a society based on privilege

America prides itself on being the land of the free, yet in the midst of the freedom there lies those who can't break free from the inner workings of privilege and judgment that society has conjured and imprisoned these victims to. Our fast paced money oriented nation is so caught up on spending the money they have and then making sure they stay in power to keep making more money has created a vicious cycle. It is unfathomable for me to think about how much money is handed to actors/actresses, sports stars, Nascar drivers, models, and all the other ridiculously over paid jobs. The entertainment industry is rolling in money and hardly give back for the greater good of America. Not to mention the American companies that move to China or Mexico to so they can rob jobs from their fellow Americans and make more billions for themselves. It just doesn't make sense how so many Americans have taken for granted their freedoms to use people and make more money while others all around are unemployed, homeless, and starving. The essence of the American dream has been somewhat destroyed, and those that are left behind are the underprivileged, uneducated, and poor. Those that initially achieved the American dream were the majority, white men, setting standards that have made it much harder for anyone that is not a white male to do the same. This is where women have come to the frustrations of being stuck in the past and having to live up to expectations that were created by the white man whom want to keep his place of power, and is likely to not want to share this power. Considering the circumstances now days of how privilege plays a major role in our society , I say we as feminists keep on raising awareness of this and promoting solutions and working hard to see people as who they are inside and not based on gender, race, or class. Hopefully others will learn to follow in our footsteps.

ooo-la-la

I was excited for this module and to see what feminist views are out their related to family and marriage. Growing up in my family closely matched the Equal Partners Model. Both of my parents are teachers so their work outside the home was pretty much even. Inside the home both of my parents took turns taking us to school, or practices and picking us up, or making dinner and what not. They both took on roles with the house keeping as well; my mother usually vacuumed, dusted, laundry, etc., while my dad kept up with the outside work of mowing our enormous lawn, getting up leaves, taking out the trash and what not. I think that they did a fair job of splitting the chores, and of course we always had our chores that took a lot of the work load off them. They also took turns staying home with us when we were sick and going on field trips. I would consider them to be great representatives of the Equal Partners Role.

In my own marriage thus far we have also striven for the Equal Partner Model. He currently is working full time, which he decided to do especially so we could get married, goes to school part time, and does the cooking; while I go to school full time, have a part time job, and do most of the other house work. So far it has worked out rather well. I think that I would like to keep with in the same model when I do have children someday. When it comes to power we both have an equal say and like to talk about life decisions and all the many other things that can arise in a marriage. I think that a marriage should work around each others strengths and weaknesses when determining roles and a little give and take here and there when things can't work exactly as planned. For me, I have been motivated to help people and work with children since I was younger, so I am ecstatic about pursuing my career, yet I also want children of my own, finding a balance between the two will certainly be a challenge when the time comes. I think for American women that has been such a major struggle, society moving forward faster than family life has put mothers in a predicament having to keep up with both!

Don't hate, appreciate!

American culture has gotten everyone obsessed with having the perfect body, when the reality is that their is no perfect body, we're all made differently and accepting and enjoying the body you have should be the main goal. It makes me sick that everything can be air brushed and made to look like a barbie doll and then flashed in our faces every way you turn. It is unfair that children grow up now seeing digitalized "perfect" bodies coming from every angle and that is what they assume they should look like also, and when they grow up and don't look like a super model they feel terrible about themselves and end up hating their bodies and taking them for granted. I find myself getting down about my body and thinking of things I would like to change, but then I think how can I be so ungrateful when some people don't have legs to walk with and run and swim with, and some people don't have arms, and of course the list goes on. I don't want to take my body for granted because who knows what could happen to me some day and I want to appreciate and love my body for all it does for me. Physical fitness is definitely important and in our fast paced lives it's hard to find the time, which is something I tend to struggle with and hope to improve on.

Like the lecture implied, it seems that women are mostly the ones unsatisfied with their bodies, and I definitely think that is because in general there is more pressure from the media and from men to look a certain way. I know that for me it is uncomfortable to be sitting down casually watching television with some guys friends or family when a victoria secret commercial or something of the sort comes on and their are all these super models half naked running around in your face or someone talking about your period. There is a time and a place for everything and it seems that the media has ignored that and I as a woman see it as an insult. Where do we as feminists go from here when it seems so impossible to make a change unless your in the media/Hollywood business?

I am woman, hear me roar!

The second feminist wave was so powerful and really is perfectly summed up in " the personal is political " theory. I, the liberal feminist that I consider myself, can definitely see the relation of how political our society is, and this society that we all live in must pretty much follow all the laws of that society, and when those laws are not respected it makes it very personal on those getting the back lash of it all, in our case women. That is why it was so extremely necessary to take these injustices and put them in the light of all that our laws stand for and ask why is it an occurrence that when it comes to women's rights people do not take it seriously? The second feminist wave was totally in the face of the government demanding equality or be made a mockery of. Using the baby steps and respect of the first wave and the roles that women took on after the first world war positioned them to be taken more seriously, that we were worth more than people gave us credit for. I also loved how during the second wave period the "new image" woman arrived and surprised women and men all around, causing the new age woman to be noticed for brilliance. boldness in style, charm, and education. The struggles thus far had proved to be moving women forward so why stop now when the future is what we make of it, seemed to be the inspiring ideal. Taking a stand for rights is something that only men had been known for and which is a big reason why some feminists are looked at as butch or power obsessed, which is ridiculous when you think of all the other minorities that use men over women to campaign. I think the second wave was totally refreshing and used the man created law to check itself and standards, simply a new form of checks and balances.

such a dilemna!

