Career Project

Women in Business Management

After college, I plan on being a business manager. The qualifications for this type of job can range depending on what sector you go into however; there are a few qualifications and standards that are typically expected. The first qualification is a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, management or something related to business. It is also good to have a graduate degree in a more specialized field discipline. Top managers also need to have highly developed personal skills and an analytical mind. They need to be able to communicate clearly and persuasively. It is also important to have leadership skills, self-confidence, motivation, decisiveness, flexibility, sound business judgment, and determination. Managers can also become more familiar with the latest developments in management techniques at national or local training programs. Aspiring managers can also take the Certified Manager (CM) credential offered by the Institute of Certified Professional Managers. Finally, it is important for managers to participate in conferences and seminars and develop a network of useful contacts. (Statistics, 2007)
According to the United States Department of Labor, in 2007, the largest percentage of employed women (39%) worked in management, professional, and related occupations. Management analysts were ranked eighth in the top ten occupations with the highest median weekly earnings among women with $1,083. Those weekly earnings total roughly $56,316 for a yearly salary. However, I researched statistics for management occupations and the median weekly rate was $1,557.20, which makes the annual wage for the 5,892,900 employees $80,974.40. The mean annual wage estimates for management occupations was $91,930. There is obviously a discrepancy between what the women and men are earning in this field. (Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review, 2008)
The statistics also stated that women accounted for 51% of all workers in high-paying management, professional, and related occupations. They outnumbered men as financial managers, accountants and auditors, budget analysts, property, real estate, and social and community association managers, preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers, physical therapists, and registered nurses. Although these statistics may look good to anyone, I realized that they are not all business-related fields. (Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review, 2008)
Robert E. Robertson wrote an analysis focused on the Department of Labor’s Current Population Survey or CPS. The work centered around ten industries: communications, public administration, business and repair services, entertainment and recreation services, other professional services, educational services, retail trade, finance, insurance, real estate, hospitals and medical services, and professional medical services. These ten industries accounted for about 70% of all salary positions filled by women in 2000. Robertson and the others that worked on the analysis defined managers with titles that included the words administrator, director, manager, or supervisor. This makes their information more relevant to me because they specifically paid attention to managers. They found that female managers in the ten industries generally had less education, were younger, less likely to be married, and more likely to work part-time. In four of the industries, women were significantly less represented in management positions than they were in all positions. Women were only equally represented in five out of ten of the industries. They also found that full-time female managers earned less than full-time male managers in all ten industries after controlling education, age, marital status, and race. (Robertson, 2002)
In addition to female managers generally having less education, being younger, less likely to be married, and more likely to work part-time, there are several other factors that I have learned about that relate to women’s wages. Women are still expected to take care of child-raising activities and other family responsibilities. There are still stereotypes that women are caring and home-based workers and they lack negotiating capability and bargaining power. It is also harder for women to gain equality in jobs that are predominately run by men. I have also learned that institutions produce messages that shape our understandings of gender. Stereotypes often times provide the rationale for injustice. This means that men may not want to hire a woman as a manager because they assume that she would not know how to do a high skill-leveled job. (Shaw & Lee, 2007)
Roberston’s analysis also provided full-time manager salary differentials for the ten industries in 2000. For every one dollar earned by males in communication management, females earned .73. In Public administration management, females earned .83 for every dollar earned my males. In business and repair management, females earned .76 for every dollar earned by males. In entertainment and recreation services management, women earned .62 for every dollar earned by men. Women earned .83 for every male dollar in other professional services management. In Educational services management, women earned .91 for every dollar earned by men. In retail trade management, women earned .65 for every dollar earned by males. Women earned just .68 for every dollar earned by men in finance, insurance, and real estate management. In hospital and medical management, women earned .85 for every dollar earned by men. Finally, in professional medical services management, women earned .88 for every dollar earned by men. (Robertson, 2002)
A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) showed that women marketing and sales managers earned almost $30,000 less annually than their male counterparts. According to NAFE, there have been several class-action gender-discrimination lawsuits filed in the past few years which may encourage companies to address the gender-pay gap. (24 Cents Short: Women Still Lag Behind Men in Earning Power, 2008)
The Association of College and Research Libraries and the American Library Association have developed a Women’s Studies Section with links about women and business. This website lists many different organizations so that women can be aware of what is available. The American Business Women’s Association or ABWA, is one organization that is listed that provides member events, educational programs, and career resources. Catalyst is a nonprofit organization working to advance women in business through articles, news, and links to useful websites. Executive Women International is another nonprofit professional women’s organization that provides networking through 3500 companies and 5000 representatives in the United States, Canada, and Europe. NAFE is also listed on this webside as the largest businesswomen’s association in the United States with 200,000 members. It provides information about women in the workplace, job resources, and links to business resources. (Sluss, 2006)
I would really like to encourage other women to join the field of business management. I have really enjoyed learning about this field and I am really excited to go into the real world. I am going to work really hard so that no one can challenge my quality of work and I will already have the college qualifications that are expected in a field like this. I would be happy to help other students who are women and entering this field. I think that the only way that women can make a difference in business management is if more of us enter the field and more of us get the expected amount of education.


Works Cited

24 Cents Short: Women Still Lag Behind Men in Earning Power. (2008). Retrieved April 22, 2008, from National Association For Female Excecutives: http://www.nafe.com/web?service=direct/1/ViewArticlePage/dlinkFullTopArticle3&sp=365&sp=275

Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review. (2008, April 22). Retrieved April 22, 2008, from U.S. Department of Labor : http://www.dol.gov/

Robertson, R. E. (2002). Women in Management Analysis of Current Population Survey Data. United States General Accounting Office.

