Working Women

Anuradha Shym's article "Safe Keepers and Wage Earners" discusses the experience of South Asian working women in the United States. She was lucky because her family did not believe in the normal traditional views of women just working in the household. They believed that she should be educated ad that she should be able to provide for herself. Her parents were her biggest advocates and supported her independent decisions. When in college she did research on South Asian immigrants and gender roles. The cultural in Inida continues to Westernize but traditions are still upheld and immigrants are "continueously prescribed to gender roles and to uphold cutural continuity and family honor" (176). She read further into the issues including violence against women in immigrant communities. These women had poor English skills, lacked visas and became dependent for their spouses for money, they were therefore trapped in the abusive realtionships. She helped these women with resume writing, job interviewing and financial management which inturn helped these women become independent and escape their abusive relationships. Even second-generation immigrant women have to assimilate into American society and be considered both a wife and a mother. Men traditionally will always be the bread-winners and women are burdened with the household duties. When Anuradha got married she had no idea how to cook and was trying to balance her work with her home life. Women are still looked at as objects and these women also have to worry about trafficking and forced prostitution. Anuradha still wonders: "Can I have it all?" (182).

Cynthia Enloe's book "The Curious Feminist" talks about two different chapters on working women in countries with minimum wage that are mostly less then $1.00. "The Globetrotting Sneaker" discusses sneaker companies and the women who work in the factories making them. Most Asian women are told that working for the sneaker companies for the U.S. iis a "sign that their country is progressing" (44). Korean women take up the Confucian philosophies and therefore by her willingness to work hard for her family measures her mortality. They suffer daily hummiliations, low wages, hard and long hours and are sexually assulted. She deals because it is her family duty and brings her fmaily respect. I don't think that women should be submmitted to this treatment because it does not seem to gain them respect just further allows the treatment to them. But this is a western view and we can not bring our views into another countries cultures no matter what we think. It is not our place. The Nike phrase "Just Do IT" empowered women and therefore factories shut down in response. Women aslos could not talk bad about the complanies they worked for no matter how bad they disagreed with them because they would be fired or treatment would be worse.

Chapter 4 "Daughters and Generals in the Politics of the Globalized Sneaker" talks about the compettition among the different companies. one-third of all sneaker companies come from China. The cheap labor that women have to endure is just among one of the problems. They also deal with teribble wages and treatment. Why do they endure this? Because they are looking to be considered a "good housewife" and to bring honor to thier family. They go to work in the factories and then send some money home to their family and set some aside for the money they have to bring into their wedding. It is called daughter patriotism. They need to be considered good daughters so they will make good wives.

Same Sex Marriage

Andrea Vaccaro’s article “Soldier in a long White Dress” was a very insightful read because it made me realize what the institution of marriage represents in our heterosexual and patriarchal society. I don’t often realize or acknowledge the privileges I am entitled to based on my heterosexuality, and was further unaware of the legal inequality that exists with same-sex marriage; same-sex marriage, although legal in some states, does not grant the federal rights and protections that traditional marriages do such as filing federal income tax returns, hospital visitation rights, tax benefits, automatic inheritance, etc. Aside from the legal inequalities that exist between civil unions and legal marriage, Andrea’s personal experience committing to civil unions with her “partner” highlighted the hetero-normative culture and language that reflects certain values of our heterosexual society. As she expressed, “Only other people who have walked this path can truly understand how condescending and linguistically awkward society can be about my “special relationship.” The fact that the language we usually employ to describe marriage does not encompass same-sex relationships; i.e., the fact that we refer to a marriage as husband and wife, never wife and wife or husband and husband, reflects upon the heterosexual construction of the language of marriage.  Referring to persons in homosexual relationships as “partners” diminishes the legitimacy of civil unions and reinforces a notion of second-class citizenship. 

What resonated most with me from the reading were the relentless effort, patience, and persistence she displayed when establishing a presence and visibility for GLBT communities. Her unwavering leadership, conviction, and dedication to gay rights activism show how dedication and persistence can create meaningful change in any community. Her leadership creates an essential visibility that is necessary for cultural change, promoting awareness, generating political interest and encouraging activism.  

Same sex Marriage

Andrea E. Vaccaro's article "Soldier in a Long White" discusses same sex marriage and the norms that people have towards regular marriage. Vaccaro discusses the benefits of being married to a person, they include: "1,138 federal benefits and responsibilities, such as hospital visitation rights, access to spouses' health insurance and pensions, automatic inheritance, tax benefits and legal guardianship of spouses' children" (30, Vaccaro). The DOMA passed in 1996 by the Clinton administration does not allow same sex marriage and the benefits with living with someone. When Vaccaro walked in to the bridal shop the sales lady assumed she was getting married because she was looking at a dress to a man. Vaccaro wants us to notice that the lady assumed this because of the norm that society has created. She really was buying it for a political movement for same sex marriage. Being a leader at her high school has allowed her to persue activism and present in front of 1,500 people. "While I knew that most GLBT people wanted marriage or at least equal rights for their relationship, most straight people were unaware that we could not marry or have the same rights" (35, Vaccaro). She finally got her marriage in August 2008 to Lauren. She said it was the best day of her life but also bittersweet because she will be treated as second class union.

