Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Inuit women
Paris is Burning
When the movie first started I was startled by the young boys who were expressing their sexual orientation. I have never witnessed young boys who freely spoke about their non-traditional sexuality in today's society. At that point in the film, I assumed that many documentaries and glimpses into homosexuals lives were coming up. This indeed happened, but I didn't expect to see vogues in underground New York.
A ball is a term that I have never used, and probably never would have unless I watched this movie. I was confused at first with the true propose besides just dressing up and being in character. When I finally realized the overall theme, it proved that regardless of how one appears on the outside they can have dreams to be something else in life. For example the military solider, the butch queen, or the Wall Street trader never popped in my head for runway. The ball was an entirely different world, that had to be kept underground. Given that homosexuality wasn't widely accepted still doesn't mean that individuals have to express themselves behind closed doors. This movie proves how close minded society is. We fail to respect differences amongst one another and continuously point the finger as if someone has to right to say they are better than someone else.
The movie took an nontraditional approach to breaking down social norms and implementing openness. Without documentaries and readings on issues that we fail to air in public, many things are hidden from the outside world. The more understanding I receive about people who may not have the same sexual orientation as me, broadens my understanding of different lifestyles.
Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory
Continuously in class we discuss race, sexuality, class and ethnicity and how they affect people's lives. Just as all of these social constructions are intersecting, I never thought about disability be included with these topics. When I read it, I was upset that I never realized how people living with disabilities truly have a different experience when going through life. The way outsiders observe people with disabilities as if they are abnormal or deformed is unfortunate. Many of us are too close minded when we think of how people should physically appear on the outside. One is deemed as normal if they are smart, healthy, or attractive, but individuals who appear to be frail or sickly don't receive as much attention or respect.
Growing up I was always referred to as the person who talked to people who appeared "different." While most people were concerned about the "in" crowd, typically jocks or cheerleaders I was drawn in by the "outcasts" who many of times had physical disabilities. Whenever I saw how people stared at these individuals or made fun of conditions they couldn't control, it made me angry. I could truly see the character of individuals that were held on a pedestal based on the way they treated others. I felt like it was my responsibility to eliminate these hurts that individuals were facing by simply changing the way I treated those that are considered "different."
Medical World and Women
Do doctors take women seriously? This article had me thinking about the episode of one of my favorite television shows, The Golden Girls. When one of the main protagonists feels she is deeply sick she is dismissed because she is an elderly woman. Since her illness has yet to be categorized she is not taken seriously. Just like Audre Lourde, Dorothy had an intuition on her body that proved to be right. Dorothy really was sick and Lourde did not have to have the medical surgery on her liver.
Feelings such as intuition have been linked as a woman’s trait. Arguably, that’s why intuition is not taken as seriously as “scientific facts”. When Lourde first hears about the possibility of liver cancer she says that she would like some time and “feel” the situation out. She wanted to see what was best for her body. She initially was basing this off of her instincts not scientific fact. What was probably the most chilling thing about this article was the doctor’s response. Instead of assuring her that the situation needed to be addressed quickly, he stated, “’If you do not do exactly what I tell you to do right now without questions you are going to die a horrible death’(150).”
The second article, I understood but did not agree, maybe because I have no idea what is fat and what is obese to the author. In my eyes obese in when a person’s weight jeopardizes their health and fat is when a person goes above the range of their ideal body weight. The second article, I understood but did not agree, maybe because I have no idea what is fat and what is obese to the author. In my eyes obese in when a person’s weight jeopardizes their health and fat is when a person goes above the range of their ideal body weight. I remember watching Tyra Banks show and becoming infuriated at the comment that hating fat people is the last tolerated prejudice. Sexism and racism are tolerated in our society as well. I also felt it devalued both oppressions. I felt this article had a similar tone. However, I did like that the author brought up the issue of larger women being accepted in Chicano,Latino, and African Descendant’s culture. This is not a triumph because these groups are marginalized so it does not in anyway help the plight of the overweight.
Race Gender and Work
Race Gender and Work was a pleasant article that seemed to be a highlight of the teaching all year in Feminist Theory and my Spelman career. The roles of women in the
Some would argue that the goals in Jennifer Baumgardner’s and Amy Richards’ Third Wave Manifesta from Manifesta mirror that of an Utopian society. I would argue that it is one of an egalitarian society. After reading Race, Gender and Work, Gender, race-ethnicity and class are not natural or biological categories (12). Society has led me to believe that how the world works and how it is divided in natural. However, there is nothing natural about it. That is how ingrained the oppression in our world is in our sub-conscious. How do we fix the problems addressed in this reading? I believe it is as simple as acting out the points in the manifesta.
