Ayvazian and Blanchard

 "Inadvertant behavior of the profoundly inexperienced"

Blanchard states that most of society is naive about racial discrimination due to lack of experience, insight and involvement with people of different races. As long as white people are the majority in all situations, people that are black, or spanish, or whatever other race will feel opressed, and discriminated against.

I think this theory is fascinating because it is so true and it is something I would have never thought of. People may say that they are "not racist" but they are not fully egalitarian unless they have fully befriended people of another race, or have been emersed in their culture. A lot of people that say that they are anti racism are actually blind to a lot of what they have never been introduced to.

Ayvazian talks about becoming allies.

I feel like prior to this class I was one of those naive people, not that I have fully submersed myself into another races culture, so maybe I still cannot be completely egalitatian, but this class turned all of us in it into possible allies. We have learned enough about opression and discrimination and the many forms, and targets, to be able to identify with all kinds of people, and respect them.



In class side note:....Prof Bogad said this wrapped up the whole class and she was right. I feel like it is fitting.

Random Blog #2

How Gender and Society class has altered my thought process and taken over my life:
I watch American Horror Story. (on FX Wednesday nights at ten if you are interested)
I am actually obsessed with this show. It's pretty messed up and I love it for the reason that it is so different then any other show on TV.

Currently the show is on its second season which is completely unrelated to the first season. It takes place in 1964 in an asylum for mentally handicapped people. Most people would want to call it an insane asylum; but its not, because back then people were locked up for all kinds of things that used to be thought of as illnesses that aren't now...
These “Illnesses” include:
*being too sexual
*being sexually attracted to the same gender
strange huh?

PRIOR TO THIS CLASS I would have just been like “Oh yeah I guess history used to be close minded and they realized over time that these are not illnesses.”
Now I'm like “Oh wow. Look how oppressive society used to be.” On top of that I have noticed the gender inequality shown throughout this show between the woman who has been there for years and the new scientist man that is taking over BECAUSE HE IS A MAN. and the racism shown when a man marries a black women and is ACCUSED OF SLUMMING.

I realize this show is fake, and although it is probably very radical, it still shows how oppressive america was...and not even that long ago.
1. A women is locked up for enjoying sex. —sex positivity
2. A women is locked up for being a lesbian. —sexual orientation
3. A man is locked up for chronic masterbation. —sex positivity
4. The nun is overruled by a male scientist. —Gender inequality
5. Racism towards a spanish woman. —Race inequality
6. Racism towards the white man marrying black woman. —Race inequality
and those are all of what I thought of just off the top of my head.
Yes this show sounds racy and very sexual...and it is. don't judge me. Its amazing. (and adam lavigne is in it =])
and if it helps to judge the producers (or directors?) less...they are the same ppl who do The Office too.(weird)

SO I looked for a link to prove the connections I have made to this class...and actually for a clip that proves that people including the cast DO NOT THINK THIS WAY...this is a behind the scene/ cast interviews clip in which nobody really comments on the inequality and societal behavior that is brought to attention throughout the series...I guess only a gender and society class student would realize these things...

But here is a clip from the show of what they do to a lesbian to “cure” her....pretty messed up.
http://vimeo.com/53197844

IN CLASS DISCUSSION TOPICS: how awesome this show is.=]

Croteau Media and Ideology Connections

I was having a hard time following this piece, Media and Ideology at first, but then I realized it was describing a really basic concept that most of us have already come to acknowledge; which is medias role in society and how it manipulates people into thinking one way or another about people, objects, and theories.

When I read this I instantly thought about Cinderella ate my Daughter  and how children and parent's   ideology are targeted into being gender specific. Toy companies want parents to think that boys and girls NEED different color toys, which then makes children think that they actually do NEED these different color toys, or that boys and girls cannot play with the same toys because they are made specifically for one gender.
It also makes me think of how Disney makes girls want to be like the princesses. A little girls( or boys) ideology becomes that they want to be a princess and they need a prince.

