Week 6: posted on Shawn's blog

Shawn,I understand where you’re coming from. One of the things I look forward to the most about getting marry is car maintain and any other “manly duties” that deals with tools getting off my plate. I tried putting up curtains the other day and instead managed to drill a bunch of holes in the wall, and still no curtains are up. I have a few picture frames I need to put up, but since it involves a hammer, I am completely dreading it. Granted, anyone can do this chores, it doesn’t take a man, and thus far I’ve been doing them myself. But as soon as I get the opportunity to push these tasks on the next guy, I will do so without caring.

Week 6

In my neighborhood it seems as though everyone that lives there has a dog. I am a huge animal/dog lover, so I acknowledge other pet devotees. My dog Chuck is a Chihuahua and Zoey is a Chihuahua Mix, so together they do not weight more than 25 pounds. Anyway, I was walking Chuck and Zoey when I walked past my neighbor walking his dog (an adorable Dachshund) when it occurred to me that this was the first man I’ve seen walking a small dog in my neighborhood. Where I live, you can go outside any time of the day and there will be someone out there walking their dog. So ever since, I’ve paid extra attention to the types of dogs the males and females are walking and sure enough, the man with the Dachshund has been the only man I’ve seen (so far) walking a small dog. What’s up with that? “Real man” can't have small dogs? Or if my neighbors do have both sexes living in the same household, do the husbands, boyfriends, or sons just refuse to walk the dog because it doesn’t meet a certain weight requirement?

Week 5 post on Shawn's blog

A few weeks ago I took my first trip to Home Depot. I recently moved and I went to Home Depot to buy paint. The experience was overwhelming, to say the least. What I thought was going to be a half-hour trip turned out to be a half-of-day excursion. There are so many colors and when you think you’ve found the one you like, another one pops out that look close to the first 50 you like, but better. I wonder if I had been a man, would I have just brought the first brown I picked and called it a day?
Thank God my brother gave me some advice before I went, because I would had been dumbfounded when the clerk asked, “glossy? semi-glossy? stain? primer? no primer? interior? exterior?

Week 5 post on Michele's blog

I've always found it ironic that men and women have different titles for the same job. For example, when a woman is hired to be someone “right hand” she’s a secretary, but when a man is hired, he is given the title of confidential aide or a more notable title. A woman is the assistant to the Director and a man is the Assistant Director and the assistant to the Director (the woman) probably does twice the work.

Week 5

I’ve never been the domestic type, nor have I ever had the desire to be. I work many hours in addition to attending school, so the last thing on my mind after a long day is cooking. This is what I tell people to justify the fact that I do not cook. The truth is, I don’t have the yearning to even learn. Absolutely… positively… no desire!! Still, people make me feel as if I am less than a woman because I do not cook. In addition to being a woman, I am Latina, so my family puts an extra emphasis on my lack of “womanly” duties. Granted, it’s the older generation that usually makes comments, but I just wish remarks were not made at all. There are some many things I am passionate about in my life, but just because they are important to me doesn’t necessary mean everyone is going to agree. So what if cooking isn’t one of my passions, that doesn’t make me a freak. I can't believe that in the year 2010 this is even an issue. I wonder if society (or at least my family) will ever realize that it’s okay to have other interests in life as a woman that do not include cooking.

Week 4 comment on Prof. M blog

I think some people might be mistakenly considered a bigot or intolerant if they do not agree with Gay Adoption. I don’t believe that’s the case at all. I respect Governor Huckabee views and opinion. Rosie O’Donnell insinuated that just because Gov. Huckabee grew up in a poor family and is a religious man, his views on gay adoption are not very pious. Gov. Huckabee believes the biblical norms are the “norm” we should live by. There is no hatred or prejudices in his views of gay adoption; he just personally does not think it’s the ideal. They are his personal religious beliefs and I truly respect him.

A few years ago I saw the Rosie O’Donnell’s documentary "All Aboard!," broadcasted on HBO and it was extremely moving. The couples of the cruise ship had nothing but unconditional love for their adoptive children. In this documentary a New Jersey gay couple got married at sea, surrounded by their five adopted children, ages 11, 9, 7, 7 and 4. This scene brought me to tears because the children look overcome with joy and the couple were obviously so in love. It was beautiful. A lot of these couple adopted child of minority groups or child with disabilities, which are usually the hardest groups to place with families. I believe it doesn’t matter if a couple is gay or straight, as long as they provide a safe and loving home for their children.

