Labling is Important

We talk about labels like they’re a bad thing. I think we need them, we just need to stop being so overreaching with them.

We need labels because they communicate concepts about a person. For instance, if a person has depression or ADHD, they need their label so that they can get access to the services they need quickly and easily. Or, if you are mostly attracted to one sex you should be able to “own” a word to describe it. Using labels like that helps people who are otherwise marginalized find communities and support.

However, we need to understand that just because a person fits into one category, they don’t fit into all categories associated with it. For instance, while all geology majors are also science majors, STEM majors, and university students, not all science majors are geologists, and the same goes for STEM majors and university students. Also, if a person is a geology major, it should not be assumed that they have rugged beards and enjoy off-road biking. Stereotyping like that doesn’t do much good, and not only hurts the people who are stereotyped, it also hurts the people who are realigning on stereotypes to judge people. The worst criminals use stereotypes to get away with crimes by intentionally cultivating personas that people assume are trust worthy.

As someone who has Asperger’s syndrome I do not appreciate people expecting me to preform “party tricks” like recalling random information about a topic they think I should know a lot about. I also do not have magically perfect grades, and I do not enjoy being used as an information bank because I have things I need to do and they can learn to use an (EXPLICATIVE) search engine. I suppose this is parallel to the “gay men are good at fashion” stereotype, as while they’re not directly related they’re both aggravating experiences of being forced by the people around you to play a role you aren’t good at.

People need to be able to have sets of labels, like people have sets of traits. And we need to, as a society, try to work out how we want to use labels.

A Happy Medium

In general I think the world needs labels. People naturally like to put people in groups. Its just how our minds work. As human beings we also want the feeling of belonging. When we join a group, there usually becomes an instant feeling of belonging. You become proud of the group you represent, and want people to know that you are apart of it. But with a group comes a label, and with a label comes an extreme. People like to highlight the extremes or flaws that other groups have. This is a way to lesser the value of that group, and make their group feel superior. These extreme lables are all anyone ever sees. They don't bother to uncover the many layers that make up that certain group of people. This problem is one that is hard to fix. We cannot control what people think, but we can try and change the way they think. By informing people on what you do in your group. For instance I play for the Blackhorse Womans Rugby Team, and in the past we have not really built up the most respected reputation. So now we make a effort to inform people of the postive things we do around campus. This kind of action may not work for all groups, but it would certainly help. Also making an effort not jump to conclusions about a group of people when you first meet them. The idea is equality between groups. The closer we get to this the easier it will be for us to understand each other, and what we represent.

If Men Could Menstruate

Below are some excerpts and quotes from "If Men Could Menstruate" by Gloria Steinem. Not only is it comical, but it's very interesting to consider things like this and how they would be treated if the script was flipped. Is menstruation stigmatized because it's an experience women go through; or are women, at times, stigmatized because they experience such things as menstruation?

Women are supposed to be clean, dainty, feminine. And let's be honest, nothing about getting your period falls into those categories! But, at the end of the day, it's normal and natural and, although private, should not be something to be ashamed of or stigmatized. 

In the beginning of her article she explains that whatever a "superior" group has will be used to justify its superiority, and whatever an "inferior" group has will be used to justify its plight. Biological and bodily functions are an excellent example of this. 

So...what if men could menstruate?...

"...Clearly, menstruation would become an enviable, boastworthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much. Young boys would talk about it as the envied beginning of manhood. Gifts, religious ceremonies, family dinners, and stag parties would mark the day...Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free...Statistical surveys would show that men did better in sports and won more Olympic medals during their periods. Generals, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists would cite menstruation ("men-struation") as proof that only men could serve God and country in combat, occupy high political office, be priests, ministers, God himself, or rabbis...Street guys would invent slang ("He's a three pad man") and "give fives" on the corner with some exchange like, "Man, you lookin' good!" "Yeah man, I'm on the rag!" TV shows would treat the subject openly. (Happy Days: Richie and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still "The Fonz", though he has missed two periods in a row)...Medical schools would limit women's entry ("they might faint at the sight of blood"). Of course, intellectuals would offer the most moral and logical arguments. Without that biological gift for measuring the cycles of the moon and planets, how could a woman master any discipline that demanded a sense of time, space, mathematics- or the ability to measure anything at all?...Menopause would be celebrated as a positive event, the symbol that men has accumulated enough years of cyclical wisdom to need no more...The truth is that, if men could menstruate, the power justification would go on and on. If we let them."

