Rape Culture

Rape culture is culture in which rape and sexual violence are common, and in which social practices and media normalize sexual violence. Many people do not realize that making jokes about rape culture is not funny, and often times it is promoting rape culture. Rape culture is overwhelmingly shrugged off as “normal” in our society today. Many people are so accustomed to rape culture that they do not even notice it in their everyday lives. The truth is, rape and sexual violence should not be condoned, but rather, taken seriously.

I was disturbed when I saw this ad for belvedere vodka. This ad promotes rape, as well as the assumption that “loosening agents,” such as alcohol or drugs, may help men achieve sex with women. This advertisement was withdrawn from the media by the company shortly after being released and several apologies were published as they should have been. What was even more upsetting was what the first apology said. “We apologize to any of our fans who were offended by our recent tweet. We continue to be an advocate of safe and responsible drinking.” This apology clearly failed to address concerns about sexual assault or offending people that viewed this advertisement. Many people tweeted about the company’s lack of judgment and moral values. After many tweets surfaced about this terrible advertisement, the president released a statement apologizing for the “offensive” advertisement and stating that it was “inconsistent” with the company’s values. Belvedere Vodka felt so ashamed about this advertisement that they even made a donation to the anti-sexual violence organization Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network [RAINN].  Companies need to use better judgment when deciding what to publish because it affects our society in a profound way.

Fight for Reproductive Rights

            Women’s reproductive rights are being threatened by current political battles. Rush Limbaugh made an argument against women’s reproductive rights when he spoke out against Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke, and women in general for that matter. Rush Limbaugh recently said that if he “was going to have to pay for her to have sex” that she be required to post videos of in on the internet. Women’s reproductive rights are currently at the heart of the debate and the battle focuses on everything from condoms to abortion. Rush Limbaugh is clearly against women receiving any form of contraceptives, especially if his tax dollars help pay for it.  How can legislation even think about taking away women’s rights to choices?

            If a woman’s body is her own, then she should be able to choose what happens to it. If legislation is passed on this topic, then women would not have access to safe and effective types of contraception as well as abortion services. Many of the legislators promoting these laws are men, but where are the women in this decision? Other states like Virginia considered a bill requiring a woman get an ultrasound before an abortion. Laws such as these are cruel and should not be legal. Women should have a choice on what to do with their bodies, without boyfriends, husbands, or other people persuading them. The best way we could solve this problem is to have men take a stand for women and our reproductive rights. Men should speak out and actively promote legislation in favor of women’s rights, support politicians that agree with women’s rights, and promote organizations that offer medical services. Men and women need to stand together on this important issue because it will help maintain some of the reproductive rights that we have tried to achieve and maintain for so long. This issue will not only affect women, but men also. Men should hold great concern in the future of women’s reproductive rights.

Feminism and Marriage

           Despite conservative beliefs, feminism has done more than promoting gay marriages and equal rights. Feminism has made great leaps in making relationships more egalitarian and improving other aspects of partnerships as well. Conservatives seem to believe in the head-complement marriage, where the man is in charge and the woman is the obedient housewife. Many conservatives are homophobic and cannot understand why two people of the same sex would want to be in a partnership together. Gay marriage totally screws up the conservative belief of traditional patriarchy. Although many people think of gay rights when they hear the word feminism; that is not what feminists are primarily fighting for. Feminists are fighting for equality.

            Feminist marriage has already gained so much ground since the 1960’s. Women no longer have to rely on their “looks” to get jobs, and they are not shunned when they choose to work outside of the home. In fact, women are becoming extremely successful in higher education and in jobs or careers. Women are no longer seen as unmarriageable if they are educated; an education actually makes a woman more attractive these days. Marriages are becoming much more egalitarian and women are so much more independent. Men and women are sharing household duties, as well as parenting. With shared responsibilities children spend more time with fathers and bond better with both of their parents. Evidence has proven that relationships that share household chores and parenting result in fewer divorces and increased sex lives. So how can conservatives complain about that? This type of equality in the home may also carry over into other aspects of peoples’ lives, and that would be a great thing. Many couples are much happier in egalitarian partnerships and there is proof to back it up.

Medicalization of Women's Bodies

            Medicalization is the process by which a normal function of the body becomes indicative of disease. In our society, medicalization is becoming increasingly frequent among women. Women are being treated for various normal body functions did not require medical attention in the past. Some women’s body functions that are medicalized in our society today include: pregnancy and menopause. I am going to focus on an article I read about the medicalization of menopause.

