It's almost impossible to define feminism. Through our women studies class we've discovered that even the people that align themselves with feminism believe in different definitions. The Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary says that feminism is “The theory of political, economical, and social equality of the sexes” but I think that the real definition is much more encompassing. Feminism to each person is completely different. It would be completely impossible to designate one definition as the sole meaning for each man, woman or follower. As a feminist, not everyone may believe in the same things. My personal favorite definition is the one that was suggested our first day, "the radical notion that women are equal" but as we've learned, even this definition doesn't encompass all. It comes down to each individual person and what they think their own personal definition is.
The history of feminism has been a long and winding one. One that still has no end in sight. We've seen success, misfortune, and change. The movement can most easily be broken down into its designated waves. Although the primary goal of its followers have fought for gender equality, each generation or wave have set out to make this possible in their own ways. This feminism movement all started back in 1848 when the “first women’s right’s convention was held … in Seneca Falls, New York” (Finkbeiner 20). The first wavers goal was the right to vote. Most known for her work was Alice Paul. She along with her group the National Women’s Party fought relentlessly for the nineteenth amendment to the constitution. A great portrayal of her successes and challenges is the movie "Iron Jawed Angels." With this movie, you can most accurately see the pickets, protests, and hunger strikes these brave women of the early 1900s went through just so that we can take part in the governmental process. Up to this point, women were only seen as wives, mothers, and parts to their husbands. With the right to vote, these women could now have a voice in politics. Although they still faced challenges, this first wave gave women hope that one day they too would be just as successful and they would finally see their hopes and aspirations fulfilled.
The second wave can most accurately be defined by our struggle for equality in the workplace and birth rights. This wave lasted between the early 1960s well on until the early 1980s. In the second wave, protesters fought for the right to escape sexual harassment in the work place, equal job opportunity, the right to an abortion, paid maternity leave, child care, and receiving equal pay to men. They were truly seeking their independence from men. Although we have seen great strides in most of these areas, one that has yet to be completely challenged is the right to equal pay. Even in the 21st century, we still have women who are making far less than their male counterparts.
The 3rd and final wave discussed in women studies started in the early 1900s and has continued on through today. In this wave, The F word describes as the fight for women to be successful in the work place but they no longer have to chose between work and family. Although some women as described in Lisa Belkin's Opt-Out theory believe that they have the right to give up their jobs in order to raise their family many still don't believe you have to chose between the two. On top of this struggle for family and work, the 3rd wave continues to fight for equality in the workplace and many are introducing the fight for sexual orientation into the mix. Our third wave generation is definitely more open to new ideas and we still have the drive and passion of our other generations within our fight. The problems that lie within mainly have to deal with our diverse definitions of what feminism truly means. Until we can fully define what our 3rd wave is fighting for, this confusion will continue to divide us.
The amazing thing about our women's studies class is that when you take it, you truly begin to recognize that everyone has their own idea of what feminism is. You may not always agree, but you learn to accept others beliefs by agreeing to disagree. There were many times in our class when people had differing opinions, and no matter how hard it was to hear each other's sides, there was no way you were going to change their opinion and they were not going to change yours. But by learning women studies, it can help shape your beliefs and introduce you to all perspectives in the matter. As discussed before, the 3rd wave has had difficulty in defining what are cause truly is. With differing opinions we find ourselves divided a lot of the time. One example of this divide is described in Naomi Wolf's "The Beauty Myth". She discusses how our own beauty and image insecurities are actually plaguing our ultimate fight for equal rights. Instead of bringing us together, we are divided by our petty jealousies. Within women studies, we get to see this divide, we learn about others, and we are able to step into the shoes of beliefs of men and women all around the world. By doing this, we are able to accept our neighbors beliefs and understand that we should drop all of these divides. We need to accept everyone as they are, and once we can do this, our fight for equality will only grow stronger.
