1) In the reading, “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros (#60), it gives an account of the author’s life, family situation, education, and career. Cisneros shares with us that she is an only daughter in a Mexican family. In her family, her dad actually believed that going to college was a good thing for her to do to get an education, but more importantly, to find a husband. When Cisneros finished her 6 years of college, she came away with an English major, but no husband, and to her father, it was as if she had wasted those 6 years. From then on, every book she wrote, article she published, and every class she taught she did to try and make her father proud of her. She didn’t want to be just another one of the “siete hijos” in which her father called his children to others. (This translated to seven sons). This reading not only showed how women are still looked at as being a home maker and that is it, but it also shares how having sons is more valued than daughters. Since men hold more power than women, fathers are always proud to have boys because they will grow up to be smart, have a family, and carry on the family name. They are the ones that carry the “power” down to generations to come.
2) In the reading, “The Myth of a Perfect Mother” by Judith Warner (#55), Warner gives a personal account of her life as a mom. She describes how as her daughter grew up she wanted (and was) the perfect mother to her; getting up early for feeding, giving praise, doing crafts, and the list goes on. She started to not be able to function at work as well because of her late nights and busy schedule, but that didn’t matter because she was the best mom ever. She finally realized that many other women today were going through the exact same thing. They were becoming obsessed with being the ideal mom and were not as concerned about how their own lives went. I believe that this account of her life and her talking to many other moms about the exact same thing happening to them, is kind of a wake up call to all women who want to pursue a life with a career, family, and being a mother. We have to learn to prioritize and make sure to not only be a good mother, but also know that we still have to make a good life for ourselves and not diminish our pride by becoming the “mom,” which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, we just have to make sure and keep our individual identities as well.
3) In the reading, “Marriage and Love” b y Emma Goldman (#53), marriage and love are described as being antagonistic. Goldman believes and writes about how love is possible in marriage, but marriage is just an economic bond that is society driven. It is what is expected to do if you do fall in love, when in reality, many people “in love” who get married just seem to “fall out of love” or grow farther apart when they do get married. Then she says that the ones who get married before falling in love do not ever actually fall in love, but rather get comfortable with the person enough to live with them. They get in a routine. I believe this reading to be very true. I do believe that marriage many times does make love harder due to the new economic dependencies and stressful situations that marriage entales, including things such as new bills, the power struggle between the husband and wife, the sexual side of marriage, and the children issue. All these things are what drive many marriages to divorce and though today, the divorce rate is as high as ever, I still believe that there are still marriages that do still include love and passion, as rare as it is to find it, I believe it is still out there.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
CRJ #8
When you think of sexual violence, you first have to think about the construction of gender, because they go hand in hand. Gender is who you identify yourself as, feminine or masculent. Both of these come with different stereotypes and certain ways you are suppose to be. If you are male, you are suppose to be superior, strong, and more powerful than a women. If you are a female, you are suppose to be weaker and under the “power” of men. In terms of sexual violence, women are much more likely to become victims of this kind of harassment. From stalking to rape to physical abuse, women are continuously the primary victims across the board. This trend is due to power relationships. Due to the fact that male’s see themselves as more powerful than women, they believe that by committing acts of sexual violence on a women they have power over them and they enjoy the feeling of that power. They also have grown up in a society in which violence is made to be normal in the way that it is portrayed in video games and movies. Another reason is that men are taught to be tough and not show emotion. Not only does this make it understandable that men are the ones being violent because it is a sign of power and being strong, but it also bring up another problem. Even though statistics show that women have been and continue to be the victims in these kinds of violent acts, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that statistic is one hundred percent true. Since not showing emotion and not showing weakness is suppose to be masculent, it is also possible that if men were victims of violent sexual abuse, they probably would not report it or tell anyone about it. By doing this they are showing that they are weak and someone else had a power over them, and to a male, that is being defeated and they could be considered a “sissy.” Therefore, the statistic is higher on the women’s side because if a male was a victim of sexual violence, it is highly unlikely that they report it and instead, just keep it to themselves.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Activity #8
Activity #8
After first reading and then talking to people, I surprised me how much I, and the people that I talked to, didn’t know about violence against women. I always knew such violence existed but I never knew how prevalent it was. The statistics that were giving in the book were very surprising to me, and others. When starting my conversations with people, I shared with them the many statistics. A few such statistics were that ever 2 minutes in the U.S., a sexual assault is reported and “approximately 56 women are victimized in some why by an intimate partner every hour.” Another one is that one in five highschool girls report being sexually or physically abused by their boyfriend. I also told them that one in three women will experience sexual assault at one point in their life, and of the women who are sexually assaulted 9 in 10 knew their the person who assaulted them. When it comes to physical abuse, women are 5 to 8 times more likely to be a victim than men are.
