Blog 5

FIFE:
I definitely like how the author is trying to shine light on the fact that the feminist movement had changed a lot. The author was trying to say a little too much at once, but what I got out of the chapter I agree with. That is, the feminist movement only affected women in high social classes to start out with. I think the movement today still has a hard time reaching out to all social classes. It brings back the question: how big of a fight is the feminist movement fighting? If we don’t include issues of class, race, etc. then how can the movement reach all women equally?
In chapter 16 I don’t think the author places enough emphasis on how important it is that individuals have the right to choose their sexual preferences. When there are officials in our current government who believe that many forms of sexual practices should be illegal (for example homosexuality), and when a large portions of our population vote down bills like Prop. 8 in California, the feminist community still has a lot of work to do in order to “sell” sexual freedom to the public. I don’t think that sexuality should define what the feminist movement is about explicitly, but the feminist movement must fight for these rights. What other movement is going to speak out for a woman’s sexual rights in terms of mutuality of the sexes and races?
The reading from the packet brings up a great point about body image at a young age in women. Let’s educate young girls and women about the culture that is shaping who they are. As an adolescent, I hadn’t the slightest idea what cultural roles I was being bread into, but definitely felt the push. I can remember the women in my science and math classes becoming less and less engaged. I can remember trying to figure out how to be “cute” for boys by looking at Britney Spears. I can remember a sudden dislike for the color pink when all of my girl friends liked it. I can remember the first high school physics class I had with all boys. And now, I am still trying to figure out why I think that I look better with makeup on. If our culture’s impact on young men and women were discussed more bluntly at a young age, I think that a lot of my friends –men and women both- would have benefitted.
As for the soundtrack that represents gender… I chose songs that represent my true beliefs on gender and gender relationships (how many love songs are there out there?), songs that shaped my view of gender at a young age, and songs that I enjoy listening to despite them being obviously misogynistic or sexist.

Leave it to Jeff Buckley to write a song like this. I love his view of his partner, and how explicit he is in talking about his experience. He sings about his fear in his relationship, which is by no means conventional for most male singers… but how many ladies out there wanted a piece of Mr. Buckley? I love this song because it really shows a man’s breaking point.
2. Ok so this song is a little bit of a guilty pleasure. Talk about manly in a new light.
3. Ok for real, this song is awesome. Sure it objectifies women a little (ha, or a lot), but at least they are promoting a healthy figure. This song reminds me that I’m supposed to have curves.
4. I like the part about shaving her legs… I haven’t shaved my legs for a long time now… despite my hairy genetics.
5. So this song talks about a kind of “one-night-stand” between a man and a woman. I like, however, that it’s the man asking if you think he’s sexy… not a women.
6. This song I hold dear to heart. Interactions between genders, and ages, can always seem a little promiscuous to others. I say to hell with that.
7. Classic idea… all men are creeps. I know a lot of obsessive women too!
8. Van Morrison seems so manly to me… I think it’s the way he mixes singing about his adolescent feeling and mature feelings together.
9. Van Morrison also does a great job at describing his love… I think he does a neat job at describing a woman… very feminine, but he’s also being a little feminine about it.
10. She’s out there.
11. This song is just hilarious. Religion always seems to play different roles for each gender, what role is it playing here?
12. This song is about someone getting stabbed… as a metaphor. This song really demonstrates the difference in the way our genders treat breakups.
13. Have definitely met a few boys like this in my lifetime… just a few.
14. I hate this song… looks only.
15. Need I say more?
16. Good evil woman song… don’t agree all the time.
17. Who screams “I hate men” more than Alanis? There is definitely more to her than that. Her lyrics are really intelligent, she knows what’s up and is a great example of a strong woman.
18. 8th grade for me.
19. Now there are a lot, a lot, of men like this.
20. Ok so this song is really inappropriate. Why do I still think it’s funny?
21. Tom Jones held the women’s movement back by 20 years.
22. …so did ZZ Top.
23. Can you believe I listened to this in 6th grade? So much for boy bands being innocent.
24. As catchy as they come… what a poetic way of telling a stranger that you are kind of into them.
25. Listen for the name “Virginia”
26. Stadium rock meets lesbianism? I think not. Cheep play on a classic fantasy.
27. I was really happy when this song came out. It shows that if you take the idea of Barbie a little too seriously, you get a number one hit! Let’s all play Barbie because math is too hard.
28. This song illustrates high school gender roles in a nutshell. I can’t believe this was what I was being taught in the 6ht grade.

