Blog #8

Housework- This word can create anxiety and stress, it brings to mind never-ending mundane tasks that must be done to keep things going. Women have come a long way in proving that we can do anything. However, there are still many who think a woman’s role involves doing all of the housework and a man does things that require repair, heavy lifting, of outdoor work. Of course this isn’t fair, because women usually end up doing way more than men.

Many men just are not brought up to be as good at cleaning, or having organizational skills. Many of the chores children are given are gender specific. For example, girls do more dishes, and boys take out the trash. My husband is always willing to help me clean, but his standard of clean and my standard vary, and usually I end up redoing his work or just doing it myself. I think in order for household roles to change, our society needs to change the mentality regarding gender when raising our children. Boys are perfectly capable of cleaning well, being organized, and carrying an equal load of the housework, they just need to be conditioned to do so as girls are. Women are taking on more than ever as the majority of mothers work outside the home. It is too hard for a woman to tend to the needs of her children, work, and maintain a clean home. The work must be shared, and men will continue to grow to support this need.

Blog #10

                This week my women’s studies class has been discussing violence against women. Cases of rape and battery occur all too often and unfortunately the victim is usually a woman. We read about the horrific crimes that took place in Juarez, Mexico. Women were raped and mutilated in ways that are almost indescribable. What I found sad was the lack of media attention surrounding these attacks. Hundreds of women were abducted and killed, and the news didn’t even really make it to the United States. In Mexico even it seems as though not a whole lot was done to combat it. If something like that happened in the U.S. I think it would have more media attention. Don’t get me wrong, there are hundreds of incidents of rape that take place in the United States on a daily basis, but these women were brutally, brutally, raped and murdered.  

                I think women in the United States take for granted some of the advantages we have in comparison to women in other countries. We have made great strides towards equality and when we are violated or abused we can bring the attacker to justice. Women in some countries do not have that right, and they are treated more like cattle than women. Here in the U.S. more can be done to protect women, but we also need to take a moment to be thankful for everything we have. Women in the United States need to reach out and find ways to help other women all over the world. Women need to unite to combat violence.

Blog #9

This week I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to write about; we have been discussing women and the media in class so I searched women and the media on the web looking for inspiration. One of the first websites I found was http://www.mediaandwomen.org/. This is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness to the impacts of the media on women and girls and how we are represented in the media. What a wonderful group! I am sure that there are more websites and groups dedicated to this cause, I wish that more people were aware of them. I love that we are seeing more recognition of how the media affects women and especially young girls. Young girls are so impressionable and seeing stick thin models or girls who act out sexually for attention are just two ways in which girls are influenced and harmed by the media. This website reminded me of the Dove Campaign for Women, which is also another great cause dedicated to empowering women. I was reading through an article by Jess Weiner on http://www.dove.us/#/CFRB/arti_CFRB.aspx[cp-documentid=7051112]/ and she discusses her struggles to be thin as a child /teen. Things could have been easier for Weiner if only the people around her would have set different examples. She illustrates things she would like to teach her daughter in order to break the cycle of poor body image. I wanted to quote one of them on here because I think there are wonderful. Weiner said,

“FAT is not a feeling! Every woman (and man) in my life said the phrase, ‘I feel fat.’ So I picked up that phrase, too. I wish someone would have told me that fat indeed is not an emotion.”

Weiner goes on to talk about how feeling fat is commonly a coin phrase to mask deeper emotions. She expresses the need to emphasize the importance of inner “style” not just outer style, and how parents need to actually set the examples for their children not just by saying but by doing.

It is no doubt important that female empowerment and self esteem start at home but I think we still need more awareness and more done to improve the media and it’s regards to women. For companies like Dove to be recognizing this need, I think we are starting to turn in the right direction.

Blog #7

This week in women’s studies we have been discussing issues surrounding marriage and family and how it affects women. The readings got me thinking a lot about divorce.  I have been married a year and a half now and I have a great marriage, but the overwhelming divorce statistics are a little scary. I am very fortunate to have parents who are still happily married, as does my husband. We have great role models to look to and a great support system. I can’t help but wonder what exactly is making so many marriages fail. I looked around on the internet quite a bit and found many websites that blame the standards society puts on marriage; what a husband and wife should be like. Society puts out this image of a “perfect” marriage leaving many to be disappointed. Obviously it is impossible to come up with one universal reason for divorce. Perhaps we have just become a society that has too high of expectations for everything, marriage included.

                The most interesting thing I learned was that even though divorce is so common, few abandon marriage altogether. Many divorcees remarry and even remarry again. This shows that we are not losing faith in marriage, just that many of them are not working. We all hold within us a belief that our soul mate is out there and many tirelessly look for the perfect marriage. I am still learning about marriage, and realizing how difficult it is. Marriage takes a lot of work from both sides. I can’t pretend that I know it all or will ever. I will spend my entire marriage learning and trying to improve as a wife, as I hope my husband will. With much effort, the help of God, and lots of love I am optimistic that my husband and I can beat the odds and have a lasting relationship.