The "Same-sex" article says that many people fight for the rights of same sex marriage because people should not be denied the right to have the choice to marry of they please. People marry for many different reasons or choose not to marry for others but I agree that they should not be denied the choice. Same sex relationships are denied basic rights such as visitation rights, social security benefits, health insurance, property taxes, retirement savings, and immigration rights. Just because you get married in Vermont the protection rights do not follow you into another state.

Ettelbrick's article talks about how marriage is not the path to liberation. It's for people who "want to live in an institution" (305, Ettelbrick). Marriage will not change people's views about same sex couples, it can actually heighten it. People fight for the right to be apart of the norm in society, but why would you want to be normal? You should be proud to be different. The only thing about Ettelbrick's argument I disagree with is, that people believe in marriage not necessarily for the institution but because they truly believe in it so they should be able to have the choice if they desire to have it.

Marriage: A System of “Haves” and “Have-Nots”

In is almost hard to believe that even the institution of marriage, which is supposedly based upon love and respect, can create such unjust lives for those who are excluded from it. This institution further has the power to label some forms of relationships as acceptable, while leaving others to suffer from social ridicule and destruction. Moreover, even though women obsess and attempt to perfect their own weddings (starting circa age 7), this institution is highly patriarchal.

Overall, marriage creates a realm of “haves” and “have-nots” in society through a privilege gap. Those who are married are able to inherit the belongings of their spouses after death, while those who are not are left in the dust. Those who are married gain tax and healthcare benefits, while those who are not are forced to pay much more toward these services. Those who are married have the option of participating in a wedding culture, while those who are only offered civil unions will never be able to try on wedding dresses or wear rings without feeling like outsiders.

Personally, I admire Andrea Vaccaro for the anecdotes she provided in her excerpt about marriage, “Soldier in a Long White Dress.” Here, is an example of an extremely strong woman who believes so deeply about the cause of legalizing gay marriage that she is willing to take on the role of a battered soldier, standing up for herself while being beaten down by the system. As a straight female, Vaccaro’s piece made me realize just how privileged I am to even have the option of marriage in my life. My friends and I have had countless discussions about our future wedding plans and themes, and Vacarro’s piece even made me slightly ashamed of spending so much time thinking about these details of our lives.

Even though there is a major problem with excluding any couple from marriage who desires one, Paula Ettelbrick claims that before we legalize gay marriage, it is necessary to disrupt the privileges that this service provides, thus acknowledging the rights of those who are not able to receive this public bond. She further states that legalizing gay marriage will not make it any more “acceptable” to be gay in society, and that justice will only reign once homosexuality is not only accepted, but is supported as well. Thus, we need to broaden the goals of gay liberation before solely fighting for gay marriage alone, while simultaneously lowering the idea of marriage itself from its pedestal.

Controlling Women's Bodies

The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective’s article “Our Bodies, Ourselves” examines the relationship between women and the knowledge of their bodies, and discusses the implications such knowledge has on the liberation of women and the control they can exercise over their “biological destinies”. From professional sources, academic literature, and the personal shared experiences of women, the knowledge collected enabled the collective to critically assess the institutions that are supposed to meet our health needs, and conferred the ability to have a choice in the matter of pregnancy. The article asserts that throughout many centuries, ignorance about women’s bodies has had one major consequence: pregnancy, a consequence that has produced profound implications on the freedom women have over their life and body. The consequence of pregnancy restricted women’s expression of sexuality and behavior, relegated their societal roles to maternal and domestic responsibilities, and subjugated their status as secondary. Having a child was not a choice, but an expectation imposed on women. However, the advent of birth control methods and contraception, and awareness about them, freed women from the traditional lifetime of pregnancy and gave them control over their reproductive desires and body. This knowledge on women’s reproductive systems, birth control methods and abortion, and the laws governing these methods of contraception provided the realization that women could truly set out control over whether and when they could have babies. Other bodily processes such as menstruation have also imposed significant implications on what it is to be female and how to control the female body.

 What I found particularly interesting and relevant to this discussion is the notion of women “controlling their body.” Asserting that birth control, abortion, and other contraceptive methods that have been created to control and regulate natural bodily processes is a form of legitimate control over their bodies implicitly asserts that the female body is unnatural. One passage that effectively brings this to light is the passage explaining the purpose and reason the women’s movement fights to secure this freedom of choice; “That is why people in the women’s movement have been so active in fighting against the inhuman legal restrictions, the imperfections of available contraceptives, and poor sex education that keeps many women from having this crucial control over their bodies.” (298) Implicit in this statement is the assumption that women who do not have access to birth control and contraception methods cannot control their body in a natural manner. The only way for women to control their bodies is essentially through man-made technologies and medicinal practices that provide contraception or abortion, and this paradigm in a sense recognizes the female body as unnatural. This notion also suggests that women were unable to control their bodies for thousands of years before the advent of birth control and other contraceptive measures to regulate and control women’s biological functions, which is another assumption that I find troublesome.

