Followers

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence

So I was finally able to finish reading this article and might I just say boy was it long and dense lol. I hope I was able to get the right points out of it to define Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence. If not I will to go back and edit this after our class discussion so here it goes. 
Compulsory Heterosexuality- Adrienne Rich states that our society demands a lot from us and one thing is heterosexuality. Our society doesn't want anyone to be different and expects everyone to be interested in the opposite sex because that's what they have grown accustom to but times are changing and we have to be more accepting and open to change.  
Lesbian Existence- What Rich means by this is that there are several lesbians in the world today but unfortunately they aren't being treated equally and some are even afraid to come out of the closet. An example is,  “the lesbian, unless in disguise, faces discrimination in hiring and harassment and violence in the street. Even within feminist-inspired institutions such as battered-women’s shelters and Women’s Studies programs, open lesbians are fired and others are warned to stay in the closet.” After I  read this I felt awful because that's real life and everyday the same people have to deal with these issues and it's not at all okay to be treating them differently like heterosexual people are higher up.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Economic Justice as a Feminist Issue

While exploring http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/ and http://cwcs.ysu.edu/  I decided to test out a few games on the People Like Us website. One game stuck out to me in particular which was Chintz or Shag this game had you decorate your dream living room that you would love to have one day, then after you finished it told you what class you would be in. I thought it was interesting that the game could classify you based on a living room but then I started thinking about it and now a days we can be judged on so many things no longer just personality and job position. We usually just assume that if a person has all high end name brand quality furniture then they must have a great job and therefor must be in upper class field, but that's not always the case. It shouldn't matter what class you are in or how much stuff you have, people should be judge based on there personality and should be grateful for what they have in there lives.

On the second website Center for Working Class Studies I found it was interesting how right on the front page it said "Wage Theft Resources and Where To Go For Help". I wasn't sure what this meant until I read the caption underneath about how because the economy has took a turn for the worst employers are starting to cut back on employees pay. I find this absolutely horrible how employers would be so cruel as to take advantage during tough times on people who are just trying to make a living to pay their bills and put food on the table for their families.

Above I have posted a video about women's feminist solutions and what they think can help put an end to the struggles that as women we tend to face. 
I also found this video to be interesting it talks about  how much women make compared to men price wise.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Romney and Abortion Rights

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/opinion/sunday/kristof-scaring-the-voters-in-the-middle.html?_r=1

     In this article, "Scaring the Voters in the Middle" by Nicholas Kristof he states his opinion in regards to Mitt Romney's approach on Abortion.  Kristof mentions, "Mitt Romney insists that his position on abortion is crystal clear" but according to this video interview he is still very confused. He then goes on to say, "On your campaign Web site, you say that life begins at conception and that you favor overturning Roe v. Wade. As with the Republican Party platform, you give no indication there that you favor an exception for rape or to save a woman’s life.
Likewise, you seemed to endorse a “Personhood” initiative like the one in Mississippi last year that would have treated a fertilized egg as a legal person. It failed because of concerns that an abortion, even to save a woman’s life, could be legally considered murder. It might also have banned in vitro fertilization and some forms of birth control.
      These days, Mr. Romney, as you seek general-election voters, you insist that you do, in fact, accept abortion in cases of rape, incest or a pregnancy that endangers a woman’s life". The last point Kristof likes to comment on is, "Americans are deeply conflicted on abortion, but I think most are repulsed by the Republican drive to impose ultrasounds — in some cases invasive ones — on women before an abortion. Five states now require a woman, before an abortion, to endure an ultrasound that may use a probe inserted into her vagina. Four of those states make no exception for a rape.
And if the Republican Party succeeds in defunding Planned Parenthood, the result will be more women dying of cervical cancer and fewer women getting contraception. The consequence will probably be more unintended pregnancies — and more abortions.
Or there’s sex education. Today in America, more than one-third of teens say that when they began having sex, they had not had any formal instruction about contraception. Is this really the time for a Republican Party platform denouncing comprehensive sex education"
     After reading this opinion piece I liked the arguments that Kristof made about points Romney is fighting for. From the beginning I was on the fence about both candidates Obama and Romney along with the arguments their fighting for. Romney hasn't really displayed a fine example of the set point he's trying to make when it comes to abortion. It seems to me like hes still puzzled in his mind about what call he should take on this issue. You can clearly see this confusing in the video of his interview I posted above.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Privilege, Power, and Difference by Johnson

