Newsflash: Fraternity Deaths and Rape

Article URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/us/22hazing.html?scp=2&sq=fraternity&st=cse

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/us/28wabash.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/opinion/lweb06fraternity.html?scp=2&sq=fraternities&st=cse

Martin, Patricia, and Hummer, Robert. “Fraternities and Rape on Campus.” Feminist Frontiers. 7th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2007. 417-24.

In today’s higher education system, Greek life is one quality many students seek when searching for a University or College to attend. However, while it is also known that many rapes that occur on a College campus are committed by fraternity men, very few studies have been documented examining the fraternity structure and its culture. It is true that fraternities place emphasis on their qualities of masculinity, but what about their core functions and values encourages them to rape women or attempt to show their superiority over women? With recent events about hazing and deaths of fraternity men on multiple College campuses, some questions must be raised; why do fraternities, rape, and death occur simultaneously? Two articles and one letter to the editor place fraternities in the spotlight in the New York Times. The first article discusses the burning of fraternity men as an act of hazing ritual, and the second article discusses the death of a fraternity man on an Indiana campus. Both articles convey the need for research and change within the fraternity system on all college campuses across the US.

The first article, “7 Students Pledging a Fraternity Are Burned,” by Katie Zezima sets the stage for analysis into the culture and pledging process of a fraternity. The pledges were all lined up and received a brand of about seven inches long across their chest, close to their hearts. The article also cites that police have had to obtain warrants because of the unwillingness of the members to cooperate with the investigation. The article also cites that hazing has been on the rise on the University of Maine campus: 55% of students involved in Greek life, clubs, or other activities have been hazed. Also included in the article is a brief mention of hazing committed by cheerleaders in Katy, Texas. It is said that their new members were bound, blindfolded, and pushed into a swimming pool. Their charges could result in jail time or a $2,000 fine.

The second article, “Rift on Indiana Campus after Student Dies,” by Dirk Johnson, tells the story of a freshman dying at the fraternity house Delta Tau Delta at Wabash College’s campus in Indiana. Afterwards the fraternity was ordered disbanded and the school took over the lease on the house. There have been multiple discussions between students and with the faculty as to the fairness of this punishment; many members as well as other students feel that it is unfair to punish the entire fraternity. The school operates on one rule: the Gentleman’s rule, which is said to encompass all other necessary regulations. While the president of the College punished the whole fraternity because of an intoxicated minor, many students feel that his actions violate the Gentleman’s rule and that he is punishing innocent students. The members of the fraternity are also upset that they have had to move and feel like they have lost 20 brothers instead of just one.

As a response to this article, one letter to the editor comments that this was a completely avoidable and preventable death of a fraternity brother. He comments that the real failure is the failure to see the real problem, while only focusing on individual behavior. He notes that investigation needs to be done on the values and norms of the entire fraternity system (Myers, pg. 1). She also notes that it is the colleges that enable this behavior in houses that are neither owned nor governed by school officials. She believes that until fraternities are completely revoked, or until their houses are owned and governed by their colleges, that this dangerous behavior of fraternity men will continue, and more men will die.

These articles are extremely intertwined with Martin and Hummer’s article, “Fraternities and Rape on Campus” (Feminist Frontiers, pg. 417-424) and serve to illuminate the obvious problems within the fraternity system. As can be seen in the first article, not only are these individuals being subjected to extreme physical pain as part of a pledging process, but both the members and the pledges put themselves in a legally sticky situation. In New Hampshire, where this college campus is located, hazing is illegal and those who are hazed can be charged with misdemeanor offenses if they don’t report it. As the article reports it, it appears that neither the initiated members, nor the pledges will admit to any hazing behavior. One common trend between these articles, as well as other research, is the unwillingness of fraternities and fraternity members to cooperate with the law and investigations into their actions. This is fully discussed within Martin and Hummer’s article as one piece of the culture of fraternities. Loyalty is a key value in fraternity culture and cooperating with investigations is viewed as being disloyal to the fraternity. Loyalty is demonstrated within fraternities as being secretive and protective of both their members and their rituals. This can clearly be seen in these two instances: members are refusing to divulge information to protect their brothers who committed the crime. Even when a minor was killed due to fraternity actions, their brothers find issues with the school officials who intend to disband the fraternity. While it is obvious that the actions of the fraternity members are responsible for the freshman’s death, they view themselves as innocent, and blame the student for his own death. They refuse to accept punishment or point fingers at any of their own.

While these articles do not discuss the relation between fraternity members and rape, the link is clear and detailed in Martin and Hummer’s article. Along with their ideals of loyalty and secrecy, come their desire to prove their masculinity; they are also characterized by their violence, commodification of women, and use of alcohol as a weapon. Men in general, and fraternity men in specific, are known to use alcohol to get women drunk and thus more easily sleep with them. When women are drunk they are less likely to be able to turn down sex, and men are more likely to have sex with them even without their consent. Fraternity men also blatantly use women to attract “better” and more masculine men. If they obtain the image of being able to attain attractive women, other men will want to join their fraternity and obtain those attractive women as well. There also exists a large gender hierarchy among men and women within the Greek system. Fraternity men use women as “Little Sisters”, or in other words, servers. They expect these women to cheer at all the brothers sporting games, show up at parties, and even pay money so the brothers can have parties. These men involved in Greek life also often host parties that are known to turn into orgies, or have parties in which they can have sex with women other than their girlfriends. All of this evidence points to the fact that fraternity men abuse women, are more likely to rape women, and that the culture of fraternity life is in desperate need of revamping.