Shaw, S. M., & Lee, J. (2007). Women's Voices Feminist Visions. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Sluss, S. B. (2006, June 13). Women in Business. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from Women's Studies Section: http://libr.org/wss/wsslinks/business.html

Top Executives. (2007, April 14). Retrieved April 29, 2008, from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos012.htm#training

Activity # 11

I found it really interesting searching for the women’s issues associated with each candidate for the United States president. The first candidate that I researched was Senator John McCain. The first thing that I came across was that McCain wanted to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the decisions of abortion to the individual states. I was not shocked about this because Republicans typically are pro-life. Other than that, I could not really find any other important parts to McCain’s campaign that were geared towards women’s rights and issues.
The second candidate that I researched was Senator Hillary Clinton. Clinton had a page labeled a Champion for Women which explained her stance on women's issues. First of all, Clinton plans on strengthening equal pay laws and disparities between women and men. She has introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act to set a higher standard and increase oversight of employers. She has also tried to increase access to capital and other support for women-owned businesses. She also stands as a pro-choice advocate and wants to expand access to family planning services, which includes low-income women. She also states that she wants to microfinance programs that enable women to start their own businesses. She has championed the Prevention First Act, to expand access to family planning services for low-income women and make health insurance companies to cover contraception. She has also helped pass the Family and Medical Leave Act and helped found the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancies which has significantly reduced teen pregnancies. She has also helped make Plan B available over the counter. Clinton also put on her website that she has spoken out against the Supreme Court’s April 2007 decision that failed to recognize the importance of women’s health and that she has spoken out strongly against sex trafficking.
The last candidate for president that I researched was Senator Barack Obauma. Obauma had an area called learn where Barack stands under his page about women. Obauma stated that he is going to work to overturn the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that restricts racial minorities’ and women’s ability to challenge pay discrimination. He will also pass the Fair Pay Act to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work. He also would expand programs like the successful Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers. Obauma has also introduced the Microbicide Development Act to fight against AIDS. These are products under development that women would apply topically. He has also fought to fight Heart disease and ovarian cancer as well as breast cancer by maintaining funding for the Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health, being a co-sponsor of Johanna’s Law, and helped pass legislation in Illinois to expand insurance coverage for mammograms. He plans to reduce health risks due to mercury and support stem cell research. He also, like Hillary Clinton, is pro-choice. Obauma has introduced the Prevention First Act to increase funding for family planning and comprehensive sex education. He has also co-sponsored and helped reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Obauma also plans to promote women in math and science, protect title IX, improve afterschool and daycare opportunities, investing in women-owned small businesses, and improving child support collection.
After reading about all of the candidates, it was pretty clear that Senator Hillary Clinton and Barack Obauma put more effort into women’s issues than John McCain. There was a lot of material on Barack Obauma’s website about what he would like to do to help women. Hillary Clinton also had a lot of material on her accomplishments for women’s rights and seemed to care about them as expected from a woman candidate. I think that these candidates have put a lot of effort into this topic because they want to enhance women's rights and they realize that a lot of their voters are women! I do not think it was very smart on Senator McCain's part to not provide that much information on what he would do for women. Overall, I believe that Obauma was the best at addressing all of the issues associated with women. However, based on this topic, I think that Clinton or Obauma would make a great president.

Activity #10

After college, I plan on being a business manager. According to the United States Department of Labor, in 2007, the largest percentage of employed women (39%) worked in management, professional, and related occupations. Management analysts were ranked eighth in the top ten occupations with the highest median weekly earnings among women with $1,083. Those weekly earnings total roughly $56,316 for a yearly salary. However, I researched statistics for management occupations and the median weekly rate was $1,557.20, which makes the annual wage for the 5,892,900 employees $80,974.40. The mean annual wage estimates for management occupations was $91,930. There is obviously a discrepancy between what the women and men are earning in this field. (Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review, 2008)
The statistics also stated that women accounted for 51% of all workers in high-paying management, professional, and related occupations. They outnumbered men as financial managers, accountants and auditors, budget analysts, property, real estate, and social and community association managers, preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers, physical therapists, and registered nurses. Although these statistics may look good to anyone, I realized that they are not all business-related fields. (Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review, 2008)
Robert E. Robertson wrote an analysis focused on the Department of Labor’s Current Population Survey or CPS. The work centered around ten industries: communications, public administration, business and repair services, entertainment and recreation services, other professional services, educational services, retail trade, finance, insurance, real estate, hospitals and medical services, and professional medical services. These ten industries accounted for about 70% of all salary positions filled by women in 2000. Robertson and the others that worked on the analysis defined managers with titles that included the words administrator, director, manager, or supervisor. This makes their information more relevant to me because they specifically paid attention to managers. They found that female managers in the ten industries generally had less education, were younger, less likely to be married, and more likely to work part-time. In four of the industries, women were significantly less represented in management positions than they were in all positions. Women were only equally represented in five out of ten of the industries. They also found that full-time female managers earned less than full-time male managers in all ten industries after controlling education, age, marital status, and race. (Robertson, 2002)
The Analysis also provided full-time manager salary differentials for the ten industries in 2000. For every one dollar earned by males in communication management, females earned .73. In Public administration management, females earned .83 for every dollar earned my males. In business and repair management, females earned .76 for every dollar earned by males. In entertainment and recreation services management, women earned .62 for every dollar earned by men. Women earned .83 for every male dollar in other professional services management. In Educational services management, women earned .91 for every dollar earned by men. In retail trade management, women earned .65 for every dollar earned by males. Women earned just .68 for every dollar earned by men in finance, insurance, and real estate management. In hospital and medical management, women earned .85 for every dollar earned by men. Finally, in professional medical services management, women earned .88 for every dollar earned by men. (Robertson, 2002)
A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) showed that women marketing and sales managers earned almost $30,000 less annually than their male counterparts. According to NAFE, there have been several class-action gender-discrimination lawsuits filed in the past few years which may encourage companies to address the gender-pay gap. (24 Cents Short: Women Still Lag Behind Men in Earning Power, 2008)

References

24 Cents Short: Women Still Lag Behind Men in Earning Power. (2008). Retrieved April 22, 2008, from National Association For Female Excecutives: http://www.nafe.com/web?service=direct/1/ViewArticlePage/dlinkFullTopArticle3&sp=365&sp=275

Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review. (2008, April 22). Retrieved April 22, 2008, from U.S. Department of Labor : http://www.dol.gov/

Robertson, R. E. (2002). Women in Management Analysis of Current Population Survey Data. United States General Accounting Office.

