The Rising Tide

In no time at all the rights of women have progressed from absolutely nothing to general recognition among society. We have started to realize how important feminism actually is to our culture and how important equal rights are for all, not just some. As women make up more than half of the population of both the US and the world, they technically should be the majority in every culture, yet they are considered to be the minority in 99% of the situations they are put in. Yet, slowly but surely these women have started revolutionizing the way we think of them and recreating the stereotypes which were previously made centuries ago. Although they may try as hard as possible, they still can hardly achieve the respect that they deserve because of the patriarchal principles we reinforce on a daily basis. Men have prevented the options for women to be socially accepted on the same level as a white male by consistently changing the picture for women to fit, making social goals for success unattainable, and countless other techniques. Like it was said by Cynthia Enloe in Beyond the Global Victim, "Women articulate their own strategies for oping with their husbands' resentment, their foremen's sexual harassment, and the paternalism of male union leaders" (Enloe 534). Men don't provide the opportunity for women to succeed in the workplace, therefore prohibiting the things which let a person achieve respect in society: money and individual stability. As we encourage men to be the breadwinner of the family, we subconsciously--and sometimes consciously--force women into the domestic role. But this is changing.
When we realize the pressure we put them under, the degradation they encounter, the hopelessness they feel, and the lack of imagination possible in the meager social power we give them, we start to understand their situation. By recognizing their situation and what we've been doing to them for centuries we are finally able to change our ways while altering our social structure to allow them freedom. We can now see our oppressive ways because they have called us on it. We can now see where we went wrong and how they are supposed to act and feel: however they want. Naomi Littlebear poeticizes this idea in her poem "Like a Mountain" by saying, "Nobody can stop a woman from feelin' / That she has to rise up like the sun / Somebody may change the words we're sayin' / But the truth will live on and on" (Littlebear 149). Although we may be able to censor and suppress the inspiration of women in our society, they will continue on fighting for equality and justice. Once we give them the rights and respect they deserve, our society will be altered in complete positive ways which will lead to more happiness on a whole as a country, while also leading to less stress, more peace, and a better understanding of ourselves and each other. I'm going to say it again because you enjoyed it in "A day With[out] feminism": the way we get there is through RESPECT.

men and women in the wrong place

Society is what we are. everything we say or do or think is part of our society because we are part of our society. anything that happens because of us is happening in our society. a society can be anywhere and any time, with no limits or boundaries or with certain limits and boundaries. both our contrasting and similar ideas make up our culture, therefore our beliefs on certain topics make up the beliefs of our society, if a majority believes in them. the way one gets a majority to believe in something is by appealing to those in power to make them feel more powerful. in the case of jobs and labor in our society, those in power, men, are being appealed to subconsciously by other men who place them in positions of power. this leaves women with little representation or what's left of what the men leave behind. women pick the scraps of what men have given themselves from the beginning of time and keep taking. since from the beginning it was defined that the family is based off of a male figure and that he is supposed to be the breadwinner, that concept has stayed with us the entire time. this means that the men leave the house and deal with the public while the women stay back in the house, taking care of the "scraps" as defined by society. we now believe that housework is female/feminine because men are not the typical people to do it. normally, women do the housework, and when they can't they hire a maid. "70% of these maids are immigrant workers" according to Doreen Corjaval. this already-degrading task of being the master of the private sphere is being lowered even further so low class workers are doing low class jobs, therefore reinforcing our society's common idea that immigrants are incapable of "serious work", while women are the only capable ones of taking care of kids since men don't understand children and the problems which can arise in a household. this simultaneously restricts the jobs each gender can do because of the previously made stereotypes, while also reinforcing these same stereotypes. if we continue to follow these conservative ideals of our ancestors we will never be able to escape the bounds to which we assigned centuries ago. if we ever cross the lines of gendered labor we are discriminated against, or at least questioned. If a man wants to be a teacher, he is immediately checked to make sure he isn't homosexual or a pedophile. in Men and Work "men are very distressed by these negative stereotpes which tend to undermine their self-esteem and to cause them to second guess their motivations for entering these fields" (Bravo & Anna). parents don't believe the male teachers can love their children because they are men, therefore don't understand how to take care of kids. this occurs to men, who are the primary "rulers" of our patriarchal society, so women really don't stand a chance. men are criticized for overstepping and generally are called gay for doing so, but that's the extent of the names being called. for women there are quite a few more select phrases which can affect them in more negative ways. using the same example, female teachers are criticized for leaving their private sphere, getting a real job, and "deciding not to stay home, and went out to get a job" (Bravo & Anna). She is looked down on for leaving her daughter at home and getting a job instead of being a housewife. he is supposed to be in a real "manly" job, while she is supposed to be back in her sphere of the house taking care of the kids. we are stuck for now, until a majorities change, ideas change, and we can look past gender as a reason for labor to affect our dictations of who belongs where.