If further proof is needed, Martin and Hummer also make the same case as the articles in the New York Times that fraternity houses are composed of all male, same-age students who live in houses that are not regulated by school authorities. This will ultimately lead to illegal and dangerous activities, sometimes including death, as seen on Wabash Campus. To take a step farther, there is no diversity in these houses. Because of the recruitment process, the current brothers are bound to select the men that are most similar to themselves. This leads to a house full of men who think and act the same, which means there is no sane voice to say that something is dangerous or illegal. There is no smart man to stand up to his brothers. Also, because of the pledging process, the new members are threatened by their older brothers and are eager to please them. This means that they will most likely complete any task asked of them, and even when they are initiated, they will not be able to stand up to their older brothers. In any form of society or group of people, we know that this system does not work. That is explicitly the reason for our system of checks and balances within our government. In fraternity houses, there is no system of checks and balances, and the older brothers will likely take complete control. Martin and Hummer also comment on this, especially the idea of a group leader. They say that this group leaders’ desire to show off to his brothers or prove their masculinity will ultimately lead to coercion of women into sexual acts which further enforces the gender hierarchy present on college campuses.

In conclusion, because of the inherent cultural and moral standards existent within fraternities, and due to the commodification of women and the gender hierarchy, fraternities are in desperate need of change. We need to examine the entire fraternal structure, rather than individual behavior displayed in such articles as those in the New York Times. Ideals of the fraternity, as well as its environment exist no where else, and it is no surprise. Because of its unique position on college campuses, rapes are more likely and violence towards both women and pledges is more rampant. They are exposed to little if any regulation or supervision, and even when faced with charges, because of their values of loyalty and secrecy, investigations are usually forced to end. Because of these reasons, and their destructive behavior towards women, fraternities need to be investigated, and significant changes must be made to ensure the safety of women and college students across the US.

Class 12_3

Gloria Steinem’s article, “Supremacy Crimes”, gave good insight into the world of hate crimes and violent acts committed by white, heterosexual males. While most stereotypes focus on black males being aggressive, this article gave a different perspective, citing that the majority of hate crimes, or sexually based crimes. This is a statistic not often cited, as many would probably like to cover it up. It is true though, while reading through her examples, I remembered all the killers, most of them being extremely well known cases. All of them were committed by white, heterosexual males. I find this issue of supremacy of these males disturbing, that people feel the need to kill or attack innocent people just because they feel they are superior to others and have the “right” to kill them. She is also accurate in saying, “…the group most likely to become hooked on the drug of superiority. It’s a drug pushed by a male-dominant culture that presents dominance as a natural right” (Steinem, pg. 429). I find it interesting that males view their dominance as a natural right when they have nothing to base this off of. I am irritated that they see themselves as being above women or racial minorities and then find the need to kill those “below” themselves.

These crimes that have occurred in the past still scare me today, being a woman. I am always nervous walking alone at night, or even in my room at night, with the door locked, after hearing of men coming in through the windows. I always feel the need to check the backseat of my car when I get in it, and I don’t think that this should be necessary. Women should be able to go about their normal lives, even in dangerous areas, without being scared for their lives. I think our culture needs to get over the idea of male dominance and move toward a society without gender hierarchies.

Kimberle Crenshaw’s article was also interesting, reading about the immigrant women and their struggle to be legal citizens. I am glad that the amendment was passed at least, allowing for women to try and get out of their marriages while still pursuing citizenship. Although, I am sad to hear about the amount of difficulty these women must go through just to get a waiver. I never would have even thought that some of these women do not have access to telephones, or that their only source of information is from their husbands. I think that these women should be able to find their own sources of information and be knowledgeable on their own, so they are not taken advantage of by their husbands.

Class 12_1

The four articles for class this Monday were all kind of depressing in nature, but also very interesting to read about. The first article, “Fraternities and Rape on Campus”, was especially interesting given the Greek life at our school. I find the pledging process and terminology in Greek life ridiculous beyond belief. The fact that they only recruit certain people due to masculine qualities and their upmost importance of “loyalty, secrecy, and protection” almost disgusts me. With the case of the gang rape at a Florida University, to whom are they being loyal? What about human life, the law, or just plain kindness? I feel like so much importance is put on such trivial matters in fraternities, and the culture of the fraternity really needs to change in order to address important issues such as violence against women, and the hierarchy between men and women. This reminds me of the patriarchy article read earlier this semester, about how we need to look at the entire system as a whole, not just the individuals involved. While it would be nice to persecute individual members based on individual actions, I think that the entire system needs to be made over, and to question the system and the ideas behind what made those boys act the way they did. I also was upset reading about the gender hierarchy that existed between the “Little Sisters” and “Big Brothers” in the fraternity system she examined. I was disgusted by the role that these women play, catering to men. I was also sick reading about how males who are in relationships can have sex with their girlfriends, but at open parties their girlfriends aren’t allowed, and they are free to have sex with other women. I don’t believe in cheating and I don’t think that women should stand for it. I feel that these “women servers” are being used just for sex and to attract good “brothers”. I feel that the entire system needs to be changed, and the gender hierarchy abolished.