At the beginning of the course, I was completely skeptical of how Women’s Studies was going to focus on feminism and the women’s rights movement. I never really knew exactly what I was classified as. I knew I believed in equality and I knew I wanted to be successful when I graduated college. My mom has always kept me informed. I never just thought it was going to be an easy journey and through her struggles, I knew that there would probably be a time when I was discriminated against just because of my gender. Although I have yet to truly experience this, I'm proud to live in a generation where equality continues to be fought for. When it came to labeling myself as a feminist, I didn't know it was possible. I thought in order to receive the title, I needed to be out there protesting or doing something that made a difference. I was definitely wrong. Feminists are any person that cares about women’s issues or gender equality. Feminism isn’t a set belief but an open and ever changing belief that varies from person to person. It's not all about what you physically do, it's about being strong and believing in yourself. I can honestly say yes, I am a feminist. I believe in promoting women’s health, I believe in women receiving the same amount of pay as men, I believe in better child-care and the welfare system, and most of all I believe in the equality of women everywhere.
sources:
"The F-Word: Feminism In Jeopardy" by Krisitn Rowe-Finkbeiner
"The Opt-Out Revolution" by Lisa Belkin
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Movie: "Iron-Jawed Angels"
"The Beauty Myth" by Naomi Wolf
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Final Essay 1
Throughout the course of women studies we have delved into many works of literature and writing that depict different aspects of feminism. Some I agree with, others I do not. We have reached an area in time where the fight for women's rights is at a standstill. It's not that we are not making progress, it's just that so many feminists are on a different page in regards to the direction our 3rd wave is heading. Through discovering other writers' perspectives, you get insight into how different women feel in regards to our progress. Overall, each reading helped me to shape my view and gave me new perspective on how I view women in general.
One interesting article in particular, "All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us are Brave" gave great insight into the struggles of Black feminists. Never had I set down to discover what other feminists have to deal with. As I discover feminism, I notice that there are so many injustices towards women in general and then you look at other races and they have double to injustices. Not only do they have to deal with gender inequalities but racial inequalities as well. Hull really portrays a picture of the struggles black women face on a daily basis and she effectively shows that this is yet another divide between the feminists of the 3rd wave. Never will we see complete equality until we iron out the flaws that lie within racial and gender inequality. Until both are completely equal, men and women around the world will not truly be seen as the same.
Another book that had a major impact on how I viewed not only feminism but society in general was the book The F Word: Feminism in Jeopardy. I really enjoyed this book, it not only gave great insight into the struggles we've faced from the beginning as feminists but it shows the continued struggles we face in politics and everyday life. My favorite quote in the book was one placed at the beginning of the second chapter were Marie Curie is quoted saying, “One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done” (Finkbeiner 19). This quote can really describe myself. Not only was I blind to the struggles we faced but I was blind to the continued efforts of women in my generation. I've always taken my rights for granted. Never had I truly sat down and thought about all the things I'm able to do, all thanks to women of my past and present. These women fought hard to see change and yet I have done nothing. I was grateful to read about all the inspirational events that have taken place through history that have helped me to be successful as a women today. The fact that I'm in college writing this essay right now is a testament to the inspirational women of feminism's past.
Manifesta is another reading that I really enjoyed. When we had the young woman visit our class one Wednesday, she referenced this reading. I immediately became interested in it and I was glad it was one of our lasts. This reading was full of emotion. It was inspiring, it made me laugh, and it also made me sad. The idea of having a dinner party where women of all types, ages, and beliefs could gather together to just talk is amazing. A place where these women could speak freely about anything and everything without being judged. I have a lot of respect for the girl that came to our class. For her to implement this idea and make it an actual event instead of something we just merely read about truly shows the amount of persistence women of our generation have. We have the ability to make a difference. Just like the women of our past, we have a passion to see changes made and we won't sit back and just let life pass us by. In events like these, it shows that women don't have to be catty enemies. We should accept each other for how we are and support all of our different hopes and dreams for our world.
"The Opt Out Revolution" reading by Lisa Belkin is yet another reading that gives insight into the diversity within feminism. Throughout this reading, Belkin delves into the trend of successful women giving up their careers in order to raise their children at home. This article brings up the question, Since women have the right to leave their jobs and raise their children, does this give them equality in the workplace? The answer in my opinion, Absolutely not. First off, Belkin admits that these mother's are part of the upper class. They have this option because they have successful husbands that are making more than necessary for their families to survive minus their wives working. Although many women would love to take advantage of this, it's not a universal privilege. It gave me insight into this trend, and it made me question if it is something I would partake in the future. After examining, although it does seem like the best of both worlds, getting to work for awhile and then raising a family, staying at home 24/7 would create too much boredom for me to handle.