our social infrastructure is what is prohibiting women from being free from the stereotype that women need to have a slim figure in order to obtain "respect" and attention from men. although women will not be on an even playing field as men for a long while in many aspects, the problems they face in regards to their mental social power and their physical social power are being recognized by society. campaigns for ads similar to the new dove true beauty line are attempts in recreating the idea for what a true woman of this age looks like. the problem with this is the fact that they are changing this idea by saying "these women are normally unwanted because of their body structure and appearance in modern day society, but you should try to be like them to change it, and take a big risk". this is a double bind because they are saying both "be like this" and "this is ugly". and because they are making these ads for skin cream, which ultimately implies the need to look younger, which is what our society is based off of. because in american society, something we need to keep hidden to the outside world are "the imperfections that are a part of us all" (Minkowitz). This is why it was such a shock when the show Xena hit the mainstream so well, especially since she showed qualities previously considered negative for women to have. typically, women in the media are judged to a fault, being criticized for trivial some things like smiling too much or being too fat. Many actresses "worried about looking 'overmasculine'. No woman television character has exhibited the confidence and strength of the male heroes of archetype and fantasy--or if she did, she was a one episode fluke" (Minkowitz), which furthers the trend of thinking of women as unconfident, nervous, self-questioning beings. Xena possessed all the qualities of a male leading figure, along with her own special personality traits. this type of personality along with a female dominated lead isn't generally accepted by males or, on occasion, females when supervised by "parents that object to Xena's feminist content" (Minkowitz). the normal trend of viewers to leading roles that are female shy away from men, at least that's what the conventional wisdom is among producers of children's television. each industry tries to appeal to the audience they think is watching, which in some cases are predominantly men. in these cases "alternate social types, such as sensitive men, gay men, and househusbands, scholars, poets, and political activists are noticeably absent" (Strate). These ads provide to men, sort of a social guidebook to becoming male, and anything seperate from these ideas is wrong and bad. therefore, women, who have few of these qualities since the ads try to exclude them, are looked down on in the aspects relating to the power of their bodies and minds.

Who's to blame?