Advertisement Project

1. Of course there are ads that bother me all over the place. One extremely sexist commercial that confounds me every time I watch it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck14LKBI9GM. As if it weren’t weird that animals were enjoying a popular European beverage, they are extraordinarily sexualized. Notice how much animation detail there is on subtle things like the way breasts bounce, the way “manly” animals make the ground shake... and my personal favorite: notice when the bear slides under all of the zebras... he hits their groins.
Now it is fairly simple that the message this commercial is trying to deliver is: “This is a fun, pleasurable, drink that feels sexy to enjoy.” How do they communicate this? Try giving the “manly” bear an erection when he drinks it and having the female deer wrap her legs around the bear, and shortly after loose her clothing. This commercial is a great example of how binary our categorizations of males and female works... they pulled of making sexy female and sexy male human-like animals using some of the most basic stereotypes. After forming these over sexualized animal characters, all the commercial makers had to do was show the fun to be had between the two sexes while drinking Orangina.
What are the consequences? Aside from the obvious risk that small children may run out to by an animal costume to act over sexualized in, there really are some subtle (an not so subtle) things to think about. I think one of the most dangerous side effects that a commercial like this could have is promoting that certain relations or activities should be more casually thought about. What is a more casual way to become overtly attracted to someone and dance in your underpants in front of people than with a glass of Orangina? Another problem I see with this commercial is how positively it paints all of the sexual relations and experiences that occur in the commercial. When you associate beautiful blooming flowers, mystical forests, and fun loving creatures to erections, almost naked women, and scandalous dress, a whole new innocent and fun light is being placed on themes that need to be handled in a far more careful manner.
On another note... don’t get me started on bluefly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi0SVoKRS4s.

2. As for a positive commercial, Dove had always been a second place in my mind. However, there is one ad that I have always loved, and that is the Dove “evolution commercial”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U. One can’t help but react to what is shown in this ad. Whether or not this is a dramatization of what really happens in modeling and in the creation of ads, it forces the viewer to question how real the ads they see every day actually are. Even before the days of Photoshop, there were corsets and fuzzy lenses (think Doris Day to get rid of her freckles) to shape “pretty” people even more.
I love the line shown in this ad: “No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted.” In other Dove ads, the fight against certain stereotypes is more explicit. I personally like the “Pro Age” campaign where Dove ads feature older models in a far more realistic light. When people remove themselves from being distracted by fake-looking models, I think that many people can identity with the beauty shown in these ads. Creating ads in which the viewers are able to identify with the models is one of the best ways the Dove campaign is fighting.
The Dove ads do a great job at complementing more than one body type, and they do it quite explicitly. For instance, nude or partially nude photographs of normal body types are a main feature of many Dove ads. The mould of what body types should model in certain clothing is broken. The mould of what advertisements tell is beauty is broken. We are left with a wonderful expression from “unconventional” models that is a brilliant protest and celebration.

Blog 4

FIFE
The Authors account of sexism in literature was very refreshing to think about. One subject that I am tied very closely to is the history of women in science. In fact, I have heard several accounts from professors I know that claim that sexism in scientific papers, conference presentations, and in work environments can still exist. I love the idea of the huge wave that hit in the 70’s that created the demand for cultural studies and women’s studies. I am hoping for a wave like this to hit the physics community.

Blog 3

Iron Jawed Angels
This movie is great for getting across the fact that the fight for women’s rights was not easily fought. The movie does an excellent job of showing the struggle between black and white women and between the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the National Women’s Party (NWP). Both of these struggles show just how large and important this movement was. I seems as though it was hard to decide how big the movement was going to be. Fighting for the vote of black females would have been twice as hard, if not harder. It would have brought up both the question of whether or not a woman was a full citizen and whether or not blacks were full citizens. In some ways, the feminist movement still deals with the blending of human rights issues. One that I am interested in is women’s issues in the scope of low income households.
Another way that it seemed as if it were difficult to decide how large the women’s suffrage movement was going to be was shown in the discrepancies between the NAWSA and the NWP. Several instances leading up to the imprisonment of many women from the NWP showed that much of the American public and many women part of the movement did not want a very radical protest about women’s suffrage.
Of coarse the most moving scene is during the first force-feeding of Alice Paul. This scene really reminded me that the vote that I have today should not be taken without regard for the people who won it for me. That scene made the freedom to vote far more personal and important than any speech could.

