I came across an article from Ms. magazine by Michelle Chen (found here) on the issues girls in many countries face when it comes to education, and though it’s a fairly short article, it does highlight some things that we have not discussed in class but that are very relevant to the problem of gendered conflict. Chen discusses some of the statistics that show that in many countries, girls are less likely to get an education than boys, even going as low as fewer than 35 female students per 100 male students in countries like Ethiopia and Niger, as well as some of the barriers and obstacles that girls must overcome in order to go to school.
Chen really tied the issue of girls’ education into the larger issue of gendered conflict, saying how as girls enter puberty, they face sexual assault, having to conform to strict gender roles, and early marriage. Without education, these girls often have no means to change their situation. By keeping girls out of schools, even countries that are making economic progress will be horribly underdeveloped in the area of women’s rights and when 50% or more of a country’s citizens are uneducated, the cycle of poverty continues.
Though Chen doesn’t really offer any speculative solutions to the issue, or discuss what is being done to help get more girls into schools, she does provide some insightful facts about the problem. She does inspire hope by providing statistics that show that when girls do enter school, they are less likely to drop out than boys and often perform as well as or better than boys. Overall, I thought her article was interesting though perhaps it didn’t really go far enough.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Women as the Victims of War
The article by Cynthia Enloe, “All the Men are in the Militias, All the Women are Victims,” was very poignant and I thought that her use of Borislav Herak’s story was really excellent. It kind of pointed out some of the explanations for mass rape during war, and how men with no history of violence turn into monsters. Enloe also showed the horrors of war that women suffer, and did so in a very sensitive way.
Enloe ties together the concepts of masculinity, ethnicity and nationalism and, through interviews and personal histories, uses the concepts to try and understand how men can commit unspeakable crimes during wars. Her main focus is on the Bosnian genocide, but she also discusses the Holocaust, and she compares and contrasts the two genocides.
The interview with Herak was really saddening, because it showed how easy it was for soldiers to be manipulated into not only fighting and killing other men, but also to harm and rape women and children. Herak’s story is one that I think has rarely been told, but it’s a point of view that is necessary to understanding violence and gender. I thought what was most interesting was how Herak said he felt closer to his fellow militiamen when they were together at barbecues or just drinking. The rapes were meant to bring them closer together, but instead they damaged the men and made them feel guilty.
The article really ties in with the group presentation on Women in War, and so I thought that it was an interesting perspective that we didn’t have time to talk about in class. But Enloe did a wonderful job of showcasing a personal narrative of the horrors of war and gendered violence, and it really helped me understand what women as well as men and soldiers go through in war.
Enloe ties together the concepts of masculinity, ethnicity and nationalism and, through interviews and personal histories, uses the concepts to try and understand how men can commit unspeakable crimes during wars. Her main focus is on the Bosnian genocide, but she also discusses the Holocaust, and she compares and contrasts the two genocides.
The interview with Herak was really saddening, because it showed how easy it was for soldiers to be manipulated into not only fighting and killing other men, but also to harm and rape women and children. Herak’s story is one that I think has rarely been told, but it’s a point of view that is necessary to understanding violence and gender. I thought what was most interesting was how Herak said he felt closer to his fellow militiamen when they were together at barbecues or just drinking. The rapes were meant to bring them closer together, but instead they damaged the men and made them feel guilty.
The article really ties in with the group presentation on Women in War, and so I thought that it was an interesting perspective that we didn’t have time to talk about in class. But Enloe did a wonderful job of showcasing a personal narrative of the horrors of war and gendered violence, and it really helped me understand what women as well as men and soldiers go through in war.
Gender and Power
The article by Errol Miller, “Gender, Power and Politics: An Alternative Perspective” was complex but contained a great deal of information about why women are underrepresented in government and what we as a society can do to shorten the gap. Miller made a lot of interesting points; one of the first was during his discussion of patriarchy. Miller says, quoting another scholar, Collins, that it is often easy for groups to see how they are oppressed. It is more difficult for them to see how they add to the oppression of others. It is sometimes difficult when there are so many different groups to identify with, also. Do black women identify first as women or as black? As a class we’ve discussed questions like that a little but not really in depth, and I think it is hard to explore things like race and gender together without first picking them apart and viewing them separately.