Out of all the major points, the first point is the one that stuck with me. This part discussed making unacknowledged feminists, proud feminists. In this class we have spoken about friends, family, and ourselves on having ideals of feminism but not being feminists. Why is that? Is it because we truly feel that feminism is not for us or is it because of some fear that we will take on the stereotypical negative persona of a feminist? I feel if we call it what it is instead of going around the issue that real significant change can be made.
hmm
Cancer Diaries
How are women treated in the medical world? I do not mean medically but how are the perceived by medicinal personnel and how do those perceptions dictate how they are taken care of? In Cancer Diaries by Audre Lorde she is not treated like a person and her feeling on her body are not taken into account. After getting the news she has cancer, the hospital has to determine if she can even pay for her treatment. Lorde recounts
The fist people who interviewed me in white coats from behind a computer were only interested in my health-care benefits and proposed method of payment. Those crucial facts determined what kind of plastic ID card I would be given, and without a plastic ID card, no one at all was allowed upstairs to see any doctor, as I was told by the uniformed, pistoled guards at all the stairwells ( Lorde 150)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
inuit
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
"contesting cultures:westernization, respect for cultures, and third-world feminists"
decisions
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Decisions at the expense of...
It was interesting to read Enloe's five puzzled questions that resulted from her research. It was as if she realized that it is virtually impossible to strive for change or confront certain institutions with either militarization (obviously in a more subtle context) or exposing someone without incriminating repercussions such as masculine revenge. I did however disagree with her third question simply because I do not feel that it is problematic to break the silence in any instance. I truly believe, and can personally testify, that it is cleansing and empowering for a woman to assert her encounters with sexual violence and either reveal or not reveal her perpetrator. Nonetheless, the victim is given a voice and no longer lives in fear! Her ability to vocalize her pain gives voice to all those too afraid or confined to male dominating manipulation. If the news of the rapes were to inflame masculinized revenge I think that we would have had enough representation in these political offices and coalitions to charge each one! In the end, I took from this reading the demand to critique masculinized behavior before it is internalized and remains unchallenged. The unionizing of all women is imperative to break the constructs of division and stationed women that are unaware. This is the goal of not only militarization but the previously mentioned interlocking oppressions as well all to foster the ideology of needed power over another (group/race, nation, human) to stay unaware of the mirroring oppressions of humanity. Not only are the women being "pimped" as mentioned in the reading where the women were known as "comfort women" under the Japanese regime in the prostitution system. These women were in place, maneuvered by the government, to please/comfort these male soldiers to reinforce the need for war as the men were "cared for" to stimulate their compliance or ability to continue fighting. Each person has a role under the governments strategy to maintain its hierarchy and end the struggle for their envied power...at any and all costs!
As an African American woman I can best relate to the struggles of African American women in the United States. It is a reminder of the double burden we carry of one, being female and two, being African American. We face adversity from White and Black men and White women. We are often he subjects of misrepresentations in the media; we are scored by our own men and deemed the Black sheep in any gathering. This is so true and made evident in Enole's piece. Using the example of the military and its inter workings, Enole points out that (to no surprise) militarization privileges masculinity, but it does so by manipulating the meanigns of both feminity and masculinity. what boundaries are set for women who wish to enter a militarist world? Will they constantly be pitted against thier male counterpart? omen's identity is often limited to thier gender that is defined under the pretences of masculinist notions This indicates a notion of difference--sexual difference. Even with religous ideoloies, power and human exiis defined in binary terms. Mohanty declares taht "seual differnce becomes coterminou with female subordiantion, and power is automatically defined in binary terms" (375). In other words, men exploit and women are exploited. Such an occurance my not necessairy be purposely; however, the power structure creates an unabled existence. T histype of exisitence is esential to the "survival of the fittest>"
But, what happens to this seemingly power mandated structure in the Third World? Women in the U.S. have the ability (depending on factors such as race, class, gender, sexuality, etc. ) to rise above their status as oppressed beings. This is made possible by certain job avenues with the implementation of minority outreach programs. However, I think to myself, will and can Third World Women ever rise above the confining barriers? The power structure is predetermined men are expected to work and excel, while women are to remain as servants.