I enjoyed reading the second article, “Men Changing Men” because I believe that more projects such as this need to be mandatory for certain men. I liked the fact that some men have come to the conclusion that it isn’t ok to batter women, to call them property, and to take their emotions out on them. I think more men need to think this way and try to make a difference in their behavior, as well as other men. I think so much of men’s behavior is behavior of a pack. Similar to the fraternity article, most crimes happen because of men testing other men. Gang rapes happen to prove their masculinity or prove a point; instead men should focus on themselves. I think we talk the most about women being insecure with themselves, but I think a lot of male violence occurs because of the same reasons; men are insecure about the way other men view them, so they prove their masculinity or toughness through violence or rape.

Morgan’s article in Listen Up was almost hard to read. I was very saddened to read it, and mad about the way that her rapes were handled. Her parents and friends reactions to her rape were ridiculous; no supporting parents would ignore an action like that or punish their daughter for it. I think that is absurd. I was also sad that nothing more came out of any of her confessions. While she did the right thing by coming to her parents, the police, and the hospital about her rapes, which many women don’t do, I was shocked that nothing was ever followed up on. The police never made an effort to try and convict any of her rapists, and no one was there to support her or give her counseling after the attack.

The final article for Monday was nice to read, because it was about empowerment of women. I agree with her that women should be trained in self defense, as it works as a surprise attack on their attackers. Most men don’t believe that women are trained or will even try and fight back. I admire her for training herself, and it makes me want to be trained, especially if I ever live alone. I want to be able to defend myself in case of an attack, and protect myself.

Overall, the articles for Monday were sad but also interesting to read as they gave good insight into male organizations, and advocated for women to protect themselves, and be able to defend themselves from an attacker. I think that men and male organizations have a long way to go before there can ever be an equal status between men and women, however.

Class 11_24

Today’s articles reminded me a lot of our current economic situation and the fight over globalization. With the recent controversy over WalMart and their use of globalization, this article is especially interesting since it discusses the actual workers that are claimed to have produced WalMarts’ products. I found it especially interesting in Enloe’s article about how the industry relied on third world women’s beliefs that they had to accept their role in society. If these women realized their potential and “reimagined their lives as daughters, as wives, as workers, as citizens” (Enloe, pg. 459), the entire industry would collapse. I was also disgusted at the treatment of these women and their countries by the big sneaker corporations. As Enloe describes, Nike, and other companies, did not place their factories in third world countries to help the countries, but instead to exploit the cheap labor and gain profits. I also found it interesting how at the end of the article, she discusses the role of countries playing women off of each other and setting up competition. This was one of the first issues we discussed in the class; the fact that women can’t help each other, and instead compete against each other and wish the worst on others. I think that for our country and the world to grow and women to gain equal rights as citizens and workers (and erase the wage gap between men and women), women need to stand together, not against each other.

Grace Chang’s article was also extremely interesting, especially about the LCP with the Filipino women. The beginning of the article was interesting as well about the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). I found it interesting that because of the SAPs, women have experienced increases in poverty and decreases in nutrition, health, and work conditions, yet no one seems to care as long as indebted countries can take out loans that are approved by financial institutions. I find that time after time, issues surrounding women are always intricately laced with economic issues between first and third world countries and businessmen. It was also interesting to read about the entire program and it’s severity. It seems as if this article also embodies the figure of a bird cage, since women are trapped for two years by sometimes abusive employers, and they are stick with the strict immigration policies by the US and Canada. On top of this all, the Filipino government makes extraordinary salaries by just processing these migrant workers. Women are also excluded from welfare benefits and workers rights because they are not citizens. This article perfectly exemplifies the conditions these women are put through all to support their families. This all seems even more absurd when reading about the nursing shortage in Canada, yet the laws remain unchanged because the government insists on exploiting these highly skilled and educated women, and giving them extremely low wages and subjecting them to abuse for enough years until they can obtain citizenship.

Overall these three articles make globalization seem a much bigger issue than this country is leading us to believe. I wish that this country could get an honest government who would be frank with its citizens and not turn a blind eye to serious problems occurring with the women in this country. Instead of financing a war against terrorists, which was started on false pretenses, the government should care more about other issues that are often left unnoticed. I think women’s rights should be a problem that is paid more attention to, brought under public scrutiny, and ultimately dealt with by our government. Without their cooperation, unfortunately, nothing will most likely be done. We need to work with our government to spread the word and garner support for these issues, both in the US and Canada.

Class 11_19

The two articles assigned for today refer back to our class discussion on Monday about Muslim women and the policy pursued after 9/11. I especially liked reading Susan Darraj’s article, “It’s Not an Oxymoron: The Search for an Arab Feminism” because it told her story of her search for feminism. I also liked how she identified her father and husband as feminists, although that might seem to be a contrary statement. The article related a lot to our class when discussing Betty Friedan and Western Feminism; a do think a lot of the time we don’t even think about feminism around the world. I admired her when she stood up to her class as well about house cleaning and the liberalization of white women getting to work outside the house. While I do think that this is liberalizing for some women, for others, they have never had the option, so I think feminism needs to be open to all types of women, from all different backgrounds and cultures.