Our society has been very much influenced from past civilizations about who makes the best parents and who are worthy of respect. dating back many years people have considered women as the primary care givers although men are the ones that define the family as a whole. this notion is called pater familias, which means father of the family, showing that the male figure of the household, no matter the age, is the representative of the family simply from his gender. this idea goes back to roman times and beyond as it is the most common form of definition of family in most societies now. people are considered unfit to be parents if they show traits that are not attributed to positive characteristics in society. women are supposed to be feminine and weak, since they are the mothers and are supposed to take care of the children in their own private sphere. yet, if men show these same characteristics it is not so embraced. gay men are generally associated with having feminine characteristics, so with the logic that society has been using, gay males would make the best mothers, yet it is illegal for them to adopt children because they are uncomfortable with homosexuality and anything that challenges the nuclear family. one way of preventing the adoption of children by homosexuals is by prohibiting their marraige so that if something should happen to one of the parents, the other will lose custody because they are not recognized by the law as a union. society makes us believe that having a gay child is the worst thing ever, worse than death, basically. they portray the image that if there are gay parents then the child will be gay which has no scientifical basis or justification. as said in Sexual Dissent and the Family by Nan D. Hunter "for millions of parents, learning that one's son is gay or daughter is lesbian would be their worst nightmare". we have been brainwashed by the media and politics to think anything challenging the status quo in regards to the family is wrong, and therefore illegal. this is another example of if we find something foreign and unnatural, we exclude it from being a possibility because we are scared. this same concept of the feeling of uneasiness when there is something different present that challenges our previous thoughts is also seen in the household regarding gender roles and assignments. as we studied in class, women and men are typically confined to their certain areas: men are outdoors, women are indoors. because of this idea that women are only allowed to take care of the domain of the house and men are supposed to take care of his domain of the physical labor. it puts a feeling of unnaturalness in our minds when we break free from these barriers. as people leave their domains associated to their specific gender society pressures them to conform back to their own tasks since they feel out of place where they are. this is how things become genderized, such as jobs and the magazines we looked at in class. they constantly showed men in outdoors areas with outdoors clothing with no children or with only their sons as if they were going on a manly expedition. while women are generally labeled by being with their children with no male figure or 1 distant one. this shows the power that men have over their household and that men have freedom to do mostly whatever they want and won't be looked down on for it. they can leave, stay, abuse their wife/children, and wreak havoc and their actions will solely be contributed to the fact that it is his nature, which goes back to the ideas we had before. WOW it all connects!

Another Inconvenient Truth

our civilization and society revolves around the idea of all for one and one for all. this idea takes many forms in our culture from the economy, to work, to the household, along with our perceptions of ourselves versus our neighbors. we constantly pair ourselves against others in order to feel as though we have power and are more individualistic to prove we are able to function in society. the reason we do this is to conform to the characteristics of strength and lack of dependence on others. as it is considered weak to have to rely on others in order to survive and also it is frowned upon, if you are a housewife, to not produce "a full-time career, thriving children, a contented spouse, and a well-managed home" (Introduction). this idea goes back in time to the 1950s when women were supposed to be pious, pure, and submissive housewives, taking care of their domain: the household. the problem now is that women these days cannot possibly take care of all of these things, along with being productive at their jobs, since women are also supposed to hold jobs to be socially acceptable. this is exactly the problem: the image that women are supposed to achieve is constantly being changed by men, this therefore, is where third world country women are involved. these women "achieve their success only by assuming the cast off domestic roles of middle and high income women in the first world---roles that have been previously rejected, of course, by men" (Introduction). as first world women are expected to succeed in the workplace more than in the household, there is still pressure for them to take care of their family, just not as strong. because of this new expectation, women's previous jobs in the household are now looked down upon as unfit for "even women", as though these jobs didn't merit respect before, so now those who do them recieve even less. these jobs are another form of placing women, regardless of race, in subservient positions that place them on a lower social level than men, because of their work. although they are known as women, these third world workers would "make the house-hotel room perfect, feed and bathe the children, cook and clean up---and then magically fade from sight" (Introduction). They are in fact considered less than woman, since they are not presentable in the public forum although the work they do is necessary for our lives. this goes back to my previous point of us not relying on others to help us with our work, due to pride or whatever it may be.

