Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Final Say
For my last post, I briefly want to say that I really enjoyed this class. It was definitely one of my more favorite classes I have taken at Juniata. I love philosophizing about and discussing gender. Thank you Celia for making Gender and Conflict so enjoyable!! It was a truly a wonderful class!
Mental Disorders and Gender
I really enjoyed the two presentations on mental disorders and gender. It was interesting to see the differences between men and women in respect to the disorders they get and their associated treatments.
First, I learned that the word hysteria is from the word hystera, which is Greek for uterus. The uterus was originally believed to be a separate entity within the female body that caused sickness (hysteria) if not satisfied. Women had to satisfy their uterus by engaging in sexual relations or by having kids. The evolution of the "cures" for hysteria is as follows: marriage -> marital sex -> manual stimulation -> vibrator. I love how the vibrator evolved to "cure" hysteria!
Our gendered ideas of disorders are as follows: depression (female), eating disorders (female), alcoholism (male), ADHD (male). Surprisingly, all these stereotypes are true, except ADHD occurs equally in both sexes. It is suggested that eating disorders are under-diagnosed in men, because obsessiveness over obtaining a big body can be form of an eating disorder. Often times male stresses are caused due to stresses at work as well as the stresses of having power. Women, on the other hand, have more home-related stresses, as well as stresses due to lack of power. I was surprised when Celia said that out of married men, single men, married women, and single women, married men are the most happy while married women are the least happy. Married women have the most stresses, because they have to uphold the image of a good wife and mother in addition to working outside of the household. There have been some biological factors found which make people more prone to different mental disorders. This leaves the question, are mental disorders social, biological or both??
In respect to treatment, both men and women prefer to have female therapists. I found this very interesting. While recovery is generally equally successful, women are expected to have less strength in recovering than men. Mental health drugs have medically been tested a lot more on men than on women. 8% medical studies center on women while 80% focus on men.
One comment I found interesting about anorexia is that one definition of anorexia is loosing 15% of your body weight. What if an obese woman weighing 200 pounds decides to loose weight. She would most likely be safe loosing 25 pounds without being considered anorexic. I do not like this particular definition of anorexia.
In conclusion, I found the mental health presentations to be extremely interesting. Mental health in relation to gender is definitely a topic I would want to do further research on.
First, I learned that the word hysteria is from the word hystera, which is Greek for uterus. The uterus was originally believed to be a separate entity within the female body that caused sickness (hysteria) if not satisfied. Women had to satisfy their uterus by engaging in sexual relations or by having kids. The evolution of the "cures" for hysteria is as follows: marriage -> marital sex -> manual stimulation -> vibrator. I love how the vibrator evolved to "cure" hysteria!
Our gendered ideas of disorders are as follows: depression (female), eating disorders (female), alcoholism (male), ADHD (male). Surprisingly, all these stereotypes are true, except ADHD occurs equally in both sexes. It is suggested that eating disorders are under-diagnosed in men, because obsessiveness over obtaining a big body can be form of an eating disorder. Often times male stresses are caused due to stresses at work as well as the stresses of having power. Women, on the other hand, have more home-related stresses, as well as stresses due to lack of power. I was surprised when Celia said that out of married men, single men, married women, and single women, married men are the most happy while married women are the least happy. Married women have the most stresses, because they have to uphold the image of a good wife and mother in addition to working outside of the household. There have been some biological factors found which make people more prone to different mental disorders. This leaves the question, are mental disorders social, biological or both??
In respect to treatment, both men and women prefer to have female therapists. I found this very interesting. While recovery is generally equally successful, women are expected to have less strength in recovering than men. Mental health drugs have medically been tested a lot more on men than on women. 8% medical studies center on women while 80% focus on men.
One comment I found interesting about anorexia is that one definition of anorexia is loosing 15% of your body weight. What if an obese woman weighing 200 pounds decides to loose weight. She would most likely be safe loosing 25 pounds without being considered anorexic. I do not like this particular definition of anorexia.
In conclusion, I found the mental health presentations to be extremely interesting. Mental health in relation to gender is definitely a topic I would want to do further research on.
