Gendered World Views (Fall 2016, Section 9)
About this class
Pink is for girls and blue is for boys, or at least that's what many of us were taught as children. But what are these stereotypes really telling us? Assumptions like these force men and women into specific roles, and from a very young age, we socialize boys to be aggressive and girls to be nice – we then assign an aesthetic to each group that reflects this. But how do real people deal with these expectations? What does it mean to see the world through gendered terms?
This course will introduce students to the patriarchal world view that created the gendered stereotypes we live with today and the ways in which gendered assumptions structure society. We will then focus on the challenges that have been raised by the feminist world view and explore how women deal with gender inequality. The second half of the course will be largely dedicated to masculinity studies and feminist observations regarding how the patriarchal world view hurts men as well. Finally, we will end with a brief look at what queer theory has to say about gender. Students will be asked to reflect on their own world views and how gendered ideas have effected their lives. A participation grade will be assigned.
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lawmario
Very Interesting point of view and analyses. I agree with the fact that the web holds a lot of different issues regarding every internet user’s privacy. The government unfortunately overtook some parts of the web and appropriated the internet s something they could use to discover what people seek for, which can be also called espionage. By increasing surveillance, the government is basically destructing people’s privacy and their freedom of speech.
A better understanding of this problem will be see with the approach of a gender perspective, where the use of censorship would have helped. The hashtag #Gamergate is one of the best example where censorship helped thousands of feminist in the video game world to overcome the hate they were receiving all over the world trough the internet. The hashtag was created to support and defend, those ones that were trying to give personal reviews on video game ethical concernings. The hashtag problematic was often seen in the feminist socials groups of the internet world.
By looking at this issue from a gender perspective, Internet privacy would definitely be better for some groups of users that like to have the right for freedom of speech although monitoring the surveillance of the web can be helpful to stop the bigger problem of the internet which the online harassment that can go up to cause death for the ones bullied. The government should find a balance in between to make the web a healthier and safer place for its users.
To give more information to your reading, the link posted is about the topic of #Gamergate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamergate_controversy
• https://techcrunch.com/2014/09/25/gamergate-an-issue-with-2-sides/
Juicycouture
To start off, I really enjoyed your article because this is recurring problem that happens in our society. I think it would be interesting if you were to view the ethical issues behind this problem. I think many might approach the issue by saying it follows the ethical frameworks of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is an approach that focuses on the outcome of the action and not the action itself. It promotes the greatest good for the greatest number. In this case, many people around the world get to be entertained by reading interesting news while there is only one person who gets hurt because the information that people are reading about them is false. Therefore, many people might see it as ethical.
I believe that the ethical framework that needs to be followed in this context is virtue ethics because its promotes dishonesty. The people who write and publicize the false information do it for entertainment and publicity, while being aware of the fact that this will most likely hurt the celebrity. Some may argue that virtue ethics also incorporates the self and that the motive behind their actions was to create happiness for themselves. Therefore, this shows that we can not all agree on the most important virtue.
In my opinion, the morally correct thing to do would be to publicize truthful facts about their lives. This way, they are honest while creating entertainment and publicity.
kOBE24
No probleam, I am glad I could help.
June
What put things into perspective for me was when ‘jam20’, the author of the article, ending it off by connecting to the reader. Jam20 mentions how the at hand issue of rape should not be taken lightly by highlighting the fact that the victim could very well be someone that is in close relation to you.
Young women, for the longest time have more largely been the victims of rape. As mentioned in the article, “1 in 5 women and 1 in 6 men are sexually assaulted during their time on college campus”. This relevant statistic demonstrates how common this aggressive action is becoming. This reoccurring issue falls under the topic which is that of rape culture. Rape culture is a term created by American feminists in the 1970’s. It can be defined as “a complex set of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women” , “A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm” by Women Against Violence Against Women. The article speaks about an event concerning a male athlete, Brock Turner, raping Emily Doe at a frat party. The reasoning behind his decision which allowed him to think that doing so would be acceptable, was that the female was under the influence of alcohol. As Turner, along with many men who are overwhelmed with hormones and wish to conform to the man box, which tells men to be aggressive and to be hyper sexual, he committed the act of rape. Often, the victim is blamed, the perpetrators are pitied and the frequency of the crime is denied, which is exactly what happened regarding Turner’s case. Since turner went to a prestigious college, and was a promising athlete, his sentence for physically and mentally abusing Doe was simply a sentence of 6 months. Since he had such a luxurious future ahead of him, apparently it didn’t seem fair to punish him severely for ruining someone else’s life.