After telling the people I was interviewing these things, I talked to them about how they thought about it. The overall response I got was that they did not know how bad this kind of violence really was today, especially the men that I interviewed. The women I spoke to I guess knew that kind of stuff goes on but the statistics surprised them. None of them had any personal stories to tell about this topic. They think the cause of violence against women is the fact that men are usually seen as the “dominant” gender and the reason violence against women is so much higher than against men is because violence and sexual assault is about being dominant over someone else and having power. Therefore, females are an easy target. The general response across the board to what we can do to help eliminate this is to inform people and educate people about it, then let people know where they can go to get help if they need it. Overall, my response is the same as everyone I interviewed: surprised by the statistics because I did not realize the severity of this problem today. I believe that this kind of information should be a lot more places so as to educate other people and to let people know that there is help out there. We need to bring this problem to a stop before it gets any worse.
After first reading and then talking to people, I surprised me how much I, and the people that I talked to, didn’t know about violence against women. I always knew such violence existed but I never knew how prevalent it was. The statistics that were giving in the book were very surprising to me, and others. When starting my conversations with people, I shared with them the many statistics. A few such statistics were that ever 2 minutes in the U.S., a sexual assault is reported and “approximately 56 women are victimized in some why by an intimate partner every hour.” Another one is that one in five highschool girls report being sexually or physically abused by their boyfriend. I also told them that one in three women will experience sexual assault at one point in their life, and of the women who are sexually assaulted 9 in 10 knew their the person who assaulted them. When it comes to physical abuse, women are 5 to 8 times more likely to be a victim than men are.
After telling the people I was interviewing these things, I talked to them about how they thought about it. The overall response I got was that they did not know how bad this kind of violence really was today, especially the men that I interviewed. The women I spoke to I guess knew that kind of stuff goes on but the statistics surprised them. None of them had any personal stories to tell about this topic. They think the cause of violence against women is the fact that men are usually seen as the “dominant” gender and the reason violence against women is so much higher than against men is because violence and sexual assault is about being dominant over someone else and having power. Therefore, females are an easy target. The general response across the board to what we can do to help eliminate this is to inform people and educate people about it, then let people know where they can go to get help if they need it. Overall, my response is the same as everyone I interviewed: surprised by the statistics because I did not realize the severity of this problem today. I believe that this kind of information should be a lot more places so as to educate other people and to let people know that there is help out there. We need to bring this problem to a stop before it gets any worse.
Monday, October 15, 2007
CRJ #7
CRJ #7
When I read Margaret Sanger’s experience with Mrs. Sacks it really made me realize how hard it was back before women had many rights or contraceptive rights. Sanger was a nurse and one night was called in to take care of a patient at a house. The patient was Mrs. Sacks. She had tried to give herself an abortion and was found on the floor almost dead. After weeks of recovery, she finally became better. When she was able to talk to the doctor and Sanger when she was well she asked them what she could do to keep from getting pregnant again. The doctor, being a male, just laughed at her and told her all she could do was, “… Tell Jake to sleep on the roof!” This made her so upset and made Sanger realize how unfair not having the opportunity to choose to take contraceptives or not was. Months went by and Sanger received another phone call from the same family. She immediately went to their house only to find the same thing had happened, except this time, Mrs. Sacks had died. From that point on, Sanger vowed to stop being a nurse and stop curing “superficial things.” Instead, she was going to get the word out about women’s choices about contraceptives. She was going to get the information out there and make sure everyone women would one day have a choice in this matter. She wanted to make sure that incidents like what happened to Mrs. Sacks did not happen to anymore women and that no children were neglected due to overcrowded families. Sanger ended up being very successful in “being heard.” Today she is seen as one of the major feminists in the feminists movement. Today, I believe she would think that we have made great strides in contraceptive use and that women have much more say in how they chose to live sexually. Though I’m sure there are many more things to come, our society has virtually accepted the thought of contraceptive use and women’s rights.
