A Woman’s Place is in the House…and the Senate

Jack Palmer’s Article

I don’t know if Jack Palmer is a mind reader, or just that today is my lucky day, but I opened up our local newspaper and this headline jumped out at me “A Woman’s Place is in the House…and the Senate” so I began to read it.  Jack Palmer’s column in the Crescent News today is just the type of article that I wanted to find to discuss in my final blog.  I thought to myself, Dr. Sarah Rainey is going to love reading this article.  After all, Jack has touched upon the heart of what my online class “Introduction into Women’s Studies” is about: feminism.  As he stated in his article, March was designated “Women’s History Month” by Congress in 1981, four years before I was born. He touched upon many things that we have already discussed in class such as; 1920 being the year American women finally got the right to vote, a time when a women’s place was in the house and girls were not allowed equal access to participate in interscholastic sports. He even addressed the negative reactions to feminism.  Yes, I know what he is talking about.  Many people react to feminism in negative, cruel, and immature ways.  For example, some people (male and female alike) roll their eyes, shake their heads, remark with stupid comments, and make jokes when it comes to talking about feminists and feminism.  I too am not above these types of actions.  I guess being a white male growing up in a patriarchal society makes me somewhat of a male-privileged, insensitive man, at times.

However after being in this class, I realize how important women are not only in the personal sphere but also in the public sphere.  I am proud to personally know many strong, confident women who are making a difference in their perspective communities and our country.  Just like Jack mentioned, we had a female mayor in my hometown of Defiance for two consecutive terms, serving from 1992 to 1999.  Rita Kissner made many improvements to our city as mayor and is still playing an active role in our city today by serving as director of the State Bank, trustee of the Defiance Development and Visitors Bureau, and on the board of the Defiance College Board of Trustees.  Jack mentioned that in our area, women are still underrepresented on the board of directors of corporations and banks, this needs to change.  In many churches around the country, women are not allowed to be ministers or other church leaders.  I don’t understand why women are prohibited from serving as deacons, elders and ministers.  They are just as capable of handling the positions as men and might possibly bring a new perspective and outlook to their congregations.  So many people are still stuck in the old ways of thinking, because social constructionism makes them think there is no other way to look at things and they are afraid of change.

I also think of all the female teachers that I have had in my lifetime and how they have impacted my life and contributed to society.  In my small town of Defiance, there are numerous female doctors, lawyers, bank executives and business owners.  On a personal note, my mother is owner/sole proprietor of a thriving massage therapy practice.  She went back to school when I was just 12 years old.  She did this while working full-time in a doctor’s office, taking care of the house, and raising my brother, sister and me.  My dad helped a little, but the brunt of our household responsibilities rested on her. What my mother accomplished was unheard of back in 1958 when she was born. Yes women have come a long way baby, but they still have a way to go before the world truly treats them as equals.

Hurricane by Bob Dylan

Hurricane by Bob Dylan

In my high school days I basically listened to rap and rhythm and blues, but since I have matured, my taste in music has also matured. I find myself listening to music that my parents still listen to. One of my favorite artists is the legendary singer/songwriter, Bob Dylan. I also enjoy listening to Neil Young, John Lennon and The Beatles. One song that comes to mind when I think of a controversial song is Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane.”  The impact that it is based on a true story makes the lyrics seem more tragic and personal to me. Basically it is about a number one contender for the middleweight crown named Rubin Carter, “The Hurricane” who was convicted of a crime that he didn’t commit and spent many years in prison despite his apparent innocence.  His unjust arrest and incarceration happened because he was a man of color in a time in the United States when that meant he was not a “full” man and didn’t deserve to live a life equal to or above that of a white man.  Prominent white men of power saw him as a threat because they didn’t like the fact that a black man was doing so well for himself and earning an honest living in a white man’s world. After all, in their white-privileged minds blacks should never be national heroes or success models.