CRJ #7

I think that same sex couples should be able to marry. I do not see why it would hurt anyone because there are already same-sex couples around they just may not be married or considered married by many states. If we don’t let these couples get married, they are not going to go away. In fact, I think that the more we prohibit them from getting married, the harder they are going to try to get things to change. The arguments against same sex couples not being able to get married are simply not enough to convince me that it is wrong.
The first thing that I would like to bring up from the article is from the first page. The article states that people who oppose same-sex marriages believe that a child should have two parents, one male and one female. I feel like this is completely irrelevant because there are a huge amount of families that function with only one adult because of divorce or if one of the partners leaves the other. Peter Sprigg states that allowing homosexual adoption would lead to children suffering the negative consequences of growing up without a mother and a father. At least if it were a same-sex couple the child would still have two parents. There are plenty of kids that grow up with only the male or female parent in their lives and turn out just fine. Therefore, I think that this is not a good argument.
The second point that I would like to bring up is about marriage. When Sprigg defines marriage, I think that he eats his own words. He says that marriage is a fundamental human institution that predates law and the constitution. He goes on to say that it is an anthropological and sociological reality, not a legal one and laws are just to recognize marriage. If this is the case, then anyone should be allowed to get married or be considered as married. These same-sex couples are already acting like they are married they are just being denied their right to get married. Sprigg goes on to say that if love and companionship were sufficient to define marriage, then a child and an adult could get married or an adult child and his or her aging parents. I don’t understand how allowing same-sex couples would allow any of these assumptions to also happen. There are already laws about the age of marriage and not being able to marry someone related to you. These restrictions have nothing to do with same-sex marriages and are irrelevant.
Lawrence Kurdek makes a good point when he states that gay and lesbian citizens argue that being deprived of spousal benefits and marriage is unjust because it involves discriminating against a defined class of individuals. I do look at being deprived of their rights as being discriminated against which is not something that we are supposed to promote in this country.
Kurdek’s findings were that there were no evidence that gay partners and lesbian partners were psychologically maladjusted, had high levels of personality traits that predisposed them to relationship problems, they had dysfunctional working models of their relationships, and that they used ineffective strategies to resolve conflict. Therefore, I don’t think that we can assume that same-sex couples have worse relationships or would not be able to take care of children. The only negative are where same-sex couples scored worse than heterosexual parents was the area of social support. These partners received less support for their relationships from family members. This is understandable because our society has made people frown upon same-sex couples. People learn early to not accept same-sex couples which is a shame.
There are several things that we have talked about in this course that can relate to this discussion. There is a strong relationship between feminists and same-sex couples. They are both fighting for equal rights and in most cases receiving bad reputations or images. There is also a huge relation between inequality and same-sex marriages. We have learned a lot about inequality and how people struggle with this issue every day. The truth is lesbians and gays are not being treated equally because they are being discriminated against.
Another major issue that I find relates to this topic is sexism. I think that this relates to this topic because the people who oppose same-sex marriages believe that marriage should consist of a male and a female. We are brought up to think that men should take care of women and women are supposed to do certain things and men are supposed to do certain things. Over time, we have learned that these ideas are wrong and women should be created equal and be given the same opportunities as men. We have begun to realize that women have been oppressed and the attitudes that we teach our children have been somewhat sexist. If we have realized that men and women should be created equal then why aren’t lesbians and gays created equal as well. We should not think of marriage as a man taking care of a woman anymore. We know that single parents can support themselves and their children.
For all of these reasons, I think that same-sex marriages should be legalized. There is no reason why we should deny this right to our citizens. The lesbian and gay communities are not trying to hurt anyone. I believe that they would just like to be equal and receive the same benefits from marriage that everyone else gets.

Event #2

Candid Confab – April 8, 2008 – Haymarket Theatre
The People’s Coalition put on this event so that anyone could say what they wanted to. The main topic of the night was sexism. They started out the event by showing two films. One of the videos was called The Bitch Manifesto. The other video was one that we have seen for class before about young children picking out the pretty dolls (or white dolls) and the ugly dolls (or black dolls). After the videos, the panelists started discussing and raising questions about sexism. They defined sexism as male dominance and a system of Eurocentric patriarchy. They also showed a couple of short clips of Common Disney films to show that we learn very early on that the males are supposed to be the head of the family and “rescue” females and there are certain things women are supposed to do and certain things that men are supposed to do. A good example was the clip of Mulan. In this movie the main character tries to act like a boy and is punished and frowned upon. The panel also talked about women being objects of sex to men or as men’s property. One of the examples of this is the woman usually takes the husband’s last name when they are married. They also talked about how woman aren’t allowed to do the same things as men for instance, girls may have earlier curfews as boys. Lastly, the panel talked about how we can change sexism. They suggested that it is up to the women to not do degrading things like, be in sex videos, and the men should support the change. Most of all, we need to be more conscious about what we say for instance, reciting demeaning song lyrics.
There were several connections with this event and the course. The first connection was that I had already seen the video about the young children picking out the pretty and ugly dolls to show that racism started at a very early age. The second connection was that we have already talked about sexism, patriarchy, and misogyny in class and they were all mentioned in the discussion. Another connection was that they talked about what girls weren’t allowed to do and how we can change sexism. This reminded me of the video that we watched about sexism promoting violence against women. In the video, they explained why sexism was bad and how we can fix it. The last connection with this event and the course was racism. We have studied a lot about racism and the group talked about how black women are seen as less aggressive and are more identifiable. There was also a short clip about an actress saying that she is more discriminated against for being black than being a woman. The panel related this issue back to history when white women were never seen outside and black women were servants and often work outside and that was frowned upon.
Overall, I thought that this event was very interesting and easy to follow along. The only complaints that I have were that they panel was often hard to hear because of the speakers or they weren’t talking loud enough and it was not very interactive. There were a few questions open to the audience but there was simply not enough time for questions. Furthermore, I think that the discussion would have been a little better if there had been speakers that were a little more qualified to help out. Otherwise, the discussion was very intense and it made you want to change the view of women. I will definitely try to be more conscious about the songs that I listen to and the shows that I watch.

