event 2

Event- meeting for IWiN (International Women in Need)
Place-The Women’s Center
Time-Monday, December 3rd 7:00

This event was an informational meeting about IWiN. It was about this year’s project in which VT and its community will be helping to raise money for the women in a village in Kenya. This money will go towards a power mill that can grind corn mechanically. The women of Kenya are not appreciated at all and have to depend on the males. Therefore, their lives are very hard. Getting this mill will help the women make some money and make them more independent.

The connections that this event/meeting has with this course is how we are looking and trying to help less fortunate women. This whole course has been about gender equality and informing us about the problems that there are in our society today. This is just one of the few, and it is giving us an opportunity to help out.

I believe that the information given during this meeting makes you really realize how bad these issues are in other countries. I believe that giving money to this cause is a great investment. Not only will it immediately help out, but it will also set the stage for many years to come and continue to help this country by building a good source of jobs for generations to come.

event 1

Event- Through Feminist Eyes
Dr. Ilja Luciak
Place- 223 Engel Hall
Time- Tuesday, November 27th 7:00

This event was a presentation by Dr. Ilja Luciak who is a professor and the Chair of Political Science here at Virginia Tech. He studied in Vienna and holds a Ph. D. from the University of Iowa. He has been in Latin America for many years studying the society there and focused on gender equality. He has written two books from his travels. His studies found that women in Latin America are not appreciated and do not have equal rights or they are not allowed to hold leadership roles. Therefore this problem will not change unless there are women in those high up positions.

The connection this event has to our course is that the information that Dr. Ilja Luciak presented was information about how women do not have equal rights in Latin America and Cuba. This information is just one lecture of many about countries who still have very big gender inequality.

This lecture is another very good informational session in which people are being educated about our society and how, contrary to popular belief, women are still not treated the same as men in many places. I am glad I attended this event and feel that I have learned more about the problems in our world today.

CRJ #11

CRJ #11

After reading the last chapter and completing this class, my views on feminists are very different from when I first started. I now know that a feminist is a female who wants equal rights for all genders, men and women alike. This equality ranges from sexual equality to voting equality and equality in the work force to amount of salary. A profeminist man is a male who agrees with making equal rights for women and supports the laws and acts that are made to ensure that all genders are treated the same in every aspect of society. After studying more into these issues and getting more facts, I would label myself as a feminist, because I believe that everyone should be treated as an equal no matter what the gender.

I believe that being in this class has made an impact on me because it informed me more about problems in our society having to do with gender equality. Though in this country gender equality isn’t as big of an issue, there are still some problems that many people do not know about. Then there are other countries in which genders are certainly not treated the same at all, and it is obvious. It is sad to hear about some of the things that go on in other countries that I feel, if more people were educated about it, it could get fixed. Not only is being educated what is needed to change laws and countries, but it is also what is needed to change some peoples’ views of whether or not they are a feminist and what a feminist really is, like how it did with me.

The things I will take away from this are the bits of information in which I can spread the word as to what is actually happening in this world having to do with gender inequality. None of the topics relate to my major but I am certainly glad I took this class because I think the information that I learned is very valuable.

CRJ #10

The first passage I read was “Constitutional Argument” by Susan B. Anthony that war written in 1898. This reading is the argument for women having to do with voting and the constitutional amendment that states that “All men are created equal…” Anthony argues that the constitution says that we are all equal and all have the right to vote as stated in the amendment. For that reason, if women are denied that right they are not living by the laws that our founders set out for us. I believe this is a wonderful argument that started much of the women’s rights era. Anthony explains herself very well and makes amazing points that are hard to ignore in a court of law. Thought we have made great strides since then, I believe that someone today could still make an argument about gender wages and how women are looked upon in society with this same constitutional amendment.


The second passage I read was “Unequal” by Jessica Neuwirth. This reading examined laws and acts that have been made in different countries around the world and how women’s equality is moving forward in each country. She starts with saying that there are many laws here to enforce women’s equality but in many different countries women still get treated very bad. Some countries don’t give any rights to women at all. The biggest problem though is with family situations regarding women and how men usually have the upper hand in the family and can tell or make his wife do anything he wants and she is the one that gets in trouble, not him. As Neuwirth points out at the end when she mentions a few countries who are finally taking a stand and changing some of these laws to ensure women’s rights, some of these changes are being made at a snail pace when it should be a drastic change that needs to be made immediately. I feel bad for many other countries and how they are being run because women are not getting the respect that they deserve. And though I am happy that some things are getting changed, I hope that many more things keep happening and each change in a law has a domino effect on another.