The other article by Lila Abu-Lughod also relates to our class discussion on veils and the “saving” of Middle Eastern women. She makes the argument that these women who lived under the Taliban in Afghanistan weren’t oppressed because of the burqas they were required to wear. She says that even after the Taliban was removed women choose to wear them, and if not burqas, they still choose to wear heavy, modest, coverings (scarves, etc). I think the United States needs to be more open to other cultures and nationalities, and not just assume that these women are being oppressed. Even as I write this, I notice that the word burqa is not in the Microsoft Word dictionary. I think Western cultures need to be more educated on other cultures before they can even consider trying to “save” them or change their culture.

Relating to the other assignments this week, the Taliban was a government who ruled in Afghanistan from 1996-2001 until it was removed from power by NATO forces. Currently they still exist as an underground movement and fight in a guerilla war. The Taliban came into power because of political unrest among the warlords present in the country. It is also recorded that originally the Taliban received aid from the US in the form of weapons and funds. Under the Taliban many activities were banned including movies, television, dancing, hanging pictures in homes, kite flying, and beard trimming. Men were required to have long beards, short hair on their head, and wear head coverings. Women had even more restrictions including no employment or education, no interaction with men who weren’t family or their husband, and they had to wear burqas. If they were found cheating they were stoned to death. They were also lashed or beaten in public.

In general, while it may seem on the surface that these women were oppressed, research into other cultures needs to be done before coming into a country and changing their policy and their government. Relating to our reading from last class, we need to research more and not just slap labels on women in other cultures. In general our country needs to be more educated and welcome to other cultures, beliefs, and women.

Class 11_17

Handra Mohanty’s article, “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses” describes how men have portrayed themselves as the all important, while women are the “other”. She goes on to describe how women are supposed to play the dependant model in the relationship, and this is obtained in many countries through genital cutting. Genital mutilation is seen as taking away a woman’s pleasure when engaging in sex, so her only purpose is to reproduce. As she explains, female genital mutilation occurs, “to assure female dependence and subservience by any and all means” (pg 66). With domestic violence, there is an undeniable alliance of men against women. She also explains how women are always grouped together because of their oppression and as victims of abuse.

Mohanty also goes into detail about women as universal dependents and the grouping of women based solely on their status as a victim. She describes that Vietnamese women and Black American women are linked together because they are victims, although they have almost nothing else in common. I think this is wrongly grouping because women shouldn’t be characterized and grouped based on being victims. Women as a whole shouldn’t be able to be grouped because they are victims. I think women need to escape the position of being dependent on men and avoid being recognized and put together because of their shared status of victims.

The other article, “Whose Security?”, by Charlotte Bunch, goes into detail about the national security measures taken after 9/11. She describes how the Bush administrations goals and actions actually served to hurt the women’s rights movement and take away their efforts towards human security. As she explains, 9/11 could have, and should have, generated efforts to bolster women’s human rights campaigns, whereas instead, the Bush administration took advantage of it to invade Islamic countries and take military action. I was also outraged to read about Mary Robinson and how she was stripped of her job because she stood up for women’s rights movements and pointed attention to human rights abuses. I think this sort of action is ridiculous and need to be made available for public scrutiny. I think if a story like this was made more public, something could have been done about it, and things like this could have been prevented in the future. I also found it horrible that the Bush administration used women’s rights as a tool to garner support for the war. He claimed abuses to women’s rights in the Islamic culture, which would boost women’s support of invading Islamic countries. I think this is awful to trick the American people into supporting a war in which they did nothing to aid women’s rights, and instead acted militarily and justify certain uses of torture.

I think that these military resources need to be used to address women’s rights both in this country and abroad. Bush did have a good idea on helping women’s rights efforts abroad, but I think the administration need to actually follow through and do something good for women. As Bunch explains, it is hard to determine what is best to do to help both the domestic and the global community, but we can all benefit from feminist activities around the world.

Class 11_12

Maria Cristina Rangel’s article, “Knowledge is Power” discusses her experience as a college student with children, and her experience with welfare. She details her constant fear meeting with the welfare representative and fearing that her benefits will be taken away. She says that if her benefits are taken away, her education is taken away, and her education is everything. This article is significant because of the welfare reforms that happened in 1996. Many single mothers are living across the country, all trying to live off of welfare, or even trying to just get on it. As Rangel writes about, she gets barely enough benefits to live. She expresses her frustration at the system and the reforms that took place. This is a complicated issue which women in our government helped to pass. It is a crazy law that a woman cannot pursue higher education and receive welfare at the same time. I also find it a little weird that this law was passed because the government felt that women on welfare were “gimme girls” who were taking advantage of the government. I do not know how the government could think that, when extremely poor women need welfare so badly.

The other article, “The Lady and the Tramp(II): Feminist Welfare Politics, Poor Single Mothers, and the Challenge of Welfare Justice”, by Gwendolyn Mink is about her role in her most recent job, Women’s Committee of 100. Initially she struggled with her job because she felt like she was becoming like the women she criticized in her book. She talks about the war against poor women and discusses that poor women are, “the only people in America forced by law to work outside the home. They are the only people in America whose decisions to bear children are punished by government” (pg. 497). This is such a critical statement because the government and legislative authorities do not consider mothers as working people. They don’t compensate women for their work inside the home, but instead force them to work outside the home and shirk their responsibilities as mothers. She also brings up a good point that women aren’t awarded for their jobs as mothers, but CEO’s of companies who make outstanding salaries are praised extensively. The main point that stood out to me is that these working mothers are, “forced either by law or by economic circumstance to choose wages over children” (pg. 497). This is a crucial point, but one that I never would have thought of on my own. I never viewed it as a choice, wages or children, because my mom was able to stay home with me, as were other mothers. However, in many families across the country, women do have to make that choice, and since the natural choice for women is children, women end up in poverty and need to aid of welfare. This is a serious problem in our country, because of the welfare reform programs passed in 1996.