The Devil Wears Prada
I saw this movie over Thanksgiving break and I just want to make a quick comment on it. Meryl Streep plays Miranda Priestly, a high power woman in the fashion industry. As a woman of high standing, she is obviously portrayed as a bitch. She is always bossing people around, making Andy run errands all over the NYC to please her. She even asks Andy to get her daughters the Harry Potter manuscripts before the book is published. Along with being a bitch, Miranda has a messed up home life. Her kids do not appear to be well behaved, because they tell Andy to bring the binder upstairs instead of just leaving it on the table in the hallway. At the end of the movie, Miranda tells Andy that she will be going through a second divorce. When Miranda is later criticized, Andy defends her saying that if Miranda was a man, she would be 10 times more respected.
In my opinion, this movie perfectly exhibits the stereotypes of high power, working women. High power women are in a double bind. If they are demanding and hard on their employees, they are a bitch. If they try to be nice to their employees, they are 'soft' and not fit for the job. There appears to be no middle ground. Being a woman leader is really hard. Society is not used to seeing women in high powered positions, so no matter what the woman does, she is criticized. Of course, Miranda has a messed-up home life, because a woman who devotes her life to her career cannot be a good mother or wife. Such women are too career-driven. This upset me. It is not fair that women in high power are always blamed for failing relationships. Relationships are two-sided. After thinking about the movie, I believe that Miranda was really good at her job, even though she probably did go overboard with the Harry Potter books. Andy's statement just about sums it up, the only reason Miranda is so heavily criticized is because she is a woman.
In my opinion, this movie perfectly exhibits the stereotypes of high power, working women. High power women are in a double bind. If they are demanding and hard on their employees, they are a bitch. If they try to be nice to their employees, they are 'soft' and not fit for the job. There appears to be no middle ground. Being a woman leader is really hard. Society is not used to seeing women in high powered positions, so no matter what the woman does, she is criticized. Of course, Miranda has a messed-up home life, because a woman who devotes her life to her career cannot be a good mother or wife. Such women are too career-driven. This upset me. It is not fair that women in high power are always blamed for failing relationships. Relationships are two-sided. After thinking about the movie, I believe that Miranda was really good at her job, even though she probably did go overboard with the Harry Potter books. Andy's statement just about sums it up, the only reason Miranda is so heavily criticized is because she is a woman.
Analysis of "I was there in the room"
"I WAS THERE IN THE ROOM"- Vagina Monologue skit by Eve Ensler
I was there when her vagina opened./We were all there, her mother, her husband and I,/and the nurse from the Ukraine with her whole hand/up there in her vagina feeling and turning with her rubber/glove as she talked casually to us — like she was turning on a loaded faucet./I was there in the room when the contractions/made her crawl on all fours,/made unfamiliar moans leak out of her pores/and still there after hours when she just screamed suddenly/wild, her arms striking at the electric air./I was there when her vagina changed/from a shy sexual hole/to an archeological tunnel, a sacred vessel,/a Venetian canal, a deep well with a tiny stuck child inside,/waiting to be rescued./I saw the colors of her vagina. They changed./Saw the bruised broken blue/the blistering tomato red/the gray pink — the dark;/saw the blood like perspiration along the edges/saw the yellow, white liquid, the shit, the clots/pushing out all the holes, pushing harder and harder,/saw through the hole, the baby’s head/scratches of black hair, saw it just there behind/the bone — a hard round memory,/as the nurse from the Ukraine kept turning and turning/her slippery hand./I was there when each of us, her mother and I,/held a leg and spread her wide pushing with all our strength against her pushing/and her husband sternly counting, “One, two, three,”/telling her to “focus, harder.”/We looked into her then./We couldn’t get our eyes out of that place./We forget the vagina — All of Us
what else would explain/our lack of awe, our lack of reverence./I was there when the doctor/reached in with Alice in Wonderland spoons/and there as her vagina became a wide operatic mouth/singing with all its strength;/first the little head, then the gray flopping arm, then the fast swimming body, swimming/quickly into our weeping arms./I was there later when I just turned and faced her vagina./I stood and let myself see her all spread, completely exposed/mutilated, swollen and torn,
bleeding all over the doctor’s hands/who was calmly sewing her there./I stood and her vagina suddenly/became a wide red pulsing heart./The heart is capable of sacrifice./So is the vagina./The heart is able to forgive and repair./It can change its shape to let us in./It can expand to let us out./So can the vagina./It can ache for us and stretch for us, die for us/and bleed and bleed us into this difficult, wondrous world./I was there in the room./I remember.