Week 4 comment on Shawn's blog

I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve seen pictures of young girls were their parents encouraged their young daughter to posture provocatively. Some parent thinks it’s cute when their daughters act like little divas. I’m sure technology has a lot to do with the advance progression for this generation, and for this reason parents need to stop allowing their child to imitate what they see on TV. My neighbor has a 9 year old daughter and it bothers me when her daughter is present during our adult conversation. While I’m talking with the mother, this little girls is constantly interrupting and adding her two cents on the subject. I can’t believe her mother allows this to happen. I personally know a lot of mothers who try to be their daughter's friend and therefore the disciple goes out the door.

Week 4

I drove by the Sun Center National Bank Arena and on the promotion board there’s an advertisement for tickets to a Lingerie Football League game. As I waited for the light to change, I couldn’t help but to feel appalled.

This “Lingerie Football League” consists of partially naked young beautiful women playing a mockery of football. Uniforms consist of shoulder pads, elbow pads, knee pads, garters, bras, panties, and ice hockey-style helmets with clear plastic visors in lieu of face masks. Even the names of the teams have a sexual undertone: Chicago Bliss, Dallas Desire, Miami Calinete*, New York Majesty, Philadelphia Passion, Tampa Breeze, Dallas Desire, Denver Dream, Los Angeles Temptation, San Diego Seduction, Seattle Mist. (*Calinete translates to HOT in English)

This “sport” is evidentially profitable. According to the Observer newspaper, “despite a down economy in 2009 which greatly impacted all major professional sports, the Lingerie Football League had an incredible inaugural season in 2009 with 30% higher than projected attendance, including several near capacity crowds, 2nd in Primetime TV ratings, record internet traffic and 2010 expansion markets”.

Some people might say why I would let something like this bother me…… I guess it’s because I work extra hard in order to be taken seriously as a woman. The reason it bother me so much is because of stupid comments made by people like the coach from the Miami Calinete who said, “These girls don’t want to be treated as models. These are real football players they’re athletes.” Give me a break!!!! If supposedly these girls are really athletes, then why do they have to play almost naked? During the games, the women wear shoulder pads and helmets, but that’s about it. If the people involved (players, coaches, team owners) are in it for the money, then just say so, but to say it’s a serious sports is an even better insult to women.

Week 3 comment of Tamica's blog

I LOVED your speech, I’ve also wonder the same thing “why do women allow all this bias”? I don’t agree with what the CEO of the woman’s organization said, “that women don’t want to change”. But I do agree that women are too busy making sure that their fellow sisters are not outdoing them. I am consistently preaching to my nieces on how important it is to be proud and comfortable about themselves and stop giving into what they think society thinks is beautiful and not to worry or care about what other girls do or act like. Girls now-a-day need to stop trying get attention with their looks or sexually and start utilizing their talents and inter-beauty in order to start making a difference in the way society (especially men) view beautiful. As a woman, I would like to thank you for speaking on my behalf and on the behalf of all the women in my family. Great speech!!!!

Week 3 comment on Michele's blog

I am a big fan dance in general, so I watch every dance show on the air. I remember when it was announced that Lance Bass (former member of N’Sync) was going to be a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars”. I heard on the radio (on numerous stations) talk about whether he was going to dance with a male partner because he had just recently come out about his sexuality. I thought it was ridiculous that this topic would even come up. The sad thing was that it was not just one station, but most.
I have a friend whose husband is a hairdresser, (not a barber, but a hair stylist). A person automatically assumes he’s gay because he loves doing women’s hair. Granted, it’s not the “norm” but I think it’s great when someone does something they love to do despite society’s preposterous conventions.