Newsflash: Fighting to Outlaw Abortion

Article URL: Three State Ballot Initiatives Push Choice to Edge

Arcana, Judith. “Abortion is a Motherhood Issue.”

Frye, Marilyn. "Oppression." Feminist Frontiers. By Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier and Leila J. Rupp. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages, 2007. 7-9.

Smith, Andrea. "Beyond Pro-Choice and Pro-Life: Women of Color and Reproductive Justice." Feminist Frontiers. By Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier and Leila J. Rupp. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages, 2007. 389-400.

In today’s world, when the word “abortion” is mentioned, an automatic divide forms: pro-choice or pro-life. However, thanks to the women’s rights movement, and guaranteed (at least temporarily) under the decision of Roe v. Wade, women today have the option to have an abortion when they become pregnant. This has not always been the case, and it might not always stay the case. Recent state laws are infringing on a woman’s right to choose for herself whether to support abortion or not. Specifically, in the upcoming weeks, three states will have to vote on recent legislation which severely hampers the pro-choice movement. South Dakota’s “Measure 11”, California’s “Proposition 4”, and Colorado’s “Amendment 48” all point to the fact that women’s rights are being put to the test across the entire country, and that Roe v Wade is in jeopardy, and might become extinct with the next Presidential election.

The first legislation, South Dakota’s “Measure 11” is the newest push to ban all abortions in the state. Last year, this same legislation was rejected because it didn’t include any clauses; this year “Measure 11” has included exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, or if the woman’s health of life is in danger. According to a Mason-Dixon poll, 44% of voters were found in favor of the legislation, 44% against it, and 12% undecided, with a margin of error of 3.5% (Ginty, pg 2). However, voters have no answers as to what qualifies as health exceptions. According to many voters and state residents, they are afraid to test the waters. This is the same on the doctors’ side; they have to choose whether to break the law, or to commit a crime. If this law passes, and they perform and abortion, they could be stuck with felony charges and up to 10 years in jail (Ginty, pg 2). The one Planned Parenthood clinic in all of South Dakota, led by director Celine Richards, believes that if this legislation passes, it will be all to easy to overturn Roe v Wade (Ginty, pg 2-3). This Planned Parenthood is also the only clinic that performs abortions in the state, and it also caters to women in neighboring states. If this legislation passes, many women will have to travel further and pay more to have an abortion.

The second legislation, California’s “Proposition 4”, is only slightly weaker than South Dakota’s proposal, intending for women under the age of 18 to be legally required to notify their parents if they choose to have an abortion. The women must also then wait 48 hours between the time of notification and choosing to have the procedure. This legislation does not include exceptions for if the girl was impregnated due to incest or if her family is abusive. However, it does provide that a woman can tell an older family member, such as a grandparent. Nonetheless, the parents are still bound to find out, because if a woman does choose to tell someone but her parents, the parents must be investigated on charges of being abusive. As soon as the investigation began, they would be notified of what they are being charged with. In a recent poll, 44% supported it, 52% were opposed, and 4% were undecided, with a margin of error of 3% (Ginty, pg 3). Many people opposed to this law fear that it will only frighten pregnant teens and spur on a wave of unconventional, and sometimes unsafe, abortions. Similar to South Dakota’s problem, many teens from neighboring states come to California to have an abortion in order to avoid their own parental notification laws. These women as well will then have to travel even further, or turn to riskier procedures to abort their fetus.

The third, and last, legislation is Colorado’s “Amendment 48” which would state that fetus’ have human rights as of the day of their conception. This means that if women are undernourished, or naturally abort their child, they can be accused of murder. Even more harmful to women’s rights is the inclusion of the ban on in-vitro fertilization, the IUD, emergency contraception, and regular birth control, because, according to the state, these could all serve to dislodge a fetus from the wall of the uterus, thus causing an abortion. The state also plans on cancelling all its stem cell research. In this poll, 48% of voters are opposed, 30% are for it, and 22% are undecided, with a margin of error of 4%. In this legislation, there is also no clause for women pregnant due to rape, incest, or if the mother’s health or life are at risk. If this legislation is passed, it will take away most of women’s rights, and is capable of even charging them of murder if they experience a miscarriage.

All three of these possible legislations places Roe v. Wade severely in jeopardy and, as many believe, are only precursors to Roe v. Wade being overturned. According to Ginty, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, and laws on abortion are back in the hands of the states, 21 states will completely ban abortion, and another 9 will make attempts to narrow its terms (Ginty, pg 1). The effects of these legislations, if passed, would have catastrophic effects on our country. First of all, as proved in class when discussing the history of abortion, just because abortion might be illegal, does not mean that abortions will not occur. In fact, according to the statistics given in class, in 1890, when abortion was illegal, around 2 million abortions were performed. Nowadays, even though abortion is legal, only 1.5 million abortions are performed each year. Given these statistics, if abortion was made illegal, the number of abortions would not fall, but they would most likely rise. With all this new legislation, the safety of these abortions would also become worse, and women would be subjected to much more risk. For example, as discussed in class, women must be admitted to a hospital to have an abortion during the second trimester, since anesthesia is used. However, if abortions were legal (and because hospitals are so tightly regulated), women would not be able to be admitted to a hospital to have an abortion, and instead would be subject to going back to her home, in which case the risks to her health multiply.

