I started reading the text book yesterday and I think I had my first "Eureka Moment" of the week. As I was reading the first few pages of the introduction, I looked at my mom and said "I think I'm going to become a feminist after taking this class." My mom laughed and asked me why did I think that. I couldn't give her a direct answer because I sitll don't fully understand the term because I feel that it can often be misused. I just had a feeling that I would be one. I enjoyeed what I was reading and looked at things I guess through a different perspective. I'm going to finish the reading later today and hopefully I'll have a better understanding of the term, and why I think I'm going to become a feminist.
When I started to read yesterday everything seemed so interesting and the reading came easy. When I got to page 23 I felt like my mind started to wonder. I was reading "Social Views of Intersexuality" and alls I could think of was the most recent Real World on MTV. There was a girl names Kaitlyn on the show who was born a trangendered. She was born a male and became a female by choice. She even had surgery to make her genetalia female. This article really made me think because the said when infants were born with both gentalia they did "normalizing surgery" to make them either male or female. This was my Eureka Moment. It was so unbeleivable to me that they parents or doctors would decide what sex the infant would be. Instead of letting them grow up and either decide on their own to get surgery or to live as an intersexed person. It got my thoughts going on how mean some people were to that girl Kaitlyn on MTV. They would not let her just be what made her feel comfortable it was like she had to appease the world and make them comfortable. I hope to learn more about it as the class goes on!!
So,when I first saw feminist in the book I had my first Eureka moment this semester because it reminds me of what I think of as my old supervisor at work. It's something that has been very interesting to me and something that has given me my Eureka moment which has to deal with my experience in the corporate world. I am 21 years old and last April I took a job with a company and this was my first real job. My supervisor was a 50+/- year old woman, who looked very professional and pleasant when she hired me. Well once I gotten into the department and got to know my co-workers they had told me how horrible of a supervisor she was. She was very authoritative and liked to have the power to control. She wanted everything done her way and was in everyone's business. to me this moment gave me a realization that when woman are given supervisory positions all the power goes to there heads and they become horrible at the position. After 6 months of being on the job I transferred to a different job in the company where I was now with a 40+/- year old male supervisor. This than gave me the chance to see maybe it's just the way people are in the corporate world. Well I discovered that a male supervisor is a lot more laid back than a woman is. My supervisor now who I have had for about 6 months now has been awesome. As long as I get my work done and do it right he does not cause any problems. He does not take advantage of the power he has and does not care how the job gets done just as long as it is right. Talking to a lot of people in the company I work for it seems more people would rather work for a man rather than a woman. I can still remember sitting in a meeting with a few woman manager and supervisors and they are gossiping about how someone from IT was with this woman from Auto and he is just using her as a beard to cover us that he is gay! These gender roles that the male and females have played in my career at my job have played some sort of impact on my interpretation of how woman are in jobs where they are given power. It's not so much that they abuse it, I think it's more of the fact that they finally have it and they want to show that woman can take on a mans job. Every since I have left her department she is very different towards me too. I think woman take things more personally than men do. For our culture now a days is not unusual to see a woman in these positions, but it's just the way they act that makes me think now that it's easier to work for a man than it is a woman. No wonder why when I started only 2 out of the 13 of us in my department were men!!!
I had my first Eureka Moment when completing the discussion board for this week's assignment. I realized, upon reading the first few chapters, that after taking courses such as "Psychology of Women," "Introduction to Gender Studies," "Feminist Literary Criticism," etc, Rider has definitely provided me with a great deal of knowledge about different definitions of Gender and what impact society's expectations have on people. I've learned a lot from these classes, however, my "eureka moment" was also in realizing that there is so much more from this class and others in the future that I can learn about. I feel that gender and sexuality is a subject that has endless amounts of information to be learned, and that this course will open a lot of doors for me in terms of new ideas to research and study. My "Eureka Moment" consists of realizing that there is so much more for me to learn about gender studies, and that there is no part of my life that is unaffected by the different concepts I am learning in the Gendered Lives text book.
