Reestablishment of Power

Resisting Violence Against Women

By: Shaw and Lee

There are many types of violent acts that range from online harassment to sexual abuse, and are different for males and females. According to Shaw and Lee, “cyber stalking can be defined as threatening behavior or unwanted advances directed at another using the internet and other forms of online and computer communications.” This type of sexual harassment is very common and happens to a lot of people whether or not it is threatening.  Men typically do these types of violence because they are attempting to gain back any power they believe they’ve lost through the improving empowerment of women. In Shaw and Lee’s example of the 30-year-old woman who was brutally beaten, I realized it could happen to anyone. She was a professional woman that didn’t give any signs that she wanted anything sexual to do with this man, but she still got attacked. In this case he told her that he wants his girlfriends to act and dress a certain way. I think this is extremely common because men think that if the woman wants to be seen in public with them, and then they should dress and speak to their standards.

There are there main types of rape: altruistic, compliant, and consensual sex. Altruistic sex is when one person feels guilty for motivating the other for sex or feeling sorry for them as a whole. Compliant sex is when it is worse to deny the sexual advances rather then just doing them. Lastly, consensual sex is where the two partners communicate and come to an agreement on sex and listen to each other’s wants.  Rape is very common at college’s campuses because of the drugs and alcohol that are involved in everyday situations. “About 70 to 80 percent of campus rapes generally involve alcohol or other drugs (with alcohol most pervasive among all drugs).  I believe these statistics because you do see a lot of girls being out of control at parties and not paying attention to who their with or what they’re drinking. At some point of the night they don’t even care who they go home with. I think this is a huge problem, and it’s a good thing that our campus has safe walks and other programs that can help women at risk.

There is one myth in particular that caught my attention because of its popularity and how much I have heard this before. “Men are not totally responsible for their actions. If a woman comes on to a man sexually, it is impossible for him to stop.” Some guys think that if a girl is at all interested in them, they can act like idiots to try and impress them and sweep them off their feet. It is possible to stop because if someone says no, then it means no. A girl can act like their interested in a guy if they haven’t really talked to him or seen him around that much. Once they talk to him more and they realize he wasn’t what they thought he was, that should be the end of it, but some guys just don’t know when to give up. 

Housework vs. The Workforce

Women's Work Inside and Outside the Home
By: Shaw and Lee

This article covers a lot of different topics that fall into the differences between men and women in the workplace. One of the first things that caught my attention was that it said, "Paid domestic work is one occupation traditionally held by women of color." Now I understand that it's bad to agree with this statement, but it's true. You see it everywhere; they try to portray women of different ethnicities as maids and servants of families and businesses. In movies of all sorts ethnic women are typically maids, cleaning ladies, and nannies. Since women these days tend to work outside of the home more, they have less and less time to do household chores. The men of the relationship still refuse to do the jobs the mother would usually do, so in some cases it can break a relationship up. For some couples that are more privileged can afford to hire someone to do these chores, so cleaning doesn't become a problem for them. Another thing I found interesting was when it said, "Women are more content with husbands who take an active role in the home and this encourages sexual intimacy." This makes complete sense to me because fighting over who is going to the dishes puts a lot of stress on each partner, and causes fights. When they have a mutual agreement, they have fewer arguments and are happier with each other. They define "kin keeping", as the emotional jobs that you do in the household. Things like remembering birthday's, sending cards, and providing support. They said that these tasks are something the woman usually does in the relationship, but what they don't consider is divorces. From my experiences personally, these are things my dad does, and never forgets to do. Fathers that truly engage their selves in the family, and love their children should be willing to participate in the "kin keeping." When they started talking about labor and equal pay, there were a few acts and laws that were developed in order to give women equal rights. Title VII said that if there was a "bona fide occupational qualification" for a job, then the employer could gender discriminate. I understand that they were talking about jobs such as cleaning a men's bathroom, but I believe that is a little old fashioned because they typically clean bathrooms when no one is there anyways. Over the years they have changed and added many things to it such as pregnancy and medical leaves. The last thing I found interesting was the two types of sexual harassment because I never knew what they were. There is Quid Pro Quo, which are unwelcomed sexual advances and requests for sexual behaviors. Secondly there is Hostile Work Environment where an environment must interfere with an individual's work and or performance. Although they talked about men predominately being the harassers because they are trying to keep their power roles in the workplace, I believe that both sexes could easily be the harasser. Men shouldn't be stereotyped as the only sex that can harass the other.