The third passage I read was “The Postwar Moment” by Cynthia Cockburn. This passage talks about how after wars there is a specific time in which the government starts to rebuild itself. The whole country’s policies have a chance to transform. Most of the time this rebuilding is for the good but sometimes there are certain things that are omitted from the policies that should not be, one very important one being gender issues. The one we have learned most from is in Bosnia. After finally reaching peace with Herzegovina their country had to rebuild. It failed to have anything concerning gender rights on its new policies and many things have gone wrong because of that in the recent years. To fix this problem, women need to be in the discussion and in the new policy making events so that in order to get what those gender rights, women are rightly represented in the making of them. I did not at all know this all was going on in countries around the world and I do not believe others do either. I think if you inform and educate more people about it, then it is something that, in time, we can fix so that everyone, no matter the gender, is represented and respected equally in this world

Extra Credit C

Extra Credit C

The film “Born Into Brothels” is a documentary that explores the lives of children who live and who’s families live in brothels in India. It started out as being just a documentary about women in the brothels but turned into more of the children’s perspective. The writer of this film, Zana Briski, lives and teaches in Calcutta, India. She has a photography class and gets to teach the kids that live in the Red Light District. She forms relationships with them and gets to know each and everyone of them and starts to care for them all. She eventually tries to find a way to get all of them out this district and into good schools so that they eventually may end up making something of their lives.

In this movie, there are many connections that can be made to our class. One very obvious one is how women are treated. They are not valued at all and the men have total control over women. They frequently get beaten and that is nothing that gets looked down upon. Emotional abuse is frequent as well. Also, girls are not very likely to get a good education. They are frequently put “into the line” and become prostitutes just like their mothers and grandmothers. It is highly unlikely that they make it out of their situations and make a name for themselves. All of the things that are shown in this movie are things that once- it is hard to believe- was how it was most everywhere in the world. Though our country has made great strides to overcome this equality issue, India still has a lot of work to do in women’s rights.

When I rented this film, I honestly did not think I would enjoy it at all. I thought it would be boring. As I watched the movie, though, I really started to feel for the kids that were born into this situation. The thing that really tore me apart was the fact that most of these kids understood how bad of a situation they were in and really truly wanted to get out and get a good education. Though they loved their family and stood by them, they really wanted to be better and do something with their lives. This really struck me and I really felt for each and every one of those kids.

Activity #10

The gender wage gap is a subject in which many people have may different opinions as to if it is justified or not. I had never really thought about the difference in wages among men and women before recently and had never heard both sides of this argument until reading this article. June O’Neill does believe that the gender wage gap is justified but Hilary Lips does not believe it is. Reading both of their sides gave me more insight and also more of an understanding for what I believe on this matter.
My opinion of this matter is that the gender wage gap is not justified, therefore I agree with Hilary Lips side of the issue. She explained that the reason that the gender gap is not as noticeable as it used to be and therefore looks like it is getting better is because most business use weekly and hourly rates for pay rather than using annual pay rates. With this system, men usually work more hours than women making the gap still a large one. The reason that men can work more hours is because of a few things. One is that if the woman does in fact have a family, then they may not be able to work all the hours that a man could due to family obligation. Also, some of the “extra” things that are offered at works for more pay may not be an option with a family because they are usually weird hours. Another thing that makes it hard for women to get as many hours as men is because with long hour jobs, something having to do with travel for example, men are more likely to have those jobs or positions because a lot of time women think about what if they started a family or being away from home too long. Therefore, they do not take jobs that may require that lengthy period of time away from home.
Another thing that makes the gender gap so big is the fact that they use men’s standard of working as the normal. This model does not include family and domestic issues that should be included due to women having to deal mostly with these issues.
Another thing that makes the gender gap so different is the “rumor” that it is just accidental that women and men choose different occupations in which men just happen to choose ones that pay more than women. This is defanantly false. The best example to back that up is how women and men are both teachers, but women teachers make 95% less money than men teachers. This shows that even though women typically are teachers more than men are, men still make the most money.
The writing about the gender gap being justified by June O’Neill makes a huge deal about how women choose to go into less important jobs due to the family. They choose occupations that work with the home, which is usually part time jobs, with less hours and lower pay. The things that O’Neill brought up in her paper all seemed to be things that, even though are true, are not necessarily women’s faults. Even though part time jobs maybe chosen by more women, the men that are in them as well still make more money than the women with the same job. This shows that the wages are still unfair and need to be examined more closely by our society to make a change.