I used to be a big fan of the Real World and that showed a lot of different and interesting people on the show. So, after you posted your Eureka Moment and related it to the new season of the Real World I had to check it out. “Her strong desire to be a mother stems from her close-knit relationship with her own mom, but this goal always seemed like a fantasy since Katelynn was born male. This was an interesting point that she made because in the book it stated how boys usually are closer with the father and the mothers always connect more with the daughter. Just goes to show that sometimes when kids are born they are not the person on the outside that they feel on the inside. I did like Katelynn Bio from MTV website and it shows you pictures just so people can understand more about the transgender person that is out there in this world. Once a male and now a female and you don’t see this much. It is good how a TV show can promote that not everyone is the same and no matter what people need to be treated the way they deserve to be treated. I would like to learn more about this as well. This girl feels she has to prove something to the world and that is not fair for people like that.
After taking Psychology of Women and now reading in this class and seeing the similarities, I have decided that the biggest way I am affected by gender "norms" is while raising my two little boys. I am an educated person and has had the chance to learn how we raise boys and girls, and yet honestly, when my little one is crying for the 30th time because his brother looked at him funny I find myself telling the little boy to suck it up. I know this is how we raise these ultra masculine boys yet I still do it. And even in my household the boys know not to wrestle with mommy, because she's too "gentle," and only daddy can handle the rough housing. Why do we do this when we like to hope to raise sensitive caring young men? How can we teach boys to be men that are strong, yet emotional and loving? Its all so confusing and I hope that taking these classes will raise my awareness to how I contribute to these stereotypical behaviors.
By the way-has anyone seen this show where they follow the lives of people pre-op and show you how it was for them having the sex change operations? Its a very interesting and touching show! Wish I could remember what channel!!
I had a Eureka moment yesterday while my husband was watching ESPN. While he was watching the show I heard a woman comentating on sports. I thought it was interesting, there was a woman sitting amongst three men and she possesed the same amount of knowledge that they did. it shows how women and their roles are still evolving. In history, seeing a woman partake with men was not something that was common becasue they were believed to be inferior. It's nice to know that women are still moving up in society :-)
Before the class began I figured this would just be a class to take just to get closer to graduation. I'm not going to lie it still is, but I realized how helpful this could be for work. I am a manager at a medical management company. I was recently promoted to manager and I have plenty of male and female employees. In addition, my supervisor is also a woman. After reading the intro and first two chapters of the book I realized that this course could really help me in talking to all my employees the right way. I consider myself a social person and its important for me to have play as much as I work, but work is where most of anyone's interaction with people actually is. I figured this was my Eureka moment. The fact that this might be useful. The reading seems interesting so far and hopefully remains so. I'm also looking forward to reading some entries.
I had my first Eureka moment when I opened the text book for the first time. The book opened directly to Chapter 1, and my eyes immediately fixated on the quote at the top of the page. "We are looking for permission to be more than our society tells us we are." I was instantly touched by this quote. It's such a true statement for the way people view life. People need permission to be who they want to be. They crave acceptance and fear rejection. If they do not conform to societies standards, they are seen as outcasts. They are therefor to change the person they truly are, in order to fit into what society deems appropriate.
I am a female. I know I am a female. I am lucky enough to not be one of the many out there who are confused by their gender. There are men who feel they are trapped in a woman's body, and vice versa. I have been aware of this a long time, but I have never really taken the time to consider the predicament these people are in because of societies expectations. They are just searching for permission to be who they are, rather than what they are.
I love that when you read this you thought you would be a feminist after this class. I stopped for a second when I first read that part of the book too as was wodnering if I was one. I took Psych of Gender, Psych of Women and now this. I am not a feminist yet but it caught my attention. I sometimes felt like in my other 2 classes it was almost all girls so it turned into a club against men lol. I think this course is going to be great bcause we can see all type sof views...then we can decide if we are feminsits lol.