CRJ #6

According to chapter ten, gendered violence implies that harm evolves from the imbalance in power between people. Both women and men can be behind violence and it is in heterosexual and homosexual relationships. However, women are usually the victims of sexual violence. We have learned that gender is not just female or male; it is more often masculinity and femininity. Men are more susceptible to using their masculinity to prove that they are “manly,” and therefore are usually the offenders. Anyone that is considered feminine is at risk of being victimized. This is one of the main reasons why if a man were to get sexually abused; he would probably hide it in order to keep his masculine persona.
Sexual violence does not just involve men though. Women can be the abusers especially, when it comes to relationships. Many people think that rape is not possible if you are in a relationship or married. The truth is rape can go on between people that are married and most of the time it does not get reported.
Gender inequality is another important subject when it comes to sexual violence. Sexist behaviors are often feelings of superiority over women. A lot of men are upset about the changes that women have been making over the recent past and are angered and insecure. Some violence crimes that men commit are an attempt to reestablish power that they believe they have lost because of the gains of women. This has a lot to do with feminism. Feminists work to help women’s rights but, in doing so they may provoke more violence against women. Some men do not want to see women as being equal with men.
I understand the relationship between gender and sexual violence to be very clear. Typically, it is the masculine person performing the violence and the feminine person that is the victim. This is why with younger kids it does not matter that much for sexual predators because a young boy can be just as harmless as a young girl. As I read in this chapter, young boys are also used as sex slaves along with young girls. In addition to that, I think that the violence towards women is more common because women are the only ones that can get pregnant. A man can recklessly have sex as much as he wants but does not have to have the baby. The woman who gets raped must make a decision whether or not to keep the baby if she gets pregnant. This also has a lot to do with abortion. There have been so many groups that try to put constraints on abortions but the fact is that if a woman gets raped it is not her fault and she should not have to have the baby if she gets pregnant.
I think that overall, violence against women has grown because society has made it okay. It will be very hard to change things now because women have been inferior for so many years and are just now gaining all of their rights. People need to have the mindset that women are equal in order for things to start changing. However, women aren’t the only ones involved. The feminine category often times includes homosexuals. The power struggle between masculinity and femininity is the leading cause of sexual violence.

Activity #9

I used several statistics during this assignment to portray violence against women. When I had my conversations with my interviewees, my first statistic was that rape victims are 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide and 13 times more likely to actually make a suicide attempt. The second statistic that I used was that 95 percent of reported sexual assaults are against females, half of all females raped are under the age of 18 years old, and about a fifth are under 12 years old. The third statistic I used was that about 70 to 80 percent of campus rapes generally involve alcohol or other drugs. The fourth statistic that I used was that sex slavery has around 200,000 sex slaves worldwide and their slaveholders have an annual profit of 10.5 billion. The last statistic that I used was that it is estimated that in 90 percent of cases in where children are raped it is by someone they know.
The interviewees were very surprised by these statistics. One of the boy interviewees told me a story about a girl in her high school that had to get a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend who had hit her a couple of times. Another interviewee stated that they have been watching the television series Women behind bars lately. They explained that most of the women that are shown on the show were victims of incest or rape, often times by their own fathers or close relatives, and they are in jail because they attempted to kill or killed their sexual offenders.
My interviewees thought there could be a couple of causes of violence against women. One of the causes they came up with was drugs and alcohol. Another cause was that maybe it is becoming very familiar because it is so common now and people either don’t feel like it is a big deal or they don’t think that the woman will report it. Another idea for a cause was that maybe the women don’t realize that they are leading the offenders on. Lastly, they thought that maybe a cause was that people do not consider it rape if they are married.
My interviewees thought there were a couple of things that you could do to eliminate violence against women. The first idea was to organize a violence awareness activity on campus to make sure that everyone was aware of it. Someone suggested that they could pass out pepper spray around the drill field with some facts attached to it. Another idea was to send out letters door to door to get the facts across. However, most of them thought the best idea to get the facts across was through television. We get the most influence from television and the news so they thought that this would reach the most people. They think that the shows on WE TV and other stations are good and that the shows should be increased. They also stated that maybe comedians and funny shows should make fun of people that involve themselves in violence against women so that people do not think that it is a good thing.
This activity was definitely eye-opening. I was very surprised by a lot of the statistics and it made me sad to think about. Overall, I think it was a good activity to do because the word needs to get out and there should be more things going on to make sure that people are aware of violence against women. As a woman, this activity was very frightening because the chance that I will be a victim of one of these crimes is very high.

CRJ # 5

A very important topic for me is reproductive choice. The book describes reproductive choice as being able to have safe and affordable birthing and parenting options, such as; reliable, safe, and affordable birth control technologies, freedom from forced sterilization, and the availability of abortion. I think that every woman should have control over her own body and be able to make decisions for herself.
There are many reasons why women might want to control their fertility. The five main reasons mentioned in the text are; health, being seen as irresponsible in society for having too many children, not being able to afford children because they are very expensive now, emotional stress and fear of isolating yourself at home, and the indirect cost or loss of professional identity. The two main reasons that stick out to me are; children are very expensive, and being seen as irresponsible in society. However, I think that you can be seen as irresponsible in society for more ways than just having too many children. I think that now people are seen as irresponsible if they have a child at a young age before they can support the child, and if you are dealing with other problems such as, alcohol addiction, or do not provide a good home for the child. It is interesting that women used to have children as teenagers all the time but now it is frowned upon.
Over the years, women have been having fewer children. There are three important facts to consider about women having children. The first fact is that the average family size has decreased. The second is that women are having children later in their life now due to health care technologies. The last fact is that there has been a large increase in the number of children born to single women. I also know a lot of women that simply do not want to have kids. A couple of reasons for women not wanting to have kids might be because of their occupation, or not wanting to pay for children because they have become more expensive, or maybe they are just satisfied with a husband. I think that attitudes have changed because women are seen as more equal to men now and are competitive in the workforce and do not want to be a stay-at-home mom.
Another topic that is virtually unavoidable is abortion. I would definitely consider myself a pro-choice supporter. I believe that abortion is a women’s choice and she should not be forced to have children against her will. Abortion was illegal until January 1973. The Supreme Court ruling of Roe v. Wade overturned all states’ bans on abortion. It is now legal for women to have abortions as long as the fetus is not capable of sustaining life outside of the woman’s body. Over the years, a lot of groups have tried to limit availability and accessibility of abortions.
I found the statistics in this chapter particularly attention-grabbing. The top ten women’s health threats were very surprising because we typically think of men being more prone to them. The top causes of death for women in the U.S. starting with the most common are; Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Diabetes, Pneumonia and Influenza, Alzheimer’s disease, and accidents. Even more surprising is that, the most common cancer for women is lung cancer, not breast cancer. Another interesting fact is that more women die of colorectal cancer than men each year. The Alzheimer’s statistic was also a surprise to me because I mostly hear about men getting it and in fact it was my grandfather’s cause of death. About 35,000 women die of Alzheimer’s every year which is, over twice the amount of men that get it. This might have to do with the fact that women generally live longer than men and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease increases with age.