Challenges of Same-Sex Couples

Partners as Parents by Charlene Gomes is about the struggles gay couples have in trying to have children, and create a family. In the past it was much harder to adopt and have children if you were in a homosexual relationship. With new fertilization methods and adoptive services, gay couples can now receive children more easily. Presidents such as George W. Bush are more conservative than others were in the past, and believe that marriage is between a man and a woman only. Although others may believe this, married heterosexual couples only comprise of 23% of U.S. households. One of the way gay couples can get children is by adoption, but they have a more difficult time than other couples would. Gomes says, "Unlike heterosexual couples in the same situation, same-sex couples are subjected to numerous home visits and intensive social work assessments to determine the suitability of the adoption." This is why adoption takes longer for same-sex parents, and becomes more stressful for them to deal with. When they are finally able to adopt children they are pushed towards the mentally or physically disabled children. They are labeled as "unfit" to parent, but then are adopting the children that need the most attention and need. Gay couples also have a tougher time when it comes to obtaining custody of the children. Kathryn Kendall found that divorce does more damage to the children than does the parent's sexual orientation. So why make the divorce more painful and difficult then it already is when all your doing is hurting the children? I don't believe divorce laws should be different for same-sex couples. In the end it shows that all children are going to be teased by something or another in their lifetime whether it's how they look or talk. Don't add any more reasons for children to be picked on or have low self-esteem because there are already so many reasons why kids don't like their selves, and there parent's sexuality shouldn't be one of them.

Gender Discrimination & Citizenship

Link to article on Capital Newspapers
http://host.madison.com/news/national/government-and-politics/article_7f95c6bb-5885-5e5e-bbdb-2b4eaf1c7397.html

Court Weights Citizenship Rule That Varies By Sex
By: Mark Sherman

In this article that just came out today, it involves the different laws for mothers and fathers that are trying to gain citizenship. For men it states, "For people born before 1986, their American fathers had to have lived in the U.S. for 10 years, at least five of them after the age of 14, in order for their citizenship to be passed on." For women, "American mothers need only have lived in the U.S. continuously for a year before the birth of a child." That means that men have to had lived in the U.S. for nine more years then women in order to be the father of their children. I believe this is extremely sexist because it's saying they want the mothers to be the ones taking care of the children. Just because the mother is the one who bears the child and gives birth to him or her, doesn't mean she would be a better parent. In a lot of situations the mothers are alcoholics, drug addicts, or abusive, and can't handle taking care of their children. In cases like that the father should be able to have full custody, but if he hasn't lived in the U.S. for more then 10 years then the child has a harder time becoming a U.S. citizen and the father loses rights.

I understand that they are trying to control the border and the amount of immigrants that are coming into the U.S., but men and women should have the same rights. At the end of the article it says that the court agreed that the law discriminates against men, but what are they going to do about it then?

This topic relates to many other things other then just citizenship. This article is a prime example of how women are treated better then men when it comes to the children. In the workforce men are treated better then women, and in the household women are treated better then men. Why can't men and women be treated equally in all aspects of life? It's issues like these that teach the children bad ideas of how to act when they get older, and that's not what we want. In the book it talks about how baby boys and girls are put into a specific gender from the first day they are home. It's either pink or blue walls, clothes, or toys that the child is forced to wear and play with, and it's things like this that put children into gender norms. More and more men these days are becoming single-parents and they are very caring, loving, and good at parenting just like a mother would be. You can't discriminate parents by gender because it's based on their interest, values, and personalities that make a good parent, whether or not they are male or female.