Response to IliaP... That's really interesting and kind of exciting that a woman was commentating amongst a group of men about sports. I definitely know females who know more about sports than most of the guys I know. Sports is one example of something that is totally male dominated, but I think there's a real push for women to be taken more seriously in that context.
It is understandable to create a negative opinion on something based on a bad personal experience, however before you make a concrete statement such as “when woman are given supervisory positions all the power goes to there heads and they become horrible at the position,” perhaps you need some more experience with women superiors. Just because one woman was tyrannical and unable to properly handle her responsibilities, does not mean that any woman placed in a similar setting will run things the same way. Women are just as capable of being level-headed and laid back as men are, while men have been known to be just as tyrannical as your former supervisor.
There's a show on ESPN called Around the Horn. This show has a host and a panel of 4 sports writers that appear in a competetion style format to get the most points. The panel changes everyday but usually the same 6 to 8 guys appear on the show every week. Of these 6 to 8 guys I know of one woman who appears on the show and she appears maybe once every two weeks or so. I know this because during the introductions they announce how many wins the columnist has on the show. Her's is the lowest win total of all the panelists. Im 90% sure her name is Jackie. Anyway I never really thought about her being the only woman on the show until I read your post. Nothing against it or anything it just never entered my mind.
I had a Eureka moment yesterday while my husband was watching ESPN. While he was watching the show I heard a woman comentating on sports. I thought it was interesting, there was a woman sitting amongst three men and she possesed the same amount of knowledge that they did. it shows how women and their roles are still evolving. In history, seeing a woman partake with men was not something that was common becasue they were believed to be inferior. It's nice to know that women are still moving up in society :-)
I'm sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience with a woman supervisor, that's unfortunate. I disagree with the thought that woman let positions of authority get to their heads though. I feel that both men and woman who are given the opportunity to have a position of power can let it get to his or her head. I think it depends on the type of the person he or she is as an individual. I have worked for both men and for woman. Although I do feel that woman can show more sympathy towards other women in the work field, I don't think that all women let power get to their heads.
Chris - I have been in the corporate world for 27 years and I would have to agree with Maria that the character of person and their management skills (or the lack thereof) are what makes someone easy to work with, not their gender. Some of the best managers I have ever worked for have been women. Trust me when I tell you I didn't always think this way. My first job on Wall Street was in 1985 - and I reported to a woman - and I couldn't stand it. I thought she had it out for me, because at that time, I didn't treat women with much respect. But what she didn't like was the fact that I was always late...
Neeru - now that was truly a Eureka moment!!! I love it! It will be challenging though to transition your son into understanding society's view on his role as male and that is sad. I wish you could just let kids be and let them figure it out.
Ok gang - now for my Eureka moment: I CAN BE A FEMINIST WITHOUT BEING FEMININE!!! Being the father of three daughters who are all women now, I have always felt a passion to stand up for Women’s rights and make sure my daughters are not judged on their gender, but on their education and character. But I always thought you had to first truly understand women, something I must sadly report has not yet happened after living with four women for the past 20 years! After reading the introduction of Gendered Lives, I realized than Feminism is a position, not a lifestyle and definitely not “man bashing”. So I am here to shout – I AM A FEMINIST and will do anything I can to make sure my daughters are afforded the same opportunities as any of our sons.
I had my eureka moment when I was at work last week. I'm a Department Supervisor at Toys R Us. A guest had asked to talk to the manager back in the bikes department so I went back there to help him out. The first words out of his mouth to me was "Wow your the manager? Your a white young female." And I was totally taken back because I had no idea what to make of that comment. Me helping him in his situation had nothing to do with my gender age or race. He also thought that I would not be able to help him sufficiently in the bikes department because I was a female. It is very shocking what conclusions people make about others with out even talking to them.