I also related it to the reading we covered, What Are Little Boys Made Of? because that reading not only shows different ideology of psychiatrists, (some saying boys actions are biological, and some saying it is cultural) but how the media and culture affects boys and their ideology or values and beliefs. When I think of Kimmels article I also think automatically of the film I saw, The Bro Code and all of the examples of media affecting societal beliefs.  While this reading states that as a whole, we media consumers understand that television families are not realistic, we still follow examples, fads, and values shown on TV, which was proven through the film and reading I just mentioned.
One example that The Bro Code showed, which I am sure I will not be the only one mentioning is, reality TV.


While trying to look up good links to how unrealistic shows still influence society, I came across an article that gives some inside scoop into reality TV. Reality TV isn't Real and some people argue that shows like Jersey Shore are very real, and that those realistic shows influence peoples ideology more then the ones that television consumers outright admit are fake. But to an extent we all know that reality shows are staged and yet they still influence us.

Media is an easy way to influence peoples ideology so, like this reading mentioned politicians especially like to use it as a weapon. That is not the extent of media ideology. As Cinderella Ate my Daughter, and What Little Boys Are Made of show, is that media influences values and beliefs in all aspects, including violence, play, and appearance.

Class Discussion : Should we have read this piece before reading Cinderella Ate My Daughter?

Election 2012

Nothing very exciting happened on Election Day for me. I didn't vote because I realize that even though i have that "right" in the long run it doesn't matter and the electoral college can decide whatever they want. I did go to a public area but there were no loud political people yelling or arguing, and the voting hadnt been completed yet so nothing was really going on.

Bobby and I decided to watch the election at a restaurant and were surprised to find the bar and bar area full so we had to sit in the dinning area. We could still see all 7 TV's. Four of which were showing the news; both fox and nbc 10. 1 Showing sports, and 2 showing keno.
It's safe to say that everyone was engrossed in the news and the waitress did say that it was very busy for a Tuesday but there was nothing exciting going on.

What was interesting was going back home and listening  to bobby and his mother fight over who they wanted to win. Although it was interesting, it was nothing to do with equality or gender just social security.

Although I did what was asked of me, for me this election did not connect back to class like it has for other people.

Sex Positive Extended Comments

 Sex Positivve Extended Comments: Noelle's Blog

I want to do an extended comments on Noelle's blog because she actually applied the readings "Sex Positive Feminism" and "8 Ways To Be Positive Your Sex Positive" to her own life and she is the only one so far who opened up like that. I think when she was in high school neither her or her friends were "sex positive" because they both judged sex, sexuality, and even her lack of sexuality. I feel like teenagers don't know enough about sex or being sexual to NOT judge it or each other. When people are uncertain of thing they tend to judge it.


I really enjoyed the clip Noelle added because I had a teacher (surprisingly) in high school who used to rave about all the good health benefits of having sex. He was the only one who ever pointed that out to students and I feel like if administration knew about it he would have gotten into trouble.But like I said, students don't know about sex enough to not judge it, so if they are going to scare students with diseases and being labelled for doing it openly, then why not give them knowledge of the good that comes from it also.

Things we should discuss in class:
-The concept of slut shaming because I feel like this type of negativity towards sex is the most popular and also judging peoples turn-ons which is only not as popular because it is kept more on the down low then "sluttiness".