"The justices could decide that the case is so knotty that it was a mistake to take it up," and no decision was made because they knew what was going on is wrong, and they don't know what to do about it.

You Can Run But You Can't Hide

Riot Grrls

Riot Grrls punk style emerges from two types of forms: the commodity and ideological form. The commodity form deals with the kind of apparel they’re wearing and what kind of music they’re listening and performing to. The ideological form is the stereotyping of that specific punk group. They stereotype on their type of behaviors and label them as “punk”. The influential leaders of this group didn’t want the media to have any involvement in what they were doing, why? Maybe because they didn’t want to be stereotyped or were they just afraid of what others would think? There were Riot Grrls that did talk to the press and wanted to be heard; they wanted their opinions to be out and open to the public, while a lot of other women didn’t. They described the use of media as something that would steal the group’s individuality and character. “The scene itself disappears, or continues as a neutered, mass-marketed style movement.” I agree with this 100% because once something is on television or in the magazines, everyone wants it. Once everyone has it, then it is no longer shows your individuality or creativeness. These Riot Grrls want to be different, dress different, and act different then everyone else. That’s why so many girls today are creating their own fashions and designs, to go out of the norm. The girls are also artists and musicians, and in the article it says, “Their lyrics and other writing centered themes of sexual abuse, oppression, and body image.” They are feminists and because they sing about women’s struggles, they are considered “queer”. They wanted to sing about meaningful topics and about what’s happening to females around the world today. Not only were they stereotyped as queer, but also as “any independent, noisy (white) female rock musician.” I don’t agree with this at all solely because race shouldn’t matter if you’re a feminist or not, and especially not if you’re a musician. Everyone has freedom of speech and should be able to speak their mind, so why do they associate “Grrls” as white girls only? The article also explains how some girls show their interest in feminism, either as a Riot Grrl or through any other form of media. For many young girls this was by wearing a t-shirt that said “Girls Rule.” It also explains, “For some people, it’s a way to bypass the complexities of feminism-it’s a lot easier to wear a “girls kick ass” t-shirt than to learn how defend yourself physically.” I agree with this statement because I personally would rather show what I believe in then say it. If you can’t back up your opinions and say it to someone’s face, then there’s no point in saying anything at all. The Riot Grrls seemed to be confident in what they were doing, but if they were so confident they would have wanted the media to show the world what they were doing, and not be afraid of their personal “style” being taken away.

Delusional Romance

I personally don't think the book Young Wives Tales should be brought back into the curriculum. There is really no point to this exert at all. All it talks about is a woman's struggles on having an orgasm. I really don't care if someone wasn't able to enjoy sex as much as they can now. I would rather learn about factual information about feminism than personal experiences. The best part about the reading was that she gained independence and learned how to pleasure herself without a man's help. This may motivate other women out there with the same problem to go out and do something about it. By talking to your close friends you realize you have a lot more in common with people than you think. She was able to overcome her fears and problems, and she never gave up. This story would be extremely helpful to other women with the same problem, but for others it really doesn't matter at all. It's basically about her complaints about marriage and sex and that it didn't live up to her standards. I don't believe that reading those books could have truly ruined her idea of sex for that long. That's why these stories are called young wives "tales", they're just tales.