3 quotes:
I loved reading Privilege, Power, and Difference by Johnson because his book definitely mentioned some great points. For example he mentions, "Unlike class, differences of gender, race, and sexual orientation are associated with the body itself. From the moment of birth, for example, the assignment of people to categories of female or male is based almost entirely on their physical attributes and appearance". I believe this statement completely because it's true in todays society. If a couple has a baby boy they expect him to be big and strong and good with their hands, where as if that same couple was to have a girl they would expect her to be a girly girl who does dance. Some people just assume that girls can't hang with the guys or even do what the guys do like sports but there wrong. Girls can do whatever they have their minds set on whether its being a tom boy and playing sports or being a girly girl and doing dance. And same goes for the boys. No one should be told what they can and can't do based on their gender and size.

The second quote I chose was, "The glass ceiling that lets women see the executive suite but keeps them from being promoted to it is as thick as ever, and the gender gap  in income is narrowing only at a glacial pace and persists even among top executives in Fortune 500 companies pg.3 ".  This statement is very powerful and makes me think as a woman why I can't secure a strong powerful job with an executive suite. If women are doing just as good of work and maybe even better why can't they have access to the same opportunities to move up in the work force as males. Also the pay situation has started to improve over the years and isn't as big of a concern anymore.

The third quote I chose was, "Another reason privilege and happiness often don't go together is that privilege can exact a cost from those who have it. pg. 20" I liked how Johnson makes this point because a lot of people might envy people who have certain privileges that others don't. In return to get that privilege people might go to lengths to achieve it which they might end up regretting in the end. For example say a person wins the lottery and gets millions of dollars well they got the privilege of winning and in return a lot of people might try to do anything they can to become that persons best friend in hopes of getting a share of the money just won.

I enjoyed reading this short article and thought that Frye made some really good points just like Johnson did in his book.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The F Word

Reflection
Fear of Feminism by Lisa Maria Hogeland
Reading Fear of Feminism was very interesting to me since I really wasn't to sure of what a feminist or feminism was. Hogeland makes some very good points as to why woman are the way they are today towards feminism and having this type of fear towards it. She states how, "young women today have been profoundly affected by the demonstration of feminism during the 12 years of Reagan and Bush- the time they formed their understanding of political possibility and public life. and how "The economic situation for college students worsened over those 12 years as well, with less student aid available, so that young women may experience their situation as extremely precarious-too precarious to risk feminism". This essay also mentions, "Fear of feminism, is not a fear of gender, but rather a fear of politics".  I agree with this quote because a lot of what we believe in and stand for is based on politics and statements made from people who we rely on for advice, such as our parents.  I can say that when I was a kid I grew up hearing from my parents not to let any man hurt me and that's why today I try to help any one that I can get out of bad situations before they get hurt, such as with one of my good friends who was in an abusive relationship.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Introduction

Hi everyone, 
My name is Megan Fisk but you can call me Meg. I'm currently a sophomore here at Rhode Island College. My major that I am going for is Early-Childhood Education with a concentration in Special Education. Something that people find really cool about me is that I am a twin. I have a twin brother named Tim, who goes to CCRI in Lincoln. I love playing any kind of sport,through out high school I  actually played for the girls tennis team and softball team. I deffinately have to say I'm a shy person but being in college is making me come out of my shell slowly. Once you get to know me I'm alot of fun and very friendly.