My Western eyes were wide shut
It is also important to note how women can incorporate patriarchial beliefs into their own belief system without even realizing it. For instance, Mohanty's point out how women "assume that woment are a coherent group with identical interests." One thing that comes to my mind is that fact that women in the United States believe that their lives are the dreams of all women. Many American women assume that a women living in other countries will have a better life if they come to America. This thought process is no different than a man who believes that a woman is better off being married because he can provide a better life for her than she can alone.
Mohanty's revelation on "objectification" was an eye opener for me. Before reading this article, I didn't realize that I have practiced objectification. My sister is a woman who loves to cook and care for her family. I have often critized her for what I have labeled "performing her wifely duties." According to Mohanty, I am labeling my sister as "traditional" and myself and "modern." My labeling was to establish that I have the freedom to do as i please and she doesn't. I actually labelled her choice as oppressive. Therefore,I have the better life. Mohanty made me realize that my sister cooking and caring for her family is her choice and not her obligation. This article opened my eyes to my own discursive feminist view.
...and the flies are on their faces
Before I begin this blog, I would like to start with a bit of honesty. Whenever I hear the term “third world” I immediately think of poverty, lack of education, people living on top of trash dumps with diseases and flies flying around their mouths. I know this is terrible. But I am just being honest…and sadly, I believe that most Americans think the same exact thing I do. Thanks history channel. Perhaps that is why Uma Narayan’s article “Contesting Cultures: Westernization, Respect for Cultures, and Third World Feminist from Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions and Third World Feminisms” was shocking from the title. Third World Feminism? Could there be a such thing. Can poor people think about anything else but being impoverished? Who cares about the equality of women…does somebody have some food or clean water though? (Okay, I’ll stop because I am really being an ass). After reading the article, I well understood that Narayan was a westernized as I am but came from a family that escaped the third world. The author raised some very valid points; I have never thought that educating women is still considered, in some parts of the world, to be a westernized practice or idea. I have always assumed that as our world became more interconnected through technological advances that such things as denying women education would have to cease to exist. However, religion, tradition and power still play a strong role in the oppression of women no matter how many advances the world makes. It is up to the women who escape those oppressive situations to return to their homes and share their acquired information with others. There are still many “third world” practices that prevail in America. Men are still beating the shit out of their wives, men are still sticking their dicks and a bunch of different women, men are still treating women as if they are less than equal…and the list goes on. I guess the only difference is in America there are laws against such practices and in other countries there are laws that uphold such practices. But hell, what’s the big damn difference to the woman getting her ass beat.
contesting cultures
westerneyez...westernized...westernlies
Ok this is random and kind of off topic but isn’t the term “third world” problematic in itself?
Western Feminist Domination in Scholarship
I had a discussion in my seminar class last semester about whether there should be a universal feminism. We had a debate for and against universal feminism and the group against universal feminism won. Universal feminism marginalizes some women’s specific concerns of oppression. Women from different countries have different issues according to their culture. For example, women in the United States may be exploiting women in Colombia who work long hours on cotton plantations. Therefore, it is difficult for these women to unite on labor issues. I am also reminded of the NOW movement and how black women's concerns and other women of color were not represented by white women who started this movement. I believe that it is important for women from different countries, ethnicities, and class to express their own concerns regarding oppression. How would you like it if someone who doesn't understand your situation or circumstance speak for you?
Nature VS Nurture
In respect to the reading"Westernization," i felt that this reading took a turn relating nature vs nurture. Nature, in realtion to femenism in a western society is sometimes a term used very fluidly. i noticed in this reading that a lot of her responses about growing up in a "feminist" enivronment was not solely the reason for her labeling herself as on. i felt that i related to this reading on a peronal level because just by growing up around strong, powerful, black women didn't becom the main reason why i feel that i am one now. It was mainly the time when i realized who i was and what my peronal morals and standards were that i decided i was a feminist.
Telling them they are oppressed?!
It disturbs me to read this passage because it makes Western Feminists seem ignorant and insensitive. It referred me back to a reading I studied in Intro. The reading was discussing the Burqa (veil) worn by women in some third world cultures. Western Feminists decided that the burqa was oppressive to these women but never asked these women how they felt. If they had asked, the women would explain that they wore the burqa by choice. It is saddening that Western Women are forcing these ideas of oppression on groups that do not feel they are oppressed. Who are you to tell someone she is being oppressed? Ask her how she feels.
Finding Your Own Voice
"I remember my mother saying, 'What sort of girl are you to talk back like that to your father?'and my thinking, 'But his reprimand was not deserved, and he will not listen to me, and she will not even let me speak" (544).