The last reading that had the greatest impact on me was The Eternal Feminine. To me, this play ties in all of the readings and shows the importance of each. I believe this reading really ties in all aspects of feminism. The author Rosario Castellanos really does a beautiful job of hi-lighting many aspects involved with feminism. Whether it be discussing the past struggles like the F Word does to showing what needs to be done, this play really ties all of our readings together. I love how the playwright, Rosario Castellanos catches the essence of each women and what they are going through. One great way she did this was when Lupita would try on the different wigs and become a different woman with a different lifestyle. It showed the prostitute, the lover, and the writer. She gave light to all different types of women and I believe she affectively showed the diversity of our past, present, and current generations. No matter their type, she shows we are all women and deserve equality. The greatest thing I took away from the play was to be myself. Don’t change who I am don’t try to be someone different because I have a voice and an opinion that matters.
With every reading this Women’s Studies class read this semester I learned that every woman does have a voice of her own opinion. Each reading really portrayed the voices of many kinds of women. Whether it be the past, present , or future women, we all have a voice. These readings inspired, made us think, and challenged us to accept other people's views because if we aren't united in this fight for feminism, we won't make a change.
sources:
"All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us are Brave" by Gloria Hull
"Manifesta" by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards
"The F Word: Feminism in Jeopardy" by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
"The Opt-Out Revolution" by Lisa Belkin
"The Eternal Feminine" by Rosario Castellanos
One interesting article in particular, "All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us are Brave" gave great insight into the struggles of Black feminists. Never had I set down to discover what other feminists have to deal with. As I discover feminism, I notice that there are so many injustices towards women in general and then you look at other races and they have double to injustices. Not only do they have to deal with gender inequalities but racial inequalities as well. Hull really portrays a picture of the struggles black women face on a daily basis and she effectively shows that this is yet another divide between the feminists of the 3rd wave. Never will we see complete equality until we iron out the flaws that lie within racial and gender inequality. Until both are completely equal, men and women around the world will not truly be seen as the same.
Another book that had a major impact on how I viewed not only feminism but society in general was the book The F Word: Feminism in Jeopardy. I really enjoyed this book, it not only gave great insight into the struggles we've faced from the beginning as feminists but it shows the continued struggles we face in politics and everyday life. My favorite quote in the book was one placed at the beginning of the second chapter were Marie Curie is quoted saying, “One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done” (Finkbeiner 19). This quote can really describe myself. Not only was I blind to the struggles we faced but I was blind to the continued efforts of women in my generation. I've always taken my rights for granted. Never had I truly sat down and thought about all the things I'm able to do, all thanks to women of my past and present. These women fought hard to see change and yet I have done nothing. I was grateful to read about all the inspirational events that have taken place through history that have helped me to be successful as a women today. The fact that I'm in college writing this essay right now is a testament to the inspirational women of feminism's past.
Manifesta is another reading that I really enjoyed. When we had the young woman visit our class one Wednesday, she referenced this reading. I immediately became interested in it and I was glad it was one of our lasts. This reading was full of emotion. It was inspiring, it made me laugh, and it also made me sad. The idea of having a dinner party where women of all types, ages, and beliefs could gather together to just talk is amazing. A place where these women could speak freely about anything and everything without being judged. I have a lot of respect for the girl that came to our class. For her to implement this idea and make it an actual event instead of something we just merely read about truly shows the amount of persistence women of our generation have. We have the ability to make a difference. Just like the women of our past, we have a passion to see changes made and we won't sit back and just let life pass us by. In events like these, it shows that women don't have to be catty enemies. We should accept each other for how we are and support all of our different hopes and dreams for our world.
"The Opt Out Revolution" reading by Lisa Belkin is yet another reading that gives insight into the diversity within feminism. Throughout this reading, Belkin delves into the trend of successful women giving up their careers in order to raise their children at home. This article brings up the question, Since women have the right to leave their jobs and raise their children, does this give them equality in the workplace? The answer in my opinion, Absolutely not. First off, Belkin admits that these mother's are part of the upper class. They have this option because they have successful husbands that are making more than necessary for their families to survive minus their wives working. Although many women would love to take advantage of this, it's not a universal privilege. It gave me insight into this trend, and it made me question if it is something I would partake in the future. After examining, although it does seem like the best of both worlds, getting to work for awhile and then raising a family, staying at home 24/7 would create too much boredom for me to handle.