Random Post- My Aunt Mia

My grandparents and one out of my fathers three brothers with his wife and son and daughter moved to Florida when I was very young. We only went up to visit them twice before I was even 12 years old, and they have all come to see us maybe three or four times. My Uncle Mike was always well kept.He dyed his hair, got manicures(without color) and all my family has always busted his balls. Last Christmas my Uncle Mike called my other two uncles (not my father) to tell them that they were going to come up for Christmas and to be prepared because at home he dressed as a woman and he wanted to come up as herself.
He never called my dad.
My father and my Uncle Mike NEVER agree on anything. Expecially politics. I think my Uncle was most scared of his opinion because he was always very close minded towards him and it was his way or no way.
My dad was mad when he found out and my uncle didnt tell him and also shocked because how does this happen to an "italian man" with a wife and kids.
My Aunt Mia chickened out of coming to visit.
She has been more and more open to who she is lately, even making a facebook of her new self and adding old friends from high school and Rhode Island.
My father got so many questions about her from his friends and people he sees everyday. Working in the community they grew up in, I even got questions about it. My dad always turned it into a joke though. My dad even got a birthday card from his sister and got very angry about it, thinking that my aunt was just busting his balls.
I didn't think it was funny, but at first I was pretty mad that she did that to her family. My cousin Zack got into fights at school over it, and what must her wife think about it?
Then they all came to visit over the summer. They broke the news that they were looking for a house back in Rhode Island. My Aunt Mitzy kept telling us how "her and I think its best if" and "She wants this, " and I remember thinking why does my cousin Ashley have so much say in this? and it took me fifteen minutes of conversation to realize she meant my new Aunt.
We went out in public with them and my dad was very uncomfortable, both of my Uncles were away in Kawait so they didn't see them but I know one of my Uncles refuses to talk about it with his wife and two young daughters.

I decided to write about this because last night I received a text from my father saying that "Uncle Mike sold his house in Florida" ......which means she is moving here. The second text was "You ladies can all get together and do your nails."

Its hard to tell my father that he is being close minded when he grew up with all brothers and knew one thing his whole life. I know that this whole situation just makes him uncomfortable and making jokes is his way of handling it, but I also now know that it is wrong.
I think being in class we learn the what is right and wrong about dealing with gender issues and such but applying it to your own life and family is harder then a person you did not know prior.

I am accepting it, but I know my father still hasn't. I still struggle with if i am going to correct him or tell him he is being innapropriate. I want to let him deal with it in his own way because I know when they move here he will come around, but at the same time I feel like it is my responsibility to correct him.

Did Cinderella Eat My Daughter?-Reflection

Although I had Disney Princess related toys, and movies, and pink objects I do not think that those factors define me. My girl best friend called me a tom boy when I was younger, and my favorite color was blue. Even though boys and girls didn't play with the same toys that didn't prevent me and they boy who lived upstairs from playing cops and robbers and tag and other ("gender neutral") games. Yet, I played barbies and Bratz with my sister, and my parents loved to watch Disney movies with us.

(I actually hated all of the princess movies because of the vilans, and thoroughly enjoyed the animal based Disney movies, like Fox and the Hound.)

It wasn't Disney or Mattel that brainwashed me into wanting to be girly or feminine or "pretty". It was my dads motivation of "look good, feel good" and also, to "take care of yourself, you don't need a man to take care of you" that pushed me forward into the type of woman I portray myself as. These two goals that my dad set for me were what made me the person I am, not Cinderella.  

I played with princesses and I like to dress up and look pretty, but that doesn't mean that I need a prince to save me and take care of me or that I am better then everyone else because there can only be one princess. I even wore a yellow dress to my junior prom to make myself feel like Belle, but that does not define me.

Since I don't fall into a spell cast by Disney Princess toys, maybe it was Barbie that influenced me so much. Pretty, independent, working. Realistically though, as a kid, I didn't even know of Barbies many jobs, or think that it was or wasn't strange that she worked and wasn't married. She was just a toy that I liked to change outfits on. 

I can see how Peggy translates these toys and phases into being gender specific, how they make girls care about their appearances, and how they portray relationships but I also think that at a young age a toy is a toy and that although it may impact a child, it can be just a phase. If a parent is careful or mindful of it then they will teach their children the important values or morals that may be related to a toy, and the child may not even recognize that they are being targeted to "reproduce" ...like the girls with the babydolls that Peggy mentions, or whatever else that may be read into a product.

As far as the concern over pink toys, I look at it like who cares. Even the auther clarifies that it is a way for companies to double sales by offering boy colors and girl colors. We are never going to convince the world not to see pink as a girl color and blue as a boy color, but that wont prevent girls like me from liking blue, and some boys from liking pink. My little sister currently only wears black and purple. The problem is the parents who are not doing enough to teach their children not to read too much into these things, that if they see a boy riding a pink bicycle it is ok, and that if dressing up makes them feel pretty then do it but dont ever try and alter your appaerances (to lose wieght etc) 

The New York Times wrote this,

"The second wave of feminism deconstructed the Sleeping Beauty narrative and other princess myths as a form of hypnotism, designed to seduce women into marriage and passivity, and structured to teach them that their real lives only began with the kiss of a prince. Even today, I meet right-on feminist moms horrified at the enduring appeal of this story to their egalitarian-raised kindergartners: Why, they ask me, is my daughter obsessed with being a princess?