Activity #8

According to Killing Us Softly 3, advertising sells values, images, concepts of love and sexuality, of romance and success, and normalcy. Advertising tells us who we are and who we should be. It affects women’s self esteem and how men feel about women’s images. Basically, women’s bodies have turned into objects. We should care about gendered messages in advertising because it creates a climate where there is widespread and increasing violence against women. Our ability to have authentic and freely chosen lives and nothing less is at stake.
In the Onslaught film, the message is that young girls are targeted to start learning what is beautiful so that they will want to be like all of the models and eventually buy into the products and eating habits and plastic surgery. The Evolution film shows us that beauty is unreachable and even with all the make-up and gorgeous models, Ads are still getting transformed through computer graphics. This tells us that even if we wanted to look like that, it is not possible. Our ideas about beauty have become so distorted because of the media. We have no way of knowing what is real or fake and the media has put out an image that we are expected to look like. Therefore, we strive to look like these people that simply do not exist.
The advertisement that I chose was for Companhia Athletica Health and Wellness. The ad is a commercial where a baby is crying so the man comes and picks up the baby and carries the baby and starts to rock it a little and then sits down. After they sit down the baby starts sucking on the man’s very out of shape pectoral like it were a breast. Then the commercial reads get in shape and then they’re company name.
The main idea of this commercial is to look skinny. However, this commercial is also selling the idea that it is the women’s job to get the baby when it starts crying. It is also portraying that men should be skinny and not out of shape or have “breasts” like women.
I really liked this activity because it taught me about how I should look at advertisements and how I should look at the ideal woman from now on. The Killing Us Softly 3 ended up being a very entertaining half hour which surprised me. Although I have seen the Evolution ad before, it was cool to see it again and it really is crazy to think about. The Onslaught film was depressing but necessary I felt. I almost feel as though I can look at any commercial or advertisement now and be able to break it down into a gender analysis. It is a scary thought that all of our ads have become so gendered and centralized around sex.

Activity #7

Kimmel argues that understanding masculinity to be socially constructed and historically shifting is very valuable because it gives us the capacity to act. Kimmel means that because of our culture and how it has developed, we can create our own identities. Men no longer have to look or act like men, they can be whoever they want to be.
Kimmel believes that other men are constantly judging you. You have to be accepted by other men in order to join manhood. Kimmel explains that people show off their manhood so that other men can approve of them. Homophobia is a central organizing principle of our cultural definition of manhood. Men are not really afraid of gay men, they are more scared of the idea that they might come off as gay. Men are afraid that they are not real men, and the idea that they fear for another man to discover that they are not real men, shows that they are not very manly.
I agree with Kimmel’s discussion about the fear of being a sissy for a couple of reasons. I believe that the pressure to be a real man starts at an early age because of our culture. Boys do not want to be called a sissy because it shows that they are weak and that is not one of the words to describe manhood. I think that Kimmel was right in his example of walking into a playground and asking who was a sissy. I think that this would provoke a boy to accuse another boy, who would then accuse someone else because of his fear of being a sissy.
Jackson Katz explains that the “tough guise” persona is showing the world only certain parts of you that are identified as manly in the dominate culture. This has to do with masculinity because violence is an accepted part of masculinity. He believes that we have to start examining this system and offering alternatives because there has been a growing connection made in our society between being a man and being violent. Katz thinks that women should show that they are looking for more in men than being a “bad boy”. We also need to break the monopoly of the media system showing only rich white men. We need to hear men’s stories to learn from them if we want our sons to be better men.
I thought that this activity was very interesting because it was very different talking about men and their troubles. We have mostly been talking about women, feminists, and lesbians although we have touched base on homosexuals. I agreed with everything that Kimmel and Katz had to say about masculinity, homophobia, fear of being a sissy, and the “tough guise” persona.

CRJ #4

Sex, Power, and Intimacy was a very intriguing chapter for me. I think that Pepper Shwartz and Virginia Rutter make a really good point when they stated that “sexuality is about society as much as it is about biological urges.” I believe that our culture has made sexuality a social status rather than sexual identity. Often times it is not about your biological urges, it is about who you are supposed to be attracted to. Our society has made up a lot of different hurtful names to express our disgust for homosexuality. However, I think that people should not be criticized for their preference for a given sex.
Politics of sexuality implies issues associated with the distribution of power in sexual relationships. I think that politics of sexuality is very relevant in the discussion of relationships because, it shows that even in heterosexual couples, gender affects your roles. For example, men often feel like they are superior to women and this might lead the woman in the relationship into feeling like she is “owned” by the man. I think that politics of sexuality also explains why a lot of homosexual couples like to play roles. I often see one person in the homosexual relationship as being more masculine and the other person as being more feminine.
On the other side of the spectrum, there is romantic love. Romantic love is couples coming together, sharing the excitement of an erotic relationship and feeling united with the other in such a way that the other is unique and irreplaceable. Romantic love is closely related to consumer culture. Once we enter a romantic relationship, we start buying products for our loved ones. These products have developed from simple Valentine’s Day flowers and chocolates to romantic get-aways and cars. Romantic love is viewed as the women’s domain and we are expected to look wonderful with our make-up, clothes and hair, and spend a lot of time, emotion, and money to maintain our romantic love. As much as I don’t like the idea of romantic love being the “women’s domain,” I do think that this is true because I spend a lot more time getting ready than my boyfriend, and I often spend time making my boyfriend emotional presents such as picture collages. The book also explains that men usually take a more instrumental approach or, sex without emotional strings, while women are more expressive in their relationships.
Aside from the normal reading, I really enjoyed reading 29, I Was a Cosmo Sex Deviant, by A. E. Berkowitz. I am a fan of a lot of different magazines including Cosmopolitan. I like to look at the different quizzes and the advice that they give, however, I do not always agree with them. I feel that they are just there to create a label for society and often times I am more inclined to put down an answer that I know will give me a different outcome. I like Berkowitz, found that most of the time your score is completely dependent on one important question in the quiz which is not very accurate.
I also enjoyed reading 33, Women, Sexuality, and Social Change in the Middle East, by Pinar Ilkkaracan. It is very interesting to learn about what is acceptable in the Middle East and what the Qur’an states. For instance, the penalty for adultery for a man or a woman is 100 lashes! I also find it absurd that Muslims try to control women’s sexuality by extreme veiling with a hijab. In addition to extreme veiling, there are arranged marriages and unequal rights. The oppression of women in the Middle East and the Muslim world is due to historical, sociopolitical, and economic factors. I believe that it will be very hard for the Muslim women to change these practices.

