Violence Video

The movie we watched in class was very interesting and brought to light many ideas about masculinity that I have not thought about.  The movie pointed out this new idea of masculinity and how men feel as though they need to wear this mask or “front” for people.  I agree that there is a correlation between begin tough/violent and to being masculine.  However, I do not agree that this should be this way because men should be allowed to be vulnerable just like women should be allowed to be tough and strong.  This violence begins at a young age with violence among boys or boys conflicting violence on girls.  People view violence as gendered issue, however the statistics show that men are the ones that committing the most violence in our society.  This gendered issue is rendered masculine makes it difficult for women to violent.  If women are violent it is viewed as a big deal but when men do it, it is invisible.  The most interesting thing from the movie was the idea that throughout the years men got bigger in the media and women became thinner and smaller.  This was created so that women take up less space and are pushed aside.  The rise in anti-gay violence proves men are insecure about their own sexuality which causes them to assert the fact that they are “tough guys” when in reality it just makes them hated among people.  The rap and hip/hop lifestyle in my opinion is the way men of color feel as though they need to hyper-masculate themselves.  This is because they have lost respect due to their race so they make up for it by intimidation and violence.  This behavior is caused by the constant message that manhood is connected to violence and control.  Video games and sports also have this idea of gaining respect by disrespecting other people.  This is not what organized sports should be about; however, among young boys their fathers instill this sort of competition among one another.  This was a very informative film and I agreed with most of the points that the narrator made in regards to violence and films among men.

Marxism and Socialist Feminism

In chapter 3 of Tong’s book, there is a discussion about what Marxism is and how it regards to feminism.  Marxism regards classism rather than sexism as a fundamental cause of women’s oppression.  However, socialist feminists are not certain that classism is a women’s worst or only enemy.  Social feminists believe that patrilineal roles play a major role in women’s oppression and without it; women would be able to experience themselves as a whole.  Marxism has a belief that “Men and women, through production collectively, create a society that, in turn, shapes them.”  I agree with this statement because men and women make a name for themselves in society without the help of anyone else.  However, I disagree because from the beginning women have been given an unfair advantage in regards to shaping themselves because they are constantly being defined by something else.  Both Marxism and Socialist Feminism claim that social existence determines consciousness.  This means that women are constantly being reminded of what they should be and how they should be.  This creates a negative self-conscious of themselves.  I agree that women should be viewed as a collective whole rather than fragmented beings.  This is difficult to instill in a women because we are constantly being pounded down by society.  This creates a feeling of alienation within a woman that makes them feel unaccepted and unappreciated.  The gender gap in the United States is terrible and hits close to home with me.   My mother pounds the pavement with her career and will stop to no end to get what she wants.  My mother now holds the position as the first female to ever be Frederick County manager of finance.  This is an amazing promotion for my mother because she makes twice as much as her male colleagues do.  I love the fact that I know a woman who has embraced the gender gap and didn’t let it defeat her.  

Third Wave Feminism- Inclusion or Confusion?

Chapter 8 in Tong’s book on postmodern feminism was very interesting.  The book said that postmodern feminists reject phallocentric thought and it also rejects any mode of feminist thought that aims to provide a single explanation for why women are oppressed or all the steps women must take to achieve liberation.  I thought the section on symbolic order was very interesting because it gives women an avenue to change language and develop feminine writing to change the way Western society speaks and thinks about women.  This will allow for women to have a voice and to speak out against issues that they feel strongly about.  Cosmetic surgery was brought up in the context of begin obedient to certain discourses that women are placed upon.  Cosmetic surgery is definitely a patriarchal construct because it is an institution that forces women into unnecessary extreme beauty practices.  I agree with this statement because there is not one logical reason for women to have these surgeries because it leaves them vulnerable to outside approval.  This is unnecessary approval because as long as a woman is comfortable with herself, then no one else’s opinion should matter.  But the problem is that, that kind of approval is what makes women have many surgeries to the point where they do not even look like the same person!

Third wave feminism is eager to state that gender shouldn’t and doesn’t matter.  Women should be allow to do what they want to do because it makes them happy, not because society tells them they should or shouldn’t.  The thing I agree with about third wave feminism is that you should not have to wake up every morning and constantly be reminded about your gender.  There are more important things to worry about.  However, third wave feminism is so accepting that I have to disagree with it at some points.  There was an example of a “feminist porn queen” and how third wave feminists agree that this is possible.  I disagree with this statement because no matter how happy a woman is stripping, she is still being sexually exploited by men and the respect factor of that kind of work is still degrading for women.