I would tell them not to worry: Second-wave feminists have it wrong. If you look closely, the princess archetype is not about passivity and decorativeness: It is about power and the recognition of the true self. Little girls are obsessed with princesses for the same reason little boys are obsessed with action heroes What other female role model can issue a sentence and have the world at her feet? What other female figure can command an army, break open a treasury, or even, as in images of Kate Middleton or of Diana Spencer, simply bestow, with her presence, a sense of magic, excitement and healing?What girl would not be drawn to such an archetype, given how few other female role models you can say that about in our popular culture?"

New York Times

As far as this reading goes...and Class Discussions may go...

- I feel that wanting to be pretty or dress up is not a bad thing.

-While stories and movies may have hidden agendas, the toy industry does not and only wants money.

-Gender specific toys suck, but if kids want to play together they will.

-good parenting=not Disney brainwashed children.

PS. Im the prince and Bobby is the princess in our fairytale =]

Event 1- The Bro Code: How Contemporary Cutlure Creates Sexist Men

I attended a Gender film for class called The Bro Code: How Contemporary Culture Creates Sexist Men. In this blog I will draw connects to Adrienne Rich's Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existance and also Michael Kimmels, What are Little Boys Made of? The experience was pretty interesting, in an Alice in Wonderland walking into a rabbit hole type of way. I blindly searched for the secret film room, and along the way I passed three or four people who only had to see my confused expression to know where I was going, even though I wasn't even aware of where I was going. Eventually I was pointed in the right direction.

The film itself was pretty interesting too; explaining how sexism is a vicious circle drawn between culture that has been passed down through society and family, and culture as seen on TV. The movie called this a feedback loop; saying that the TV copies people, and then people copy the TV. It then uses examples to go into detail about each of these aspects affecting sexism and gender roles in society. The movie states that family plays a large role in creating sexist men; wether it is how the family acts, or lack of proper parenting advice.

Women feel disempowered by sexist men, and in response feel that certain things, like dressing provacative will empower them, which then creates music videos with men being surrounded by women dressed like that, money, and expensive things like cars. This pushes men to think that in order to be successful, powerful, or atractive, they must posess all of these things, including "possessing" women. I feel like this asspect of the film very closely related to Adrienne Rich's paper in which she explains how automatic and unnoticabley people in todays society are heterosexual. In her paper she states that society is male dominated "the New Right's Messages to women have been, precisely, that we are the emotional and sexual property of men, and that autonomy and equality of women threaten family, relgion, and state."

Another class reading that related really well to the movie was Michael Kimmel's peice What are Little Boys Made Of? In which he brings up authors, both feminist and not, men and women who have written about a "war against boys" which claims that "boys are the new victims of a feminist-inspired agenda," but that the real underlying issue is teen violence, which is predominantly recognised as boys commiting the acts.
I like the way that this article connects to the reading, because in it, Kimmel singles out non-feminist men therapists who wrote books justifying innapropriate male behavior, and the feminist counter-perspectives that explain that it is privelege that allows boys to act this way.
I feel that if these nonfeminist therapists, Gurian and Buddalph, had seen this film they would feel it is just another feminist attack on male personalities.  They claim that violence, possession, and lack of emotion is a biological entitlement for men; that feminists and women in general are trying to force boys to ignore. The film also disproves their theory that it is biology, not peer/pop culture, that forces them to act agresively and masculine.

Agressive children= Biological (Not cultural) ???

The film supports everything that Kimmel brings up in his peice of the cultural (not biological) "rules" of being a man...even specifically bringing up a "boy code".
In the film, it is noted that "boys should take whatever they want at any means necessary to give them status and don't snitch tell or ask" and in Kimmels peice he states Kindlon and Thompson write, "culture of cruelty imposes a code of silence on boys, requiring them to suffer without speaking of it and to be silent witnesses to acts of cruelty to others."