Miller goes on to describe his definition of patriarchy, which includes the ideas of genealogy, generation and gender. It was a very comprehensive definition, and I feel that it managed to encompass more and get the full picture of patriarchy as opposed to some of the other definitions that he cited.
After the discussion of patriarchy, Miller discusses the idea of gender as opposed to sex, and the question of biology versus culture in regards to sex differences. The one thing he wrote that really struck me was about the physical differences between men and women. An idea behind sex differences between men and women is that men are better-suited to government positions because they are competitive, stronger, and more rational. But as Miller points out, the men holding government positions aren’t super masculine. He states that the qualities that we as a society define as masculine “more aptly describe their bodyguards!” Overall, Miller’s use of expanded definitions, history of patriarchy, and ideas of how to achieve gender equality were fairly convincing, and the article was helpful to understanding the power play of gender.
Miller goes on to describe his definition of patriarchy, which includes the ideas of genealogy, generation and gender. It was a very comprehensive definition, and I feel that it managed to encompass more and get the full picture of patriarchy as opposed to some of the other definitions that he cited.
After the discussion of patriarchy, Miller discusses the idea of gender as opposed to sex, and the question of biology versus culture in regards to sex differences. The one thing he wrote that really struck me was about the physical differences between men and women. An idea behind sex differences between men and women is that men are better-suited to government positions because they are competitive, stronger, and more rational. But as Miller points out, the men holding government positions aren’t super masculine. He states that the qualities that we as a society define as masculine “more aptly describe their bodyguards!” Overall, Miller’s use of expanded definitions, history of patriarchy, and ideas of how to achieve gender equality were fairly convincing, and the article was helpful to understanding the power play of gender.
Gender, Race, and Pornography
The article by Alice Walker on pornography was very intense and graphic, and Walker made her point very strongly. I liked the article; I thought Walker did a fantastic job of incorporating the views of black feminists and showing, through a narrative, the experience of black women in a world of degrading pornography.
At times, it was definitely a hard article to read; I’m sure that for many women it is a story that strikes close to home. The debate over pornography is incredibly complex, and an important thing to remember is that not all arguments for pornography are sexist. But a lot of popular pornography – Playboy, Maxim, etc., stereotype women, degrade them, and exalt males. They also further rape culture in many ways, I believe, by implying that women deserve what men do to them sexually, whether it is rape or sexual assault. Not all pornography does this, of course, but I’d say that a majority of mainstream pornographic magazines do carry a heavy tone of sexism.
Walker also touched upon women’s body identity and self-esteem, and I thought she did it in a way that was touching and realistic. It’s hard for all women to look at images in Playboy and feel good about themselves – some studies have shown that women do more poorly on tests than men do after seeing images of fashion models and porn stars. Though I don’t have the experience of being a woman of color, this article makes it clear that being not just a woman, but a black woman in a culture where blonde and light-skinned is beautiful, can be very damaging.
The article definitely highlighted an experience that I’m sure is more common than we as a society would hope for it to be. Though the article was written a few decades ago, the experience holds true still today. Walker handled the subject beautifully, and used rawness and graphic imagery to make her point powerfully, and she did.
At times, it was definitely a hard article to read; I’m sure that for many women it is a story that strikes close to home. The debate over pornography is incredibly complex, and an important thing to remember is that not all arguments for pornography are sexist. But a lot of popular pornography – Playboy, Maxim, etc., stereotype women, degrade them, and exalt males. They also further rape culture in many ways, I believe, by implying that women deserve what men do to them sexually, whether it is rape or sexual assault. Not all pornography does this, of course, but I’d say that a majority of mainstream pornographic magazines do carry a heavy tone of sexism.
Walker also touched upon women’s body identity and self-esteem, and I thought she did it in a way that was touching and realistic. It’s hard for all women to look at images in Playboy and feel good about themselves – some studies have shown that women do more poorly on tests than men do after seeing images of fashion models and porn stars. Though I don’t have the experience of being a woman of color, this article makes it clear that being not just a woman, but a black woman in a culture where blonde and light-skinned is beautiful, can be very damaging.