Activity #6- Gender Aptitude Test

Kate Bornstein is the author of My Gender Workbook, and the creator of Kate Bornstein’s Gender Aptitude Test. In the readings, Kate understands gender as, the categorization of people or the separation of people. These categories can consist of appearance, mannerisms, biology, psychology, hormones, roles, and genitals. When compared to the word sex, gender has several aspects while sex is just one straightforward word. Kate lists that there is a gender assignment, gender role, gender identity, and gender attribution for everyone.
I was not surprised by my test results for a couple of reasons. Kate’s book and aptitude test were created to inform people that gender is much more than sex. She wants you to know that just because you are a boy or a girl it does not mean that you have one gender. Some of the questions that she asked were to figure out how curious you were about same-sex relationships and how comfortable you were with your sexuality. I feel very good about my sexuality and yet I was only considered a “gender novice” according to her test. She also asked a lot of repetitive questions about how many genders you think there are and what gender means to you. The test made me feel like I am not very knowledgeable on the subject of gender.
I think that someone would design a gender aptitude test like this one because they want you to be aware of the fact that just because someone is a certain sex, it does not mean they are a certain gender. I think that we should all be a little more aware of that. I think that we can learn that gender is an ongoing discovery and no one knows everything about gender yet. We can also learn that gender should not be taken lightly and you should explore your own gender. Kate talks about the gender/identity/power system in her book. She is amazed that our culture pushes us to become a perfect gender. She states that the further away we are from the top of the pyramid or, the perfect gender, the less real we are in terms of exclusively male or female. I think that this test does hide what your actual sex is and I think that some people might be tempted to put different answers based on what you want the outcome of the test to be. However, I did find the test and the readings very interesting.

Event # 1

Abingdon Square- February 17, 2008- Squires Studio Theatre
Abingdon Square was a fantastic play by Maria Irene Fornes. The play was set in the twentieth century in New York City. The star of the play, Marion, married very young to a man that was old enough to be her father. This relationship soon fell apart as Marion became tempted to do other things and see other men because of her young age. She got pregnant with a total stranger, and her husband, Juster, was under the impression that it was his baby. Soon after Marion had her baby, Juster found a receipt for an apartment and caught her cheating on him. The two were separated and Juster kept the child, Thomas, with him. Marion and Juster continued to watch each other from afar as time passed. Eventually, Marion came back to Juster’s house and wanted to know where Thomas had been. The two had impure thoughts about killing each other and Juster had a gun on him. Juster brought out the gun and shot at the floor to scare Marion. After the gunshot, Juster experienced a stroke and fell into a coma. While Juster was at the hospital, Marion went to be with him every day and take care of him in hopes that she would get to speak to him once more. It was clear that Marion had realized that what she had with Juster was true love, and that she had made a lot of mistakes. Juster finally awoke from his coma and they talked briefly and he sent her away. Afterward, Juster fell out of his hospital bed as he called out for Marion and she soon came back to him. They proclaimed their love for each other as Juster said his last words.
I did not think that there were a lot of connections between the course and the Abingdon Square. The play was about a young, white female in the twentieth century. However, I think that the play did illustrate a role reversal. Normally we hear about men cheating on their wives or sleeping around with a lot of different women. In Abingdon Square, Marion was the one who was cheating on her husband. I think that a lot of people would have seen this as nonstandard, especially, in the twentieth century. In the course, we have talked about what is masculine and what is feminine. In the present time, I think that men think that it is a masculine standard to hook up with as many women as they can. Women on the other hand, are viewed as “sluts” or “easy” if they perform these kinds of actions. In Judy Wajcman’s, Technology as Masculine Culture, she explains that women’s technologies consist of childcare. In the play, Juster keeps the baby for himself and Marion does not take care of him while they are separated. This is also a role reversal that has to do with masculinity and femininity. It is not normal for the husband or dominate male to take care of the children. This is customary as the female’s duty. Other than the concept of masculinity and femininity, I don’t think the play really touched on feminism, race, gender differences, or stereotypes. There was one discussion in the play where Marion was talking to a friend about someone they knew of having a threesome with two girls and one boy. This brought in the concept of lesbians a little but there was no more discussion about it throughout the rest of the play. It did demonstrate that lesbians and homosexuals were thought of as abnormal and frowned upon even in the twentieth century.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed the performance. The play kept me guessing what was going to happen next and was very atypical. This was the first play that I have attended at Virginia Tech and I thought that they did a wonderful job. I also like that the play took place in the twentieth century because, it showed that values and concepts were not completely different from the way that they are now. It was very interesting that Marion was unhappy and thought that she could achieve happiness in someone else but, she ultimately came back to Juster. I think that maybe if she had not married when she was fifteen, Marion would not have felt like she was tied down and needed to be independent. I think that this has a lot to say about why people get married a lot later these days. It seems like nowadays people get married when they are between 25 and 30 for the most part. Although, when my grandmother got married, things were very different and people got married very young, usually when they were teenagers. I think that Fornes’ play was an excellent example of why people started to marry much later. I would definitely recommend this play for anyone and I am glad that I had the chance to go out and see it.

CRJ #3

Judy Wajcman’s, Technology as Masculine Culture, argues that the link between technology and masculinity is in the male bias of the definition of technology. People think of male dominated technologies, such as industrial machinery and cars, when they hear the word technology. They do not think about the significance of women’s technologies which include; cooking, horticulture, childcare, and many more. Our culture has made us think this way. The symbolic representation of technology is the idea of masculinity having an intimate bond with technology.
Today’s present technical culture conveys technology being associated with men. Ultimately, this plays a role in continuing the exclusion of women. This culture comes from a historical construction of gender. Everyone has learned to associate technology with men and it would be very hard to change everyone's view.
Wajcman stated that cognitive styles are often times a product of how you were taught in primary school to use the computer. The computer is usually associated with boys, so girls may not be as confident when they are using computers. This probably turns off a lot of girls from continuing to practice in the computer field. I know that I usually think of computer programmers and people with computer-related jobs as men. However, I think that things have changed a lot. I am a business management major and my schooling requires a lot of work with computers. There are a lot of women these days that work with computers even though men still outnumber women in this field.
It is very interesting to know that the first computer programmers were women because of war. I think that it is very surprising that we relate computers to men so much when women were actually the first computer programmers. I agree with the statement that computers are usually associated with men but, I do not agree that only men can do the creative, intellectual, and demanding work of programming.
Joan Roughgarden believes that hetero and homo distinction is a purely cultural creation because there are over 450 different vertebrate species that are documented as being homosexual. This tells us that same-sex sexuality is normal and probably necessary. Therefore, this same-sex partnering throughout the animal kingdom must be an adaptive trait preserved by natural selection.
I think that Roughgarden makes a very significant point. If there are so many other species of animals that are same-sex partners it must be a normal part of sexual selection. It makes sense that homosexuality is just a normal fact of life and that we are the ones responsible for making heterosexual and homosexual distinctions. If we did not make such a big deal about the distinctions, no one would think anything of someone being homosexual. Everyone would just look at sexuality as a preference and homosexuals would be considered ordinary.