The movie was very enlightening, and i was glad that I waited to write about it so that I could connect it to more appropriate readings.

Class topics:
In my notes I cited a few specific facts and statements made through the movie that i feel generate a lot of thought....

Gay guys are most joked about group

Gay teens are three times more likely to commit suicide 

 Two categories of women for men: dumb and sexy 

Smart is unsexy because dumb is not threatening to alpha male dominance

Kesha shows that it's now unisex and rather then change men we compete with them and adopt all their negative traits and make it neutral

Gloria Anzaldua Mestiza Feminist Argument

Gloria Anzaldua wrote a piece called La Conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness. I looked at this title and thought to myself, * oh great...I cant speak spanish. This reading is going to suck. *That is exactly why Anzaldua wrote this. We live in America where, she notes, we call this country a “melting pot”, but it is not.

Anzaldua writes about being of mixed race (spanish, black, or indian) in a white american culture. She said that people of mixed race struggle with cultural and spiritual values, and are in a perpetual state of transition. “Cradled in one culture, sandwiched between two cultures, straddling all three cultures and their value systems.” While she struggles with accepting all her cultures, she also has to worry about how american culture will view her, and what is considered expectable for her to practice and value.

“(As a lesbian I have no race, my own people disclaim me; but I am all races because there is the queer of me in all races.) I am cultures because, as a feminist, I challenge the collective cultural/ religious male derived beliefs of Into-Hispanics and Angeles; yet I am cultured because I am participating in the creation of yet another culture, a new story...” Although this quote makes it sound like yes, we are in a melting pot, that is not what she means. Anzaldua is saying that on top of struggling with cultural diversities, people struggle with gay culture, and how each individual culture will view gay culture. She states that all of this together, does not come together easily, and that no matter what, people of different backgrounds, cultures, values, and beliefs have to struggle in Americas oppressive traditions.

Not only does she acknowledge the challenges that people of different nationalities and sexual orientation have to face, she also brings up the fact that women are still oppressed by men. That in her example of her father, Mexican men, or men of different races, face their own oppression by white men, and succumb to guilt brought on from now being apart of a white american culture and in turn “he suffers from racial amnesia which ignores our common blood, and from guilt because the Spanish part of him took their land and oppressed them...It overlays a deep sense of racial shame.”

...“Though we 'understand' the root cause of male hatred and fear, and the subsequent wounding of woe, we do not excuse, we do not condone and we will not longer put up with it. From the men of our race, we demand the admission/acknowledgement/disclosure/testimony that they wound us, violate us, are afraid of us and our power.” Amzulua's paper leads up to her want for women of mixed background to stand up together for cultural and feminist rights. She argues that in order for women to break free of oppression that “we need a new masculinity and the new man needs a movement".

I have included a link that supports Gloria Anzalua's arguement that women of mixed race need to come together, and are going to play a large role in the third wave of feminism. BrownFeministBlog In her blog, this woman states "Where are all the mixed race feminists?" and talks about her struggle as a black woman trying to show her culture, and also following cultural norms of Americas society. 

Compulsory Heterosexuality and lesbian existance by adrienne rich

FIRST I'd like to Define compulsory

compulsory-required by law or rule; obligated

AND Define heterosexuality

heterosexuality-a sexual attraction to persons of the opposite sex

According to these online definitions compulsory heterosexuality is being obligated or forced to be sexually attracted to persons of the opposite sex.

And according to adrienne rich heterosexuality is a political institute which disempowers women and enforces that women are emotional and sexual property of man. Heterosexualiy is therefore enforced because autonomy and equality of women threaten family, religion, and state. Heterosexuality in society today is compulsory through physical and subconscious controls forced through legislation, religion, society, and media.

SECOND I will define lesbian existance

these words are a little easier to define..

lesbian- a homosexual woman

existance- the fact or state of living or having objective reality

what I got out of Adrienne Rich's piece was that lesbian existence is the awareness and openness of women's attraction to women and  our society has a hard time/ does not acknowledging it, due to cumpulsory heterosexuality.

