Panel Reaction

I really enjoyed the presentation from those who shared during the PRIDE panel. I thought it was interesting to hear all of the stories of those who were lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, pansexual and transgendered. One thing that I really took away from the discussion was the general fear that those who are different have about coming out to the world. While listening to their stories I couldn’t imagine having to live with the pressure and fear of not being able to be honest with everyone about who I really am. Also I thought it was really interesting how technical all of the terms and language can be when describing someone who is a member of the alphabet umbrella. The smallest misuse of a certain term could end up offending an individual so correct language is of the upmost importance. It was really nice to see all of these individuals reap the benefits of coming out and being comfortable and happy with their sexuality in front of others. Overall I really enjoyed the presentation because it gave me an insight into a world that one cannot fully understand without living first hand. 

A House Divided

Going off from what we were saying in class about how it seems we don't get much information about the woman in the united states helping others, I feel like as a country now, besides being to self involved, we have our priorities a little messed up. Not to bring politics into in but it seems like a lot of the past president's focus on health care and other huge issues. Which yes they are extremely important but I feel like fixing other problems, that i believe are equally as important, such as the topic of women that the country would be better off. This is another reason why the current president has such a strong following, because he is tackling issues of woman equality and gay rights. Those are the topics I feel we should handle first THEN move on to the larger ones. Like president Lincoln said " A house divided against itself cannot stand".  If we got the country to connect more I feel that woman would not be an after thought and maybe even lead the country.

Becoming Global Advocates

I feel it is very important that we involve ourselves with problems across borders. We, as a counrty, are too concerned with our own issues to understand the different perspectives and problems of other cultures. We only put emphasis on the struggles of our citizens and those who are citizens to the nations we are politically involved with and refuse to view ourselves through a global perspective.

By taking a stance in global issues I feel that our citizens will better undestand different points of view than there own, both in other nations and on our soil. There is so much diversity in the Untied States and if we can't understand foriegn citizens how will we understand them when they immigrate here?

Although, as the reading illustrated, helping those who are different can have negative consequences, I think they can be prevented through proper education. By teaching people at an early age about the many varrying beliefs and thoughts of others, we can prevent these misunderstandings. It will help is as a nation to be involved in global politics, rather than just our own.

"The Gay Bubble"

I thought that this past week the LGBT panel was very successful. This was the first time I was ever involved in a panel, and I really enjoyed sharing my insight into the LGBT community with the rest of the class. The questions and conversation were great. The one thing though, I wished we talked about more is the "Gay Bubble" that surrounds Fredonia. Honestly Fredonia was a lot of the reason I got up the courage to come out to my friends and family. But at the same time the "Gay Bubble" can create some issues. For instance when I go home all my friends are primarily staight. They also are not as open about their sexuality. I realize that I can't act the way I usually would in Fredonia. It's almost like the LGBT community is spoiled at Fredonia. We get to be who we want to be without the amount of judgment that usually come along with it. But sadly this kind of LGBT exceptance is not promoted in other places. So it's as if Fredonia isn't real life. The "Gay Bubble" isn't reality. Once you leave Fredonia that's when it becomes real life. Where the gays are not always socially accepted. We say society has come a long way when if comes to accepting the gays, but I'm not really sure we have. I mean look at ancient Greece. It was accustom for an older man the "lover" to take on a younger man as his "beloved". This was the only way the young man would be ready for his upcoming life. The older man would in turn get a sexual relationship out of the deal. This was call Pederasty in ancient Greece, and it was considered completely normal. We can also look at Sappho and her beautiful poetry written about and for woman. There were many other cultures back then that considered the gay lifestyle as normal. So if you ask me I think our society has gone backwards in our way of accepting the LGBT community. And although I love our "Gay Bubble" here at Freodnia I still wish that we didn't need a bubble of protection. All of society should be our bubble where we can feel at home.  