The article definitely highlighted an experience that I’m sure is more common than we as a society would hope for it to be. Though the article was written a few decades ago, the experience holds true still today. Walker handled the subject beautifully, and used rawness and graphic imagery to make her point powerfully, and she did.
Women in War
The group who presented on Women in War did an excellent job with their presentation, and I thought that they picked out great articles for the reading, articles that had a huge impact and discussed some of the biggest problems for women in times of war.
Of the three articles, I was particularly struck by the NPR article, “Reported Cases of Sexual Assault in Military Rise.” It is an issue that strikes very close to home, especially for people who have family members, including women, who serve the military. It was a painful article to read, and exposed the pain that women in the military suffer when they must face attacks both from the enemy and from the people they live, eat, and work with.
One section of the article showed the hopelessness some women feel after they experience sexual assault from a fellow platoon member:
"It's humiliating. It's degrading. Who's going to believe you? Especially in the military, when you never know who knows who," Ketora said. "In my rank I was only a lance corporal."
Of her attacker, she says, "He's the guy everybody hoorahs and gives a pat on the back. Everybody loves him. He could never do anything wrong."
There is definitely a problem with higher-ranking officials taking advantage of those who they have authority over; by implementing reporting systems that allow victims to speak with outsiders who have no ranking, the U.S. military can help the women who serve the U.S. a great deal.
I think that perhaps women in the military feel marginalized, even though they do make up a large part of the U.S. military today. When a group is marginalized, it becomes easier to harm them while justifying it in some way, whether as joking around or just “boys being boys.” But I believe that we are making strides, and the article definitely indicated that. Higher report rates show that women in the military feel more comfortable reporting sexual assault incidents and can get better medical and psychological care. Hopefully, the U.S. will take even larger steps to ensure that all the members of its military are well-taken care of and feel secure.
Of the three articles, I was particularly struck by the NPR article, “Reported Cases of Sexual Assault in Military Rise.” It is an issue that strikes very close to home, especially for people who have family members, including women, who serve the military. It was a painful article to read, and exposed the pain that women in the military suffer when they must face attacks both from the enemy and from the people they live, eat, and work with.
One section of the article showed the hopelessness some women feel after they experience sexual assault from a fellow platoon member:
"It's humiliating. It's degrading. Who's going to believe you? Especially in the military, when you never know who knows who," Ketora said. "In my rank I was only a lance corporal."
Of her attacker, she says, "He's the guy everybody hoorahs and gives a pat on the back. Everybody loves him. He could never do anything wrong."
There is definitely a problem with higher-ranking officials taking advantage of those who they have authority over; by implementing reporting systems that allow victims to speak with outsiders who have no ranking, the U.S. military can help the women who serve the U.S. a great deal.
I think that perhaps women in the military feel marginalized, even though they do make up a large part of the U.S. military today. When a group is marginalized, it becomes easier to harm them while justifying it in some way, whether as joking around or just “boys being boys.” But I believe that we are making strides, and the article definitely indicated that. Higher report rates show that women in the military feel more comfortable reporting sexual assault incidents and can get better medical and psychological care. Hopefully, the U.S. will take even larger steps to ensure that all the members of its military are well-taken care of and feel secure.
Monday, November 29, 2010
The Debate over Sex Education
My group presentation was on sex education in the U.S., and we discussed the problems with the current political and education landscape that make it difficult for schools to find sex ed. programs that work and fund them. Of course most of the research that we saw was very much pro-comprehensive programs as well as anti-abstinence-only programs. But our most interesting findings showed that, though the political and moral landscape may be strongly divided over the issue of sex. ed, most people (parents included) take a middle ground position, and it’s been found that the programs that also take a middle ground do the best in terms of lowering teen pregnancy rates as well as STI rates.
