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.