Blog #6

“…is it surprising that today we have become so morally blind (for wickedness blinds) that we save the baby whales at great cost, and murder millions of unborn children?”
~ Alice von Hildebrand

               This week in women’s studies we have discussed the issues surrounding reproductive rights. I believe that women should have sufficient access to proper health care and education on women’s health. I am a pro-life individual, but find that many assume that because someone is pro-life they do not care about people’s rights as citizens. I believe in all women’s rights I just would like to see fewer abortions taking place. I am not as serious as some pro-lifers that are also against birth control. In my opinion birth control to prevent pregnancy is better than pregnancy termination. I would like to see more education in schools and free access to birth control options for women of all ages. I am not going to pretend that I know what it feels like to experience an unwanted pregnancy, nor am I anyone to judge another’s decision. I would just like to see fewer women in that unfortunate situation. I think women need to take responsibility for their sexuality, and prevent pregnancy in the first place. Obviously this isn’t always possible, and obviously I am excluding cases of rape and incest. However, the statistics show that many unwanted pregnancy are conceived without the use of any protection. If more information and resources are made available to women- perhaps for free it may help those numbers go down. I believe it is possible to have respect for life and for women at the same time.

Blog #5

This week in our women’s studies class we have been discussing issues of beauty relating to gender. Our society has such unattainable standards of beauty. The models that we see on television or in magazines are terribly thin. Only 5 percent or less of the population is naturally that thin. The average model is also much taller than the average American woman. We all realize that models are touched up to look better but we don’t realize just much their appearance is altered to be considered beautiful by our high standards. This week got me thinking about how much our society obsesses over beauty so I searched a few popular magazines to see just how much beauty and weight related stories they were running.

Pretty much every inch of a women’s magazine is soaked with stories telling us how to look better, or lose that extra ten pounds that has obviously been holding us back. Stories about positive body image are few and far between.  The message behind all these stories is that women are constantly in need of improvement; be more beautiful, lose more weight, be more successful, be happier. All of these ring loud and clear that we need to do more in our lives to be the ideal woman.

What would these magazines be like if suddenly every woman became the perfect size and perfectly beautiful? They wouldn’t have as much to write about. I would like to see more stories about how amazing women already are, and how much they give of themselves for the betterment of the world.

I wish our society could appreciate things as they are once in a while because God made us all different in a beautiful way.

Blog #4

The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, “It’s a girl.” ~Shirley Chisholm

                I never considered myself a feminist. I also used to be one of the many women that felt pretty good about where we, as women, stand today in society. I thought that we had pretty much won the equality thing, and the women’s issues were smaller these days compared to a whole heap of other forms of oppression. Then I started reading more about women’s rights. There are so many ways in which women are oppressed that we don’t even realize. It is in our language and subconscious attitude.

            Women try to overcome this oppression by attempting to do it all. We want careers so we go out into the work place full of ambition.  We also want to be mothers and comfort our children when we get home or read bedtime stories. We don’t necessarily want to do all the housework but many husbands just aren’t that good at it if they’re willing to help at all, so we do that too. We keep track of appointments for everyone in the household, plan parties, and make sure Christmas cards get sent out on time-among a thousand other things. Because we’re women and we’ve fought so hard to get opportunities we think that we must do it all and not fail. We go above and beyond what most men do –physically and emotionally.

            Before I started reading more about women’s rights I thought we had won the majority of the battles for equality. But what I realize is that we are winning them every day and it’s difficult- and we still have quite a ways to go.

Blog #3

I found it really ironic when I heard the story on the news about the South African track star, Caster Semenya, because this story tied directly in to what we are currently covering in my women’s studies course.  Semenya has been under speculation for months about her gender. The gold medalist had to undergo tests which consequently proved her to be a hermaphrodite. This whole story has brought about a discussion on whether or not we can continue to live with only two categories of gender (male/female), leaving thousands feeling left out or unidentified.

                Many have speculated in the news that the track star did not know she was in fact a hermaphrodite. I am saddened that this private matter was made so public for her. I can’t imagine what it would feel like for the world to know something so personal about you. I hope that she can find strength through all of this and really claim who she is.

                I think our society needs to be more sensitive to cases like this one and take it upon ourselves to educate and be aware that there is more than just male/female categorization. We all cannot fit into specific gender roles. I am hoping that this story will open more discussion and that everyone can learn and become more accepting.  I try to imagine what will be considered normal in the future. I wonder if there will be more than just male/ female sports teams, or more than just two boxes to check on forms to indicate your gender. I wonder if there will be more than just male/female bathrooms. Maybe I am just thinking too far into this but it’s hard not to wonder. All of these gender issues are nothing new they are just more out in the open today.  I believe having things out in the open is at least a step in the right direction.

Blog # 2

I used to be an extremely career driven person and thought that nothing would stop me from reaching my goals – then I had a baby. My goals have completely changed. Don’t get me wrong I still want things for myself. I want to be educated and have a career that makes a difference in people’s lives. I don’t necessarily want to be considered only as a mother but rather as a well rounded woman. I admire the women who can make it all work – who can have a career, and a family and manage to keep everything in order.

            But right now I’m  loving staying home with my little boy and I feel like I am able to give him all the attention I want to. I am especially blessed that I can continue my schooling at the same time. I still have dreams and goals but they have been kind of put on hold for the moment. At times I feel like I’m being the woman that feminist’s resent- I’m not pushing on for the cause of women. I like that today though it’s our individual choice to be a stay at home mom, it’s not something that is expected of you. When I tell people what I am doing these days most people act surprised or comment on how lucky I am that I get to spend time with my son. I am truly thankful for the opportunity. I think we women need to support each other in all of our endeavors. We truly can do anything. I hope one day when I graduate I can have everything together- the career and the family.

Blog #1

Hello all! This is my first blog posting so I am basically just trying to figure out how all of this works.

Hopefully this appears okay!