The last reading that had the greatest impact on me was The Eternal Feminine. To me, this play ties in all of the readings and shows the importance of each. I believe this reading really ties in all aspects of feminism. The author Rosario Castellanos really does a beautiful job of hi-lighting many aspects involved with feminism. Whether it be discussing the past struggles like the F Word does to showing what needs to be done, this play really ties all of our readings together. I love how the playwright, Rosario Castellanos catches the essence of each women and what they are going through. One great way she did this was when Lupita would try on the different wigs and become a different woman with a different lifestyle. It showed the prostitute, the lover, and the writer. She gave light to all different types of women and I believe she affectively showed the diversity of our past, present, and current generations. No matter their type, she shows we are all women and deserve equality. The greatest thing I took away from the play was to be myself. Don’t change who I am don’t try to be someone different because I have a voice and an opinion that matters.
With every reading this Women’s Studies class read this semester I learned that every woman does have a voice of her own opinion. Each reading really portrayed the voices of many kinds of women. Whether it be the past, present , or future women, we all have a voice. These readings inspired, made us think, and challenged us to accept other people's views because if we aren't united in this fight for feminism, we won't make a change.
sources:
"All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us are Brave" by Gloria Hull
"Manifesta" by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards
"The F Word: Feminism in Jeopardy" by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
"The Opt-Out Revolution" by Lisa Belkin
"The Eternal Feminine" by Rosario Castellanos
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Blog 10...
This topic doesn't necessarily involved feminism but it is a very important topic to me. Recently many of the news outlets covered the Rescue of the "Invisible Children" of Uganda. For 23 years, a war in Uganda has been fueled by a man named Joseph Kony. Although much of Uganda is against his continued warfare, he is still gaining followers. Sadly his followers are gained using force and most if not all are kidnapped children, snatched from their bedrooms and homes at night and forced to be soldiers for his army. If they do not comply they are killed, if they comply they are practically slaves. Either way, it is a horrible vicious cycle and no child should have to live in fear, let alone be the cause of millions of others fears. The non-profit Organization Invisible Children fights to make peace with this army and to let the children be free. Their approach is simple. They are raising awareness in America, especially through our government officials in order to show how important it is that we no longer let this war go on. If America is supposed to help smaller countries escape humanitarian crimes, this is one thing we can not turn away from. These children need our help and personally, I would rather be sending our troops to help those in Uganda instead of our continued efforts in the middle east. Although Invisible Children is hoping for a peaceful agreements, Their leader is obviously not backing down anytime soon and other approaches will have to be made to see him taken down. At the moment, a way to get involved in invisible children is to help by lobbying to officials in Washington DC in June. Recently as in last weekend, the Rescue took place. At this event 100's of thousands of people gathered all over America, Europe, and Austrailia in support for the invisible. These citizens "abducted" themselves and gathered outside of a common place in their city and waited for a public figure or celebrity to "rescue" them. The event lasted for over a week and finally ended with the last city to be rescued in Chicago. Oprah was their rescuer. Through events like these, the awareness for Kony's horrible crimes become more apparent to Americans. On the website you are encouraged to watch the video documenting the founder's stay in Uganda and you also have the opportunity to contribute money.
Respond to the readings...
In the F-word the author discusses the friction between the 2nd and 3rd wave feminists. He outlines that many blame the 3rd wavers for the halt in continued change. Although the 3rd wave is described as lack of unity, the blame does not lie within this generation. The times have changed completely. It would be difficult to use the tactics of the 2nd generation to get things done now. There are so many things people are fighting for and we are definitely not united because we all have different beliefs of what feminism should stand for. Until we decide on a united definition of Feminism we will continue to have problems but if other generations had to deal with our problems too, the fight for equality would be just as complicated.
Respond to the readings...
In the F-word the author discusses the friction between the 2nd and 3rd wave feminists. He outlines that many blame the 3rd wavers for the halt in continued change. Although the 3rd wave is described as lack of unity, the blame does not lie within this generation. The times have changed completely. It would be difficult to use the tactics of the 2nd generation to get things done now. There are so many things people are fighting for and we are definitely not united because we all have different beliefs of what feminism should stand for. Until we decide on a united definition of Feminism we will continue to have problems but if other generations had to deal with our problems too, the fight for equality would be just as complicated.
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Eternal Feminine
From the play The Eternal Feminine, written by Rosario Castellanos, the scene that stuck out to me most was presented in Act Three. During the third act Lupita trys on different wigs with different labels. Each time Lupita puts on a wig she imagines herself becoming the person the wig portrays. When Lupita trys on the wig “At the Edge of the Storm” starts the scene that I believe is most interesting. This scene starts on page 349.