Turner, like most men probably didn't realize the severity of committing such an aggressive offence. Often an excuse for committing such a crime is blamed on the fact that the girl was intoxicated, or that she wasn’t wearing much clothing. Automatically, the man interpret these hidden messages as if she wants to engage with them. By assuming so and acting upon their assumptions when clear consent isn't given, is essentially rape. The act of rape negatively impacts both members involved. The girl with suffer from being physically damaged and be emotionally scared leaving her with scaring, petrifying images along with memories in her mind forever. For the man, if the women has the courage to report the offence, he will be doing jail time. When women are seen as objects to the male eye, they do not get the respect they deserve and they have to pay the consequences.
Instead of going to school in fear of being raped, students should go to school and be taught about it, bringing the subject to their attention and raising awareness. Seeing how many college rape incidents go unnoticed or students have trouble identifying it since they don't want to be seen as a so called snitch, being better educated on the subject may lead to a promising reduction of the event’s occurrence. That being said, I would encourage you to read the following article.
sources:
Susan Ervin-Tripp THE LOS,ANGELES TIMES. (1986, Dec 30). Education could help abolish rape. Toronto Star Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/435529617?accountid=41233
Westsiderep
Very fascinating post Kwolf4!
I completely agree that it can be quite difficult for certain people to completely conform to the expected behaviors of their respective genders because after all, everyone is different. Therefore, I think you bring up an important issue because we are starting to see more and more people break free from these stereotypes by not conforming to gender norms in order to be “who they truly are”. As much as you pulled out some solid arguments, I must disagree with you on the fact that there are only two recognized types of gender. Contrary to sex, gender can be classified into 63 different categories. Therefore, I think you may be confusing the terms sex and gender. Accordingly, there are two categories for sex, female and male and in a small minority of cases intersex and these categories are differentiated through biological markers and chromosomes. On the other hand, gender is associated with behaviors and roles and is separated into binary gender and non-binary gender categories. Gender binary is a model of gender that classifies all people into one of two genders according to their genitalia and biological markers. However, non-binary gender describes any gender identity which does not fit within the binary of male and female. (List of Nonbinary Identities) Therefore, according to the online article “The living Rede”, there are over 63 different genders, including genderqueer, genderfluid and polygender. Furthermore, I also disagree with you on your use of the term stereotypes in order to “categorize people, so that it is easier to identify them.” I believe that the proper word to describe these categories would be the term social construct. According to the Encyclopedia, “a social construct is an idea or notion that appears to be natural and obvious to people who accept it but may or may not represent reality, so it remains largely an invention or artifice of a given society.” (Social constructs) Social constructs are the results of the creation of these categories and labels to make sense of the world. All in all, a very informative and engaging post and I agree that at the end of the day, gender should not limit who we are and how we behave in society.
Works Cited
Gallagher, Brian. "- 23 -." The Living Rede. N.p., 2004. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
"List of Nonbinary Identities." Nonbinary Gender Visibility, Education and Advocacy Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
Social Constructs." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences., "Social Constructionism." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences., and "social Constructionism." A Dictionary of Sociology. "Social Constructs." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
RAY PRINCESS
The discussion on white people privileges is very interesting. Privileges can be based on race like is exposed in the article, but also can be related to gender, sexual orientation, religion class and many other aspects that differentiate an individual from other. When individuals lack this privileges they suffer discrimination or oppression from “the superior groups”. The overlap of these different systems of inequality such as racism, sexism, homophobia and other is call intersectionality. In gender class we learn that the intersection of different types of discrimination only helps one to reinforce the other, and it can be very oppressive to visible minorities in our society. For example, if we analyze the intersection between race and gender can be noticed that although women are more discriminated than men; black women suffer a more severe type of discrimination. If we add sexual orientation to the equation, we see that if the black woman is also lesbian she will be in a more disadvantage position. Intersectionality proves that every individual suffer their own king of discrimination. Also shows that visible minorities cannot be include in one big group because the peculiarities of different individuals in the group would made them suffer different kinds of oppression. Race, sex, gender, and many other characteristics of the human body and of our personality are not choose by the individual; instead they are given by nature. Discriminating and oppressing someone for been different when they cannot control it is not ethical. Society needs to learn respect and acceptance of every individual.
http://www.tolerance.org/article/racism-and-white-privilege
buddylolabruce
I completely see where you are coming from when you argue that men go out looking for sexual content in TV shows although I beg to differ with the fact that want sexual content in TV shows. Men tells themselves they want sexual content in TV shows because the media and society tells them that’s what they should want to see. Men will do whatever it takes in order to avoid humiliation that would come from not conforming to the typical masculine ideal. If it was socially accepted for men to show emotions and for men to want sex not for the pleasure that it brings but for the sense of closeness and intimacy that it offers, men would embrace it in a heartbeat. In fact, men do experience many other emotions other than anger and they are constantly looking for a sense of partnership although they are not allowed to show it. Have you ever thought about how men would act if they would be exposed to emotional and intimate men in TV shows, if it was accepted by society? I can guarantee you that they would not have a problem with it. In short, it’s not entirely true to say that all men go out looking for sexual content in TV shows because even though there are some men that do in fact have sex for the pleasure that it brings, a good percentage of men have sex in hopes of forming connections and bonds with their partners that would later manifest into a deeper intimate relationship. If society would encourage men to be emotional intimate beings then they would be, but men are constantly being penalized for behaving in such a manner that they have learned to tell themselves that they want sex for the pleasure it brings but there is more to it.