Comfort Level at Fredonia

Recently, my best guy friend got a boyfriend. I was hoping that they would be able to be comfortable walking on campus holding hands and such; however, I was also concerned if it would be safe for them to. This is the main reason that I asked the Pride panel if they were comfortable in public places with their partner. I was really glad to hear that the index (I forgot the term used) for Fredonia State was a 3.5 out of 5. I was also really glad that some of them said that they are VERY comfortable doing it on campus, but maybe be less comfortable outside of campus. The fact that my best friend and his boyfriend can be open about their relationship on campus is really amazing. The one thing that I do notice when I am walking around with them and they are holding hand is that A LOT of people just stare. Yes, they might not be saying anything about it, but they are just staring like they are foreign objects. I hope that as time goes by the people on this campus will be able to see a LBGTQIPA couple and not have to stare at them. I also hope that someday everyone in the world will be accepting of this community. My best friend and his boyfriend are very comfortable on this campus and mostly off campus too. Knowing and seeing this makes me really feel grateful and impacted. Knowing that things are positive changes happening for the LBGTQIPA community just warms my heart. I hope that Fredonia continues on the wonderful path that it is on, and I hope that someday we can get that index number up to a 5 out of 5. 

Women Across Borders

The other day in class we discussed ways that women can come together across borders. Specifically, how the United States can relate to different areas and possibly understand other cultures and belief systems. I addressed the issue of menstruation in third world countries and how this is a problem for young girls who can't access the resources or money for feminine products. I'm posting a link of the a site called the "Sanitary Towel Project", the main objective is to supply girls with sanitary pads so that their periods do not prevent them from going about their everyday lives.
http://www.sanitarypadsforafrica.org/project.htm
I feel that this project is one way that we can help across borders, in a positive way, without forcing beliefs or morals on another culture in an unnecessary way.

Another worldwide movement that is going on can be found at this website:
http://www.halftheskymovement.org/
"Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" is a book as well as a movie and both include the harsh experiences of oppressed women from countries all around the world. The movement is based around fighting these problems of oppression and shows how a little bit of assistance can help these individuals out of their tough situations. If you have time definitely check both of these websites out. I know I will definitely be checking the book or dvd out soon!

Palestinian neighborhood committees

(Section 10B) Palestinian women on the neighborhood committees go into towns and visit women house by house and hear their personal struggles and figure out ways they might be resolved. After deciding what they need to do so, whether it be to reach a dentist or find a literacy program, food; they cooperate within the organization, collect money and focus on training these women in leadership. Now my question is, could this lead to a significant change in the way femininity and masculinity play out within the Palestinian nation? Curiously, I read up on the committee from this website: http://www.sonomacountyfreepress.com/palestine/women2.html

Most Palestinian women struggle to be nationalistic when their society has a centralized masculine control. It's not simply "culture imperialism" and western values trying to surface it's way to national liberalism, but Palestinian feminists are fully aware of the oppression and backwards patriarchy occurring. They wish to keep spreading the word of the social problems Palestinian women's face.Women in some communities with these committees are determined to press forward to set a solid foundation for women's rights in the future of the state. Here are a few important particular points they have addressed:

"1. a specific right to education for women and girls, especially in villages where there are not enough schools and boys have priority for the few spaces;
2. broader civil rights, for example the right to keep her job after giving birth. Now, she automatically loses her job when she has a baby. If she has children and gets a divorce, she cannot find a job to support herself, let alone children;
3. divorce laws which give women the right to initiate a divorce, and to retain custody of children as well."

I believe a world where everyone has an equal chance to be educated could bring a lot of peace and awareness. These social happenings have come a long way in some nations, and not so much in others like Palestine, but there's no doubt that action will be taken until there is change. After more generations have come accustomed and informed to the actual equality between genders, and can see things from a more humanistic perspective, there will be a slow but surely change in this extremely masculine controlled nation. It's been a bumpy road, but the help  these "underground" committees are currently providing is righteous, and so necessary to a change in the way gender is viewed in this nation, and my hope is that what they are fighting for goes as far as they imagined.