Egg and Sperm

The conception video was a men’s view of how sperm is used to penetrate an egg in a woman’s body. The video used several spacecrafts to show that men have plenty of sperm to go around. They also showed the spacecrafts being fired at as if the egg was very hard to get to and protected very well. Finally, the video showed one spacecraft that was able to enter the egg and made it seem like it was as hard as performing neurosurgery. Overall, the video was giving off the suggestion that women are insufficient in reproducing and men are very adequate.
Emily Martin wrote an article in order to argue against this vision of men being seen as very sufficient in reproduction and women being very insufficient. She makes a good point in saying that the average man can produce over two trillion sperm in his lifetime and that he should be seen as reckless and wasteful. The average woman produces about 500 eggs in her lifetime which should not be seen as unsatisfactory. Martin stated that one clear feminist challenge is to wake up “sleeping metaphors in science,” to describe the egg and the sperm.
It is important to care about ideas about gender because it is not fair to refer to the woman’s reproductive system as “passive” and the man’s reproductive system as “masculine.” This is just another reason for men to feel superior towards women. The language that is used to explain gender should be written in a way that is tasteful for both sexes. As Joan Wallach Scott wrote, gender “offers a way of differentiating sexual practice from the social roles assigned to women and men.” Social construction of gender should be separate but equal in women and men.

CRJ #2

When Carole Vance said ideas about gender and sexuality must not be understood as “natural” or unchanging “truths” but as “social constructions,” she meant that the ideas about gender and sexuality should be produced in societies in a particular time and place. Social construction theory is the violation of our folk knowledge and scientific ideologies that would frame sexuality as “natural” determined by biology and the body.
Essentialism is the belief that human behavior is predetermined by genetic, biological or physiological mechanisms and is not subject to change. Essentialism also outlines that human behaviors which show some similarity in form are the same. In relation to essentialism, biological determinism is the belief that biology determines fundamentally all behavior and actions.
The social constructionist argues against essentialist views of identity in favor of historical and cultural approaches and methods. Social construction says that the relationship between sexual acts and sexual identities is not a fixed one. When someone says that sex/gender is socially constructed, it means that sexuality is viewed in relation to culture and history instead of genetics or biology.
I found that Charlotte Furth’s article about androgynous males and deficient females was very interesting. The Chinese account of “Systematic Aid for the Disorders of Yin” was a fascinating seventeenth-century gynecological text. It explained that human males are not “pure yang” and females are not “pure yin” but sexual differentiation depends on the momentary balance of fluid forces. Yin-yang in Chinese thought, are the two complementary forces or principles whose interplay makes up all phenomena. If there is disorder in yin-yang influences at the time of conception, multiple births, physical and functional defects was a result. The article also stated that medical authorities categorized biological insufficiency in men and women as a product of old mothers and young fathers producing overripe daughters and vigorous mothers and feeble fathers producing weakling sons. Medical authority also defined the sexually normal in terms of reproductive capabilities. The sterile person, even though he or she looks normal and is capable of intercourse, is among those with a basic biological defect. On the other hand, the physically anomalous person is fully human but useless.
I liked that the text explained that the sex of a child is determined simply by the relative ascendancy of yin or yang ch’i present at the moment of conception. They also listed some other environmental influences such as, day, date, month or season of the year, direction, moment in the menstrual cycle of a woman, wind, and weather. However, I do not agree that old mothers and young fathers produce overripe daughters and vigorous mothers and feeble fathers produce weakling sons. I do not think that this is a good definition of a biological insufficiency in men and women. I also liked Li Shih-Chen’s ideas on “human anomaly. He concluded that changes of sex were among the possible “transformations of yin and yang.” I think that gender inversion is an important term and explains why men become females and females become males. Gender inversion is when the gender characteristics or roles of one sex are assigned to the opposite sex. Overall, I enjoyed reading about the history of China and their biology and gender boundaries. A lot of time has passed and I think that the idea of switching genders because you were born with both parts or born with the wrong parts is becoming a lot more accepted. I also think that switching genders is more acceptable because the gay and lesbian communities are becoming larger and more open.

CRJ #1

This week, I have learned a lot about systems of privilege and inequality in women’s lives. The reason why it is easier to say that others are at a disadvantage than to admit being overprivileged is because people do not want to agree that they are doing anything wrong or are part of the problem. It is easier to blame inequality on something else rather than on yourself for taking advantage of being overprivileged.
In “White Privilege and Male Privilege,” Peggy McIntosh really made me think about what kind of privileges I carry because I am white. I usually do not think about these privileges because it is easier for me to think that African Americans are at a disadvantage instead of thinking whites are privileged. When McIntosh refers to white privilege as an “invisible package,” she is talking about a collection of assets that whites inherit that blacks do not get. This invisible package is an imaginary backpack that whites have at all times that is full of special supplies and requirements that will get you through anything easier than if you did not have the package.
Aside from race, another problem that women face is sexism. One myth that affects women’s lives is the bootstrap myth. The bootstrap myth is the idea that you can achieve economic success if you are properly motivated, work hard, and you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps. This myth implies that if you are not able to provide for your family, it is your own fault because you were either unmotivated, did not work hard enough, or you were not smart enough.
A lot of times stereotypes and ideologies are internalized. Internalizing oppression is the act of policing ourselves as well as one another, to encourage compliance with institutions that may oppress. This means we are subconsciously monitoring our behavior as well as the people around us, so that we do not say anything that is considered offensive to anyone. On the other hand, some people direct the resentment and anger they have about their situation onto those who are of equal or lesser status.
Homophobia is the irrational fear and hatred of those who love and sexually desire those of the same sex. Homophobia works as a weapon of sexism because it is joined with heterosexism. Heterosexism provides the assumption that the world must be heterosexual and display its power and privilege as the norm. Compulsory heterosexuality is the act of being pressured into societal norms to be with the opposite sex. Suzanne Pharr suggests that by being named a lesbian threatens all women because lesbians look like all women and there is no way to defend your identity. The interviewees from the “f word” all associated feminists with lesbians. Pharr explains that the word feminist equals man-hater, which equals lesbian. This equation was formed so that women are frightened off from their work on behalf of women.