To further understand my point, I think you should explore this article that I have found http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/09/what-men-really-want-in-bed/
Cindylou
Thank you for bringing in some male perspective into the world of eating disorders and insecurities. I find it interesting to see social platforms such as the starting to acknowledge that eating disorders do not have a gender. It’s important be aware that the social pressures women are faced with are much more severe however, the pressure on men is still undeniably there. The ideal “greek” body you speak of actually has a name; Adonis. This hegemonic masculine body ideal rules the western world. Standing at 6 feet tall approximately 200 pounds with broad muscular shoulders and proportional long legs, his gleaming smile capable of swaying any girl surrounded by a clean shaven chiseled jaw covered with sun kissed skin makes him the envy of every man that does not meet these standards.
Now, realistically this figure is almost unattainable by men who do not spend their entire day working to achieve and maintain this look, leaving many with psychological feelings of incompetence or failure. These feelings stem from the inability to conform to the physical aspects of the man box. This also plays a huge role when examining why man men seldom seek help when face with these eating disorders. What makes all this worse is that those who embody this figure tend to be rewarded politically, socially and economically, more than those who do not. Despite being aware of this social construct of ideal masculinity, we are the ones that enforce it though advertisement and rewards.
Here’s an article of some of the body pressures boys are faced with in today’s society and unhealthy measure they are taking to keep up with this ideal body figure. While reading this keep in mind that this is something that women have been struggling with for a very long time and despite it being very real in men as well, that men and women do not experience it on the same level.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/body-image-pressure-in...
Cindylou
Thank you for bringing in some male perspective into the world of eating disorders and insecurities. I find it interesting to see social platforms such as the starting to acknowledge that eating disorders do not have a gender. It’s important be aware that the social pressures women are faced with are much more severe however, the pressure on men is still undeniably there. The ideal “greek” body you speak of actually has a name; Adonis. This hegemonic masculine body ideal rules the western world. Standing at 6 feet tall approximately 200 pounds with broad muscular shoulders and proportional long legs, his gleaming smile capable of swaying any girl surrounded by a clean shaven chiseled jaw covered with sun kissed skin makes him the envy of every man that does not meet these standards.
Now, realistically this figure is almost unattainable by men who do not spend their entire day working to achieve and maintain this look, leaving many with psychological feelings of incompetence or failure. These feelings stem from the inability to conform to the physical aspects of the man box. This also plays a huge role when examining why man men seldom seek help when face with these eating disorders. What makes all this worse is that those who embody this figure tend to be rewarded politically, socially and economically, more than those who do not. Despite being aware of this social construct of ideal masculinity, we are the ones that enforce it though advertisement and rewards.
Here’s an article of some of the body pressures boys are faced with in today’s society and unhealthy measure they are taking to keep up with this ideal body figure. While reading this keep in mind that this is something that women have been struggling with for a very long time and despite it being very real in men as well, that men and women do not experience it on the same level.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/body-image-pressure-in...
dosomerlyf
I really liked your opinion-based article StrongFaith, your thoughts have a certain relatability to them despite having a controversial edge. A lot of the times, when parents place age restrictions on dating, it can have a lot to do with the tradition and culture of the family but it can also be directly correlated to the gender of the adolescent. From the moment a child is born, they are raised in a way that has everything to do with their gender and almost brainwashed into performing it. With the help of the patriarchal world view, sons are raised in accordance with the hegemonic man box, where they are conditioned to believe, by the help of how they were raised and reinforced by society, that men need to be strong, dominant, athletic, good-looking, stoic and most importantly to get with as many girls as they can whenever they can and as often as possible, all in hopes of proving their masculinity. In a society where that is the guideline, it is no wonder that parents would most likely want to shield their daughters (or sons) from this compulsive heterosexuality, where men are constructed into believing that if they don’t have multiple sexual conquests, they will be stripped of their masculine identities; thus building romantic relationships on the basis of sex and the absence of love or emotion. However, by placing these age restrictions, (in this case referring to girls) they’re stripping girls of possible experiences that’ll help form their sexual liberty and identity, that’ll help them draw the line of boundaries in future relationships; reconstructing the glass ceiling feminists are currently shattering. I don’t think the solution is to shelter teenagers from these experiences, but rather inform their daughters AND sons alike, that the foundation of relationships begins and ends with mutual respect, trust and pure intentions.
Here’s an article on why teen dating is important: http://www.livestrong.com/article/154840-positive-effects-of-dating-for-...