As for the lyrics, here are some racist lines in this song that I would like to comment about: “When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road, just like the time before and time before that” tells me that this is how blacks were treated; they were marked, targeted unlike white men by law enforcement, and looked at as criminals just because of the color of their skin.  “If you’re black you might as well not shown up on the street, Less you wanna draw the heat” just like I mentioned, blacks were targeted, plain and simple. “Don’t forget that you are white” is a comment that strongly suggests that because a man is white, he should not do the right thing by standing up for a black man, which was just not acceptable because blacks were inferior.  “To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum” a typical stereotype labeled on men of color. “And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger” which is a statement that says that a black man arrested for a crime is not unusual, he probably did it. “And the newspapers they all went along for the ride” is a normal response for the media, especially during that time period, when white men predominantly occupied media occupations.  Nowadays the media is much more careful to not offend different ethnic groups, plus different ethnic groups (and females) are frequently employed in the media. “To see him obviously framed, couldn’t help but make me feel ashamed, to live in a land where justice is a game” Right on, Bob! I couldn’t agree more!

Bratz Dolls

Sasha     Fianna      Phoebe       Cloe

Bratz Dolls 2010

Bratz is a line of 10” American fashion dolls released in 2001. Being a male, I personally have not played with these dolls, but I have a five year-old niece, Kellena who has been showing some interest in them lately because she has seen the Bratz cartoons on television.  Her mother is concerned about the sexualization of the Bratz doll’s clothing and the effect they may have on her daughter.  Starting with the doll’s hair and make-up, I see a trend that is borderline promiscuous and highly sexual.  These dolls are all adorned with an extremely large amount of eye make-up and sensuous, shiny lipstick. All the dolls have outrageously long hair, which is definitely out of proportion to their bodies.  Most girls do not grow hair down to their knees; it just isn’t realistic.  Then again, maybe that is what the manufacturer is trying to portray, a doll that is “not real.”   These dolls are supposed to portray teenagers adorned in trendy fashions.  I think the image these dolls portray is not how young girls actually dress, or should dress. They are an exaggeration and parents should make sure their young daughters realize that this is not appropriate dress and make-up for a young girl.  It gives off the wrong impression, which in my opinion is highly sexual.  I believe that younger girls, up to the age of 10, are too young to play with these dolls.  Therefore, Kellena definitely should not be allowed to play with them until she is much older.  Even then, I believe that her mother should proceed with extreme caution.  Young girls are so impressionable and may want to dress like these dolls.  “Bratz dolls come dressed in sexualized clothing such as miniskirts, fishnet stockings, and feather boas. Although these dolls may present no more sexualization of girls or women than is seen in MTV videos, it is worrisome when dolls designed specifically for 4- to 8-year-olds are associated with an objectified adult sexuality”– APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls.

As for how these dolls reflect gender norms, I believe they have the same effect as “Barbie” dolls, but in a more modern, extremely sexual way.  Their images are undoubtedly designed by men because they focus on the “ideal image” which is flawless hair and face, perfect body, and large breasts.  These dolls are both innocent and sexy.  They send a dangerous message that girls should value this unrealistic image and that how they look is the most important thing, not what should really matter (self-esteem, confidence, self-respect, intelligence and so on). This stereotype of women has been around for a very long time and seems to be not going away anytime soon.  I believe that these dolls can have detrimental effects on young girls, which can lead to teen pregnancy and trivialization of sex and violence.  I personally, would not want my daughter to play with these dolls.  In our patriarchal society, there are so many outside influences that are disempowering to women and parents need to filter what their children are subjected to on television and film and the kind of toys they play with.