When Lupita puts on this wig she becomes the leader of a small female bourgeoisie student discussion group. I thought is was interesting how the author chose the actual play "The Eternal Feminine" as the main center point of hte discussion. I believe Castellanos did this to almost foreshadow that her play would become a topic of discussion among people after it was published. She was aware of the controversy it could unfold from her views even if the discussers hadn't even seen or read the play. It's almost if she is using this scene to prepare herself for possible backlash. To prove my point, an example of this can be found later on from a student who in fact admits to not seeing the play. Lupita: “Have you seen The Eternal Feminine?” Lady IV: “I don’t need to go to the theater to assimilate ideas- like some of my friends- or to think. I think on my own.” Lupita: “And you think the worst.” Lady IV: “Than as the proverb says, I get it right…”
The women even begin to delve into what sort of action they will take against the play Castellanos created. A suggestion is thrown out “to fight to be given the right to vote” but Lupita counteracts that by saying “We Mexican women have had the right to vote since January 18, 1946” in response a shocked sounding lady replies: “How come we never…” This is an important point because it shows that although women have at the right, they have a tendency to not use it. If you have the power to make a change, why didn't they do it? The discussion continues with a lady pointing out “with or without the vote, Mexican women continue being oppressed” and then another women says “by girdles and by bras- terribly oppressed.” This scene points out that although women were beginning to recognize that they need to change their current state of treatment, they just weren't exactly dead on about why they were supressed. This misconstrued notion that material items were the things that were keeping them supressed is way off. With them not recognizing that it was in fact their traditions that were keeping them from regaining respect, they were unable to find a plausable way to fix their current problem of supression.
Lupita takes it upon herself to create a list of changes for the women once they decide it is finally time to take action for themselves “these are various options. First defend traditions, modernizing them, of course, in order to up-date them.” The key part of the scenes is when they lady speaks up, “The third way has to reach the heart of the problem. It’s not enough to adapt to a society that changes superficially, while its roots remain the same. It’s not good enough to imitate the models proposed for us that are answers to circumstances other than our own. It isn’t even enough to discover who we are. We have to invent ourselves.” After that was state the women go literally crazy! Some start praying, some begin to rip off their bras, and others begin to cry out for random wants. This scene is a some what exaggerated example, and it could be a bit truthful, of when something you have believed in for so long is labeled as wrong, you don't know what to do. You don't know if you should rebel, freak-out, or continue to live in denial. It was probably extremely hard for women in the early 1900s to overcome their stereotype. The idea of the woman being only a figure of the home was something extremely hard to overcome, it's easy to see that women probably freaked out about when they discovered that times were changing. Change is scary.
In the end, Castellanos created her work in order to make women think. She wanted them to question their current conditions and wonder what if? Although some women decided that change wasn't for them, her play probably sparked an idea in others to question their lifestyles. Without forewarding thinking people such as Castellos, the women's movement would have never taken off.
When Lupita puts on this wig she becomes the leader of a small female bourgeoisie student discussion group. I thought is was interesting how the author chose the actual play "The Eternal Feminine" as the main center point of hte discussion. I believe Castellanos did this to almost foreshadow that her play would become a topic of discussion among people after it was published. She was aware of the controversy it could unfold from her views even if the discussers hadn't even seen or read the play. It's almost if she is using this scene to prepare herself for possible backlash. To prove my point, an example of this can be found later on from a student who in fact admits to not seeing the play. Lupita: “Have you seen The Eternal Feminine?” Lady IV: “I don’t need to go to the theater to assimilate ideas- like some of my friends- or to think. I think on my own.” Lupita: “And you think the worst.” Lady IV: “Than as the proverb says, I get it right…”
The women even begin to delve into what sort of action they will take against the play Castellanos created. A suggestion is thrown out “to fight to be given the right to vote” but Lupita counteracts that by saying “We Mexican women have had the right to vote since January 18, 1946” in response a shocked sounding lady replies: “How come we never…” This is an important point because it shows that although women have at the right, they have a tendency to not use it. If you have the power to make a change, why didn't they do it? The discussion continues with a lady pointing out “with or without the vote, Mexican women continue being oppressed” and then another women says “by girdles and by bras- terribly oppressed.” This scene points out that although women were beginning to recognize that they need to change their current state of treatment, they just weren't exactly dead on about why they were supressed. This misconstrued notion that material items were the things that were keeping them supressed is way off. With them not recognizing that it was in fact their traditions that were keeping them from regaining respect, they were unable to find a plausable way to fix their current problem of supression.