Wow. The Minneapolis pornography case was certainly a struggle for me to choose sides with. I think I came to the conclusion that I would have to be against it, even if I'm for some of the ideas behind it. If we are going by the laws for everything else it seems that we also should in this case, especially since we went through the big deal of making the first amendment equal no matter what the race or gender, same for all. It is such a terrible thing to hear of people sold into prostitution and pornography as kids, but so many people choose to put themselves in those situations so how can you control what is considered a freedom of rights? I totally feel that pornography is derogatory towards women and counter acts what feminism has worked so hard for in the first place, respect! But, I also feel that having the right to do what we want with our own body is a freedom that cannot be challenged. Feminism's best shot at helping those people that get sucked into that particular circumstance is to create reach out programs where they can have an easy and open hearted way out where people can counsel them and not judge them. So many of the pornographers of the world are probably lost souls that don't have much to live for, and showing them hope and all there is in life, love especially, would probably catch their attention more than protesting and trying to get through an impossible battle with government. That is my thoughts at least, some things can be solved through compassion alone.

Sooo many choices?!

Wow, I was definitely surprised that there were so many different stand points to choose how to view your own feminist vision. Thinking about it I decided that the liberal feminist would be the one for me. Why is this? I feel that way back when the world was a much simpler place and the women had the babies and chose to take care of them while the men were obviously more fit for the go find the food and provide a shelter deal there probably wasn't too much of a ruckus over it because people were content with just that and there wasn't a whole lot more to life than providing for yourself and family. And, then one day that peaceful life style was threatened and along came war, which also was very logical to send the men to fight and the women to stay home with the children. When the war was over the men were so proud of themselves that they just went ahead and established the country and all the laws not even thinking that one day life would be different and women would even want to be part of being so actively involved with society, because to them society was very much different than today's, and at that point and time the women probably didn't think much about it because like I said they were just relieved that they could go back to their peaceful lives and not worry about losing their family. Before you know it the country had grown tremendously and prospered making taking care of the family much much easier with all the technology arriving and now women had spare time on their hands that they didn't know what to do with. In this spare time they realized that this great nation was totally being run by men who now did not want to share any of the power; and all of these laws that our forefathers had created in the past and whom had probably not put much thought into women wanting or even having the time to play a major role in society. These laws were now a major set back for women to overcome and that is when the women's rights movement began. Of course this theory is only for America, but it seems to make sense that at the time the laws were created it was a distant thought that women would even have the time or want to play a major role in politics and that doomed us in future. Also, the fact that while women were busy taking care of the family, which they probably wanted to do, there were men getting education that positioned them to make educated political decisions. So, there you have it...this is why I believe that for American women at least liberal feminism seems to make sense to me. Anyone have thoughts?

Something to Ponder...

Gender roles is certainly not something that I myself have ever had to be concerned about because, personally I love being a girl and all the "girlie" aspects that come along with it, well except for that one that is totally a pain, haha. Growing up I had two older sisters, a mother, two grandmothers, nine aunts, fifteen girl cousins, and the small minority of men that include my dad, uncles, and five boy cousins! I of course was Miss. Priss and dressed up all the time just for the fun of it, painted my nails at five and while my sisters played sports I starred in awe at the cheerleaders not waiting until I could be one...and in middle school through high school I cheered so I spent a lot of my time outside of class with a bunch of girls, and now of course I find myself at JMU which is 60% girls, in the CSD major which is about 99% girls, and have a waitressing job which is also usually occupied by girls. Wow, I just now realized all that and looking back I'm amazed that in the midst of my girl world I found a wonderful man at the age of 18 dated for three years and got married at the age of 21 on our three year anniversary. I have no complaints of where my woman hood has taken me and who it has made me into today and honestly I would be perfectly fine going either way, being the stay at home mom or the modern day working woman...but since I've already put plenty of money into my education I'm going to go ahead with the career my plan for now! I am a Christian so I feel that God has distinctly created men and women to be better at different things and we should cherish each other even more because of it. The chance to have equal opportunities at the roles are key in this day in age because of our busy lives. No matter what path one should choose to take the key is to not judge one another and to not make assumptions about who can do what better and why, because really who is to say when over and over people are breaking the mold.

To be or Not to be?...that tis the Question

In the society we live in today it is no surprise to go almost anywhere and see signs of inequality. It truly is not fair how life's cards are dealt, but it is what we make of our own hand of circumstances that can make a positive difference and to me that seems to be what feminism strives for. To simply be ourselves without anyone else causing implications in our lives and to see how far you can go. I can appreciate the struggle and fight that so many people have devoted their lives to so women can be seen as people and not baby machines that can clean, ha. So with that thought and gratitude in mind I can now say that yes, I am a feminist. It is strange that the word feminism has so many negative connotations when it has done so much good for our country and the world! It is mind boggling to me to think of a world where women weren't allowed to go to school, vote, work, etc. . In our time and age I feel privileged to be a woman so to try and imagine first not being allowed to work, and then being under paid, and then openly being insulted and criticized seems like an endless cycle of doom, but if we have come this far I believe anything can be accomplished when you put your mind to it.

It certainly is inspiring to be a woman in this day and age and I feel we can only move up from here! Our role models in the field have given women a reputation of strength, excellence and a force to be reckoned with. My goal for this class is to figure out how I can make a positive impact in a caring way. Our society can be brutal and it is difficult not to get sucked into the fast paced, money oriented, judgmental world; but we must learn to step back and remember everyone is a person with feelings and being considerate of others is the only way to find peace in the madness, because hopefully others will give that respect back... indeed the purpose of feminism.

I can blog!

yay!