            The woman that wrote this article, Nancy Krieger, was going through menopause and she stressed her concerns with the medicalization of menopause. Women tend to seek medical and cosmetic “help” during menopause because aging is seen as something that requires medical attention. Nancy Krieger even writes, “Some medical researchers, health care providers, and drug companies have defined menopause as a hormone ‘deficiency’ condition due to ovarian ‘failure’.” This view suggests that menopause is similar to thyroid deficiency or even diabetes. Some medical providers even claim that if menopause is not treated it could result in other chronic conditions or sudden death. I think this is ridiculous. Menopause is simply a normal part of an aging woman’s life. Since the onset of menopause stops the production of hormones in women’s bodies, “hormone replacement therapy” became an accepted “treatment.” Doctors and women believed that “hormone replacement therapy” would solve all the problems of menopause by boosting estrogen levels in the system. It turned out that “hormone replacement therapy” didn’t solve all the problems of aging, and in fact, it was more detrimental than beneficial to a woman’s health.

            There has been a long history of illness being associated with women’s reproductive organs and hormones. During this time period, many women had hysterectomies in attempt to “cure” many problems. This article also states, “higher education for adolescent girls was discouraged for fear that taxing girls’ brains would ruin their reproductive organs.” In society, we no longer associate education with destroying women’s reproductive organs. We do, however, associate menopause with being something that needs “help.” I believe that many doctors see menopause as something that needs to be treated because they only ever see women that complain about menopausal side effects. Doctors do not get input from healthy women that don’t complain of menopause. I believe that the medicalization of menopause is extremely biased. Menopause is a natural thing and it happens to every woman in middle age. I feel that doctors should suggest alternative homeopathic remedies to menopause because it has not always been something that required medical attention. I also feel that doctors make women feel like menopause is a bigger problem than it really is, by overreacting to it. Women should be able to accept menopause without feeling like they are “deficient” or in danger of other medical problems or death.

http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/menoexcerpt.asp?id=53&chapterID=31

Sexualization- The Negative Effects

            Living in a society that promotes the idea that a woman’s value comes only from her sexual appeal or behavior is horrible. I feel that this problem is much more common that many of us are aware of.  I have a story about a close friend that proves just how traumatizing sexual objectification can be.

            My friend always was confident with her appearance until she started high school. High school was a time when many of my friends changed in appearance and personality. The requirement to be beautiful and sexually desirable in high school determines your “popularity.” My friend took this to the extreme. She went from being a tom boy that liked to play sports and never wore makeup to a Barbie lookalike that wore short skirts and lots of makeup. This did get her the attention she wanted at school but with negative side effects. Boys called her all the time and she had many boyfriends, but they were all short term. The boys were using her because they thought she was “easy” by the way she dressed and acted. She had a new look and hung out with the popular crowd so she thought she had it all. After many relationships failed after short periods of time she was diagnosed with depression. Many of her “popular” friends were not there for her and she developed an eating disorder (anorexia nervosa). I was still there for her. I talked to her about her problems and assured her everything would get better. My friend eventually got help and stopped trying so hard to be the sexualized image of Barbie. After my friend stopped hanging out with the “popular” crowd and she went back to her beautiful, down to earth self.

            My friend did recover from anorexia nervosa but she is still scarred from everyone that used her. This just goes to show some people are only fair weather friends and you should be careful the way you present yourself to other people. You never know what might happen or how any situation turn out. I feel for so many girls that go through this same experience. Girls should be who they want to be without any outside pressures. Everyone should feel beautiful in their own skin.

Women's Bodily Insecurity

Why does it seem like commercials always focus on advertising to women? It has been proven that women account for a majority of sales so this could be part of the reason. On the other hand, some commercials seem to advertise bodily insecurities in women so that women buy products to “fix” these problems. Do you ever notice commercials that promote “fixing” manly bodily problems? You may have seen a few of these commercials advertised to men, but definitely not as many as there are for women. I feel that this is a huge problem with the advertising industry and it is negatively affecting they way women view their bodies everywhere.