Forever Alone Feminist

On Monday, Wednesday and Fridays I attend my Drama and Film class. My Drama and Film class is one of my core curriculum classes that I need to take. In this class we read many famous and outdated plays that I rarely find interesting. One of our assigned readings was the play ‘Night Mother. My professor discussed this play as being a feminist play. Just the word feminist perked my interest. She then proceeds to ask the class if any of the students in the room were feminist. Without thinking twice, I raised my hand. The class grew quiet and I felt a million eyes on me. As I turn to look at my fellow classmates not one of them was raising their hands. My professor showed her dissatisfaction with the class by yelling, “ONE?! ONLY ONE FEMINIST?!” I began to feel embarrassed and wished I could take back my participation.

My teacher then proceed to ask my class, “Okay well who here thinks that men and women should be equally paid for their jobs?” Almost the entire class raised their hands. I then began to realize that it’s not that people don’t agree with feminism, they just do not understand what it really is. The feelings of embarrassment reminded me of what we discussed in class, labeling and stereotyping. I felt under the microscope, stereotyped by all my classmates when I was just agreeing to a simple question. Little did my classmates know they fall under the same category that they just labeled me under. I now understand that this is all about how little educated people can be about subjects before they judge. From now on I decided to stand up for what I believe in and educate other more.

Bridget McKnight

Disorders in Women by Kate Rapp

In my Abnormal Psychology class today we talked about mood disorders such as depression, the types of bipolar disorder and before today we had talked about the multiple anxiety disorders. As we were talking about them and their characteristics there was a common theme among them all. On each slide I kept seeing statements like:  “more prone to women”, “majority of female sufferers”, “75% of females suffer from agoraphobia”, and my favorite “Females outnumber males 2:1 in anxiety disorders.” It looks like women don’t stand a chance in the world without developing an abnormal behavior/disorder. Other students in my class asked my professor why these disorders are more common in women, and my professor simply explained that it’s all about the society. And again when talking about the mood disorders today on the topic of depression that same question was brought up again and today he went into a little more detail about his thoughts on why it affected women as much. He brought up what Jean Killbourne talked about and what we have been discussing in our class since day one; the unrealistic demands that women have from society and the pressures from the “olden days.” It was so interesting to hear from a man outside of our women’s studies class to understand and recognize the problems that women face today. And maybe with these staggering statistics more support will come to women and a reformation will happen in our society to ignore those social demands… until then we’re on our own.

the veil

    Last year my family hosted a foreign exchange student from Russia.  She had an exchange student friend named Fay who was from Bahrain which is in the middle east.  Every time I saw Fay she would be wearing her veil.  It did not cover her face but did cover all of her hair and neck.  When my family first met her, my mom invited her over to go swimming which was when we found out that she couldn't take off her veil around boys.  It was more of a comfort issue for her. In her country, it is unacceptable to remove her veil for the same reasons that we talked about in class.  Women are seen as sexual objects and if men cannot see their hair or some parts of their bodies, then they have no reason to be harmed. She had probably been warned in her country that American men would look down on her just the same.  Since she was in the United States, it would have been acceptable for her to remove her veil.  No one from her family would've known and she wouldn't have been judged for it.  But, she stuck to what she believed in and even with all the stares and whispers, kept her veil on. Even though I'm a girl, I actually never saw Fay once without the veil.  What really stood out to me was that she was only sixteen (ironically, she is turning 17 today).  She was so young and still so supportive of the religion she grew up with- no matter if she understood it or not.  Because Fay could only remove her veil around women, it makes me think that young women are scared into wearing their veils.  They are probably told that men will rape or kill them if they are seen without the veils.  It's a scary thought and makes me relieved that as Americans we do not practice this type of religion.