As a total Vagina Monologue fan, I have to say that this skit is absolutely beautiful. Since I did my final paper on birthing rights, I am going to analyze the birthing model used during this skit.
First of all, it is evident that the laboring woman was given the freedom to move. Eve Ensler describes her daughter-in-law crawling on all fours in pain from the contractions. Giving the laboring mother the freedom to move during labor is in line with the humanistic model of birth. This is good!!
Secondly, the woman is described as giving birth on her back, with her feet in the air. This reflects the traditional lithotomy position. The lithotomy position fits the technocratic model, because it was designed for the comfort of the doctor, not the women. It makes contractions much more painful. This is bad!!
Thirdly, Ms. Ensler describes herself as pushing against the leg of her laboring daughter-in-law. As far as I know, this practice is rarely used any more. It carries a risk for causing the pubic symphysis to separate, resulting in life-long crippling and eliminating the chance of ever giving vaginal birth again. This practice fits under the technocratic model and is really dangerous and harmful!!
At the end of her birth, the doctor is sewing her up. This means that she either tore naturally, or that she was given an episiotomy. If she was given an episiotomy, that is not good, because they often cause more vaginal trauma than giving birth without one. Episiotomies are a technocratic procedure. If she gave birth without an episiotomy, this would signify positive, women-centered, humanistic birthing practices.
I was there when her vagina opened./We were all there, her mother, her husband and I,/and the nurse from the Ukraine with her whole hand/up there in her vagina feeling and turning with her rubber/glove as she talked casually to us — like she was turning on a loaded faucet./I was there in the room when the contractions/made her crawl on all fours,/made unfamiliar moans leak out of her pores/and still there after hours when she just screamed suddenly/wild, her arms striking at the electric air./I was there when her vagina changed/from a shy sexual hole/to an archeological tunnel, a sacred vessel,/a Venetian canal, a deep well with a tiny stuck child inside,/waiting to be rescued./I saw the colors of her vagina. They changed./Saw the bruised broken blue/the blistering tomato red/the gray pink — the dark;/saw the blood like perspiration along the edges/saw the yellow, white liquid, the shit, the clots/pushing out all the holes, pushing harder and harder,/saw through the hole, the baby’s head/scratches of black hair, saw it just there behind/the bone — a hard round memory,/as the nurse from the Ukraine kept turning and turning/her slippery hand./I was there when each of us, her mother and I,/held a leg and spread her wide pushing with all our strength against her pushing/and her husband sternly counting, “One, two, three,”/telling her to “focus, harder.”/We looked into her then./We couldn’t get our eyes out of that place./We forget the vagina — All of Us
what else would explain/our lack of awe, our lack of reverence./I was there when the doctor/reached in with Alice in Wonderland spoons/and there as her vagina became a wide operatic mouth/singing with all its strength;/first the little head, then the gray flopping arm, then the fast swimming body, swimming/quickly into our weeping arms./I was there later when I just turned and faced her vagina./I stood and let myself see her all spread, completely exposed/mutilated, swollen and torn,
bleeding all over the doctor’s hands/who was calmly sewing her there./I stood and her vagina suddenly/became a wide red pulsing heart./The heart is capable of sacrifice./So is the vagina./The heart is able to forgive and repair./It can change its shape to let us in./It can expand to let us out./So can the vagina./It can ache for us and stretch for us, die for us/and bleed and bleed us into this difficult, wondrous world./I was there in the room./I remember.
As a total Vagina Monologue fan, I have to say that this skit is absolutely beautiful. Since I did my final paper on birthing rights, I am going to analyze the birthing model used during this skit.