When I read Margaret Sanger’s experience with Mrs. Sacks it really made me realize how hard it was back before women had many rights or contraceptive rights. Sanger was a nurse and one night was called in to take care of a patient at a house. The patient was Mrs. Sacks. She had tried to give herself an abortion and was found on the floor almost dead. After weeks of recovery, she finally became better. When she was able to talk to the doctor and Sanger when she was well she asked them what she could do to keep from getting pregnant again. The doctor, being a male, just laughed at her and told her all she could do was, “… Tell Jake to sleep on the roof!” This made her so upset and made Sanger realize how unfair not having the opportunity to choose to take contraceptives or not was. Months went by and Sanger received another phone call from the same family. She immediately went to their house only to find the same thing had happened, except this time, Mrs. Sacks had died. From that point on, Sanger vowed to stop being a nurse and stop curing “superficial things.” Instead, she was going to get the word out about women’s choices about contraceptives. She was going to get the information out there and make sure everyone women would one day have a choice in this matter. She wanted to make sure that incidents like what happened to Mrs. Sacks did not happen to anymore women and that no children were neglected due to overcrowded families. Sanger ended up being very successful in “being heard.” Today she is seen as one of the major feminists in the feminists movement. Today, I believe she would think that we have made great strides in contraceptive use and that women have much more say in how they chose to live sexually. Though I’m sure there are many more things to come, our society has virtually accepted the thought of contraceptive use and women’s rights.
Friday, October 12, 2007
CRJ #6
#3. I believe that the sexualization of women’s bodies does vary by race. In white women, being rail thin with large breasts is desired. With African American women, a lot of times curves and thicker women with large buttocks are desired. Girls who are white have a very distorted body image and it was thought that African American and Latino women did not have those same problems. In recent studies though, it was found that African American women’s purging and laxative use is related very closely with white women, but that Latino’s still had a much better beauty aesthetic than did any other race. My experience with the politics of beauty is that there is much more out there that can possibly distort a white women’s view of her body. There is some for African Americans and not as much for Latinos. I believe that it is a very good clue as to why Latinos do not have as much of a distorted image as whites do and I think that should be a good hint for society and we should strive to fix this major problem.
#1. Disciplinary beauty practices are trivial routines, rules, and practices that we engage in to maintain our body. A few examples are shaving legs, applying makeup, and curling/straightening/coloring hair. The media does a great job of constructing the female body by using perfect women in their ads and even digitally altering them at times to make them look even more perfect. I believe that the possible consequences for women of reality shows is that seeing as that they are on tv, they feel like they have to always look perfect and be perfect. They have all of their disciplinary practices shown on tv and have to make sure they are always looking good. This is related to the development of consumerism and global capitalism because I’m sure the products and things that these women use on the show has a higher sell rate at stores due to the fact that they are publisized and used by these reality show women.
#2. I think the ideal woman’s body is skinny, large breasts, tall, tan, perfect skin, and long legs. I think the ideal man’s body is tall, muscular, and tan. Power relations are reflected and reinforced in beauty and body norms in the fact that most world leader and big people in media are somewhat attractive and have a “normal” body. I believe that beauty and body norms affect men and women differently because even though men have body norms, I believe that they are usually still accepted even if they are somewhat not the norm where as women who don’t match it are immediately looked at differently. It makes me look at my body differently because it makes me feel like I have to have a perfect body to be successful in society.
#1. Disciplinary beauty practices are trivial routines, rules, and practices that we engage in to maintain our body. A few examples are shaving legs, applying makeup, and curling/straightening/coloring hair. The media does a great job of constructing the female body by using perfect women in their ads and even digitally altering them at times to make them look even more perfect. I believe that the possible consequences for women of reality shows is that seeing as that they are on tv, they feel like they have to always look perfect and be perfect. They have all of their disciplinary practices shown on tv and have to make sure they are always looking good. This is related to the development of consumerism and global capitalism because I’m sure the products and things that these women use on the show has a higher sell rate at stores due to the fact that they are publisized and used by these reality show women.
#2. I think the ideal woman’s body is skinny, large breasts, tall, tan, perfect skin, and long legs. I think the ideal man’s body is tall, muscular, and tan. Power relations are reflected and reinforced in beauty and body norms in the fact that most world leader and big people in media are somewhat attractive and have a “normal” body. I believe that beauty and body norms affect men and women differently because even though men have body norms, I believe that they are usually still accepted even if they are somewhat not the norm where as women who don’t match it are immediately looked at differently. It makes me look at my body differently because it makes me feel like I have to have a perfect body to be successful in society.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
"Killing us softly"
Killing Us Softly Response:
Not only do advertisements sell products but according to the speaker, they also sell value, images, concepts of love and sexuality, romance, success, and normalcy (who we are and who we should be). Advertisements tell us how we should look as a women including being flawless, beautiful, and skinny. They speaker says we should care about gender messaging because if we do not then we loose our ability to have authentic and freely chosen lives because we are so caught up in what we are “suppose” to look like or “suppose” to do.