I related this to African-American culture which suggests to children in general that they should speak when spoken to, mind their elders, and watch their tongues. Although I can understand these lessons are taught with the intent of instilling respect in children, while young black boys will grow up and because they are men can disregard these traditions, what becomes of young black girls? We are in a privileged position to be attending an institute for higher learning, especially one that acknowledges and addresses women's issues so passionately. However, for young black girls not in our position, who were taught when and where their voices were ever relevant, if at all, when they grow older, is is possible for them to grow out of these lessons and into their own voices? How many girls like Narayan are conscious that they do not deserve to be reprimanded but are further reprimanded for speaking up? Realizing there are negative consequences associated with women speaking up, they will eventually refrain from utilizing their voice, and if that happens, what can we do?
Contesting Cultures: "Westernization," Respect for Cultures, and Third-World Feminists
"Decisions, Decisions, Decesions
Feminist and Westernization...good or bad?
Westernization
The Laundry???
In this article Cynthia Enloe, introduced me to a new concept "militarization". This concept she describes as "the step-by-step process by which something becomes controlled by, dependent on, or derives its value from the military as an institution of militaristic criteria"(562). The whole idea of militarization is quite disturbing...it’s reassuring to know that "what has been militarized can be demilitarized" but the truth of the matter is it can also be "remilitarized". What I found more disturbing than that was Woolf's extensive list of everyday items and concepts that are and have potential to be militarized. I was able to see how the examples provided in the text regarding the production of sneakers and the institution of marriage could be militarized...but mascara, umbrellas and laundry??
She made an argument that there are movements that are opposed to "militaristic regimes" however they can encompass militaristic values. When I read that paragraph on page 563, the chapter in Gender Talk that discusses the Civil Rights movement came to mind. The Civil Rights movement was supposed to be about the liberation of all minority people however, the minority women were never seen, heard or even discussed. Their "decisions [militarized] their movements in ways that privilege[d] masculinity and thereby marginalize[d] some men and most women"(563).
I supposed in the society we live in, the militarization of mascara, umbrellas and laundry should not seem too farfetched.
Under Western Eyes: (AN EYE OPENER) Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses
When Mohanty was talking about feminist scholarship not being the mere production of knowledge about a certain subject but a political and discursive practice in what is purposeful and ideological I got kind of lost. What I think she was talking about was that when it comes to women being intelligent and smart is cannot just be us wanting to be smart but it is something we have to do in order to have some type of power?!?
According to this I'm a "third world woman" based upon the fact that I am open about sexuality and Western women are not. They are educated (me too), modern (kinda), has control over their own body (I do), and sexualities (I do too... I just like to educate and discuss all realms of sexuality). We as women are oppressed just as Mohanty stated it's a "shared oppression." Sitting in on a Men in Society class at Morehouse the professor wrote the word women on one side of the board and men on the other. The guys in the class were instructed to get up and write whatever came to mind in reference to their opinion of both sexes. Most of the things regarding women were emotional, dependent, powerless, sexy, child-bearers, smart, teachers, nurses, etc. and men were depicted as being strong, athletic, money-makers, supporters, etc. This bring a strong tie to Mohanty when she said that men exploit and women are exploited. Sitting in that class seeing as though it wasn't my class I did not want to say anything but I had to. I stopped the professor immediately and asked if he thought that both cross-sectionally women and men could both be all those things and he said "Yes, but I feel one is more so than the other." Argh!
Yet, sometimes in WESTERN society that so many try to get most women to conform to it is those women that are the instigators (spelling) that perpetuate those types of opinions. I just wish more men were interested in taking classes and readings things of this nature so they too could understand and could open their eyes to "Western Eyes."