An advertisement I see all the time that I particularly took note of was the Vagisil commercials. The Vagisil advertisements focus on the negative aspects of the female body and promote a various line of products to “fix” such issues as: itching, burning, odor, etc. Why is female anatomy promoted as something disgusting that women should be ashamed of? This is so wrong. Women should be proud of their bodies, not ashamed and afraid of what other people might think. Men could help this problem if they didn’t portray the female anatomy as something that needs constant care or the help of certain products. Men could make their girlfriends/partners feel much more comfortable in their own skin if they re-approached the way that they interacted with them. Men could complement their partners or even engage in things like oral sex and this may help women not feel so worried about the way their bodies are. I feel that men could help this problem first and then maybe the media would follow the example. Who knows maybe periods and feminine products will not be awkward topics of discussion in the future.

Miss Universe Policy Change

This week I stumbled upon a news article that I found to be very relevant to our Women's Studies class. The title of this article was, "Miss Universe pageant allowing transgender women." In this article it explains that a new rule will be implemented so that next year transgendered women will be allowed to compete in the Miss Universe pageant. This new rule change is just one more step towards equality for people of all genders. I am so proud to see that we are taking these necessary steps to move towards equality.

Surprisingly, this new rule came about a week after Jenna Talackova was disqualified for competing in Canada's Miss Universe pageant in May. Jenna Talakova was born a male, and she had a sex change four years ago. Jenna was denied the right to compete in Canada's Miss Universe pageant because of the rule that states "must be a naturally born woman." The advocacy group GLADD asked the Miss Universe Organization to look at Jenna's case and asked that they allow transgendered women to compete in the pageant. "We want to give credit where credit is due, and the decision to include transgender women in our beauty competitions is a result of our ongoing discussions with GLAAD," said Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization. "We have a long history of supporting equality for all women, and this was something we took very seriously."

This is another large milestone for feminism and equal rights. "The Miss Universe Organization today follows institutions that have taken a stand against discrimination of transgender women including the Olympics, NCAA, the Girl Scouts of America and The CW's America's Next Top Model," said GLAAD's senior director of programs Herndon Graddick. "At a time when transgender people are still routinely denied equal opportunities in housing, employment and medical care, today's decision is in line with the growing levels of public support for transgender people across the country."The pageant could set off a series of events that could lead people to be more understanding of transgendered people and it could hopefully translate to different aspects of society. By having transgendered women in the pageant, many stereotypes could be crushed and many people could become more accepting of something that seems so unfamiliar.

http://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/miss-universe-pageant-allowing-transgender-women-1.3652341

"What Would You Do?"

Yesterday I watched “What Would You Do?” on ABC and there were some situations that were very relevant to our discussions in Women’s Studies. The two situations that stood out most to me were the ones called “Mom Won’t Relent on Gender Change” and “Parent Wants Botox for Teen.” You can see how the titles of these situations are related to the constant pressures that teens and young adults face every day.

If you have never seen this show, it is a reality show that sets up scenarios in public where random people are filmed to see how many of them would do the right thing and speak up. In these situations I do not know how anyone could have kept quiet…

In the first scenario, “Mom Won’t Relent on Gender Change,” a mom is out to dinner with her son and various groups of people are filmed eating nearby. The mother and son get into an argument because the son insists that he is a woman on the inside and he wants his mother to be accepting of him. The son also states that he cannot change how he feels and he likes wearing women’s clothing. The mother starts yelling at her son to stop talking that way and says she wishes she never had a son. The mother then gets up and leaves the restaurant and some bystanders jump in to console the boy and support him. Many bystanders reacted and called the mother out when she returned. The bystanders encouraged the mother to accept her son as he is and to love him unconditionally. I was so happy to see so many people react to this situation and reassure the son that it was his choice.

In the second scenario, “Parent Wants Botox for Teen,” a mother and daughter are at a beauty salon with many other women. The mother is getting a pedicure with her daughter for her birthday and they are reading magazines. Then the mother sees a sign in the salon for Botox and tells her daughter she needs to have it done. The daughter refuses Botox because she is eighteen years old and a very beautiful young girl. The mother is relentless about getting her daughter into the room for the procedure, until many women in the salon speak up. The women express that the mother is acting crazy because her daughter is only eighteen and a beautiful young woman. The women also emphasize that the mother is creating insecurity in her daughter and making her have a distorted body image. I think this issue really hit home for many women because it is a constant struggle for women in our society to be beautiful and perfect.