Dove Response:
The films’ message about the feminine beauty idea is that our idea of what beauty is is very distorted because all the women that we look at in ads and such have all had un natural things done. Whether it be plastic surgery, an eating disorder, or even computer alterations after a photo, these are not the pictures and women that we should strive to look like. The reason our ideas have indeed become distorted is because the media do not tell us that these women are not “real” or natural. We believe that they are just born that way and ask ourselves why we cant be like that and then begin to actually think we can by telling ourselves, “well if she can do it, then so can I.”
Choose an AD:
I chose an ad that I found online. It is a beautiful women on a silk bed dressed in a tiny beautiful dress. She has a bullet hole in her head and the caption above her says “Beautifully Executed.” This advertisement is selling a game called “Hit Man- Blood Money” for the gaming systems. Not only is this selling the product but it is also downplaying women. It is once again showing the ideal beauty and how women should look all the time. Also, it is showing women being worth less than men because to me, since they chose a women for the ad to be the one that got shot, it makes me believe that they think that women aren’t as strong as men and are more of damsels in distress, as do many other video games.
Personal Response:
I believe that after seeing these films and looking up ads it brings my attention to what all ads do also sell. I think we become very desensitized to this because we see it so often. I didn’t even realize how bad it was until these films point it out, along with looking at studying other ads that I found.
Not only do advertisements sell products but according to the speaker, they also sell value, images, concepts of love and sexuality, romance, success, and normalcy (who we are and who we should be). Advertisements tell us how we should look as a women including being flawless, beautiful, and skinny. They speaker says we should care about gender messaging because if we do not then we loose our ability to have authentic and freely chosen lives because we are so caught up in what we are “suppose” to look like or “suppose” to do.
Dove Response:
The films’ message about the feminine beauty idea is that our idea of what beauty is is very distorted because all the women that we look at in ads and such have all had un natural things done. Whether it be plastic surgery, an eating disorder, or even computer alterations after a photo, these are not the pictures and women that we should strive to look like. The reason our ideas have indeed become distorted is because the media do not tell us that these women are not “real” or natural. We believe that they are just born that way and ask ourselves why we cant be like that and then begin to actually think we can by telling ourselves, “well if she can do it, then so can I.”
Choose an AD:
I chose an ad that I found online. It is a beautiful women on a silk bed dressed in a tiny beautiful dress. She has a bullet hole in her head and the caption above her says “Beautifully Executed.” This advertisement is selling a game called “Hit Man- Blood Money” for the gaming systems. Not only is this selling the product but it is also downplaying women. It is once again showing the ideal beauty and how women should look all the time. Also, it is showing women being worth less than men because to me, since they chose a women for the ad to be the one that got shot, it makes me believe that they think that women aren’t as strong as men and are more of damsels in distress, as do many other video games.
Personal Response:
I believe that after seeing these films and looking up ads it brings my attention to what all ads do also sell. I think we become very desensitized to this because we see it so often. I didn’t even realize how bad it was until these films point it out, along with looking at studying other ads that I found.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Activity #6
I agree with Kimmel in his argument that masculinity is socially constructed and historically shifts because I believe that masculinity is defined by our society and is passed down in history. There wouldn’t be a defined “who is more man than another” unless society so names what it means to be a man. Masculinity is also somewhat of a competition between men to see who is stronger and tougher. I believe that every man is afraid of being a sissy in front of other men, yet when in the presence of only women sometimes they show their “softer” side. Due to this fact homophobia is very prevalent among men because they do not want to be seen or be friends with someone who is considered a “fag” or “sissy.”
According to Jackson Katz, the “tough guise” is the front that men put on in front of large groups as being a real man: tough, strong, wise, and powerful. It is the front that makes them masculint. He believes that men should shop putting this front on and loosen up a bit, show some of their softer side and even look down upon men who do put on the tough guy attitude. He believes that by hiding all this emotion, they are messing with their true personality and mental wellness. They should let those emotions out, instead of letting them get bottled up inside.