Mohanty defines "Westeren Feminist"
I would have to say when I first started reading this article I was confused. I felt as if she was raising too many issues in just this one article perhaps it would have been better if she broke them down a little better. However, her article was just like any other article that I have read this semester, I have to read it more then once to really comprehend it. In this article I liked how she really broke down the definition of colonization and talked about what it has now become “a denote a variety of phenomena in recent feminist and left writings in general.” (p.373) Colonization is a term that I find can be defined in several ways. When I begin to think about Colonization two words come to mind immigration and migration. These two words I feel describes what Colonization in a short, simple, and sweet way. The relationship between “Woman” and “Women” was talked about in the article. I found this to be pretty interesting and problematic. I do feel that every individual male or female are going to have their own personal views about the context of these two words. Personally, I really could not seem to find a difference between the two terms, besides the one letter difference and one being plural and singular. (Smile)
Western feminist representation of women in the third world and Western feminist self-presentation are two terms that were a must to recognize. Mohanty incorporates Marxists “maintenance” function of the housewife and real “productive” role of wage labor as some of the characteristics of the third world. Third world women may be viewed as women who do not have control over their own lives and powerless but they are still women. Because they are people they deserved to be respected. It is interesting to me to know that the same general point of women being “powerless” is prominent everywhere even globally. We know that as women we are struggling daily but what matters is what we decide to do about the struggle. “ What binds women together is a sociological notion of the “sameness” of their oppression…..between “women” as a discursively constructed group and “women” as material subjects of their own history”(p.374)
As women we must recognized how much power we have and be willing to stand up for what we believe in and know is right. In the case of the “Western Feminist” it is our charge as women to help them. If we all recognize that if one woman struggles then all women struggle, regardless of class, race, and national boundaries “It is time to move beyond the Marx who found it possible to say: they cannot represent themselves; they must be represented.” (p.379)
"Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses"
Monday, April 14, 2008
One section of Uma Narayan's Contesting Cultures: "Westernization," Respect for Cultures, and Third World Feminists from Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third World Feminisms that really stood out to me was when she was talking about her experiences with her parents. She discussed how her mother used to always silence her, but in turn her mother used to get silenced by her mother-in-law. I think that often times, when people get treated a certain way, no matter how much they do not like it, they impose the same treatments on otters because it gives them a source of power. I was raised by my grandmother, and I know that many of the times that I questioned her on why she reprimanded me a certain way, her answer was basically because that is how her mother did it. I really feel where Narayan is coming from because for the 11 years that my mother raised me I was always taught to ask questions. When I started living with my grandmother, I did not understand why I couldn't speak at certain times or why I was told that a child should be seen and not heard. I think that the archaic ways of raising children should be left back in archaic times because this hegemonic view that children should be seen and not heard can really be detrimental, especially when it comes to little girls. If they are taught to sit pretty and not say anything, this can be harmful when it is time to stand up for what you believe in.
"No Remedy for the Inuit" Gender Issue? I think not...
Although Lucas suggest that this has become a gender based problem, from the research of the NACEC; I beg to differ. Genocide is taking place EVERY where and anywhere. Gender does not seem to be the problem here, the problem seems to be "man " in general holding such power that should not be in "his" hands and allowing such ridiculous behavior. Sure Lucas focuses on the dioxins inuit females, but the focus should not be JUST females, but both females and males. Environmental genocide is a WORLDWIDE issue NOT just based on females alone and it would be quite unfair to just base this serious issue on one gender being that there are many others suffering.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Inuit Battle - Its not about gender
Ms. Lucas attempts to address an environmental issue as a gender issue. However, the NACEC research she uses and the information in her article are contradicting. Lucas leads her readers to assume that the findings of the research study conducted by the NACEC were solely based on the affect of dioxins on the Inuit women. This is not true. The study was conducted to test the newly create model of tracking dioxins. Lucas would also have her readers assume that legal claims, discussed on pages 193 through 197, will not work because the battle would be between big govenrment and the Inuit women. Shelia Watts Cloutier’s fight is not gender based. Ms. Cloutier’s fight is for the more than “140,000 Inuit population,” both male and female. Therefore, the battle is between big government and the Inuit people.
Regardless of Lucas’ attempt to make the dioxins issue facing the Inuit people a gender issue; she does make valid points about the lack of feminist thought in international laws. Women in war torn Iraq could benefit from the Convention against Torture and Rape (198) if the International community would adhere to feminist critique about the exclusion of non-state offenders.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
How it Feels to Be Oppressed Me
For students like myself who live lives as minorities within minorities within minorities or who have seriously considered concepts taught in courses like ADW or the introductory women’s studies course, Chapter 2 of Race, Gender, and Work titled “Race, Class, Gender, and Women’s Work: Conceptual Framework” is not new. It is simply a reminder that as feminists we are not working against only against sexism but all systems of oppression. Understanding this idea helps eliminate the divisions that occur between different types of feminists and other marginalized groups. In this chapter it is stated that “it is artificial to discuss them [race, gender, class] outside of historical time and place, and separately from one another” (12). This idea is aligned with works written by Audre Lorde, Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Patricia Hill Collins, and a number of other feminist writers who have written extensively on the interlocking oppressions that affect not only women but homosexuals, people living with disabilities,etc.