The life of Bella Swan

What a Girl Wants

"The only thing as difficult for a girl as a divorce—if we are to judge from stories aimed at the teen market—is a move." Caitlin Flanagan in What Girls Want picks apart the aspects of family, sexuality, and gender in recent books and films. She jumps around a little bit, so it's hard to follow at times, but the basis of the article is about the Twilight movies and books. The quote from above describes her main point, how a girl is portrayed on screen today. They come off as vulnerable and sensitive, which is definitely not always the case. Bella Swan moves to live with her dad after her parents get divorced, and without hesitation she takes over the role as the wife of the household. She cooks and cleans for her single parent every night and doesn't complain once. This makes it seems like every girl that comes from a divorce should take over the role that the mother would have had. A divorce isn't just hard for girls; it's difficult for all parties involved, so why are girls the only ones shown hurt? "Bella Swan is en route to the Phoenix airport, where she will be whisked away from her beloved, sunny hometown and relocated to the much-hated Forks, Washington, a nearly aquatic hamlet of deep fogs and constant rains." In the movie they also make it so Forks is the worst place ever to move to. They always have to make the divorce difficult and one parent has to move far away. It's very stereotypical for a movie to portray the worst case of a divorce; there is never one that has a happy story. The good weather in Phoenix symbolizes a good relationship that she has with her mother, where everyone is happy and it seems like they weren't affected by the divorce. Forks on the other hand symbolizes the weak relationship that Bella has with her father, and the rain signifies all the bad things to come. The only reason she decides to stay in Forks is because she falls in love, of course. She doesn't want to stay because of the relationship she is growing with her father; it's because of a "teenage boy". It's just typical that the supernatural world is involved, because it makes her already hectic life even crazier. As you get further into the books and movies, Bella not only has one suitor, but two. There always has to be a decision, a tough choice between a werewolf and a vampire. The complete opposites for many reasons, not just because of what they do. Now not only is Bella torn between her parents, but two guys as well. Why is Bella's life so confusing and unrealistic? It's like they're saying a girl that comes from a divorce can't lead a normal and happy life, no that's too easy for them. 

Bella Swan may be a character that a lot of teenage girls can relate to because of the divorce, but there are plenty of girls out there that will never experience any of this. 

Birth Control

After our discussion on birth control in class on Thursday it's obvious that it is a controversial topic. I believe that it's their own choice and a girl should be able to do what she wants without someone looking down at them. Birth control has so many more uses other than for preventing pregnancy that makes its advantages greater then its disadvantages. Women in other countries don't need to have birth control, but they should have the choice to take it or not. Controlling pregnancies and the population isn't the biggest problem in Africa, disease is. We need to focus on getting more medical attention out there to help people who are sick. I feel bad for the women that don't receive any help from anyone and end up being shunned from their community. They didn't do anything to deserve treatment like that and they deserve to have a choice and a voice. Birth control is some what affordable and could easily be a suitable option for a lot of women today. If they can't afford it there are many other forms of birth control that I also believe all women should have a chance to use. No one should be forced on birth control or have to take it, it's entirely the users choice. People shouldn't judge so much on what others do, and should just worry about their self.

The Illegal Abortion Era

The Way It Was

The Way It Was by Eleanor Cooney is an extremely disturbing story of her life. It starts off with her joking around about being knocked up when she was drunk. She was a curious young girl that wanted to know more about pregnancies. As she got older she realized that millions of young girls are actually getting pregnant and they have no one there to help them, and they don't know what to do. Once you are aware of all these teen pregnancies, it's not funny at all anymore, it's sad. Once she hit 18, she found herself in the situation that she made jokes about years ago. She became pregnant, and the father was just a friend, and there was definitely not future in them getting married. This is true in a lot of cases, even if it is the boyfriend that gets them pregnant, they still won't stay together for the baby. So she did what many lost girls do today, look for an abortion. When she went looking for one she lived in the illegal abortion era, so you couldn't go get one as easily as you can today. The things she has seen and lived through are shocking. Once of the instances the doctor didn't even wear a glove, and he told her she was very far along and to come back tomorrow. When she came back with her friend he was very upset and told her to leave. This could be one of two things. 1. He was hoping she would be alone so that he could take advantage of her, and rape her. 2. He was hoping she would be alone so that if the procedure went terribly wrong and she died, he could dispose of her like nothing happened. The doctors that did these procedures in the 60s were the scum of the earth. They didn't care at all about these women, all they wanted was there money, and in some cases their bodies. During the illegal abortion era several thousands of women were treated in emergency rooms for botched abortions, and there were at least 200 known deaths. (Cooney 2004) You can only imagine how many deaths were unknown, and were thought you be kidnaps and murders. Presidents through out this time period made abortion illegal, having a few exceptions here and there, but you had to be on your death bed to be able to do it. Once abortion was made legal, and more exceptions were taken into account, less and less deaths happened. One doctor said, "That ought to tell people something about keeping abortion legal." It should be the woman's choice if they want to keep the baby or not. In some of the other articles for this week, there was women in Africa that were shunned because of their conditions, and were left to die. Women like that should be able to chose, they should be able to get help, and they should be able to receive medical attention. Not everyone has a choice, so the ones that do, should be able to make their own. 