According to Jackson Katz, the “tough guise” is the front that men put on in front of large groups as being a real man: tough, strong, wise, and powerful. It is the front that makes them masculint. He believes that men should shop putting this front on and loosen up a bit, show some of their softer side and even look down upon men who do put on the tough guy attitude. He believes that by hiding all this emotion, they are messing with their true personality and mental wellness. They should let those emotions out, instead of letting them get bottled up inside.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
CRJ #5
CRJ #5
Emma Goldman was considered, by J. Edgar Hoover, to be one of the most dangerous women in America. This “title” was given to her, I believe, due to the fact that at the time it was given to her, women did not have many (or any at all) rights. As a man, J. Edgar Hoover saw Goldman as a threat. With her very tactic feminist efforts she successfully made many speeches and enlightened many people about the problems in America. She made a clear point to make sure women started to value themselves and know that they are equal to men, especially sexually. She thought that a women should have the right as to what she wanted to do with her body and should not have to have sex or have babies if she did not want to. She succeeded in all of these areas and influenced many feminists, including Margaret Sanger. Throughout Goldman’s life she went though and witnessed many things and this is why, I believe, she was able to be so strong and stand against issues she believed in so well.
In her life not only was she named “most dangerous women in America” but she was also named on of the greatest living women. I believe that this was due to the fact that she did eventually get a lot of recognition for her work and not only helped women with value issues, but also helped men as well. She was all about helping the person who needed help the most, not necessarily just women. I believe that this, the action of caring for the welfare of others over herself, made her get named one of the greatest living women in America.
Women like Goldman really did help pave the way for many feminists today. Her actions, so long ago, make me realize that this person that I am reading about in a book, in a class, in college, actually helped me to be reading this book at college by taking a stand for women and starting a revolution that eventually allowed women, like me, to go to college and get an education. The more I think about that and understand it, the more amazed I am and proud I am to be a women.
Emma Goldman was considered, by J. Edgar Hoover, to be one of the most dangerous women in America. This “title” was given to her, I believe, due to the fact that at the time it was given to her, women did not have many (or any at all) rights. As a man, J. Edgar Hoover saw Goldman as a threat. With her very tactic feminist efforts she successfully made many speeches and enlightened many people about the problems in America. She made a clear point to make sure women started to value themselves and know that they are equal to men, especially sexually. She thought that a women should have the right as to what she wanted to do with her body and should not have to have sex or have babies if she did not want to. She succeeded in all of these areas and influenced many feminists, including Margaret Sanger. Throughout Goldman’s life she went though and witnessed many things and this is why, I believe, she was able to be so strong and stand against issues she believed in so well.
In her life not only was she named “most dangerous women in America” but she was also named on of the greatest living women. I believe that this was due to the fact that she did eventually get a lot of recognition for her work and not only helped women with value issues, but also helped men as well. She was all about helping the person who needed help the most, not necessarily just women. I believe that this, the action of caring for the welfare of others over herself, made her get named one of the greatest living women in America.
Women like Goldman really did help pave the way for many feminists today. Her actions, so long ago, make me realize that this person that I am reading about in a book, in a class, in college, actually helped me to be reading this book at college by taking a stand for women and starting a revolution that eventually allowed women, like me, to go to college and get an education. The more I think about that and understand it, the more amazed I am and proud I am to be a women.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Midterm 1
Midterm 1
Sex and gender are two very tricky concepts and are not always black and white. Sex is defined as the body that you are in biologically speaking. In “Women’s Voices Feminist’s Visions,” they say that sex is something you “have.” It is essentially what you are biologically born with. Gender on the other hand is culturally defined. In the book it is said that it is something you “do” rather than “have.” It is your sexual identity in regard to society and culture, and there are many ways in which gender can be explained theologically. Three different theories about gender are Bornstein’s model, social construction, and the integrative perspective.
The first theory about gender is Bornstein’s idea. This theory explains how gender is in somewhat of a pyramid, much like the food pyramid. The area at the top is needed in moderation and as you go down you need more and more or there are more and more. In her model, the top was, in brief, a powerful, white male. As you go down the pyramid, though, the criteria get less and less specific. For example, in the middle is where most people would probably be. This area might be the males who are in touch with their sensitive side, who are classified as “sissy” males. Along side which you would have the women who are classified as “tom boys.” This theory of gender is not a very cut and dry theory but rather has much grey area.
The next theory of gender is social construction. This framework of looking at gender is basically that we learning gender through our society. There are certain ideas of how a female and male should be in this society. Females are suppose to be passive, dependent, and emotional, and males are suppose to be strong, independent, and in control. These criteria of how we are “supposed to be” is set by society. When you are trying to figure out your gender, society rewards certain behaviors that are seen as appropriate to your gender. We, in essence, learn to “perform behaviors that are socially expected of us.” (Shaw and Lee)
One more framework for gender is the integrative perspective. This approach is a mix of the biological factors and sociological factors. This theory pays attention to the biological aspect of gender, but states that it is only the framework and basic outline for gender. In this perspective, you also have to look at sociological factors like social sexual influence and family environment. The integrative approach believes that the world and society have just as much effect on people and their gender as does your biology.