Week 3

I was walking out of Dunkin Donuts at the same time a man was walking in. I opened the door to walk out and instead of moving to the side so I can pass, he simply walked in…. leaving me holding the door. For some reason, this really troubled me and I thought to myself “does being equal to men mean having to open the door for men and not feel awkward about doing so?” I don’t think so. I know women deserve equality as men and should be treated with the same respect, but I don’t think this means men should stop being gentlemen. I wasn’t expecting this man to hold the door for me, but I definitely did not expect him to let me open the door for him!!! Maybe I am making a big deal about this, but it was kind of disturbing since this seems to be happening more and more frequently. Is chivalry really dead? I hope not. I am optimistic that chivalry will made a big come back in our society.

Week 2 comment on Jackie's blog

Actually, to me, it’s more understandable if a wife did not want to change her last name because she wanted to maintain her recognition in her profession, then it would be simply because she wanted to demonstrate her independence. I think I would change my last name if I got married and knew I wanted children. If I decided not to have children, then maybe I will consider keeping my last name. But I don’t think a woman should feel like she is losing her identity or feel like property because she takes her husband’s name. I had a friend who’s last name was different then her mother’s and every time her mother came to pick her up at school, the office would always refer to the mother as Mrs. Logan, which was my friend’s last name. My friend hated it, but her mother understood and never corrected them. I just think it could be frustrating on the children.

Week 2 comment on Jeffrey's blog

I remember the first time someone called me “bitch” as an endearing term. I was mortified!!! I was having a normal conversation with a group of people (both males and females) when one of the guys in the group addressed me as “bitch”. Well of course I went off!!! I thought to myself “The conversation was going well, what did I do or say to make this guy call me a bitch.” One of the girls saw how upset I was getting and quickly jumped in and told me that he didn’t mean it in the same context that I took it. She explain that it was sort of a term of endearment. I personally think that’s absolutely ridiculous. The guy was apologetic and said he didn’t mean any disrespect, but “that’s how some people talked now a day”. Regardless, I still think it’s disrespectful.

Week 2

As we’ve read in our readings this week, language defines men and women differently. A term which characterizes men and women differently is that of a “bachelor” and “spinster”. A spinster is a woman who has remained single beyond the conventional age for marrying, whereas a bachelor is an unmarried man, PERIOD! Our text discuss that “in Western culture, a woman who doesn’t marry historically has been viewed with sympathy or pity. For years, unmarried American women were called spinsters or old maids; contrast this with the nonpejorative term bachelor for men.” (p. 120)

Modern use of the word “spinster” evokes a mental image of a childless, frumpy, middle-aged woman who is depressed and desires to be like other “normal” women. She is considered a societal outcast who lives in the shadow of others. Our culture has produced generations of women who believed that their true and most important role in society is to get married and have children. Anything short of this role is considered abnormal, unfulfilling, and suspicious and contributed to our psychological profile of spinsters. Given that motherhood has been considered a natural part of a woman’s life, because spinsters don’t have children, they are viewed as abnormal. Something must be wrong with a woman who does not have or may not want marriage and children. Spinsters are pitiful because they cannot have true meaning in life if they do not have a husband and children. They are unfulfilled because they do not have what true women have, which again are a husband and children. Also, married women tend to be suspicious of single women and view them as either a personal or societal threat.

The words used to label the spinster’s male counterpart do not parallel in meaning. “Bachelor” typically implies that a man is young, virile, and available. It doesn’t have the same negative connotations as that of “spinster”. The word bachelor alludes to a healthier sexuality, more normal than the implication for the unmarried female. Unlike the spinster, the fact that a man is not married does not necessarily imply a deficiency in his character.

It’s bad enough women traditionally had been regarded as inferior to men physically and intellectually, but in our society they are also inferior if they are single.

Week 1

Hi Everyone,

My name is Yesenia and I am a part-time student. I took a Gender course last fall and absolutely love it. I am new to blogging and a bit intimidate by it, but hopefully this experience will give me a new prospect.

One of the things I find very interesting about Gender and Communication is the normativeness of the male in our language. Society tends to use "he" or "man" for a neutral pronoun in sentences to include all human begins. One example is in the Declaration of Independence where it states that "All men are created equal". But how do we overcome the obstacles of using "he" or "man" as a generic term which refers to both male and female? I believe courses like this one is a very important start. I, for one have always used the expression "You guys" to refer everyone. No one ever bats an eye when someone refers to a group of males and females are "you guys", but try saying, "you gals" and see what type of reaction you'll get.