Lupita takes it upon herself to create a list of changes for the women once they decide it is finally time to take action for themselves “these are various options. First defend traditions, modernizing them, of course, in order to up-date them.” The key part of the scenes is when they lady speaks up, “The third way has to reach the heart of the problem. It’s not enough to adapt to a society that changes superficially, while its roots remain the same. It’s not good enough to imitate the models proposed for us that are answers to circumstances other than our own. It isn’t even enough to discover who we are. We have to invent ourselves.” After that was state the women go literally crazy! Some start praying, some begin to rip off their bras, and others begin to cry out for random wants. This scene is a some what exaggerated example, and it could be a bit truthful, of when something you have believed in for so long is labeled as wrong, you don't know what to do. You don't know if you should rebel, freak-out, or continue to live in denial. It was probably extremely hard for women in the early 1900s to overcome their stereotype. The idea of the woman being only a figure of the home was something extremely hard to overcome, it's easy to see that women probably freaked out about when they discovered that times were changing. Change is scary.
In the end, Castellanos created her work in order to make women think. She wanted them to question their current conditions and wonder what if? Although some women decided that change wasn't for them, her play probably sparked an idea in others to question their lifestyles. Without forewarding thinking people such as Castellos, the women's movement would have never taken off.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Blog 9...
For the non-governmental organization I researched HumanTrafficking.org...This organization aims to bring Non-governmental organizations and governments in Asia together to fight to abolish human trafficking. They head up the "be smart, be aware" campaign, which aims to inform travelers from other countries about the dangers and risk they put themselves as they travel. This is not to scare them from traveling it is to just inform them to be aware of their surroundings at all times because they could fall into the trap set by traffickers. They really aim at informing women and children of their risk because they are the most sought after. The site also informs of rescues/ escapes, prosecution, protection and advocacy. This is a real threat in our world and this organization really is fighting to see its power be destroyed. It has many help lines set up for different countries. The site informs you of how to get involved. Whether it be recognizing the signs of a trafficked person or even discovering an area that is being disguised in order to not blow their cover as a trafficking organization. There are tips on the site that recognize these characteristics and their is also an option to give money in order to contribute to the fighting of this cause. DIrector and founder of Visayan Forum Foundation, another NGO, accredits the site for their help in the fighting and prevention. She said the best way to get involved is to be aware of your surroundings and if you see something that doesn't seem right, don't just let it continue, inform someone.
In response to the readings...
The FIFE chapter talked about feminism throughout the world...I think that we are extremely lucky to be living in America. Although it is not completely ideal at times, we have overcome a lot. Also in reference to much of the women's movement being controlled by upper class women, we need to change this. In order for us to succeed as a movement, we need to incorporate everyone. Everyone should have a chance to contribute their ideas into furthering our cause. Although our cause can be a bit muffled at times, I think the women's movement needs a bit of reconstructing. It's all too broad at the moment. We need to all agree in light of our differences. This doesn't seem like it will happen anytime soon....
In response to the readings...
The FIFE chapter talked about feminism throughout the world...I think that we are extremely lucky to be living in America. Although it is not completely ideal at times, we have overcome a lot. Also in reference to much of the women's movement being controlled by upper class women, we need to change this. In order for us to succeed as a movement, we need to incorporate everyone. Everyone should have a chance to contribute their ideas into furthering our cause. Although our cause can be a bit muffled at times, I think the women's movement needs a bit of reconstructing. It's all too broad at the moment. We need to all agree in light of our differences. This doesn't seem like it will happen anytime soon....
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Ethnography Paper...
After reading opting out, I became really interested in this trend that working women are taking on. Since I grew up in a household where both my parents worked, that's all I ever knew. I don't think I was negatively affected by the lack of parental presence when I was younger, but I sometimes wonder if parents, especially the mother feels like they are harming their child by not being present for every aspect of their maturing. Along with this I was wondering about people who have the option to opt-out and why they decide to, although this may seem harsh, choose to keep their career in lue of making their children the number one priority. I feel that when I get older, I too will want to try and balance a career and have children. I know that it will become hard, but as of right now, I can't let my children take away my since of independence.
Methodology: While thinking about these topics I decided to follow the life of a typical working mother, trying to balance time with her family and contributing to the success of her family financially. My question: Do you think that working could cause a negative affect on your children? and if you had the option or do have the option to opt out, why haven't you? I followed around Annette Powell, a full time worker and mother of 3. Her hours at the aiport call her to work at a minimum of 4 days a week with hours ranging from 6am-2pm or 1pm-10pm.