On page 16, it is stated that “racial-ethnic and class domination have differentiated the experiences of women, one cannot assume, as do many feminist theorist and activists, that all women have the same experience of gender oppression – or even that they will be on the same side of a struggle, not even when some women define that struggle as ‘feminist.’” This quote draws on a problem that causes divisions. People sometimes feel a need to pick and choose what oppression affects them the most and they do not realize that its not one type of oppression affecting them, it is a multiple oppressions working collectively to oppress you and pin-pointing examples of oppression is much easier than pin-pointing what it is exactly oppressing you. In the excerpt from chapter 2, examples were given that helped clarify ways that marginalized people are oppressed. One example centers on slavery and the effects it has had on people. For many years it was believed that people of color, particularly Africans were enslaved because they were of a darker shade and their oppressors even concocted scientific evidence to “prove” that they were fit for slavery. It has also been said slavery was a result of capitalism. In this way it is difficult for someone to say that people were enslaved only because white people thought little of Africans and it is equally difficult to say that they were enslaved because white people only need them for cheap labor. They equally contributed to the oppression of enslaved people and it is equally important to work against both capitalism and racism.
I think this article is a good foundation for studying the interlocking oppressions. It should be eye-opening for people who believe that they need to choose one oppression to work against and ignore other parts of their lives that being oppressed. It bothers me when people even argue over whether feminist issues are important to advocate for in the face of racism, especially women. It fact this reading reminds me of an essay written by Zora Neale Hurston titled, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.” In this article Hurston discusses her feelings on being colored and from reading into her background in class we realize that she was raised in a predominantly black community unlike other seminal writers and didn’t realize she was colored until she left the boundaries of her community. She obviously did not realize her “coloredness” until white people made her realize it, but even then it wasn’t like a presence hovering over her like race was for others like Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison. Maybe some women have this experience. Until they are in situations where they realize their “womanness”, they don’t realize that they are oppressed. Until they are in those situations in the workplace being underpaid, exploited, and harassed, they may never realize they are being oppressed. Just my thoughts.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Created Concepts of Oppression
Race is the most dominating of the created concepts. The “Taxonomy of race” was created to produce a justification for “racial dominance.” Racial inequality is one of the reasons that women of color experience gender oppression differently than white women. For example, when white women were forced into the subordinate roles of “childrearing” and “homemaker” they experienced gender oppression. However, they saw their oppression as unequal access to the workforce and not the subordinate role. The establishment of their societal roles were not oppressive to them because they “used their economic power, class, to reassign” most of these roles to women of color. This reassignment was based on race and class.
Class is the most underlying of the practiced concepts. Class creates lines of economic status. Within these lines is the hidden fact that regardless of how high a person of color’s SES is, there will always be a person of color beneath a white person. Based on created racial lines, there should never be a person of color above a white person. However, events in history are “transforming” this fact.
race, class, gender and women's works
I enjoyed how the author reinforced the connection between race, gender, class and ethnicity by starting off each section saying that each component is important separately but cannot be fully understood or explained without incorporating the other components. It is virtually impossible to attain radical social transformation without acknowledging nad accomodating the various differences amongst women.
Conceptual Framework
Third Wave Manifesta
"Women, Culture, and Society"
13 points that make TOO much sense
Women Works in RaceClassGender as One
Being a black woman raised in a middle-class family, I’ve been prepared for the worse and expecting nothing but the best professionally and personally. My mother use to always tell me that I will always be reminded of my race and gender which will ultimate affect what class I am placed, depending on my personal persistence and perseverance, into. I believe there is no way to completely erase what society has constructed in regards to how we all view race, class and gender; I do, however, have a newly optimistic view on ways we can re-construct how we all view race, class and gender and that is by acknowledging the burden and damage it creates and revitalizing a more positive and community-based way of living that incorporates the acceptance of all humanity and embracing individuality and differences. This will be a lifestyle change, and changing lifestyles has never been easy or done over night.
working women
The author of the article discussed that it is vital to not only argue about a woman’s status, or her lack thereof, but to recognize the evolution and forever changing nature of male dominance and female oppression and understand ways systems of society mold and construct how the world views gender.
The Politics of the work force.
This article really broke down the system of labor and the roles women and minorities play within it. "Whereas gender creates difference and inequality according to biological sex, race-ethnicity differenctiates individuals according to skin color or other physical features"(17). To all black women, this quote should be very dishearting. Why? Well because when it comes to race in this society, black people find themselves at the bottom, and when it comes to gender, women are at the bottom. So any way you look at it, blacks, women and especially black women get the short end of the stick, in the case of this article this holds ture even in the work force.