Source: http://www.thetoyreview.com/wiki/Bratz_Dolls

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratz

The Blind Side

“The Blind Side” is an outstanding 2009 film based on the extraordinary true story of Michael Oyer, a black boy from the projects of Memphis, Tennessee who was taken in by an upper-class white family, a college All-American at Ole Miss, and later became a first-round NFL draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2009. This movie captured my heart and drew me right in.  The film not only captured my love of football, it also made me realize how priceless family is.  It brought raw emotions to the service in regard to racism, sexism, gang violence, and drug abuse.  Throughout the film were remarks, comments and stereotyped words that were used to describe blacks, whites, class, and gender.  I have watched this movie twice prior to viewing it yesterday to prepare for this assignment.  When I watched it before, I never really realized all the different stereotypes that were expressed throughout the film.  I believe that I am used to it and did not give it a second thought when I watched it before.  Starting with racism, there were numerous times throughout this film that it was expressed.  Here are a few situations that were shown: Right at the beginning of the movie a left tackle, the second highest player in the NFL behind the quarterback, was described as big, with a wide butt, huge hands, long arms and extremely quick feet. More times than not, a left tackle is black. When “Big Mike” saw basketballs unlocked on the grounds of Wingate Christian School, his response was, “White people are crazy.”  He wrote a poem and threw it in the trash can in his science class entitled, “White Walls.”  He wrote, “I look around all I see is white everywhere, a lot of white people, white walls, white floors.”  Little girls on the playground ran away from him when he said hello to them, because they were unfamiliar with blacks and are taught to be afraid of them.  He used his intimidating size and look to scare the woman in the laundry mat to use her dryer.  Black males are stereotyped as being dangerous and violent, even though he was not like that at all inside. He was a gentle soul with high protective instincts. He protected or “had their backs” in referring to Mrs. Tuohy, his mother, his family, coach and teammates.  S.J. Tuohy said he did not get the role of “Chief” in his school play about Native American Indians because of a multi-cultural bias thing. The boy that got the part was Chinese.  Other comments included name calling such as: fly on milk, colored boy on your Christmas card, Jessica Lange in King Kong, Snowflake, Not fair, they’ve got a black man playing for them, is this a circus?, big goon, Black piece of crap, You are not welcome here, this is my field, fine white sister, Do you think he’ll steal from us?, and the infamous N-word. Mrs. Tuohy’s upper class, white women friends made several racist and degrading comments regarding Michael such as: What would your daddy say?, Aren’t you worried about Collins with a large black boy sleeping under the same roof as your daughter?, and is this a white guilt thing?  Also class differences were exhibited in this film.  Michael grew up in the projects, was extremely poor, homeless most of his life, had a drug-addicted mother, never even knew who his father was, and was surrounded by gang violence and corruption. He grew up on the other side of Memphis on Alabama Street in Hurt Village. He didn’t know the meaning of family until the Tuohys took him in. He never had a bed of his own before.  Sexism was shown on several occasions. Here are some examples: S.J. implied that girls’ volleyball is not a real sport, not like boys sports and that his Mom was a cheerleader at Ole Miss, but that doesn’t really count as an athlete, Looks like Tarzan- plays like Jane, football players and coaches very obviously check out Leigh Anne’s butt when she walks off the field, and his high school football coach pouted after being shown up on the field by Mrs. Tuohy because it was a blow to his male ego.  Class was shown many times also in the following examples: Deliverance was the name Mrs. Tuohy called the obnoxious racist parent from the opposing team, Tutor, Miss Sue said she wasn’t religious enough for Wingate Christian School and she was a Democrat in the South, and Rednecks and Nascar were described as going hand in hand.

This film is “feminist” because Leigh Anne Tuohy is a woman who stood up for her beliefs despite all the obstacles that came to her and her entire family.  It also shown countless acts of feminism with the way she acted, along with Miss Sue, the tutor and Collins Tuohy.  They all were strong women who were not afraid to go against the norm.  Collins did by standing up for Michael in front of the entire school, which was all white.  Miss Sue exemplified feminism by being her own woman, a Democrat in the South and a person who stood up for her beliefs, despite what it might cost her career-wise.

My hat goes off to writer and director, John Lee Hancock for making such a superb film and bringing this incredible true story to life.  Sandra Bullock deservedly earned the Oscar she won for her role as Leigh Anne.  I especially enjoyed the essay Michael wrote in his English class entitled “Courage.”  He said it all.  He said, “It all depends on who you are, where you come from. Honor is the real reason you either do something or you don’t. If you die trying to do something important, then you had both honor and courage and that’s pretty good.”  This movie depicted real life in the south and the unfortunate consequences of racism, sexism, class, and gender stereotyping.  Every one should see this movie and learn the true meaning of family.

Noxzema Ad

My Blog #2 comes from a current advertisement for Noxzema, a popular skin cleanser for girls made by Procter & Gamble. I believe that Noxzema has been around for a long time.  I remember my mother using it when I was a little boy.  It had a distinctively strong smell that lingered in the bathroom after she washed her face with it.  That is probably why I remember it.