Readings
I love the introduction of this book. The author clearly communicates why she needed to write this short book explaining what feminism is. My favorite quote, “Imagine living in a world where there is no domination, where females and males are not alike or even always equal, but where a vision of mutuality it the ethos shaping our interaction.” plays on a very key idea –mutuality.
I don’t entirely agree with the author’s definition of feminism given in the first chapter. The definition is given only in terms of trying to end sexism. While this is by far the most important foundation of what I think feminism is, I feel as though it is missing something. I feel as though the definition does no promote the uniqueness of females.
I do, however, think that the author makes a very valid point in addressing women’s role in sexism. In today’s society, I think that it can actually be very difficult for a woman to take a very active role in trying to stop sexism in their own lives. In particular, lack of education in certain areas can make it almost impossible. The author’s point also calls for women to start acting more responsible about sexist issues. For example, if anyone wants to be treated professionally in the work place, they should dress accordingly. It is a fact that men are visually stimulated far more than women, so when a woman wears very revealing clothing, it shouldn’t be surprising that her male colleagues look at her differently.
I was able to relate to the author’s story of attending Stanford for the first time and her experience with male dominated classrooms. I think that she made an excellent observation in that “sisterhood” is still a powerful tool in all situations.

Blog 2

I chose to interview my mom to learn more about her stances on women’s issues. As a background, before this interview, the word “feminism” had never been mentioned between the two of us despite the fact that my mother raised me with what I consider to be very feminist ideals.

When responding to most questions, my mom had a hard time answering or even understanding the question at hand. While my mom always told me that I don’t have to get married, women can get any job a man can, and women shouldn’t be made to pop out children, it is was difficult for her to pinpoint a definition for feminism and gender. My mom’s experience of gender is surprisingly not too far from my own experience. She grew up on a farm where the boys did the field work, and the women cook and clean. She grew up with her father telling her that women are no good for doing farm work, but knowing women that could dig potatoes better than he could. My mom just enjoys cooking and cleaning and thinks that women are better at some jobs than men.

I think that my mom is aware of some very key gender inequality issues. For instance, my mom is very familiar with the pay gap, ways that both genders take advantage of the work place, and that woman need to hold each other up, not cut each other down. It is interesting to hear what she thinks women should be like –no brush haircuts, should wear a bra, and shouldn’t wear their clothing too tight. I was interesting to see my mom talk about such polarized stereotypes and disagreeing with them both.

My mom started out her definition of feminism with, “I don’t know, am I a feminist, Ross?” (Ross being my dad). My mom described one experience she’s had with the word has been with a “penis hater”. Another experience was at work, where her colleagues told her that she wasn’t a feminist if she was reading Amish novels. My mom definitely had a very stereotypical view of feminism.

After explaining a little more about the feminist movement, ideals, and different definitions, my mom could then define for certain what a feminist was, in fact, she had believed much of these things herself. "A feminist is someone who is educated, can holds their own, looks nice, takes care of their body, is put together, is not willing to take crap, and wants equal pay." Even with these views my mom expressed that she likes a man around to help with some things, and that men need to use more “common sense” with inequality issues.

As for the readings...

The study of feminism in a new cultural setting seems to parallel the study of psychology in the new technology age. What will taking certain things for granted do to us? Are we taking things for granted?

This chapter surprised me a little when talking about abstinence as an empowering choice. Almost all of my experiences with the “abstinence only” method have been from private Christian schooling. I completely disagree with the way this method of birth control was taught to me. Other methods were not talked about because it was inappropriate. Guilt and the idea of salvation were used to impose these opinions on my classmates. So while it was refreshing to think about individuals making the choice to be abstinent in a mature and informed manner, I can’t help but be outraged at certain statistics. For example, the fact that 35% of public school boards that have a policy regarding sex education require that abstinence be taught as the only option for unmarried people (while prohibiting or limiting the discussion of contraceptives). ...WHAT? If more than half of kids have sex by the time they are 18, is this they way to go? Not only that, but doesn’t everyone deserve the right to proper education over all methods of protecting yourself? I disagree that this is a chicken and egg problem... this is a horny teenager problem and we need to give them the option to be safe by educating them properly.

The chapter over the third wave was also interesting. I think that I identify quite well with this wave of feminism in our culture. I really believe that the sexes are NOT created equal, but are beautiful in their own rights, but I do want to be active in the same rights for BOTH sexes. I also believe that feminine women can be feminists. Both of these ideas belong to the third wave. I also really like the idea that feminist values need to start extending to social classes, races, all genders, etc. I think we have come to the point where many types of minority groups have been given enough political power and political acknowledgement to have to proper chance to really iron out injustices. ...Why not work together?

As for metrosexuality, I don’t completely agree with the author. I feel as if there have been other places in history where it is common for men to act more feminine: Chinese opera, castrato opera singers, Saturday Night Fever, etc.