Along these lines, if a fetus had human rights, as proposed by the Colorado government, many more women would be criminalized and put in jail. According to the law, women who engage in sports and have a miscarriage, or who don’t take good care of their health and miscarriage, will be subject to court, and possibly jail. Similar to Alison Smith’s article, “Beyond Pro-Choice and Pro-Life”, this legislation would only serve to support this country’s prison system, and exacerbate racial roles in our society (Smith, pg 390). According to Smith, pro-life supporters view abortion as a criminal act. This is the same with Colorado’s proposed legislation. If more and more women are found to be criminals, more and more women will end up in jail. On top of this, many more white women will be able to “get away” with their miscarriages and/or abortions than black women will. This is supported by our discussion in class that when abortion was illegal, white women usually have more money and resources to be able to have a legal abortion. If this legislation passes, women will have to travel to a different state to have an abortion. This involves the money needed to travel, the money for the procedure and hospital stay, the means of transportation, and the ability to take time off from their job. Many women in poverty (many of which are black), do not have these vital resources and thus would not be able to have a legal abortion. They would either have to persuade a doctor to do the procedure illegally, or turn to methods used when abortion was illegal.

According to Ginty, if these laws are passed, this could lead to similar legislation in other states, and eventually the ban on all abortions, across the country. This is similar to Marilyn Frye’s article, “Oppression” and her model of a bird cage (Frye, pg 8). When looking at one single bar, for example one state opposed to abortion, you think that you can fly around it, by having an abortion in another state. However, with this legislation, more and more bars are being put up to prohibit a woman from choosing her future. Beginning with parental notification and mandatory waiting period laws, then moving to laws giving fetus’ human rights, and finally to state-wide bans on all abortions and no access to birth control, women’s freedom and liberties are slowly being stripped away. As Judith Arcana states, “Abortion is a motherhood issue” (Arcana, pg. 1). The choice of a mother to abort is her choice. As Arcana describes, from her experience working at an abortion clinic, not one woman took this decision lightly. They all weighed their decision. All the women there were also all different; they were all of different races, classes, religious beliefs, and moral convictions. At the end of the day, abortion should be the decision of the mother. The government, and men in particular (of which the government is mainly composed of), have no right to make legislation to take away our decisions. As Arcana describes, “Sometimes, though, the separation occurs because we have lost sight of the fact that abortion is not only about women getting pregnant, but also about babies growing inside women’s bodies. When that happens, we forget that abortion is, in the ordinary motherhood-type way, the concern of women who are taking responsibility for the lives of their children” (Arcana, pg 1). In this sense, women make the decision to abort or not, based on their ability to provide for that child. If a woman cannot provide or care for their child, then some women believe that it is in the child’s best interest to abort. In that sense, lawmakers can never be in the position to make that judgment call. Lawmakers can never go around deciding for women whether they have the resources to parent a child. Because of this, lawmakers should never be able to pass legislation that will outlaw abortion; by doing so, they are potentially allowing a child to be born in an environment in which their parents cannot provide for them.

Ultimately, these three new potential legislations severely limit women’s rights, and could potentially lead to Roe v. Wade being overturned. By passing this legislation, women will have their opinions and convictions taken away from them. They will not be able to make the right choices for themselves or their potential children. Lawmakers should never have a say in this, as in the end, abortion is a women’s issue. Women should have the right, always, to decide whether to parent their child, or to have an abortion.

Class 11_5

When looking up Connecticut’s laws on same-sex marriages, I was surprised to find that a bill was just passed this month allowing same-sex marriages to occur. I learned that we were the second state after Vermont to allow civil unions, and as the verdict of Kerrigan and Mock v Connecticut Department of Public Health, as of November 12, 2008, same-sex marriages will be legal. Connecticut is the only the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court ruled that civil unions are discriminatory and that the law must yield to more contemporary versions of marriage, including same-sex couples. While I have always been aware that Connecticut was a pretty liberal state, I had no idea that a same-sex marriage law was even being debated, and I was surprised to find out that it passed. However, many opponents are working towards passing a law to ban all same-sex marriages. I am in complete support of legalizing same-sex marriages due to the vast amount of federal and state benefits given only to heterosexual married couples.

While I am aware of some of the benefits, others are less obvious, as seen from reading the same-sex marriage FAQ’s. I don’t understand how people can be against allowing same-sex partners hospital visitation rights, family protection (especially if the couple has children), tax cuts, or anything else. I was surprised how states can actually believe that civil unions grant the same rights as marriage, and how they can call it separate but equal. This, to me, is the same case as when blacks were given civil rights and the government referred to them as separate but equal. It is clear that they are not the same things, so why call them the same? While I understand that some civil unions and same-sex marriages are not recognized in other states, those people should still be granted the rights that those couples are given in those states. Just because those people don’t live in the states that they are married in, they should still be given the benefits.

As we mentioned in class, the government and the economy would benefit from allowing same-sex marriages. The wedding industry would experience immense increases in income, and Bush would realize his goal in increasing marriage rates. As Nancy Naples discusses in her article, “Queer Parenting in the New Millennium”, the Bush administration has allocated massive amounts of money towards promoting “traditional marriage”. Instead of this, the government should encourage marriage of any kind, and make it fair and accessible for same-sex couples to marry. It is not fair to give benefits to people only if they are a married heterosexual couple.