steady as she goes

One thing that women in this age lack is self-assurance along with a belief in themselves to be comfortable with their body shape and all it entails. this lack of confidence is generally caused by the social control that men have over women, along with the constant subjugation of their rights and power. one way that men control the minds and spirits of women to cause doubt in themselves is by making them feel insufficient no matter what they do, in regards to their body and minds. dating all the way back to the nineteenth century women were caught in a double bind when they tried to get access to higher education. according to ruth hubbard "scientists inintially claimed [women] could not be educated because [their] brains were too small" (p.162), therefore they were not fit to study at a higher level than the most basic. she also goes on to say that "if they divert this energy to their brains by studying, their reproductive organs will shrivel, they will become sterile, and the race will die out" (p.162). the idea of women being less intelligent was prevalent for a long period of time until women proved themselves both in the workplace after WWII and in the classroom, exceeding expectations set by men previously to make sure women never succeeded or moved upward in society. on the flip side, women were required to know all about this and that in order to get the cooking and cleaning done. she had to have street-smarts in order to survive in her difficult sphere of the home. so on one hand she is being suppressed by men so that she recieves no formal education, but at the same time is required to know all about her private sphere and social etiquette. men have created this bind so women have no plausible way to succeed in the outside world as they are not equipped with the necessary tools. it forces them back into their private sphere of which they know and cherish as it is one of the only things they find to be common and normal. they make women believe that the only power they hold is the power in the private sphere over the "household" although men tend to believe they hold the power there too seeing as they pay the bills. the work a woman does in the household in not considered real work to society, meaning it merits little appreciation since it so "easy and straightforward". This is another way that men find a way to oppress women and make them feel bad about themselves: make them feel bad and unappreciated for the work they do. emily martin characterizes this situation in "Body Narratives, Body Boundaries" when she says "much of what women do has been interpereted as the natural manifestation of our biology" (p.169). Women's work is degraded so that they recieve no respect for the work they do, even though it is just as, if not more, taxing than the jobs of men in the outside world. men believe that if women hold the same jobs as them, they are no longer of a subservient class and are capable the same as men, which releases them from the bind of passivity and piety. until they break the label put on them by men, women will be considered weak and worthless in society's eyes. what needs to happen is for women to be strong, stand up for themselves at all times, don't give into gender roles and be conscious of their actions and language, and change the views of men unable to see the abilities of women outside their stereotypes. ehh i could've done better.

Common Language and Privilege

This week we read many articles that mostly related to the language we use along with how the powers that rule dictate how they should be used. Also, how power is understood and by what means we have power or not. There was also discussion about other feminist movements by other ethnicities at the same time as the women's movement continuing to this day. The fact is that minorities have very little power as is in society, combined with women/gender, regardless of race and sexual orientation; these people tend to be excluded from issues that involve them, like earning money, providing for their household, and having a voice in society. does that mean, for instance, that homosexual black women don't garner any respect in our society right now? that is exactly what it means, which makes no sense. if they are considered such a minority and have such a "distinct and different outlook on life" that they are considered to be outsiders; and don't we always preach and get it pounded into our heads at a young age to keep our minds open and listen to others? how are these people along with everyone else you meet in a day not considered profound because we are all different? the patriarchical system dictates what we can and can't accept, which again makes no sense. you need to follow your own path and decide what you want to believe in without being spoon fed. everybody is different with different needs, therefore we need to respect these needs as they do the same for us and put up with our trash. when you look at the civil rights movements of the indian women along with the mujeristas, they each have the same basic principal ideas to "overcome oppression we suffer in our culture and in the society in which we live precisely because we are women" (Mujeristas). No matter what race, women are excluded from certain rights and respect in society, therefore their main, basic idea for civil rights is the same, yet each argument is multifaceted with specific needs geared toward their own interests. Also, because of this ignorance of different cultures and their needs, we tend to use language that disrespects their beliefs. similar to how the african american community has used the n word in an endearing fashion, we have taken words such as freshMAN, fireMAN, BACHELOR of arts/science, and other words of these types. the fact that we don't recognize we use these words without the connotations to either gender is a bad sign in that it creates a greater separation between men and women. it constructs invisible walls that we can't differentiate between destructive or helping, or simply neutral. what i actually think is that it doesn't create a larger dichotomy or degrade women, but instead we use it as helpful language that we have recreated to be inclusive to all genders and orientations. as it has progressed from when women stayed at home and earned their "Ph. T. degrees (Putting husband through)" (Betty Friedan) to now where women make up the majority of scholars. scholars, another word that was created for men; now accesible for describing women, too. in 10 years we have no idea where these terms will end up and what they will signify because by then even more women will be attending college and getting degrees. in 50 years some terms will become completely "feminine" or some terms such as policeMAN and freshMAN will change now automatically encompassing all genders and orientations, no exclusions. this could end up being one of the best things for women ever, just look at the progress of the n word. without genderization through speech, both men and women will have more freedom to follow activites once attributed to one sex or the other, leading the world to more possibility and freedom of expression.