The pressures that teens and young adults face every day are stressful as it is. I found these two scenarios especially shocking because I feel that parents should be the ones that encourage and support their children the most. Parents need to be a support system for their children and tell them they are beautiful and worth something. If some parents, like the ones in these clips, are not able to do those things for their children, then I am glad to see how other people react to help complete strangers.

What would you have done in these situations?

Sexual Orientation

Let me start off by saying I had a very interesting weekend. Everything related to gender and sexual identity stands out in my mind since this class begun a few weeks ago. When I met my aunt and my grandparents at a restaurant this weekend I was more than surprised to hear the things they had to say about a man that was more than obvious about his homosexuality. When this man entered the restaurant my aunt almost shouted, “Look at that queen with all of his girlfriends!” Then my grandpa said, “Oh my God, could he be any more of a woman?” I was so embarrassed I tried to look at the ground until the man and his girlfriends passed our table. Didn’t my family understand that the things they said were so rude and that the man might hear them and take offense to their hurtful words?! I guess not…

            After the man walked across the restaurant and took a seat with his girlfriends I had a long talk with my family about the misconceptions and stereotypes of homosexual people. I told them that it was wrong to single out homosexuals just because of their sexual orientation and that they should not judge people. As people, we all have the right to express ourselves freely and behave in the way that we would like to. I explained especially to my grandparents, who have very traditional values, that being homosexual in today’s society is much more acceptable than it would have been in their time. I also told them that it is any person’s right to love whomever they desire and to be happy in life, without living in fear of their sexual identity. Even though my grandparents still do not agree with homosexuality they stopped gawking at the man in the restaurant and I think they finally understood why it was wrong to make fun of him and call him names. My aunt then decided to share her thoughts that she didn’t realize that such names could be hurtful and cruel. My aunt claims she has five homosexual male friends that she loves hanging out with. I am glad to hear that she is accepting of homosexual people even though her parents raised her much differently than that.

            This also made me think about the nature vs. nurture argument that we encountered in class. I still think, whether it be nature or nurture, that people should have the right to assume any sexual identity that they desire without being shunned by society or even questioned. Heterosexuals do not have to live in fear or be questioned as to why they are heterosexual, so why should lesbians or gays have to face these problems? Nobody walks around asking heterosexuals if or when they chose to be heterosexual. I think many people need to understand these things and stop searching for answers as to why people are homosexual. People are heterosexual or homosexual because they chose to be or they are born that way. End of story. I just want to tell people to stop questioning others and just be more open and accepting to ways different than their own.

Feminism - An Ongoing Battle

I think there is a huge problem affecting many people all over the United States. Many people do not understand what feminism is. A video I watched on YouTube confirmed many of the misconceptions about feminism and feminists, as well as the readings we had from Women's Views Feminist Voices. In Women's Views Feminist Voices feminists are silenced by being called "lesbians" or "men haters" but this is completely wrong and absurd. Just because a woman is an activist of Women’s Rights does not automatically label her as a lesbian. It was very frustrating to watch this video and it confirms that there is still a significant problem in our society today. Women need their voices to be heard. Everyone deserves respect and equality so that we do not have to encounter situations like some that can be seen in this YouTube clip. One of the men interviewed in the YouTube clip, on the topic of feminism, also referred to feminists as “angry women trying to get their way with the world.” I think that this is horribly wrong. One of the men also stated that he thought women had equal rights since the amendment to the constitution was passed in 1920.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pdbnzFUsXI)

Women that are feminists are just advocates for women's rights and equality for all women. Many people do not understand that being a feminist does not label a woman with any particular sexual orientation. I feel like so many people are left in the dark about feminism and women's rights and I feel that it would help so much if everyone learned these things at a younger age. This problem concerning feminism may be continuing as a result of the lack of education that children receive on this topic.

In the public schools I attended we were never taught anything about feminism or Women's Rights and I feel like everyone would have such a better understanding of feminism and people’s rights. Maybe instead of teaching children what is acceptable for their gender at an early age we should be letting children figure those things out on their own. I believe, instead, when the children reach middle school age, it would be very appropriate to address issues of feminism, sexual orientation, and how to accept people of all differences.

I admit that I had no idea what a Women's Studies class would teach me, but now that I am in this class I view everything so much differently. I can now pick out certain things that are totally ridiculous in the media and I can see how other people are so mislead on feminism and Women’s Rights. I am so happy I am taking this class or I would be viewing the world in such a different, misconstrued way.