Billboards, Black Women, & Politics

The article, “Billboards, Black Women, & Politics” by Shaniqua Seth and Malika Redmond discusses a billboard campaign that targeted colored women in low-income parts of the country, focusing “on reducing access to abortion in the African American community”. The article talks about the number of African American abortions is skyrocketing, “conflated abortion with genocide”, and were obviously both racist and sexist against these women. The article also mentions how these same tactics were used to target Latina women and their rights to abortion. One of the main arguments supporting these theories is Latinas and Black women receive the most abortions, which is true, “the rates of abortions for African American women and Latinas are disproportionately higher than their white counterparts”. This is due to the low-income communities that are populated more with women of color, where there is less of a focus on safe sex, places where you can learn about reproductive health and get protected before an unwanted pregnancy occurs. Instead of taking this into consideration, the anti-choice billboard company manipulates this information and says that the amount of abortion is outrageous and on the verge of genocide; the problem is the freedom that women have, not the communities and government’s fault.

            In class we discussed the problems in today’s society where the government takes no blame in poverty stricken areas or underdeveloped cities and simply blames the individual. We discussed how welfare is drug testing so they can stop providing drug money to those on welfare, instead of investigating the surrounding circumstances and trying to figure out why some people in welfare turn to drug use. The same goes for this billboard ad, for instead of teaching the women about ways to prevent getting pregnant and alternative ways to abortion, the ad simply says that colored women are incapable of using abortion the proper way, so we must take that away from them.

            Another issue is that sometimes feminist movements forget about all races of women and focuses on white women solely. “The Development of Chicana Feminist Discourse” by Alma M. Garcia points out that “women of color, [are] affected by both race and class in their everyday lives.” Issues like the racist, sexist billboards targeting women of color are not only issues for colored women, but also issues for white women, for they are issues that affect women. It’s important to band together and fight for all women’s rights. 

Section 9

The concept of labeling is a really tricky one, and from what I am reading in the blog, enters our lives really early on-- preoccupying us, making us worry, distracting us from schoolwork, and so on. We feel that it's just 'how our minds work'. Does that suggest we are hard-wired, a code in our DNA? Our brain really is a set of compartments? My brain is tired already, from a 20 years worth of compartmentalizing and separating, dividing and figuring out opposites.
It's been a long time assuming everything is in direct opposition to something else, and must be aligned in correspondence as such and maintained that way for a long time, and on a daily basis. I do so in hopes that figuring out everything's proper place,will allow me finally to safely navigate the world.
I think many people feel this way, and spend many years adhering to rules for themselves. Societies spend centuries putting unimaginable time and effort into separating complexions, ages, genders, and even the most trivial of things. But year after year, it becomes more obvious that almost every single claim one makes in favor of seperatism, any hasty generalization about a group, is flimsy and falls apart.
But the anger that erupts! People think that the key to feeling loved and respected, happy and healthy, is as simple as fitting into a compartment. When the expectations fall short, as they often do, and you know you did everything you can, and still you are hungry or lonely or guilty or diseased, it is hard to resist blaming the shortcomings of other groups. If a woman cannot make a man feel loved and respected, because he is ground to dirt at his job, he might beat her. If a man is black and encountering prejudice at work, the chance that she will be able to fulfill her role and muster up enough strength to provide enough tender care and emotional healing necessary to counteract his hateful experiences at work, and the frustration of knowing he cannot escape due to his race and class. These tasks are too monumental, especially if she is herself working and tired and in need of some healing. The repercussions go on and on, the couple cannot provide enough love for their children and elderly, and lose familial relationships. The existence of gender roles is a clue (or, indeed, a symptom), I think, of hardship in our society.
People struggle with these compartments and labels because they often do not serve us in the ways that we want them to. Like Andrea said. Nowhere is it clearer than when we examine our own sexualities. The Queer community "is unified only by a shared dissent from the dominant organization of sex and gender" ( L. Duggan, textbook, 213). What is so funny about this, you ask? why am I laughing? No wonder Queer Nation prefers this term to a long list of
 LGBTQRETPOCX.... etc. The list basically includes everyone except those people that are of the belief married, man-woman penis-vagina missionary position sex is the only PROPER way to express your sexuality.
And that is just strange to me, that 'the norm' is the vast minority of individuals.