Though we didn’t have much time to discuss the reading, I thought that the article by Amy Sullivan, “How to End the War over Sex Ed.” was really interesting. However, I didn’t agree with the New York Times op-ed article by Ross Douthat, “Sex Ed in Washington” as much. I think Duthout brought up some good points – one being that a lot of sex education programs don’t work unless they are long term and also very comprehensive in the sense that they apply to all areas of a student’s life by teaching life skills and relationship skills as well. His main point, though, was that the war over sex education is one of regional values, and that to be fair each community should have the right to decide how to teach sex education in their schools, or to not teach sex education at all. It is, Duthout says, a “debate that should remain intensely local.” But there are a lot of issues with not having some general standards for sex education.
One of the issues my group focused on in our paper was, “is sex education a question of ethics?” Is it ethical to withhold potentially life-saving information about contraception and STIs to adolescents in a course that is supposed to help them have healthy sex lives? Whether the sex life is in marriage or outside of marriage isn’t part of the question – even married people have to deal with STDs. A lot of the articles we found on ethics show that, yes, it is unethical. Health educators must actually educate their students about potential health risks. It would be just as unethical to not inform students that eating junk food or trans fats can cause heart problems. Giving them the knowledge does not make them more likely to have sex; in fact many comprehensive programs have been shown to delay the age of onset of sexual activity in adolescents. With that knowledge, students can better protect themselves and know what the (realistic) risks are when it comes to sexual activity. What Duthout is saying is that it is not unethical, but a matter of community opinion. I don’t believe that when it comes to health education, the political bent of the region should determine what students are told or not told. Students should be given accurate information to help them make the right choices, not “scared straight” or forced to conform to the political views of their community. Comprehensive programs or abstinence-plus programs offer options and information for every student, including those who wish to save sexual activity for marriage as well as those who are currently sexually active. It isn’t a matter of opinion as much as it is a matter of obligation and ethics.
Changing Gender Roles
The recent presentation on gender roles was a good exploration of the gender stereotypes that are pervasive in western society. I thought that the survey the group did was a really good idea, because it focused not only on personal opinion but also on personal history. Beyond that, though there were some criticisms of the survey, I thought that, though it wasn’t perfect, it definitely did cover a lot of area and was applicable not just to heterosexual relationships but to all kinds of relationships.
One point about the survey that I did agree with is that personal family histories have become greatly complicated by the rising rate of divorce and single parenthood. However, I think a lot of what the survey results indicated (that women typically do more household work; men typically do more ‘outside’ or ‘handy’ work in relationships) does show what a majority of relationships in the U.S. look like. But what was encouraging is that, even though stereotypes may be slow to change, the reality of gender roles is changing at a very fast pace. A lot of people who took the survey said that their parents shared the work; and many also said that they would want an egalitarian marriage or at least something very close to egalitarian.
Hopefully the group’s research showed a positive prognosis of gender roles, and that we are moving towards a more egalitarian society. Of course, Jessica Valenti has good points when she says that feminism isn’t over, that we as a society still must fight for total gender equality, as well as equality in other areas. But it’s hard to deny that a lot of progress has taken place in the past few decades. I hope we can continue that progress.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sex Trafficking
The group who presented the topic of Sex Trafficking brought up some really interesting statistics and facts during their presentation. Their most surprising information was about sex trafficking in the U.S., which I think shocked a lot of people, as I doubt most would expect something so serious to happen so close to home, though sadly it does.
What struck me is not only how widespread sex trafficking is, but also how easy it is in some countries. Sex trafficking affects women, children, men, the poor, and all nations, industrialized or developing. It crosses so many bounds and there are so many victims. What was heartbreaking is how even families will sell those closest to them just because they don’t have the money to survive otherwise.
The class discussion on whether legalizing prostitution would make sex trafficking more difficult and less appealing, or whether it facilitates the sex trafficking trade was very interesting, and it was a difficult subject to debate. Though I haven’t seen any research to support either thought, I think there must be some out there that would be helpful in deciding. Before the discussion, I would have definitely said that legalizing prostitution and regulating it would be the best thing. Now, I’m not so sure. I’m glad that my eyes were opened to this underground trade; though it is not a problem that is easy to fix or has a sole cause, I hope we can work to find a solution in the future.
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