Women&Football

 Could women coach football in the future?

In a recent article on yahoo a Jaguar football player's wife tried to give the coaches some tips and ideas. As first when I looked at the article I thought maybe they were actually taking here seriously, and then I realized, they were making a joke of her. "If Mary Garrard can correctly identify "Goal-line Empty Right F Short Key All Fade" or "I Right Tight Close Goal-line Fake 18 HO Force QB Keep Pass Left" (she'd probably like that one, as the idea is for the quarterback to roll out), we say that it's time to give her a shot." It's like she has to know all the football lingo in order for them to take her seriously. Even if she was joking around, or actually wanted them to do some of the things she was saying, they still wouldn't take any advice from her. The football world is so male dominated that females have little voice in the sport. I don't support this idea at all since I am a woman, and I love football. I believe that women should be able to have a voice and can talk about football with the boys, just like anyone else would do. I mean, C'mon why aren't there any female coaches in professional football, or any other sport? The only female coaches I see are in the WNBA, and no one watches that. (When I typed in WNBA the spell check came up, and the only option for spelling was NBA) That shows a lot right there; you can't even type in a female sport in blogger without thinking it's spelled incorrectly, that's crazy.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/David-Garrard-s-wife-Future-Jaguars-assistant-c?urn=nfl-277298

Junior Figure Control

"Breast Buds and the Training Bra"

Joan Jacobs Brumberg's, "Breast Buds and the Training Bra" explains the development of bras and their importance to teenage girls. In the early 1900's bras has little significance to everyday life, but as years went on bras became more and more popular. Every teenage girl wanted to posses one, even if their parents wouldn't allow them to own one. There were girls who couldn't afford them, and there were girls that had no use for them because they hadn't gone through puberty yet, but that didn't stop them. If infatuation with breasts increased as we got to the 1950's; every girl was journaling about their breasts and everyone else's too. That's another example of time change because now bras aren't something new, so young girls tend not to journal about things like that anymore. "Those who had ample bosoms seemed to travel through the hallways in a veritable state of grace." They're almost saying that girls that had larger chests thought they were better than the other girls who didn't. I believe today that stands true; girls with larger breasts seem to flaunt them more and want to show them off, but that's just my opinion. It also says, "Busty girls mad desirable friends because they seemed sophisticated, and they attracted boys." It may seem that way to other girls, but this statement is definitely not true. Today girls with larger breasts actually come off less sophisticated then other women, and less intelligent. I feel like some girls act differently then they usually would because of that reason. People who influenced these behaviors were doctors, mothers, and advertisers; they believed that only the development of breasts was needed for success. What about development of their brains? Does anything like that even matter to them? For the mothers and doctors it should, but I could understand why the advertisers don't care because they are just trying to sell their product and make money. What were they trying to teach these young girls? I don't understand it. In the end of the reading it says, "When we dress little girls in brassieres or bikinis, we imply adult behaviors and, unwittingly, we mark them as sexual objects." I agree with this statement 100%. I don't believe girls at the age of 11 or 12 should be worrying about things such as bras. They should be focused on their schoolwork and other activities that lead to good work ethics, and personality development. I feel like this topic of puberty and development should come up as it happens, if it's not happening yet, then the girls shouldn't be worrying about it. If the only thing young girls are worrying about is when their breasts are going to grow in, or why they aren't big like other girls, then we have a huge problem. The idea of "Junior Figure Control", can only lead to one thing, self-consciousness. If a social norm is created about breast size, then were in for a long list of insecurities a young girl could have.