16 comments:
I started reading the text book yesterday and I think I had my first "Eureka Moment" of the week. As I was reading the first few pages of the introduction, I looked at my mom and said "I think I'm going to become a feminist after taking this class." My mom laughed and asked me why did I think that. I couldn't give her a direct answer because I sitll don't fully understand the term because I feel that it can often be misused. I just had a feeling that I would be one. I enjoyeed what I was reading and looked at things I guess through a different perspective. I'm going to finish the reading later today and hopefully I'll have a better understanding of the term, and why I think I'm going to become a feminist.
When I started to read yesterday everything seemed so interesting and the reading came easy. When I got to page 23 I felt like my mind started to wonder. I was reading "Social Views of Intersexuality" and alls I could think of was the most recent Real World on MTV. There was a girl names Kaitlyn on the show who was born a trangendered. She was born a male and became a female by choice. She even had surgery to make her genetalia female. This article really made me think because the said when infants were born with both gentalia they did "normalizing surgery" to make them either male or female. This was my Eureka Moment. It was so unbeleivable to me that they parents or doctors would decide what sex the infant would be. Instead of letting them grow up and either decide on their own to get surgery or to live as an intersexed person. It got my thoughts going on how mean some people were to that girl Kaitlyn on MTV. They would not let her just be what made her feel comfortable it was like she had to appease the world and make them comfortable. I hope to learn more about it as the class goes on!!
So,when I first saw feminist in the book I had my first Eureka moment this semester because it reminds me of what I think of as my old supervisor at work. It's something that has been very interesting to me and something that has given me my Eureka moment which has to deal with my experience in the corporate world. I am 21 years old and last April I took a job with a company and this was my first real job. My supervisor was a 50+/- year old woman, who looked very professional and pleasant when she hired me. Well once I gotten into the department and got to know my co-workers they had told me how horrible of a supervisor she was. She was very authoritative and liked to have the power to control. She wanted everything done her way and was in everyone's business. to me this moment gave me a realization that when woman are given supervisory positions all the power goes to there heads and they become horrible at the position. After 6 months of being on the job I transferred to a different job in the company where I was now with a 40+/- year old male supervisor. This than gave me the chance to see maybe it's just the way people are in the corporate world. Well I discovered that a male supervisor is a lot more laid back than a woman is. My supervisor now who I have had for about 6 months now has been awesome. As long as I get my work done and do it right he does not cause any problems. He does not take advantage of the power he has and does not care how the job gets done just as long as it is right. Talking to a lot of people in the company I work for it seems more people would rather work for a man rather than a woman. I can still remember sitting in a meeting with a few woman manager and supervisors and they are gossiping about how someone from IT was with this woman from Auto and he is just using her as a beard to cover us that he is gay! These gender roles that the male and females have played in my career at my job have played some sort of impact on my interpretation of how woman are in jobs where they are given power. It's not so much that they abuse it, I think it's more of the fact that they finally have it and they want to show that woman can take on a mans job. Every since I have left her department she is very different towards me too. I think woman take things more personally than men do. For our culture now a days is not unusual to see a woman in these positions, but it's just the way they act that makes me think now that it's easier to work for a man than it is a woman. No wonder why when I started only 2 out of the 13 of us in my department were men!!!
I had my first Eureka Moment when completing the discussion board for this week's assignment. I realized, upon reading the first few chapters, that after taking courses such as "Psychology of Women," "Introduction to Gender Studies," "Feminist Literary Criticism," etc, Rider has definitely provided me with a great deal of knowledge about different definitions of Gender and what impact society's expectations have on people. I've learned a lot from these classes, however, my "eureka moment" was also in realizing that there is so much more from this class and others in the future that I can learn about. I feel that gender and sexuality is a subject that has endless amounts of information to be learned, and that this course will open a lot of doors for me in terms of new ideas to research and study. My "Eureka Moment" consists of realizing that there is so much more for me to learn about gender studies, and that there is no part of my life that is unaffected by the different concepts I am learning in the Gendered Lives text book.