Class 10_29

The article, “Abortion, Vacuum Cleaners, and the Power Within”, bu Inga Muscio discusses her experience going through three abortions-two done the traditional way, and one done naturally/organically. While I admire her choice not to parent a child, I do wonder about her being responsible. I would think that after getting pregnant once, or even twice, one would learn to use birth control more carefully and regularly. I feel for her though and I would never want to go through the pain of an abortion. I was also very interested in hearing about an organic abortion. I have never heard of them before, and I wonder about the validity of them, and whether they actually work all the time. If so, I would wonder why more people don’t use these instead of going through the pain of a traditional abortion.

Going into politics, I was not surprised when doing research on the presidential candidates’ stances on abortion. Barack Obama strongly supports the pro-choice movement and believes that it is a woman’s choice what to do with her body. Barack Obama’s website has a specific webpage dedicated to women and women’s issues. He also wants to make birth control more widespread and easily accessible in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies. He also wants to promote sexual education and end discrimination preventing birth control. I strongly agree with Obama and believe that it is every woman’s choice. I see no problem with individual women being pro-life, but don’t take that choice and that option away from other women. It should not be anyone’s decision but a woman’s to have a baby.

On the other side of the road, McCain and Palin are staunchly against abortion. On their website, McCain pledges to nominate conservatives to the Supreme Court and overturn Roe v. Wade. He also wants to give funding and aid the pro-life supporters to continue to make abortion illegal. I cannot fully write how much this bothers me. Before last class I had no idea how strongly I believe in pro-choice. Now, reading McCain’s website makes me furious. The thought of trying to overturn Roe v. Wade and making abortion illegal is absolutely absurd. I think it is so unfair to promote something where a government has the right to make a decision for all women across the entire country. While I hope that it will never happen, it is such an unfair predicament. Again, while I can understand how people can be pro-life, there is no need to take away a woman’s choice. I cannot understand how it is fair to have the government decide women’s lives and health. In the end, I think we need to get past the dichotomy of pro-choice and pro-life. There needs to be another point of view, where people can be ok with women making decisions for themselves, while still not supporting abortion.

Class 10_27

The article, “And So I Chose” by Allison Crews discusses her choice to become a teenage mother. She also discusses how she felt growing up around her pro-life mother. One particular part of the article was especially interesting-Allison’s last protest she attended with her mother. I find this interesting because she says she remembers wishing that she could help the girl who was leaving the clinic. I found this different since she had grown up with a pro-life mother and was attending a pro-life rally, yet she felt for the girl having an abortion. I liked the fact that in the end she was pro-choice, not because she thought everyone should have an abortion-but because every woman should have a choice. Even though she decided to keep her baby, she is still pro-choice because she chose her future instead of letting society, her mother, or her friends sway her.

I found it hard however, the part where everyone was trying to make the decision for her. It was upsetting hearing how she spent so much of her time crying and upset, and how a couple had already been picked out to adopt her baby. “I was told, over and over again, that teenage girls are immature, they are selfish, they can’t possibly decide what is best, and so other must step in and make these choices for them”. I was bothered by this quote because I believe that girls are not always immature and that women should be able to choose for themselves whether to raise their children or not. I was disturbed at the fact that other people felt the need to take away that choice.

The other article, “Beyond Pro-Choice versus Pro-Life: Women of Color and Reproductive Justice”, by Andrea Smith discusses the dichotomy of the pro-choice and pro-life debate. I found it interesting how Smith found flaws in both sides of the debate, and proposed moving away from that dichotomy to something more encompassing. I was surprised by the argument against pro-life being the prison system. On my own, I have never heard the two compared, but when reading her argument, it made a lot of sense. I liked the connection between how pro-life supporters view abortion as a crime, and how punishment is incarceration. Therefore, one could say that pro-life supporters actually endorse the prison system. I also liked how she pointed out that, “Prisons simply are not only ineffective institutions for addressing social concerns, they drain resources from institutions that could be more effective”. I agree with this point in the sense that so much of our nation’s money goes to supporting and enlarging the prison system, yet that money could be spent on much more useful and helpful institutions.

The argument against pro-choice links to the title of the article, that pro-choice supporters aren’t necessarily providing the choice for poor women or women of color. Pro-choice really means that women who have enough economic resources or the availability have a choice in whether to abort their child or not. While I understand that many government policies make this situation worse, without them, abortion might be outlawed. I find these government policies almost a compromise; that abortion will be legal in this country, but the government will not assist people in having abortions. Therefore, without this legislation, abortion might not be allowed. I found this article very interesting and useful as it highlighted the issues with both sides of the dichotomy.

Class 10_15

Today’s article, “Hormonal Hurricanes” by Anne Fausto-Sterling shocked me at the lack of intelligence so called “physicians” had in the early 20th century. I still can’t believe that women were though incapable of doing certain tasks because of their biological nature. I think this definitely has something to say about our society today and how women are treated as incapable. I think this stereotype has festered for years and now it is growing harder to overcome. I found it interesting, and related back to our class discussions, the fact that men are “normal” and anything different from men (i.e. women) are abnormal and thus deviant. Also relating back to class, I was struck by the double bind that women are placed in in today’s society. “Caught in her hormonal windstorm, she strives to attain normality but can do so only by rejecting her biological uniqueness, for that too is essentially deformed: a double bind indeed”. I found this extremely interesting how women are treated as being abnormal and not qualified to hold positions of power because they have menstrual cycles and menopause, yet we receive no credit for being the child bearers. We have a unique biology and create humankind, but yet we are not capable of a task such as serving as President. This relates back to the double bind discussed earlier of sexually active women: how if a girl has sex at a young age she is called a slut and worries about her parents finding out, but if a girl resists sex then she is seen as a prude or a lesbian. I think women are constantly put into double binds, and this might be a reason why women are never happy with who they are in society today.