enchanted

Enchanted is movie that both males and females can enjoy because of the comedy, romance, and action that is all mixed in it. The romance between Gisele and Edward is non-existent; they have nothing to talk about and were living in a fairy tale world where you could get married after one day. When she gets to New York she changes completely into a brave and confident woman that no longer thinks she needs her prince. Robert helps her change by teaching her his ways of finding love, and she teaches him the ways of hers, and in the end their two ideas of love intertwine and become one. It is a typical representation of a woman because in the beginning she is in desperate need of a man, and by the ending she is independent and her whole view of the world has changed. That is pretty typical in romance films. Robert also changed throughout the movie though because he was so stubborn about love and believed you can't fall in love with someone that fast. Towards the end his mind got changed as he fell in love with Gisele. Of course there was a happy ending and everyone left with someone, and they live happily ever after.

Snow white or Barney?

"A Finishing School for all, Disney Style"
Some people believe that taking your daughter to Cinderella's Princess Court would be a bad idea, but I think it is completely harmless. If you think that just by taking her there that later on in life she is going to depend on a man, and think that she can get whatever she wants, your wrong. It's just something girls enjoy at that age, they grow out of it fast, so why not let them indulge in princess things for a while. It's not cheap by any means either, being able to go to the princess court and take all your friends with you costs a lot of money. That could be the only downfall because not every family can afford to do things like that and you don't want some of the girls thinking they are better then others. A lot of the influence is from the mothers, and in this article the mom was the one that already had a princess costume at home. They either want to live the fantasy they didn't get to do when they were a kid, or they want their daughter to be able to enjoy things they didn't. You would hope that it is for their daughter's sake, but that's not always the case. This franchise spends so much money on marketing and advertising to younger girls that it doesn't really allow for the fact that maybe young boys really enjoy the movies as well. Girls aren't the only ones that want to live in a fantasy world where everything is perfect and there is a happy ending, boys do too. That's why I feel like they should market the products to be more gender friendly. They could easily invest some money into more boy costumes from the films. The basis of this article isn't uncommon at all, there are a bunch of mothers out there that are willing to spend big bucks to make their daughter happy, but where do you draw the line?

"Is that my son wearing a dress?"
If I was the father in this case, I would be a little shocked as well to see my son in a dress. I do believe that males and females should be able to wear what ever they want, but seeing it at such a young age is a little scary. It seems harmless at first, but all you really want is what's best for your children, so if he wants to wear a dress I think you should let them. The only bad thing about allowing things like this is that you worry about your child being teased by their classmates. It puts the parents in a really tough situation because you don't want to hurt their feelings but every parent has things they want their kids to be involved in such as playing sports, music, or art. You can try and shove things down their throats, and try to get them to do all the things you love, but as they get older they end up choosing what they enjoy the most anyways. Parents do have a lot of influence on their children, but in the end it's them who decide what they want to do.

Hip-Hop in a Women's World

The poem "If women ran hip hop" seems a little old fashioned for something that was wrote in 2007. It hits a lot of stereotypes about women, men, and music. I don't necessarily agree with the views talked about in it, but it does make an interesting case. It says "if women ran hip hop there would never be shootings." Is this saying that only men are dangerous and can stand up for themselves, or is it saying that men are dangerous and can't be trusted? It's almost like it's saying that women aren't capable of starting trouble such as a shooting. Also in the poem it says "and all shows would be all ages cause the economy of hip hop wouldn't revolve around the sale of alcohol." The subject of alcohol is a controversial one as it is, but when you throw gender in the mix it can cause a lot of arguments. I believe they are trying to say women don't need alcohol to have fun or enjoy music, but then again I don't agree with this at all. Not only men are alcoholics or enjoy drinking, women of all ages do too. Women are capable of making a profit no matter what they are selling, even if it is alcohol. Another topic that is pointed out here is the animal shelter. I know that a lot of women love cats and dogs, but so do men. No one would have a hip hop club that was full of animal shelter rescues, unless it was for some charity event. Hip hop has it's own style for a reason, not to be changed to fit "a women's needs and wants"; or what they think those are. The idea if women ran hip hop was fun to read, I just don't agree with any of it, and I'm sure a lot of other women who enjoy listening to hip hop music would agree too.