First of all, it is evident that the laboring woman was given the freedom to move. Eve Ensler describes her daughter-in-law crawling on all fours in pain from the contractions. Giving the laboring mother the freedom to move during labor is in line with the humanistic model of birth. This is good!!
Secondly, the woman is described as giving birth on her back, with her feet in the air. This reflects the traditional lithotomy position. The lithotomy position fits the technocratic model, because it was designed for the comfort of the doctor, not the women. It makes contractions much more painful. This is bad!!
Thirdly, Ms. Ensler describes herself as pushing against the leg of her laboring daughter-in-law. As far as I know, this practice is rarely used any more. It carries a risk for causing the pubic symphysis to separate, resulting in life-long crippling and eliminating the chance of ever giving vaginal birth again. This practice fits under the technocratic model and is really dangerous and harmful!!
At the end of her birth, the doctor is sewing her up. This means that she either tore naturally, or that she was given an episiotomy. If she was given an episiotomy, that is not good, because they often cause more vaginal trauma than giving birth without one. Episiotomies are a technocratic procedure. If she gave birth without an episiotomy, this would signify positive, women-centered, humanistic birthing practices.
Valenti: Material World- Sex discrimination, etc.
Valenti does a wonderful job of discussing sex discrimination in the U.S. Before I comment on what Valenti wrote, I want to share a personal story. When I lived in Ecuador, my Ecua-mama told me that she once applied for a promotion at the bank where she worked. They required everyone who applied to take the test. There were 10 promotions being offered. Mama found out that she had the second highest score on the test, and she was so excited for her promotion. Her boss never called. Eventually, she contacted him only to be told that she did not get the job, because she was a divorced, single mom with too many problems in her life.
I have told many women the story about my Ecua-mama and most are upset afterwards. What most women do not realize is that sex discrimination is still common in the U.S. In fact, there was recently a woman in Huntingdon county named Kiki Peppard who was turned down a job for being a single mother. Wal-mart was involved in a scandal a few years back where they did not give their female workers benefits. In her article, Valenti mentions a few other examples, including Virgin Airlines and Viacom. As Valenti says, it is illegal to discriminate based on sex, so why does it still happen?? The people who do the hiring like to hire people who look like them. The bottom line is if white men do the hiring, then...yeah...
I was surprised to hear that women without children are hired 44% more than women with children. I was also surprised to hear that when women with children are hired, they make an average of $11,000 less than women without children. $11,000 is a substantial amount!! It is horrible that companies assume that kids automatically make women less hard-working and devoted to their jobs.
Valenti's article also taught me that if women were paid for their labor in the household, their salaries would average $134,121 a year. America is also one of only two industrialized nations that does not pay leave for child care. In addition, some Americans pay up to half of their salaries for child care. This is a huge turn off to having kids!
Valenti also said that women are 40% more likely to be poor than men. She questioned is this is because society naturally pays jobs dominated by women in the social services (teachers, waitresses, etc.) less. The government has recently been promoting marriage as a method of dealing with poor women!! Bush restructured the welfare program to put $100 million a year towards religious marriage promotion programs instead of towards education, job-training, and childcare!!
All in all, I really liked this article by Valenti. She is probably my favorite feminist author I have read this semester. I feel like I can relate to her completely. She makes her articles fun and informative to read.
I have told many women the story about my Ecua-mama and most are upset afterwards. What most women do not realize is that sex discrimination is still common in the U.S. In fact, there was recently a woman in Huntingdon county named Kiki Peppard who was turned down a job for being a single mother. Wal-mart was involved in a scandal a few years back where they did not give their female workers benefits. In her article, Valenti mentions a few other examples, including Virgin Airlines and Viacom. As Valenti says, it is illegal to discriminate based on sex, so why does it still happen?? The people who do the hiring like to hire people who look like them. The bottom line is if white men do the hiring, then...yeah...
I was surprised to hear that women without children are hired 44% more than women with children. I was also surprised to hear that when women with children are hired, they make an average of $11,000 less than women without children. $11,000 is a substantial amount!! It is horrible that companies assume that kids automatically make women less hard-working and devoted to their jobs.