RESPONSE TO KRISTENW
I used to be a big fan of the Real World and that showed a lot of different and interesting people on the show. So, after you posted your Eureka Moment and related it to the new season of the Real World I had to check it out. “Her strong desire to be a mother stems from her close-knit relationship with her own mom, but this goal always seemed like a fantasy since Katelynn was born male. This was an interesting point that she made because in the book it stated how boys usually are closer with the father and the mothers always connect more with the daughter. Just goes to show that sometimes when kids are born they are not the person on the outside that they feel on the inside. I did like Katelynn Bio from MTV website and it shows you pictures just so people can understand more about the transgender person that is out there in this world. Once a male and now a female and you don’t see this much. It is good how a TV show can promote that not everyone is the same and no matter what people need to be treated the way they deserve to be treated. I would like to learn more about this as well. This girl feels she has to prove something to the world and that is not fair for people like that.
http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/real_world_brooklyn/cast_member/cast_member.jhtml?personalityId=10603
After taking Psychology of Women and now reading in this class and seeing the similarities, I have decided that the biggest way I am affected by gender "norms" is while raising my two little boys. I am an educated person and has had the chance to learn how we raise boys and girls, and yet honestly, when my little one is crying for the 30th time because his brother looked at him funny I find myself telling the little boy to suck it up. I know this is how we raise these ultra masculine boys yet I still do it. And even in my household the boys know not to wrestle with mommy, because she's too "gentle," and only daddy can handle the rough housing. Why do we do this when we like to hope to raise sensitive caring young men? How can we teach boys to be men that are strong, yet emotional and loving? Its all so confusing and I hope that taking these classes will raise my awareness to how I contribute to these stereotypical behaviors.
By the way-has anyone seen this show where they follow the lives of people pre-op and show you how it was for them having the sex change operations? Its a very interesting and touching show! Wish I could remember what channel!!
Eureka #1
I had a Eureka moment yesterday while my husband was watching ESPN. While he was watching the show I heard a woman comentating on sports. I thought it was interesting, there was a woman sitting amongst three men and she possesed the same amount of knowledge that they did. it shows how women and their roles are still evolving. In history, seeing a woman partake with men was not something that was common becasue they were believed to be inferior. It's nice to know that women are still moving up in society :-)
Before the class began I figured this would just be a class to take just to get closer to graduation. I'm not going to lie it still is, but I realized how helpful this could be for work. I am a manager at a medical management company. I was recently promoted to manager and I have plenty of male and female employees. In addition, my supervisor is also a woman. After reading the intro and first two chapters of the book I realized that this course could really help me in talking to all my employees the right way. I consider myself a social person and its important for me to have play as much as I work, but work is where most of anyone's interaction with people actually is. I figured this was my Eureka moment. The fact that this might be useful. The reading seems interesting so far and hopefully remains so. I'm also looking forward to reading some entries.
I had my first Eureka moment when I opened the text book for the first time. The book opened directly to Chapter 1, and my eyes immediately fixated on the quote at the top of the page. "We are looking for permission to be more than our society tells us we are." I was instantly touched by this quote. It's such a true statement for the way people view life. People need permission to be who they want to be. They crave acceptance and fear rejection. If they do not conform to societies standards, they are seen as outcasts. They are therefor to change the person they truly are, in order to fit into what society deems appropriate.
I am a female. I know I am a female. I am lucky enough to not be one of the many out there who are confused by their gender. There are men who feel they are trapped in a woman's body, and vice versa. I have been aware of this a long time, but I have never really taken the time to consider the predicament these people are in because of societies expectations. They are just searching for permission to be who they are, rather than what they are.
RESPONSE TO ASHLEY O.
I love that when you read this you thought you would be a feminist after this class. I stopped for a second when I first read that part of the book too as was wodnering if I was one. I took Psych of Gender, Psych of Women and now this. I am not a feminist yet but it caught my attention. I sometimes felt like in my other 2 classes it was almost all girls so it turned into a club against men lol. I think this course is going to be great bcause we can see all type sof views...then we can decide if we are feminsits lol.