Advertising Women

I was browsing the internet today looking for any interesting articles that talked about women and the media. I came across this one and found it to be very factual, and with a lot of good information about the media's influences. The link is below.
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm

The first thing that caught my eye was that it said women are everywhere in advertisements. They are selling things from perfume to beer. During our discussion yesterday I thought this was interesting because we talked about what types of ads were directed at what gender. We said that the male dominated magazines had cars and beer in them, and the women magazines had clothes and perfume. We didn't talk so much about which gender was being used in each type of ad. This article made a point in that women are in both ads; in every car, beer, or pizza ad. It doesn't matter what type of ad it is, a woman is going to be in it.

Another big thing women deal with in the media is weight loss. It's in books, on television, on the radio, and in magazines, everywhere you look something is telling you how you can lose weight. This puts a lot of pressure on women and can possibly lead to insecurities and eating disorders.

The last thing I would like to point out is the use of color in the media. Although they said that women of other race's were being used more, white women still heavily dominated the advertisements. This shows that advertisers believe using white women will sell a product better. If they are using a woman of different race, it is because they believe that certain type of product needs a certain race of woman in order for it to sell. It's like they are selling the woman more then they are actually selling the product.

Race & Women

After reading Report from the Bahamas I realized that women's studies is about much more than just gender. There are a lot of different factors that relate to these studies such as race, politics, and economic standing. One that is talked about the most in June Jordan's article is race. It was kind of confusing at first because I didn't get why they were talking about these things. The topics seemed very vague and not straightforward at all. As I kept reading I figured out that by traveling to different parts of the world you are engaged in different ways of living. In the Bahamas what was being done to Sokutu may have been normal and not frowned upon. The relationship between how women there weren't going eat if they didn't sell anything, and he was going to go broke if he bought too much was an interesting thought. All June had to worry about was not spending too much money, while the women were worrying about making money in order to survive. The economic factor plays a huge role in this article about how women are making a living. Race and gender being unpredictable is also talked about a lot in this reading, and it makes sense that it is because you'll never know what your getting yourself into until you go to some other place and walk in someone else's shoes. They weren't extremely specific about if white or black women had a better and or easier life, but what they did talk about was the struggles each has to overcome. The woman that was being beaten by her alcoholic husband is a sad, but very common story. A lot of women, race aside, have terrible living situations and are trapped without any help. This leads to the idea that the men have the power in relationships and can control the women. What needs to be changed is that women do have authority and can make there own choices; everyone should be able to stand up for himself or herself. On page 120 it says, "how would Olive rate me?" Now I don't know if June is male or female, but a question like that could be interpreted different ways. Would they be rated on how clean they were, what kind of things were left around the room, or many other factors that someone could judge someone on. A stereotype being that a woman would leave the room more clean then a man, and would pick up after herself. Those are the types of things you see being a maid or housekeeper, you see private things about peoples lives that makes you judge them by gender. After I went over this article again it started to make more sense to me, but I still believe more specific facts and thoughts were said in it.  I look forward to reading more articles and seeing things in the media that relate to race and women's studies. It's interesting to see how different cultures treat women, and what they are thought of as. 

Homophobia

After reading Suzanne Pharr's Homophobia reading I had two issues with what was said. 1. "In current backlash usage, feminist equals man-hater, which equals lesbian." This problem I have with this statement is that just because a woman likes the same sex, doesn't mean they hate the other one. Also it assumes that someone that dislikes men for any reason is a lesbian; which isn't true either. 2. "The word lesbian is still fully charged and carries with it the full threat of loss of power and privilege." There are so many powerful women in the world today that overpower men in the workforce and every day lives. If you’re a lesbian you choose how you want to act, you can either lead or follow, it's your choice. The loss of power is in the hands of the woman, and they can decide what they're going to do with it. Overall I thought this reading was very interesting, and made room for a lot of thoughts and discussion.