As for this advertisement, it brings out several areas that could be considered sexist, dangerous, disempowering, unrealistic and negative. The words, “Noxzema. Pretty. Smart.” are geared toward women.  Of course, women want to be pretty and smart.  So if they purchase Noxzema and wash their faces with it, this is the smart way to have pretty skin and get noticed.  First of all, it depicts a young woman being harassed on the street by construction workers.  This ad makes the assumption that male construction workers are sexist and gives a negative stereotype of them.  I am sure that there are many male construction workers who are like this, but not all act this way.  The text which says, “Pretend to be annoyed” makes the viewer feel that “no” really means “yes” and that women do or should enjoy being harassed on the street by men.  This way of thinking encourages violence toward women.  It also reinforces the feeling of women as the surveyed, or the surveyor within.  It makes women feel they need external substantiation from men in order to feel beautiful themselves. It can also lead to low self-esteem in women and allow them to feel that it is okay to be treated badly by men, or sexually abused. Since women look at themselves as males look at them, they are taught to look at themselves as violent targets. As for the shape of the girl in this ad, it is extremely unrealistic of what a woman is actually shaped like.  It depicts her in a very short skirt, extremely thin and with very skinny legs; it is absurdly inaccurate in its proportions.  It also makes her appear African-American which can lead the viewer to believe that she is worthy of sexual harassment, which is definitely a racist depiction.  Women of color are still being depicted as exuberant and excessive in sexuality. All in all, this ad gives viewers the assumption that women like men to notice them and will continue to do what it takes to be pretty so men will continue to view them as objects of desire.

Brut Ad

For my first blog topic I have chosen a printed advertisement from The Sporting News magazine week of January 11, 2011 issue. In this advertisement, a young white male is photographed close up straight in line with the camera.  His face is covered with a green exfoliating facial mask and there are ten small cucumber slices placed strategically on his forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks and chin.  There is quite a bit of beard stubble on his chin giving the appearance that he has not shaved in a few days.  As for the large text which is in all capitals that reads, “SOME MEN JUST NEED TO BE SLAPPED,” this is an extremely harsh and violent sexist statement.  This bold statement is making the assumption that men are not masculine if they get facial treatments such as the one depicted in this ad.  It is also making the assumption that if a man does things that are considered feminine, he is truly no longer a man that makes him inferior or like a woman.  I believe the beard stubble is a way of showing that he is still trying to be masculine, but needs help in finding a way.  This ad is suggesting that the reader, who is typically a male, will see this photograph and decide that purchasing BRUT products is the way to smell like a man and therefore be truly masculine.

The small text implies that choosing to go curtain shopping (a.k.a. a woman’s thing to do) over playing basketball (a.k.a. a man’s thing to do) means that the reader needs to get his masculinity in check.  The ad also suggests that badminton is a “girl” sport and that real men do not play badminton, another sexist statement. This ad is degrading to women because it makes the assumption that being feminine is disempowering.  It goes along with the beliefs of living in a patriarchal society such as ours with the men dominating socially, economically and culturally.  This ad suggests that being a man means acting like a man.  It suggests that men do not need to go to the lengths that women do to be attractive.  All a man needs to do is wash his face and splash on some after-shave and he is good to go out in public.  Or he can choose to do nothing at all and that is totally acceptable.  The woman, on the other hand, is constantly concerned with her looks and feels that to be accepted in the world she must wear make up, have flawless skin, be thin, and be pretty all the time.  Spa treatments are generally done on women because women are the surveyed sex and they feel they need to care about how they look and how men feel about them.  Women are more concerned about aging skin than men in our society. This BRUT ad is very sexist in nature and made to make men feel superior.  At the same time, it can also be disempowering to homosexual males as they would probably see nothing unnatural about getting a facial, going curtain shopping or playing badminton.  Our society has stereotyped men as being tough and these actions do not fit into masculine stereotyped categories.

Hello world!

Welcome to blogs.bgsu.edu by COBL. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

1st post

Hi this is my blog!