Response to IliaP...
That's really interesting and kind of exciting that a woman was commentating amongst a group of men about sports. I definitely know females who know more about sports than most of the guys I know. Sports is one example of something that is totally male dominated, but I think there's a real push for women to be taken more seriously in that context.
RESPONSE TO CHRIS P.
It is understandable to create a negative opinion on something based on a bad personal experience, however before you make a concrete statement such as “when woman are given supervisory positions all the power goes to there heads and they become horrible at the position,” perhaps you need some more experience with women superiors. Just because one woman was tyrannical and unable to properly handle her responsibilities, does not mean that any woman placed in a similar setting will run things the same way. Women are just as capable of being level-headed and laid back as men are, while men have been known to be just as tyrannical as your former supervisor.
Respones to IliaP
There's a show on ESPN called Around the Horn. This show has a host and a panel of 4 sports writers that appear in a competetion style format to get the most points. The panel changes everyday but usually the same 6 to 8 guys appear on the show every week. Of these 6 to 8 guys I know of one woman who appears on the show and she appears maybe once every two weeks or so. I know this because during the introductions they announce how many wins the columnist has on the show. Her's is the lowest win total of all the panelists. Im 90% sure her name is Jackie. Anyway I never really thought about her being the only woman on the show until I read your post. Nothing against it or anything it just never entered my mind.
I had a Eureka moment yesterday while my husband was watching ESPN. While he was watching the show I heard a woman comentating on sports. I thought it was interesting, there was a woman sitting amongst three men and she possesed the same amount of knowledge that they did. it shows how women and their roles are still evolving. In history, seeing a woman partake with men was not something that was common becasue they were believed to be inferior. It's nice to know that women are still moving up in society :-)
Response to Chris P.
I'm sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience with a woman supervisor, that's unfortunate. I disagree with the thought that woman let positions of authority get to their heads though. I feel that both men and woman who are given the opportunity to have a position of power can let it get to his or her head. I think it depends on the type of the person he or she is as an individual. I have worked for both men and for woman. Although I do feel that woman can show more sympathy towards other women in the work field, I don't think that all women let power get to their heads.
Chris - I have been in the corporate world for 27 years and I would have to agree with Maria that the character of person and their management skills (or the lack thereof) are what makes someone easy to work with, not their gender. Some of the best managers I have ever worked for have been women. Trust me when I tell you I didn't always think this way. My first job on Wall Street was in 1985 - and I reported to a woman - and I couldn't stand it. I thought she had it out for me, because at that time, I didn't treat women with much respect. But what she didn't like was the fact that I was always late...
Neeru - now that was truly a Eureka moment!!! I love it! It will be challenging though to transition your son into understanding society's view on his role as male and that is sad. I wish you could just let kids be and let them figure it out.
Ok gang - now for my Eureka moment: I CAN BE A FEMINIST WITHOUT BEING FEMININE!!! Being the father of three daughters who are all women now, I have always felt a passion to stand up for Women’s rights and make sure my daughters are not judged on their gender, but on their education and character. But I always thought you had to first truly understand women, something I must sadly report has not yet happened after living with four women for the past 20 years! After reading the introduction of Gendered Lives, I realized than Feminism is a position, not a lifestyle and definitely not “man bashing”. So I am here to shout – I AM A FEMINIST and will do anything I can to make sure my daughters are afforded the same opportunities as any of our sons.
I had my eureka moment when I was at work last week. I'm a Department Supervisor at Toys R Us. A guest had asked to talk to the manager back in the bikes department so I went back there to help him out. The first words out of his mouth to me was "Wow your the manager? Your a white young female." And I was totally taken back because I had no idea what to make of that comment. Me helping him in his situation had nothing to do with my gender age or race. He also thought that I would not be able to help him sufficiently in the bikes department because I was a female. It is very shocking what conclusions people make about others with out even talking to them.
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