Comfortable with our bodies

"Our Bodies, Ourselves" article, was about body, health and sexuality. It went from criticizing tight-laced corsets, to campaigning for birth control and then to their dissatisfaction with their body. The women's health movement offered information on menstruation, masturbation, sexual diseases and childbirth. The first source talks about taking things from people's own experiences and teaching other women about them. So then we can be informed on the subject and know more about our own bodies. For example, menstruation and how it is normal and you shouldn't be embarrassed about it. Also, that masturbation is a normal activity for everyone. The second is knowing how little control we have over our bodies. An example, would be not being able to control pregnancies until recently with birth control and how much better it has been for women being able to plan for births. Thirdly, is freedom of choice for your own body and being able to decide what's best for it. Lastly, is education and not alienation form ourselves. Being satisfied in what you are doing and being strong. Trying not to live up to these normal ideals that are nearly impossible to achieve.

Steinem talks about what advertising really does to people. It "confuses them" and sets up norms for being beautiful. The media is all around us and inspires what the new trend in cloths, hair, makeup and how to look in general to be considered beautiful. When talking to the guys in our class, it seems to believe that they would not even notice if we got new shoes but we do it because we need to be like those women who are considered beautiful and we want to be that too. If you don't buy this shampoo you won't attract you crush, or magazines that say this shirt is out but these pants are in. It just gets people to spend their money. I am not saying that I am not apart of this because I am, I am just saying people should recognize what is going on in our society.

Brumberg's article on "Body Projects", discusses how women view themselves as the new fashion trends change. Outfits changed in the 20s and so did women having to shave their arms, and legs, ect because we were showing them off more often. Now, we show off even more skin and we worry even more about being toned, muscular, and a size 00 with huge breasts. As fashion changes, so do we. Instead of altering the cloths we alter our bodies to fit the cloths that we think we should be able to fit in. There are many different body types and some just aren't made to fit in certain cloths. As an athlete, it can be hard to find jeans that fit my waists and fit my legs. Sometimes I have the right waist size but i can't get the pants up past my thighs. Everyone's bodies are different but I think the main point of these articles are to say that we should learn to be comfortable with out bodies both insides with medical knowledge and outside with physical comfortability.

Leading Post: Will Women Ever Feel Comfortable in Their Own Skin?

In the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” the relationship between women and their bodies is discussed. In this short excerpt the collective discusses the importance of fully knowing one’s body as a women in order to make us better people, stronger, and more self-confident.

Similar to Douglas’ “Lean and Mean” chapter, Joan Brumberg discusses what happens when women over-analyze their own bodies in, “Body Projects.” She explains that today, women view their bodies as the ultimate expression of themselves. She further highlights the idea that with more freedom to expose their bodies throughout the ages, women have become more anxious about certain parts since they are required to mimic the “norm” presented in the media. I thought that Brumberg’s discussion of the shift from creating clothing at home to fitting into standardized sizes at department stores was highly interesting. As was discussed in class today, since standardized sizes can never fit “perfectly,” this form of consumerism has caused many girls to feel abnormal within their own skin. I also liked Brumberg’s discussion of the importance of the bra throughout the ages in that the wearing of this product eventually became a symbol of power/ status for young girls (enlightened sexism, anyone?) since it gave them a point of social comparison to their peers.

Brumberg further discusses how many female bodies are seen as consumer products in the media, which connects to Gloria Steinem’s article, “Sex, Lies, & Advertising," in which she goes on a heartfelt rampage regarding the problems that are associated with advertising within a feminist magazine. Steinem specifically focuses on her experiences working at Ms. Magazine in which many advertising firms attempted to run the content of the publication (only to be denied by lead publisher, Patricia Carbine). Steinem explains that while ads may be necessary to financially support magazines, many companies have a problem with the messages upheld in feminist literature. For example, Steinem describes that when Ms. tried to obtain ads for food giants, these companies complained that not enough recipe pages were held in the magazine. Moreover, when Ms. attempted to recruit Clairol for ad space, this company complained about an article regarding the dangers of hair dye (the irony of this complaint being that Clairol changed their formula for dye due to the facts illuminated in this Ms. article).

These incidents show that in our capitalist market, advertising has taken a firm grasp over magazines so that products are forced into every piece of writing. In Steinem’s words, “praise for advertisers’ products has become so ritualized that fields like ‘beauty writing’ have been invented.” This connection between written pieces and product placement has become a major problem for feminist magazines and for women in general, since it further manipulates them into spending money on things that subordinate them in society. We are instructed how to apply mascara on page 34, and then are conveniently given an ad for Maybelline “Lash Exact” on 35. In order to combat this issue, Steinem suggests that all members of society support products that take women seriously as readers and consumers, and she asks us to put more energy into breaking advertisers hold over the magazine industry so that we can slowly be let out of our consumer-ized cages of inferiority and self-loathing.