Midterm 2

Heteronormativity is defined as the way heterosexuality is constructed as the norm. The way this is shown in our society is in places like advertisements and commercials, where heterosexual couples are the only sexual couples shown. Another place is in card stores in the “love” and “anniversary” sections where there are only cards made for the “normal” heterosexual couple. All these things show society and make knows to the world that only being heterosexual is normal and that all other sexual relations are not accepted.
The concept of heteronormativity defines and shapes every aspect of a relationship today. One way that it influences it is through the dominant construction of masculinity. In our society, the politics of sexuality come from the politics of the general world. When a man and a women come together in a relationship, it comes with strings attached. The man is automatically the dominant partner, as with males having most power in society. They make the money, have higher jobs, and are physically stronger. In the “ideal” family, the father figure is above all and the father has the say of what happens within the family. This is what is normalized in our society, therefore nothing else is accepted.
Another thing that is influenced by heteronormativity is the reproductive health. Since males are considered the dominant gender, when it comes to reproductive decisions and health, it used to be seen as the males decision and the female had no say. Recently thought, birth control, parenting options, and birth plans have become more and more centered around what the female wants. With this new development, it takes the male out of dominance and therefore, not making them as powerful, breaking the norm.
One more way to express how much power heteronormativity has had on our society is through gender divisions of labor. In our world today, women and men have very different job descriptions. Men usually have very high profile jobs, while women, on the other hand, usually have not as high profile jobs. On top of that, the jobs that they do have, even if they are very important, women do not get paid as much as men do. Also, there seems to be a big problem with horizontal segregation in the job force. This is where women are being segregated across jobs and being placed in certain fields. Women tend to have certain types of jobs like, clerical, retail, sales, and educational positions. All of these jobs are not seen as important as some that men tend to have.
In the last few weeks we have not only learned about heteronormality, but also how our bodies play a role in gender expression. How we look, what we wear, and how we portray ourselves all play a very big role in who we are and how we are looked upon. Our bodies not only define us, but also define society and the role of men and of women.
The things we wear and the things about us that the garment excentuates are something that every person has to realize tells everyone else a little about who you are. With the ideals of women today, we especially have to be aware of what we are putting on our bodies. For example, many shirts and bras today excentuate a women’s breasts. This is because our “ideal” women’s body is skinny with nice large breasts. This example of a body project is just one of the many things in which society must change to help us grow in how we look at each other and treat each other.
Not only does society have this underlying “ideal” body image, but media also does a great job of telling us what is good and bad. For one, cosmetic companies are always trying to sell the most “natural” makeup, but aren’t you ruining the actual natural look by adding something like makeup to your face? Also, media does a great job of putting ideas in peoples’ head about what your body should and shouldn’t look like. On most all advertisements, magazines, and billboards there are only skinny good looking people. Therefore, when anyone looks at it they assume they have to look like that person. The worst is having kids see that kind of stuff. If they are seeing it as young as they are in things in their lives, for example, Barbie, they assume they have to look like that and grow up thinking that. That’s why this is such a hard thing to stop, because it is everywhere and people start believing the media at such a young age.
Sexual violence is also something we should be concerned about and is connected to how we portray our bodies. Sexual violence is most of the time directed towards women. One way someone can be sexually violated is through rape. Women’s clothing and how we are suppose to look make things like sex and rape have a very big grey area. If women wear clothes that are “slutty” then a lot of guys say, “They are asking for it, “ and that the women wanted to have sex with him. In reality though, yea, maybe the clothing is a big advocate of personality, but it doesn’t matter when it comes to sex and sexual violence. People wonder how our societies sexual violence rate is so high in women, but maybe that issue can’t be fixed on the surface. Maybe its starts deep down, all the way down to how each one of us is taught to act and look like.