This article really reminds me of an article I read in Intro to Women's Studies. "Racial Ethnic Women's Labor: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Class Oppression". In that article Evelyn Nakano Glenn breaks down the laboring system as it relates to women into two models.
PATRIARCHY
The patriarchy model which was developed by Marxist feminists explain the inferiority of women in the work force. There is a sexual division of labor that seperates women's jobs from men's jobs. This goes back to the idea of the public vs. the private; the work force vs. domestic life. Basically, women's occupations should surround home life, children and support of the male (bread winner). Where as the male is allowed to occupy jobs that utilize his intelligence and strength (which are both things women are not supposed to posess).
COLONIZED MINORITIES
Colonized minorities is the other model discussed in the article. This system encourages the economic dependency of minority groups. By providing unfair wages for minorities an instituting "discriminatory barriers" the minorites are often stuck with the worst jobs.
These articles together proves how true this idea of intersectionality is. No matter what way you look the issuses in our society, specifically in this case the labor force, race, gender, and class are a major factor and can not be seperated.
Third Wave Manifesta
It’s nice to read something concise like Third Wave Manifesta between lengthy excerpts from other texts. The thirteen points from the text encompass a majority of contemporary feminism concerns. As women we have more power than we realize. I’m not sure what stops us from utilizing our influence to obtain what would benefit us most. Essentially I enjoyed how the authors touched upon a variety of problems in their agenda.
One such important issue mentioned is securing the reproductive and sexual rights of women. The reality of women being able to have full control over their own body is one I would like to see in my lifetime. Currently we live in a time where women’s reproductive rights are challenged in a multitude of arenas such as legislation that hinders women’s access to reproductive health services and safe and legal abortions. Abolishing the double standard is vital as well. Imagine if women weren’t the only ones held responsible for the actions others participated in as well. Advocating male responsibility in sex, family, etc. would liberate women in so many positive ways.
Equal access and support for women is imperative if women are to advance in society. Raising awareness and supporting ideals that would allow for full participation in society from women must be met if progression is to be made.
Third Wave
Point 3, "Sex for pleasure not for procreation," I agree and disagree with this point. I agree that most people have sex for the pleasure principle. However, there are couples, married and unmarried who use the pleasure of having sex to procreate. I also know that there are people who have given birth to children without having sex. (IE: artificial insemination). Some of these people chose to be artificially inseminated because they could not become pregnant by having sex or the wanted a child without having to have sex.
Point 8, "Equal access to health care." the gap between women's health and the health care for men has create life threatening results for women's health. For example, the following was published in a journal article i used for a research paper i was doing. "A 2000 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that men were more likely to be prescribed cholesterol-reducing drugs than women were, despite a 1999 report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association stating that men and women benefit equally from the drugs."
This led me to number 12. My whole reason for being a feminist is to promote equality overall. I never want to just fight for women's rights although I am a women, I want to fight for equality for all. It would be selfish for me to only look out for my rights. Men and women need to work hand in hand in ending all social oppressions. Of course I have more of a connection with women's rights because of my biological orientation, but all oppressions are intersecting and therefore overlap with both men and women.
On a larger scale this article reminds me of being questioned constantly by others about my major. It's unfortunate that you have to explain what a Women's Studies major is. I never question a biology major, only because I have learned about biology and it is seen as "normal." People don't truly know about Comparative Women's Studies which is sometimes depressing, but silence will never let others learn either. There has to be social change with social action for anything to prosper.
Industrializing Women: Taking Out the Trash
After reading John Lie’s article “From Agrarian Patriarch to Patriarchal Capitalism: Gendered Capitalist Industrialization in Korea” I have realized the strong impact that class has on the lives of women. I have always acknowledged that women are oppressed throughout the world. We are globally oppressed with powerful statements such as “you throw like a girl” and are equally oppressed throughout classes. Li e writes, “In elite household, the patriarch rules over the household… (And) as with elite women, peasant women endure considerable oppression, working harder and longer than men in general.” Women’s position in society is often, universally, viewed as subordinate to men. Rich women are expected to live under the rule of their husbands, much like lower class women are. However, I empathize with the plight of the poor woman because not only does she work, she is also expected to do the same amount of cooking, laundry and caring for children as is the un-working woman. Patriarchs have also affected the amount of money women are paid for their labor especially considering that the work of women is considered a cheap form a labor much like American society views the work of Hispanics as cheap labor. This is a very disappointing and disheartening reality. Much like Americans often joke, “I’ll hire a Mexican to cut my whole lawn for $10 dollars” there are parts of the world (America included) where hiring women is viewed in the same light. There is so much resistance to changing the widely accepted social structure of men on top, women under men, and children under adults and animals under everybody because it is seen in so many aspects of our society. It is hard to view a woman as able to think, lead and earn as much as a man if she is seen as a subordinate in her home and to her children. Women’s equality will never be universally achieved if women, even feminists, allow patriarchy to prevail in certain aspects of their lives. It has to be torn down everywhere for it to cease to exists. That means dismantling patriarchy in religion, in our homes, in our places of work, in music, in advertising and in every social construct. It would mean every woman choosing to stop making statements like “I don’t have to take out the trash because I am a girl.”