Gender is Invisible… to Men

After reading the article “Men as ‘Gendered’ Beings,” I did not realize the comparison of gender identity as it applies to men and women.  For women, we are reminded of our gender everyday because there is some stigma out there that says look at men I am a woman.  In the article, it says that men often think of themselves as genderless.  To them is like gender does not exist or matter in our everyday life.  This article made me step back and think about the ways in which gender is portrayed in our everyday life.  The reason why gender is so invisible to men is because we do not treat them any differently no matter the given situation.  Men are always treated as “strong” and “masculine” beings; however, women can be portrayed and convinced they have different qualities every day.  It is like women cannot figure out who they are because we are constantly being told you have to this at this time, but be a lady another.  it is so frustrating because women live with the idea of gender every day.  This can be compared to the example he uses with the black women who says she has to look race in the face every day.  Women are in a constant fight with their gender but men are just now observing that gender does exist for women and it sucks.

Men Should Do This.. Women Should Do That...

After reading the Gender Stereotypes and Roles article by Susan Basow, the origin of gender roles seems more apparent to me now.  In the article, the writer establishes the four different types of societies and how women and men’s ideas about gender shifted because of the work required in each changing society.   In foraging societies, which are hunting and gathering societies, women and men’s work was about equal.  Men were hunters and women were gatherers.  Women were able to contribute greatly to the food supply; however, the men in the society still had the more respected job as a hunter because it was considered more dangerous.  I disagree with this because it was just as dangerous for women to have children in order to keep the society going.  Horticultural societies appear to be somewhat male-dominated but there is some equality to the women.  The writer states that agrarian societies are very patriarchal because men tended to dominate the division of labor.  I agree with this statement because this restricted women’s behaviors and lives.  They contributed less to the food supply because they were thought to have less strength then a man.  There were no jobs created for women in agrarian societies because it was thought that men and their sons could be the only ones doing the work.  This lead to an even bigger problem with industrial societies because women are written off as just housewives and care takers.  This is the opposite in my household because my mother is dominating at work (as well is my step-dad) but my step-dad fills in the role as care taker and cook when my mother cannot do so.  There are no gender roles in my family which is why I believe that biology, in a sense, is overrated because a woman can do a men’s job and do it well.  She just has to be able to work and accept/enforce the stereotypes placed against her.

Men are loners, Women are supporters

I enjoyed reading the War and Gender article because I believe that we should support the notion that men are autonomous and women are connected.  However, most women can be independent and support themselves without the help of men.  And another way to look at it, is that men cannot take care of themselves and be happy without a women.  That doesn’t have to mean that men cannot be supportive or that women cannot be on their own.  The article pointed out that girls and boys develop different moral systems while they are growing up.  Men tend to fear connection and women tend to fear competition.  I agree with this statement because no women would admit that she is better than another women, however, she would go to great lengths to make sure that people knew her name over someone else’s.  But I disagree with the fact that men are afraid of connection because most men do want to have a connection with a women, but they are just afraid of getting hurt or hurting someone else.  But nothing ventured, nothing gained right?  Men and women are 2 broad ends of the spectrum because of the moral system we develop when we are young.  Our culture influences us more so than biology because we either become sensitized to certain situations or we have just never been exposed to them in the first place.  My father grew up with 3 sisters and he was able to gain a very good understanding of women by the time he was in his early twenties.  He was sensitized to how they act therefore, when my sister and I were born, he was able to understand the things we were going through.  This doesn’t make him any less manly he was just sensitized to how women interact with one another because of his sisters.

Sisterhood or Rivalryhood?

What is sisterhood?  According to Dictionary.com, it is “an organization of women with a common interest, as forsocial, charitable, business, or political purposes, or the state of being a sister.”  Women like to think that they are all in this together for gender justice, but in my opinion we are not.  Since a young age, most women are in competition with one another, like who had what first and who wore what.  Even to this day my mom says that when younger women go out, it is not to impress the boys (well that is a big part) but we dress up to compete with the other women that are out there.  No woman wants to be “one up-ed” by another woman…so how does sisterhood work in order to achieve the common goal of gender justice?    I believe that in order for this political movement to work, all women need to get on the same page and stop the stereotypes.  All women share a common ground that we are victimized everyday by stereotypes, and in some societies, by men.  This is a scary thought because we need to have one another’s backs in these situations instead of during the other cheek and pretending it is not there.  If a woman has feminist thoughts then she should stand proud and say she is a feminist instead of hiding from the idea.  I believe that when women unite together, we could be a force to be reckoned with and that is powerful.  Feminist politics need to have strong women that are willing to work together instead of fighting with one another over small judgments.  As women we all share one same idea, we all want to be equal to men somehow some way, but we do not really know where to start.  I believe that with feminist politics it will give women the voice they need to start their journey of ending sexism.