A Girl Like Me

The documentary, A Girl Like Me, was very heartbreaking to watch. Kiri Davis did an excellent job interviewing a lot of different African American girls to gather their opinions, and then conducting Dr. Kenneth Clark’s doll test again. Her test results were much like the test results of Dr. Kenneth Clark’s which, gives us the impression that children today still feel the same way about race.
Dr. Kenneth Clark and Kiri Davis’ tests both confirmed that the concept of “race” decreases self-worth in children. When the African American children were asked which doll they wanted to play with and which doll was the “nice” doll, the majority of the children pointed to the white doll as opposed to the black doll. This shows us that the children think of the white kids as being superior to the black kids. Furthermore, when the interviews were being conducted by Davis, the interviewees were describing the different levels of color. For instance, they said that if you were only half black, that was better than being 100% black or if you have lighter skin, you are considered better than those that have darker skin.
I do not think that skin color and hair texture determine a person’s value in the world. Everyone was made differently and some people are from different parts of the world. Some of the girls in the film described their hair as being kinky and how they wished that it was more like a Barbie doll’s hair. In reality, not every white girl has soft hair and I think that it is partly our societies fault for giving off the image that all white girls have beautiful, soft hair. The big picture here is that it does not matter what your skin looks like or what your hair looks or feels like. Anyone can do anything in this world no matter what you look like. I think that everyone is valued the same and it is what you do with your life that matters.
The “mythical norm” is a white, middle-class, heterosexual, abled, thin, and young adult. This description is what people in the United States perceive to be normal of women. In the film, it was very clear that the African American children compared themselves to the mythical norm because of the material conditions of our lives. For example, the subjects told stories of mothers bleaching their own daughter’s skin and getting their hair relaxed. Our society has carved out a mythical norm and now everyone that lives here is striving to be more and more like this model American. The fact is, not everyone looks like that and we shouldn’t all want to look like that.
White privilege is the advantages that people receive because they are born white. Peggy McIntosh explains it as an “invisible package of unearned assets.” McIntosh also states that it is a lot easier for a privileged person to say that other people are at a disadvantage than admitting to being at an advantage. In the documentary, the girls talk about wanting to have lighter skin closer to that of a white person. The girls also talk about the stereotypes that are associated with black females such as; having a big butt, an obnoxious personality, ghetto, loud, and not being smart. Our society has shaped our minds so that people only think good things about white people and only associate bad things with black people. In essence, white privilege is a group membership that gives off the impression that white people are at an advantage over black people.
Overall, the American Anthropological Association’s project was very interesting and depressing. I am angry that our values, cultures, and behavioral practices have trained us to think that one race is better than another. Since we have already inherited this way of thinking, it will be harder to change everyone’s mythical norm. As I learned from the tolerance activity, once you have learned prejudices and stereotypes, they resist to any change. If we want to change our vision of differences, we must strive towards equality and change our mythical norm. We should not be training our children that one race is better than the other.

Tolerance

I was very surprised about the IAT results. I did not think that I was bias towards most of the subjects. At first I just thought that it was the order in which the questions were asked and how fast I could react to them. After reading the tutorial, I learned that once stereotypes (or exaggerated beliefs) and prejudices are learned, they resist to any change.
I think that this assignment was used to open up the course of women’s studies because it shows us how the media, culture, and people have transformed our ideas of certain things. I think that we can learn a lot of things from this testing product because it hides our identity as well as our ability to justify our answers. I think that this assignment teaches us that we may think that we are unbiased about a lot of things but the fact is, we have inherited these opinions, prejudgments, and attitudes without even knowing. The tutorial also stated that because we have grown up in a predominately white country, we have formed attachments to our own group.
It is important to think about our prejudices and biases in order to realize that our culture and the media and the people around us have transformed us. It is also important to think about these things so that you can try to change your opinion about people and give everyone an equal chance in your eyes. It is not fair to judge people before you meet them. I do not think that some prejudices and biases are more acceptable than others. If the group or person knew what I was thinking about them, it would hurt their feelings no matter what the opinion was.
I also took the Arab-Muslim IAT and the Sexuality IAT in addition to the Gender-Career test. I picked these tests for no particular reason. I decided to take the Arab-Muslim test simply because my boyfriend is Arab and I feel as though I have learned a lot about their culture. I picked the sexuality test because I wanted to see if I had a strong preference towards straight people. Overall, this experience was really eye opening and the tutorial taught me a lot about how we develop stereotypes, prejudices, and biases.

The "F Word"

After interviewing three people, I have a much better understanding about how feminists are viewed. When I asked what they thought of when they heard the word feminist, I got very similar answers. All three of them, in some way, said it is someone who has strong feelings about women’s rights but it comes with a negative connotation. One interviewee stated that they only knew extreme feminists who were very sensitive about women’s rights. A different interviewee compared feminists to vegans in that they will only do things a certain way. They all made feminists sound bad.
When I asked my three interviewees what they would think if I told them that I was a feminist or wanted to become one, I got different reactions. One person said that they wouldn't mind at all and they would support me or even become one with me. The other two people sounded like they would be uncomfortable with me becoming a feminist and sounded like they were going to throw me in the category of being an extreme feminist.
My perception of women’s studies and what it means to be a feminist are very much the same. I think that you can take the two terms as literal as you want. I think that anyone can be as little of a feminist or as much of a feminist as they want. Women’s studies is simply just an area of study and I can either be really excited about the class or just a little excited. In the end, I am participating in women’s studies, and I can become a feminist if I want. However, I do not consider myself a feminist right now because I am not active in supporting women’s rights and I do not particularly think that women get treated a lot differently than men these days.

Intro Post

Hello everyone,
My name is Michele White. I am a sophomore majoring in Business Management. I was born in Alexandria and have lived in the same house all my life in Fairfax, Virginia. I am taking this class from Blacksburg. I chose this class because I needed to fulfill a requirement and also because I am interested in learning about feministic views. I have never taken a WS class before. I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, but I hope to hold a position in management for a major company. Something interesting about me is that I am on the Virginia Tech Swimming and Diving team as a diver. I do not know much about this subject but I am looking forward to learning about what women have already accomplished. I do not have any reservations about this course thus far. I do feel that men think that they are superior to women although, times are changing and I think that most people are recognizing that women can do the job just as well as men. I am looking forward to starting this class!
-Michele