This article was interesting because it brings up a lot of points that I'm not sure many people would come up with; like the fact that women are drawn to women because they want a mother-daughter bond. The fact that girls are raised to want to be with boys, and like boys, and follow boys, early on prevents women from realizing that they can bond emotionally better with women. I'm not sure how much i agree with Rich's theory, but I am interested to see how the class reacts to this and what every one has to say about it. 

economic inequality

Why and how is economic inequality a feminist issue?

First off, what exactly is economic inequality?
Economic inequality is defined as "wealth and income differences" (web definitions). This being said, social classes are an inequality; working class, middle class, and upper class. These social classes are not only about income though, and that is why economic inequality is a feminist issue. As People Like Us states, "((social class))it is the most important predictor of what kind of financial and educational opportunities someone will have in life".
 This inequality is oppressive to the working class because according to the Center for Working-Class Studies, “employers are taking advantage of the current economic conditions. High unemployment, deregulation and lack of enforcement efforts have led many employers to cheat their employees.“ this leaves the working class getting screwed out of money they earned, and making minimum wage to barely get by.

Most people in the working class are unable to afford education to move up in classes and thus are stuck, like birds in a cage. CWCS states that tax cuts made unfairly go to the middle class and upper class which is becoming smaller and smaller as many people are entering the working class.

Presidential Election

I do not follow politics. At all.
I would like to say that I watch the news and know what is going on in society but I don't. So I guess this is a good time to do some learning.
Right now current democratic president Barrack Obama and republican candidate Mitt Romney are facing off to be the head of our nation.

In his campaign, Romney criticizes all of Obamas promises, while making many of his own.


Romney talks about a five step plan on creating jobs, wants to make our country energy independent, wants to cut taxes, and ease up on immigration laws. Romneys promises This link not only explains his plans but provides a link to his speech given when he accepted the republican presidential nomination.

I was specifically interested in Romneys five step plan to create jobs and make the country energy independent.
1. Take advantage of American oil, coal, gas and nuclear.
2. Give citizens skills for jobs
3. New trade agreements
4. Cut deficits through businesses
5. Reduce taxes, regulations and healthcare

I love it.
I'm not saying that I am against Obama, or for Romney. I still don't know enough to make that decision, but this all sounds good to me. The only problem is that it is SO vague.

HOW does he plan on doing all of this?...he goes into no detail.
I believe all of his plans will greatly help create jobs in America and I think it is about time we look into creating our own energy. Everyone should love the idea of drilling oil in American reserves.
I think all of America will benefit from his proposals, but I don't know how easily he would be able to follow through with it.
He wants to create new trade agreements but what makes him think that other countries will agree to new trade regulations. They would not benefit from plans to help America so what can he offer them to make them agree?
Mitt Romney: campaign issues

This five step plan is a very vague way of appealing to all Americans. It covers all aspects of American life and how he is going to improve it...who is going to argue with that? Better school systems, cheaper American made products, more jobs, and more successful businesses.
Is it too perfect? Too easy?

"Oppression" by Frye- Quotes

A major purpose of Frye's essay "oppression" is to define and explain the concept of oppression; how people perceive it and how they really should be perceiving it. I think she does a very good job explaining, so i want to quote some important phrases within the text.

Quotes

"When the stresses and frustrations of being a man are cited as evidence that oppressors are oppressed by their oppressing, the word 'oppression' is being stretched to meaninglessness; it is treated as though its scope includes any and all human experience of limitation or suffering, no matter the cause, degree or consequence." 
 Paragraph 2 
         This quote was in the second paragraph, the first one being only a few lines. It is a very thought provoking and confusing introduction. This selection is meant to create an awareness towards oppression  and specifically how people play it off, and say that even if they oppress people, it is because they too are oppressed. Which she states is not true. The last sentence is an explanation of how people come to explain oppression, which throughout her essay she disproves.