Interview...
Q: Do you feel like you have missed any significant part in your child's life? if so what?
A: I do sometimes because my job does interfere with events at school. My job does not give me the ability to just take off whenever I want to.
Q: I see that you leave early every morning, do you feel that this morning time not spent with your child could be a negative?
A: Sometimes the father has to take the place of taking the child to school and getting them ready and It's just a part of teamwork. it's good because it shows the child to rely just as much on the father as the mother, rather than just one primarily.
Q: Do you have the option to opt out?
A: No, because with three children and the expense and the cost it takes to raise them, to cloth them, to feed them, that it is to the children's benefit to have two parents working. It's attainable because both the mother and father are fully engaged.
Q: Why do you enjoy working, instead of staying at home?
A: I enjoy working because I feel like my husband can take up the slack when I'm not there. This shows the children that nowadays the mother is not the only care taker and she has the ability to be successful on her own. When she's happy with her accomplishments it can be a role model for the children because they realize they can accomplish the same thing.
Q: Was this your plan to do so your whole life?
A: I always thought that I would stay at home when the children were little but with the kind of job my husband had, it made it possible to be able to work and have a family life.
Q: What do you think this is teaching your children?
A: I just teaches them the value of parenting as a team and taking equal responsibility with raising the children. It is attainable.
Q:With the economy as it is, are you seeing the rewards to deciding to stay with your job?
A: Considering we are in a recession, In my opinion it does take two incomes. We can't afford to take any chances with the way the economy is. If one of us were to lose our job, we would have a back up plan.
Notes...
As mentioned above I followed her throughout her day. She woke up at 4 a.m. to get ready for work and since her commute to the airport is 30 minutes away she left by 5:15. This was way before any of her children had awoken. They are all elementary aged children so they had school that day. She explained to me that it was her husband who helped get them ready, fed, and off to school in time. After work if was her duty to pick the children up from school and then take them to their various activities. Throughout the time, I noticed that her absence was in fact not a burden to the children. Although she expressed it could be hard some mornings for her to miss getting them ready, she does in fact spend a lot of time in the afternoons with them. This sharing of powers gave the children a chance to look at each parent as equal and to get to spend a separate time with each parent. After viewing I now feel that I too can, when the time is right, balance a family and a job. Although opting out could have been an option, in trying times like these, each parent will see the benefits in caring for their children equally when it comes to working.
Methodology: While thinking about these topics I decided to follow the life of a typical working mother, trying to balance time with her family and contributing to the success of her family financially. My question: Do you think that working could cause a negative affect on your children? and if you had the option or do have the option to opt out, why haven't you? I followed around Annette Powell, a full time worker and mother of 3. Her hours at the aiport call her to work at a minimum of 4 days a week with hours ranging from 6am-2pm or 1pm-10pm.
Interview...
Q: Do you feel like you have missed any significant part in your child's life? if so what?
A: I do sometimes because my job does interfere with events at school. My job does not give me the ability to just take off whenever I want to.
Q: I see that you leave early every morning, do you feel that this morning time not spent with your child could be a negative?
A: Sometimes the father has to take the place of taking the child to school and getting them ready and It's just a part of teamwork. it's good because it shows the child to rely just as much on the father as the mother, rather than just one primarily.
Q: Do you have the option to opt out?
A: No, because with three children and the expense and the cost it takes to raise them, to cloth them, to feed them, that it is to the children's benefit to have two parents working. It's attainable because both the mother and father are fully engaged.
Q: Why do you enjoy working, instead of staying at home?
A: I enjoy working because I feel like my husband can take up the slack when I'm not there. This shows the children that nowadays the mother is not the only care taker and she has the ability to be successful on her own. When she's happy with her accomplishments it can be a role model for the children because they realize they can accomplish the same thing.
Q: Was this your plan to do so your whole life?
A: I always thought that I would stay at home when the children were little but with the kind of job my husband had, it made it possible to be able to work and have a family life.
Q: What do you think this is teaching your children?
A: I just teaches them the value of parenting as a team and taking equal responsibility with raising the children. It is attainable.
Q:With the economy as it is, are you seeing the rewards to deciding to stay with your job?
A: Considering we are in a recession, In my opinion it does take two incomes. We can't afford to take any chances with the way the economy is. If one of us were to lose our job, we would have a back up plan.