Respect Between Genders

During class this week we were discussing men and women and the aspect of respect between the two genders. A point was brought up that I found extremely interesting. I think it was Gretchen who said women are naturally smaller than men in physical stature that creates a lack of respect between the genders. I thought that this was really insightful. I would say between men naturally their comes a sense of respect and almost intimidation that comes with larger physical stature. If men can disrespect and dismiss other men on the basis of physical stature and strength what’s going to stop them from doing the same thing to women? And this is something that cannot be changed so its almost as if it’s an automatic strike against women, when it comes to seeking equal respect from men. Overall I just though this was an interesting point and while I don’t share that particular view of relating physical strength to respect I am sure there are those that discriminate against women based on this notion. 

Labels are Essencial

Though creating labels for large groups of people may have some negative implications, I feel they are essencial in our culture and politics. Labels may make people who do not fit into a specific category or who fall into several feel alone. But, without them the entire population would feel this way. Individuals who believe in an unpopular concept or act differently than what is expected of them by society would feel isolated and strange. Creating labels gives comfort in having a name and therefore normalness to thoughts and actions. Also, being in groups gives your thoughts more power. If individuals separately lobbied for a cause I feel it wouldn't be as effective as a large organized group fighting for change. There is often much more power in numbers.

Power and The State

"Issues of sexuality are at the heart of the whole workings of power in modern society. The state, broadly defined, clearly has a crucial role to play here. Through its role in determining legislation and the legal process it constitutes the categories of the permissible and the impermissible, the pure and the obscene." (Section Eight, B) 

     Talk of women's power within the public, or the state had really bummed me out in class. To think that men receive jobs that women typically won't receive or get payed as much had me speechless. Though there's been an obvious improvement throughout the decade because more and more women are getting an education, I find that the U.S state seems to be just another corrupt patriarchy where the general public would care to see women play a more private role at home. Which is why instantly then I thought of Hillary Clinton. 
I read this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/16/hillary-clinton-feminist-foreign-policy.

     I find it great that Hillary Clinton has a voice as a U.S Secretary of State, and the more I think about it I would have loved to see where she could have brought women's rights and this country as a whole if she had been elected president. Mentioning women up to about 450 times within five months of being in office, she states: "Transformation of the role of women is the last great impediment to universal progress." She finds that women's issues are essential to the achievement of every goal of US foreign policy. Links have been drawn between gender inequality and political extremism including war. Women are crucial on issues such as food, health, education and democracy.

     Some question if Hillary Clinton can spread her feminist ideas across the globe even though gender inequality still exists within the U.S, and without foreigners labeling her as being just imperialistic. But I believe if people were aware of the fundamentals of feminism in general, and it's want to bring equality to everyone, and allow the ideas to cultivate into our society, Hillary Clinton would have a massive impact to the development of world peace, if she has not already. 

Little Kid Relationships

Something that really irks me is when little kids are in "relationships". It's something that I've never understood. Children that have boyfriends or girlfriends are trying to emulate an adult relationship when they don't have adult feelings. Our society is so focused on pushing people to be adults so much sooner than they need to be. We push children into being sexy by things they watch, the people they look up to. The media controls almost everything these days. It makes me worry about the kind of role models that my sister has to look up to. I'm lucky to be around to give her good role models to look up to, but I'm not always around to show her a good example. I wish that the media wasn't so restrictive of things.