Valenti's article also taught me that if women were paid for their labor in the household, their salaries would average $134,121 a year. America is also one of only two industrialized nations that does not pay leave for child care. In addition, some Americans pay up to half of their salaries for child care. This is a huge turn off to having kids!
Valenti also said that women are 40% more likely to be poor than men. She questioned is this is because society naturally pays jobs dominated by women in the social services (teachers, waitresses, etc.) less. The government has recently been promoting marriage as a method of dealing with poor women!! Bush restructured the welfare program to put $100 million a year towards religious marriage promotion programs instead of towards education, job-training, and childcare!!
All in all, I really liked this article by Valenti. She is probably my favorite feminist author I have read this semester. I feel like I can relate to her completely. She makes her articles fun and informative to read.
Valenti: Material World- the wage gap
First of all, like Valenti, I hate the wage gap!! It is a huge problem in this country that is not emphasized enough by young women. I have no comprehension of people who make their living off of denying the pay gap. The idea that some women are telling others to go back to the household seems unreal to me. The IWF president Nancy Pfotenhaur is an example of such a woman who makes her living by justifying the waste gap. What if some women can't go back to the household? There is such a thing as financial responsibility. If women like Nancy Pfotenhaur are so keen at convincing other women to work in the household, then why aren't they in the household? The men who justify the wage gap are often high, powerful white men who make enough money that their wives can stay in the household without causing financial difficulties. Growing up, my father once told me that women make less than men, because they pick lower paying jobs. Naturally, as a young, naive child, I believed him. Today I realize that my father just watches entirely too much Talk Radio. The fact is that more women graduate from college then men. My father always emphasized the importance of education, because it would increase my eventual salary. If more women graduate from college, and people with a college education generally make more money, than shouldn't women make at least the same amount of money than men? My father was contradicting himself without even realizing it. Back to Valenti. I absolutely love her sarcasm, which is visible in the section title "who needs a dollar when you have 76 cents?" This section talks about how we only improved the pay gap 16 cents since the feminists movements began in the 60s. For being recognized as years of great progress, we didn't come very far. The bottom line is that the pay gape is unfair, because of the sexism it creates in society. 'WHO NEEDS A DOLLAR WHEN YOU HAVE 76 CENTS?' I do.
Disney's Belle
I really want to blog about the how Belle is portrayed in the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. In this movie, Belle is portrayed as being very intelligent. She loves to read. The first song in the movie says the following "Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar/I wonder if she's feeling well/With a dreamy, far-off look/And her nose stuck in a book/What a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle." This song undermines Belle for intellectually challenging herself. She likes to read and is therefore weird. In this scene, Disney delivers the message against the intelligence of women. On the other hand, it is important to also take note that Belle is the heroine of the story. Little girls are supposed to want to be like Belle. From this perspective, the image of Belle as intelligent is a positive influence on little girls.
When Belle first meets the beast, he treats her abusively. He yells at her and sends her to bed without dinner. When Belle enters the West Wing, the Beast goes on a rampage, destroying things and causing Belle to run from fear into the cold, and snowy outdoors. The beast then saves Belle's life from a pack of wolves, and from this time on, their relationship becomes more friendly and loving. The message from this series of events tells little girls that if you put up with his abuse long enough, he will realize his wrong-doing and be loving towards you. This message is awful, especially since the overly-forgiving Belle is the one little girls are supposed to relate to. Disney movies are fun to watch, but they always contain a slew of gender messages.
When Belle first meets the beast, he treats her abusively. He yells at her and sends her to bed without dinner. When Belle enters the West Wing, the Beast goes on a rampage, destroying things and causing Belle to run from fear into the cold, and snowy outdoors. The beast then saves Belle's life from a pack of wolves, and from this time on, their relationship becomes more friendly and loving. The message from this series of events tells little girls that if you put up with his abuse long enough, he will realize his wrong-doing and be loving towards you. This message is awful, especially since the overly-forgiving Belle is the one little girls are supposed to relate to. Disney movies are fun to watch, but they always contain a slew of gender messages.
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