Notes...
As mentioned above I followed her throughout her day. She woke up at 4 a.m. to get ready for work and since her commute to the airport is 30 minutes away she left by 5:15. This was way before any of her children had awoken. They are all elementary aged children so they had school that day. She explained to me that it was her husband who helped get them ready, fed, and off to school in time. After work if was her duty to pick the children up from school and then take them to their various activities. Throughout the time, I noticed that her absence was in fact not a burden to the children. Although she expressed it could be hard some mornings for her to miss getting them ready, she does in fact spend a lot of time in the afternoons with them. This sharing of powers gave the children a chance to look at each parent as equal and to get to spend a separate time with each parent. After viewing I now feel that I too can, when the time is right, balance a family and a job. Although opting out could have been an option, in trying times like these, each parent will see the benefits in caring for their children equally when it comes to working.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Blog 8...
I'm very confused what happened because I thought I posted this yesterday but I guess my computer did not follow through with posting...? Oh well here lies Blog 8...
In many of the articles I read online they outline that opting out is just not always an option. Since Belkin showed this idea through her very successful friends, she fails to show that not all women have the luxury of opting out of the workplace. May it be they aren't financially able or perhaps they are a single mother who is the soul income provider for her children. This idea is just not an option.
Another idea against opting out is putting too much reliance on the male figure in the household. What if there is divorce? What if the spouse dies? That luxury the woman once had is gone in a flash and they are now forced to re-enter a very competitive workplace that has changed drastically since they first left. An author on the Mothersmovement.org points out that Belkins friends may find themselves facing displaced homemakers' syndrome. The woman writing the response is a recently divorced free-lance writer. Although she claims she will be more well off then many others in her situation, she struggles with the fact that she decided to opt-out herself and now she is facing the harsh concequences of her decisions. She wishes she would have listened to her advisors when they said "only you can take care of yourself, don't left anyone else fill that position." When her husband was financially stable to take care of her, she opted-out and now she wants to warn others of the problems that can occur with this decision. With divorce rates rising, the idea of opting-out is a scary one. Although no one goes into a marriage expecting a divorce, I think that women should arm themselves with the possibility.
I come from a family with divorced parents. My mother has always worked her entire life so when this unfortunate circumstance took place, she did not have to worry about how to take care of me on her own. Although both my mother and father are active in taking care of me, my mother's job was just as financially stable to keep us from changing our normal lifestyles. She has forever drilled into me that I need to be responsible for myself. I don't need a man to give me everything and I should NEVER rely on one completely. Obviously my mother did not go into the marriage with my father expecting the worst but since she came from a divorced family herself, she knew how vital it was to support yourself financially no matter how much money your spouse makes.
In many of the articles I read online they outline that opting out is just not always an option. Since Belkin showed this idea through her very successful friends, she fails to show that not all women have the luxury of opting out of the workplace. May it be they aren't financially able or perhaps they are a single mother who is the soul income provider for her children. This idea is just not an option.
Another idea against opting out is putting too much reliance on the male figure in the household. What if there is divorce? What if the spouse dies? That luxury the woman once had is gone in a flash and they are now forced to re-enter a very competitive workplace that has changed drastically since they first left. An author on the Mothersmovement.org points out that Belkins friends may find themselves facing displaced homemakers' syndrome. The woman writing the response is a recently divorced free-lance writer. Although she claims she will be more well off then many others in her situation, she struggles with the fact that she decided to opt-out herself and now she is facing the harsh concequences of her decisions. She wishes she would have listened to her advisors when they said "only you can take care of yourself, don't left anyone else fill that position." When her husband was financially stable to take care of her, she opted-out and now she wants to warn others of the problems that can occur with this decision. With divorce rates rising, the idea of opting-out is a scary one. Although no one goes into a marriage expecting a divorce, I think that women should arm themselves with the possibility.
I come from a family with divorced parents. My mother has always worked her entire life so when this unfortunate circumstance took place, she did not have to worry about how to take care of me on her own. Although both my mother and father are active in taking care of me, my mother's job was just as financially stable to keep us from changing our normal lifestyles. She has forever drilled into me that I need to be responsible for myself. I don't need a man to give me everything and I should NEVER rely on one completely. Obviously my mother did not go into the marriage with my father expecting the worst but since she came from a divorced family herself, she knew how vital it was to support yourself financially no matter how much money your spouse makes.
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