It's About Time

“States can never again push violence into the corner or off the table.  They are accountable, now and in the future, and must respect, protect and fulfill women’s right to life free of violence” (pg. 26).  I enjoyed reading the “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” article because the feminist movement around the world has done a lot to ensure the rights of women.  These rights and movements have forced the government to take responsibility for what happens to women and that will force them to recognize the issues at hand.   Most women live in constant fear of men because they feel as though they have no way out and no woman should feel that way every day.  The most interesting section of this article, in my opinion, was about the rape in marriage because I believe that that is something that goes unrecognized but it is the most shameful form of rape.  Every woman deserves to know that she has a way out of any bad situation and now we have the tools and resources to make sure women are protected.  The African Union’s Protocol that they adopted makes me feel empowered because of the people out there fighting for women to make sure that women are granted the rights they deserve to have.  It is a good feeling to know that we have legislation on our side because women everywhere are undermined but now that is changing because of these organizations.  It would be amazing if one day, all around the world, that women no longer have to live in fear and in silence. 

Women as CEOs

In our class discussion, a point was made concerning occupation and gender.  It is perceived that when men are strong and dominating in the work place it is considered that they are just doing their jobs and nothing is questioned.  However, when women are dominating in the workplace, they are considered unfeminine and a “bitch.”  Women in the workplace are not respected most of the time in corporate offices because of this stereotype.  My situation in my family, however, is different from this said stereotype.  My mom works for Frederick County government and she was recently promoted from treasurer to the director of finance.  This was a huge step for my mom in her career and she was against all odds and 3 other men while being a person of interest for this position.  She got the job and she was immediately pressured to not mess up or get rattled because if a “man” were in her position, that would never happen.  She was under a great deal of stress but she earned the name “pit-bull.”  She received this nickname because of her ability to state her opinion to her male colleagues and not backing down from a fight.   My mom is much respected in her position because her colleagues have realized that she does her job as well as a man would if the sexes were reversed.  She can be that typical business “bitch” but I just consider her being strong and decisive.   She also understands when she is in the wrong or if her idea doesn’t work.  My mom is one of the many women that were able to disprove what was going on in the corporate world because she is able to do her job and keep a household strong.  I believe that the idea of occupation and gender should no longer be an issue because people have different skills that should not be gender specific.  If you have more talent than the person sitting next to you, you should get the job because of your accomplishments and skills, not your gender.  I also found the Valenti reading very interesting because she is so outspoken and does not really care what people think about her because being a feminist is so instilled in her.  She is proud to be a feminist and I believe that more women should be as outspoken as her!

Who We Choose to Be

 After reading Chapter 6, “Issues of Subjectivity and Identity,” the pronoun “I” has a much larger meaning than just being a part of speech.  This pronoun represents how we assimilate into a particular culture, what values and beliefs we choose to have and it is our own self-identity.  Being at Juniata allows me to develop my own sense of that pronoun because I am able to live on my own and make my own decisions.  There are many different things that shape my self- identity but it is my social identity that changes.  My social identity changes because of either the situations that I am put into, or it is also shaped by the people I am with.  I am subjected to a different social identity every day of the week but my self-identity inside of me remains the same.  In this reading it says that we are not original but we are creative.  I agree with this statement because we all have creative thoughts and creative ways in which we do things, however the principle remains the same.  The example used in the reading was about dreams.  Everyone dreams, but each person has their own dream that is unique to them.  We all have a self and social identity, but the way we create each identity is unique to each individual.  I hope that after this class I am able to decide if I am a feminist or not.  I struggle with this as being a part of my social and self-identity because the “f” word is full of stereotypes and the concept, in my opinion, can be confusing to most people.

-Kelsea 

Gender and Conflict

I am excited for Gender and Conflict to start!