"The root of the word 'oppression' is the element 'press.' The press of the crowd; pressed into military service; to press a pair of pants; printing press; press the button. Presses are used to mold things or flatten them or reduce them in bulk, sometimes to reduce them by squeezing out the gases or liquids in them. Something pressed is something caught between or among forces and barriers which are so related to each other that jointly they restrain, restrict or prevent the things motion or mobility. Mold. Immobilize. Reduce."
Paragraph 5
         When I read this quote I decided that it was the best definition she used to explain oppression...significantly better and less confusing then stating that "oppressors are oppressed by their oppressing" which is just confusing. This explanation makes oppression more understandable, in the way that she specifically wants everyone to acknowledge it, and not in the way that she stated in the first quote. This selection is meant to create a better understanding but also fully realize how negative the word really is.

"Each of these factors exists in complex tension with every other, penalizing or prohibiting all of the apparently available options. And nipping at one's heels, always, is the endless pack of little things. If one dresses one way, one is subject to the assumption that one is advertising one's sexual availability; if one dresses another way, one appears to 'not care about oneself' or to be 'unfeminine.' If one uses 'strong language,' one invites categorization as a whore or a slut; if one does not, one invites categorization as a 'lady'- one too delicately constituted to cope with robust speech or the realities to which it presumably refers."
Paragraph 9
          This quote was the most complete explanation of oppression and shows how much "something pressed is something caught between or among forces and barriers which are so related to each other that jointedly they restrain, restrict or prevent the things motion or mobility." It fully connects the root of the word to how people enforce oppression, in a very true, everyday life example.

In class question
Are men justified in thinking that they too are opressed?
 

Are Younger Generations Afraid of Feminism?

A Tsunami in History by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner defines and explores the history of feminism by breaking it up into 3 generation waves. Most of the key information was similar to what we learned from the film One Woman, One Vote. Rowe-Finkbeiner not only explains the different historical events and significant moments during each wave, but how each wave of feminism evolved from the last, and finally leads up to how society, and even women view feminism now.

Rowe-Finkbeiners Feminist Evolution from Wave to Wave:
WAVE 1: Feminists were "early suffragist" advocates for women's rights; specifically the right to vote.
WAVE 2: Feminists were "activists"  who "took the right to vote, the right to electoral advocacy, and the right to form legislative solutions and ran with them."
WAVE 3: Feminists are women who fight "social and economic inequalities each day"

This link also explains each of the waves more thoroughly
3 Waves of Feminism

Although Rowe-Finkbeiner stated that we are currently in the 3rd wave of Feminism, we no longer refer to it as feminism...
IN FACT Lisa Maria Hogeland explores that idea in her essay Fear of Feminism, in which she states that the younger generation fears feminism due to the old context in which it was first invented; political equality.
BUT there are feminists today, and they are not afraid of it, in fact there are still women for feminism and there are women who are strongly against it.

This CNN clip explains that studies show that over the past three decades women overall have become less happy...but that culture has in fact been shifting positively towards women and feminist ideals.

Why are women increasingly unhappy? Did feminism actually fail?

Feminism began as a fight for political equality, as Rowe-Finkbeiner stated and it slowly became about doing anything and everything that was anti-woman behavior like working and not having children. Are women now unhappy with their roles; tired of work and in need of male companionship?
These three links are WOMEN complaining about feminists and what feminism has done...they are certainly not afraid of feminism.

Feminism is Dead
Anti Feminist
Feminism

IN CLASS Discussion
I think that Hogeland is wrong when she says that women today are afraid of feminism. I think the problem is that women define feminists as being against men or anti men, rather than equal to politically, so they no longer value certain aspects of being a woman and "woman culture". Due to what feminism turned into, in todays culture women have put themselves in a place where they have no respect for themselves or from others. They are fighting against gender roles.
Feminism still exists today, has it turned into a burden rather than a good cause?

Welcome

Hi my name is Courtney Rao. I am a sophomore at RIC, majoring in business management. I am dedicated to finish school early, and I spend all my time in class or at work. I am taking this class as an SB credit towards my gen eds, and so far it seems like it is going to be one of the more interesting classes this semester.