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!