Korea, U.S., Europe...There is Gendered Work All Around!
Disrupting Gender Roles
Gendered WORK!!
After reading this article, I feel like Korean women's struggle for liberation is similar to American women's struggle. During and after WWI and WWII, American women were employed with jobs that would have been labeled as "men's jobs". American women began to notice their significance and their rights to equality with men. As a result the first wave of feminism with NOW began. Women's position economically and professionally affects their perception of their innate rights.
Third wave Revolution
Reading this Manifesta gave me pride to be a woman but also made me reflect on how being a women in today's society is constantly regulated. Not just women but all people are constantly told how to live their lives by the main people that live their lives the opposite. Although all of these thirteen points hit the nail on the head the problem is that they even need to be said. These points should be common sense for the common way of living life. So why do people always need to point out the obvious? Don't get me wrong, i agree all the way with how the manifesta has set up their agenda, it just sucks that everyone doesn't think like this. I remember when i was younger and marched in the women's pro-choice march in Washington, DC and i can vividly remember the images that those who were anti-choice held up. It just troubled me how they felt that they had the right to tell women that they never knew, never have seen, and probably may never see again how they should act out their "reproductive roles" accordingly. Many times i feel that people more often try to enforce and apply their individual morals and beliefs on others lives, but make hypocritical decisions when dealing with their own lives, as if they are an exception to their own rules.
These thirteen points right the everyday wrongs in society. If this was publised nationally and posted every where i do think that i could make a difference. Many times others are so wrapped up in who they want to be, how they want to be seen, and how they see others that they dont remember that in the end we are all JUST HUMAN!!! Even though common sense is not always so common, common courtesy is something that we've been learing since we were born. Its important to think of the basics that were once so strictly enforced. Through the media and other coorperate controlled organizations, we have become desensitized to properly identify disrespeful and derogitory actions.
3rd Wave!!!
From reading the third wave manifesta, I think that this is the Manifesto for generation X feminists. I sometimes feel that within the feminist movement our younger generation isn't taken as seriously but I feel that many of my peers are very active and involved and radical and they deserve to be recognized. Also with their #2. Women's rights to bear or not bear children, I spoke with my best friend yesterday about how difficult it is for minors to have abortions without the consent of a parent and I was explaining to my friend that many of these young women will try and preform an abortion on themselves totally harming their reproductive system because they are so adamant about not having a baby. In situations like these I feel that even if you are not pro choice, you must recognize the fact that women are going to try and have abortions no matter if they are legal or not and it is important to advocate for their right to have a safe and sterile abortion. Also I was condom shopping not to long ago and the store that I went to had their condoms locked up behind a counter and I thought to myself how intimidating this must be for a young girl or boy. Many of these kids who want to buy condoms and practice safe sex with probably turn away because they are to embarrassed to ask for a box of condoms for fear of being judged. But they will still have sex, now putting themselves and their partners at risk. I think that it is very important to advocate for not only free condoms for minors at their doctors offices but also free birth control for girls under eighteen who are to fearful to ask their parents or guardians. I think that young people want to practice safer sex but because of the stigma that goes along with sexually active teens, they are too scared. Also I like to consider myself a very strong opposer of violence against women, I try my best to not only educate my female friends and family but males as well about violence against women and how violence does not only have to be physical but is verbal as well. Often many women who are in relationships get coerced into having sex with their partners or spouses and are too afraid to say no for fear of being beaten or verbally assaulted. This too is violence against women and if you are afraid to say NO to someone then maybe you shouldn't be with that person. Someone who claims to love you should never intimidate you or make you afraid of them. Lastly, I agree that it is important for all feminists, no matter our sexual orientation, educational background, or class, to come together on equal ground to fight for what is important for us as women; holistic health care, equal pay, reproductive rights, human rights, etc.