Eat Pray Love

   During the discussion of identity, I thought of a scene from the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" with Julia Roberts.  While she is in Italy, she is eating dinner at a restaurant with a large table filled with all of her friends that she met along her journey.  She is asked what her "word" is.  Her friends are asking her the word for her identity.  She answers with "daughter" and "wife" and "girlfriend" and then decides on "writer."  One of her friends replies "that's what you do, it's not who you are." They decide that she is a woman in search of a word.  She's in search of her identity.

   This reminds me of the reading and what we were talking about in class today because the terms gay and lesbian may be a label, but that does not define who they are on the inside.  A person can never really be labeled because they are always searching for who they really are and people are always striving to be something better.

Queer in the 90's with some cake

Going off from our discussion in class about defining the term queer and labeling people it; I think I have a different take on the word. Growing up I had a brother that was about four years older then me. Like most brothers and sisters we picked on each other and one of the names my brother would call me is queer. He always called me it when I was being weird or goofy, so essentially I grew up thinking that queer was never a negative term. Still to this day I don't see it in a negative way, but that doesn't mean I'd go around calling everyone queer. I understand that people have a different meaning for that word.
I feel like words are meant to have several meanings and people have to remember that just because something doesn't hurt you, it can and will hurt someone else. On the other hand though I feel people put too much emphasis on labels. Duff Goldman, creator of Charm City Cakes in Baltimore, stated that "the human mind has this thing- this need- to put things in drawers and jars and plastic containers and give them labels" He was talking about him being the unconventional "image" of being a metal band guitarist  a graffiti artist cake decorator. Which proves the point that people don't fit into just one jar or drawer. We have an abundance of the things that make up who we are. So in order to fix this image of labels perhaps we need to see those glass jars as being a little bit more porous.

Immigration and the Injustices

My first semester freshmen year, I took many classes that were not part of my major. I took American History to fulfill my CCC requirements. While in my class, we were assigned a big debate paper. The paper was centralized around the topic of immigration and whether we argued against it or agreed with it. Being a typical freshmen student, I took the side where I thought more research could back me up, that would overall make my paper simpler. The side I choose was that immigrants should have more restrictions because they are taking our jobs. I even discussed more in depth in my paper how there should be more rules and regulations for immigrants to pass in order to be a citizen. Not really taking this assignment seriously or personally, I handed it in without remorse. I never looked back on that paper until I had read for my Women’s Studies course.

                After our reading for today, Mapping the Margins by Kimberle Crenshaw, I wish I looked more into my research. In the article Crenshaw discusses how “Under the marriage fraud provisions of the act (the Immigration and Nationality Act), a person who immigrated to the United States to marry a United States citizen or permanent resident had to remain “properly” married for two years before even applying for permanent resident status” (page 201). Many things are wrong with this statement. This statement is supposed to protect immigrant women but it actually restricts them more than anything. Many immigrant women felt the need to stay with their abusive partners for fear of being deported and because their partner is their economic stability. As I read further into the article I saw noticed a story where an immigrant woman left her abusive home with her son and seek for help and shelter. When calling a hotline (PODER) the operator tried to find a safe place for this woman to be. Little did the immigrant women or the operator know, many shelters refused to take in foreign women because of their lack of the English language. Women should never be denied because of their differences such as race or color or ethnicity. Women should also always be protected and taking in women from abusive household should never be second guessed.

                Although I wrote my immigration paper before I had ever taken a Women’s Studies course, I wish I did further research to hopefully find more information such as these injustices. These injustices would have inspired my paper to be a true argument/debate paper instead of me just taking the easy way out.

Society's Lack of Knowledge Regarding Rape

Society, when it comes to rape, is very naive, in my opinion. I feel like it is at the point where people don't even know what is defined as rape. When the term "rape" comes up, people mostly automatically think of a woman being raped by a stranger that is jumping out of a dark alley. In reality, usually the victim knows their perpetrator. An anonymous writer in their article, "Real Rape: What Nobody's Telling You", say 

"Most rapes involve much more deceptive tactics to achieve the ‘final goal.’ The victim is pressured, coerced, manipulated and even tricked (lied to) into doing the will of the predator, even when they don’t want to and say no. The tactics can vary, but we’ve all heard them voiced in society, “I talked her into it”; “I wore her down”; and the infamous “No means Yes.” There is no such thing as ‘convincing’ someone to have sex. While I hate to use the cliché, it’s puts it bluntly-No means No."   