In our society, though many people hate to admit it, gender does shape science and technology. When you think of certain genders, for example, males, you automatically think of them being successful in the science and technology field. Women on the other hand are seen more as the homemakers and mothers and should not at all be associated with the technological part of society.
Science and technology defiantly shape our understanding of gender in our society today. One way that science shapes gender is the fact that all throughout history, men have dominated the field of science. Science is seen as a hard field and you have to be a strong and smart person to succeed in this field. Since men are more successful in this field, or have been in the past, it makes them seem as if they are the stronger gender. Technology also shapes gender as well. One way it does this is that technology is quickly growing in our world with more Internet websites, video games, and more specialized electronics. In all of these aspects, men seem to be the dominant gender. They understand it more and seem to know more about all these things. In video games you never see females in them and if you do it is usually the person you are trying to save. (aka. The damsel in distress) This puts a negative light on women and defiantly shapes how women are looked upon in this society.
Women’s studies scholars seem to think that science and technology are an important aspect in gender because they both make males look dominant and stronger than females. In this way, feminists study this aspect because they are trying to make this stereotype change. Just because in the past men have succeeded in these fields of study doesn’t mean that women cannot just as easily succeed.
Sex and gender are two very tricky concepts and are not always black and white. Sex is defined as the body that you are in biologically speaking. In “Women’s Voices Feminist’s Visions,” they say that sex is something you “have.” It is essentially what you are biologically born with. Gender on the other hand is culturally defined. In the book it is said that it is something you “do” rather than “have.” It is your sexual identity in regard to society and culture, and there are many ways in which gender can be explained theologically. Three different theories about gender are Bornstein’s model, social construction, and the integrative perspective.
The first theory about gender is Bornstein’s idea. This theory explains how gender is in somewhat of a pyramid, much like the food pyramid. The area at the top is needed in moderation and as you go down you need more and more or there are more and more. In her model, the top was, in brief, a powerful, white male. As you go down the pyramid, though, the criteria get less and less specific. For example, in the middle is where most people would probably be. This area might be the males who are in touch with their sensitive side, who are classified as “sissy” males. Along side which you would have the women who are classified as “tom boys.” This theory of gender is not a very cut and dry theory but rather has much grey area.
The next theory of gender is social construction. This framework of looking at gender is basically that we learning gender through our society. There are certain ideas of how a female and male should be in this society. Females are suppose to be passive, dependent, and emotional, and males are suppose to be strong, independent, and in control. These criteria of how we are “supposed to be” is set by society. When you are trying to figure out your gender, society rewards certain behaviors that are seen as appropriate to your gender. We, in essence, learn to “perform behaviors that are socially expected of us.” (Shaw and Lee)
One more framework for gender is the integrative perspective. This approach is a mix of the biological factors and sociological factors. This theory pays attention to the biological aspect of gender, but states that it is only the framework and basic outline for gender. In this perspective, you also have to look at sociological factors like social sexual influence and family environment. The integrative approach believes that the world and society have just as much effect on people and their gender as does your biology.
In our society, though many people hate to admit it, gender does shape science and technology. When you think of certain genders, for example, males, you automatically think of them being successful in the science and technology field. Women on the other hand are seen more as the homemakers and mothers and should not at all be associated with the technological part of society.
Science and technology defiantly shape our understanding of gender in our society today. One way that science shapes gender is the fact that all throughout history, men have dominated the field of science. Science is seen as a hard field and you have to be a strong and smart person to succeed in this field. Since men are more successful in this field, or have been in the past, it makes them seem as if they are the stronger gender. Technology also shapes gender as well. One way it does this is that technology is quickly growing in our world with more Internet websites, video games, and more specialized electronics. In all of these aspects, men seem to be the dominant gender. They understand it more and seem to know more about all these things. In video games you never see females in them and if you do it is usually the person you are trying to save. (aka. The damsel in distress) This puts a negative light on women and defiantly shapes how women are looked upon in this society.
Women’s studies scholars seem to think that science and technology are an important aspect in gender because they both make males look dominant and stronger than females. In this way, feminists study this aspect because they are trying to make this stereotype change. Just because in the past men have succeeded in these fields of study doesn’t mean that women cannot just as easily succeed.
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