This form rape is very common in our society. It is happening everywhere, even on this campus. I feel like most people don't think that this type of thing could happen to them or is happening around them. Sadly enough, it truly is. 

My main point is that society's view on rape is so very warped. It seems like some men even promote it. When attending Take Back The Night last year, a girl told a story about when she was walking down temple and heard the hockey team chanting, "No mean yes, and yes means anal!" They were chanting it walking down temple with girls chanting as well. The fact that both men and women were chanting this makes me cringe. It is absolutely pathetic and disgusting. This is the society that we are living in. That is people who are making rape seem acceptable and that is NOT okay. There needs to be some sort of reality check for people when it comes to rape. The society's view on rape is so off that it worries me so much. Men don't even know half the time that they are actually raping someone because the society views this as normal. We need to educate society. We need there to be a change. 

A new perspective

       While downtown this weekend, at one of my favorite bars, I noticed this poster on the wall. I'm sure I have looked at it before but up until then I had never REALLY looked at it and the message that it is sending. After seeing Jean Kilbourne's presentation I am much more aware of posters like this that people like myself may see every single weekend. The poster, to me, is saying that no matter how hard women try to please a man, look good for him, and buy all the right products to do so, men are still going to continue to disrespect them and believe that they are inferior.
       Images of women are so influential and simple messages like this at a bar do get to people, whether it be women or men. It's frustrating to think that most people would probably think this is just funny and   simply poking fun at women and stereotypes about them. It may seem harmless but with the constant bombardment of images like this into the minds of young people is what brings about women's issue and feeds into the never-ending battle to overcome inequality and oppression.
        I'm grateful for this class to keep my perspective changing and keep me aware of what's going on around me. I don't want to be a passive recipient of these messages and let them continue to infiltrate my thoughts and opinions. I really believe that the awareness this class brings me is one of the most valuable things that I can take away from it.
       In reading Kate's post it really saddens me to see the complete lack of knowledge from fellow college students about what a class like this means. Although it may not be important to some people I do believe that an awareness about it is still important to prevent this feminist stigma from spreading any more. It has gone on too long that feminism and women's studies are misunderstood because of stereotypes that are still being perpetuated.
       

Perceptions on being a Women's studies Minor by Kate Rapp

For this weeks blog I wanted to talk about some recent events that I have been involved in where I've been getting some teasing and disrespected because I am a women's studies minor. I'm not kidding as I'm writing this right now my friend who is a male just came up to me in the library and was wondering what homework I was working on. I explained to him that I was coming up with a topic to write about my intro to women's studies blog. He then immediately laughed in my face and said "Eww are you serious. What are you a feminist or something?" Now this is my friend and I was just left with an awkward smile on my face and said uhh what do you think a feminist means? And he said "Well, you know a crazy bitch." Then I calmly explained to him that I believe a feminist believes that everyone deserves to be equal- it's all about equality. He again laughed and told me that he thought that a feminist means that you think you're better then anyone else and think you're better then men. And I said no that's the complete opposite. And he then proceeded to tell me that a woman over the weekend made him a sandwich and how amazing it was... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Even my own friend makes these comments to me right in front of my face and thinks it's a big joke. This isn't the first time this has happened to me since I declared my minor. People stop taking my studies seriously because I'm taking women's studies, and completely judge me for it. It just goes to show that women's studies needs to make a bigger impression on people and talk about these problems and educate everyone about women's studies and what it really means to be a feminist. By just googleing "Go make me a sandwich" comes up with 84,200,000 hits and numerous interesting pictures, I suggest you go take a look at what's traveling around the internet- where most people make attitudes and beliefs on certain subjects, such as what they see and how they then get the idea of how to treat women. But above are some of my favorites that I needed to show you guys.