The other article, “Loose Lips Sink Ships” discusses the relatively new procedure of vaginal plastic surgery. Referring back to our class discussion of advertising, I think this plays a large part in how women view themselves. The article discusses how women look at other women in Playboy and wish that their vagina would look similar. I think this is yet another extreme way that American women transform their bodies to fit this impossible mold that is pressed onto us. Where the article discussed intersexed surgery I was again reminded of our reading of Middlesex and how culture dominates sex. As a surgeon quotes, “It’s easier to poke a hole than build a pole”. I think this says a lot about our culture taking the easy route out, as well as saying something about our culture. We are quick to turn to surgery because intersexed condition is “threatening to the infant’s culture”, but we don’t consider the ramifications on that person’s livelihood once they grow up. I enjoyed the end of the article discussing how instead of turning to surgery we should turn to self admiration. I think so many women in this country need to learn to love their bodies how they are without the quick fix of plastic surgery. I think the self esteem level of women has gotten so low, and it needs to be raised up.

Class 10_13

The field trip this past weekend was definitely a great insight into how women’s rights came about, as well a great bonding day for our class. I especially enjoyed going to the Women’s Rights museum and seeing all the exhibits. I liked the chart that showed which professions are “women’s” versus which are male dominated. It was also interesting learning about the different fashions that women wore. I thought it was disgusting how corsets could alter and harm a woman’s body so much. Seeing the picture of a woman’s body after wearing a corset was incredible: their ribs were squished together and pushed downward, their waist actually narrowed, and all their internal organs compressed. I can’t believe that women would actually want to wear that in order to look pretty. I also found it interesting seeing how different men’s and women’s wages were in all different occupations; there is quite a wage gap in our country.

This is also related to Valdés’ article, “Ruminations of a Feminist Fitness Instructor”. It was sad to read that she couldn’t pursue her dreams in life because she would be incredibly in debt. Although she says she felt empowered and earned fame and recognition as a fitness instructor, that was not what she wanted to do in life. I was happy that at the end of the article she was able to live with her debt and be happy pursuing her career. One question I had though was why she was not able to be a writer and a fitness instructor; this would allow her to follow her dreams as well as earning some money so she didn’t fall too far into debt. This relates to a couple class discussions we have had in which women are either not hired in certain fields, or if they are, they receive much lower wages. I find this so discriminatory and I wish we could live in world with total equality for the sexes.

I also thoroughly enjoyed reading Chernik’s article, “The Body Politic”. While I found it sad reading about her living 5 years of her life with anorexia, I think it sends a good message to society. Today, women feel incredible pressure to look a certain way. We use words like “muffin top” or “fat rolls”, which in reality don’t even exist. I think this is enhanced by advertising as well as celebrities. We constantly hear stories of how certain actresses are told to lose weight in order to keep their jobs. I think this is a horrible aspect of our society. We are also a comparative society; we compare our bodies to those of other people with different body dimensions. For example, we might be 5’4” and criticize ourselves for how much heavier we are than a model who is 5’10”. We grew up on barbies and dolls who have “perfect” bodies and faces, when in reality this is unattainable. I think there are certain good and bad aspects about everyone’s body and we need to realize that it might not always be greener on the other side. Everyone wants what they don’t have. Women should be able to be happy in their own skin without other people calling them fat or worrying about losing their jobs. I also think this is incredibly prevalent on our campus. So many women at Colgate are always on diets or worrying about what they look like that many of them turn anorexic. It worries me a lot, especially since most of them resist help. I wish everyone would be able to eat and respect their bodies the way we should.

Class 10_8

The article, “Lusting for Freedom” by Rebecca Walker, discusses sex as a means of pleasure rather than procreation. She discusses how she put on a different persona with each man she was sexually involved with. I admired her honesty with how young she was the first time she had sex. At the same time I think she is incredibly lucky that she didn’t wind up with a bad man who didn’t want to let her go. Although she says there was something inside her that kept her safe, and that her knowledge kept her from harm, she could have wound up with a man who wanted to abuse her, etc. This article also relates back to our discussion in class about the division between sexual acts for pleasure and for procreation. We discussed how heterosexuality has become compulsory because of the need to reproduce. This article takes a different route: she is involved in heterosexual relationships for pleasure. He has no intention of getting pregnant or starting a family, she has sex to discover herself and to gain knowledge. While I agree with her that women should “live free of shame, that my body is not my enemy and that pleasure is my friend and my right”, I also think that women need to be careful. I don’t think that women should just have sex to experience pleasure at a young age. I think there are so many dangers with that, such as pregnancy, abusive relationships, or sexually transmitted diseases that women need to be aware and careful of. Most women are not aware of these dangers when they are young, so I don’t advocate for young women to have sex.

The other article, “Tight Jeans and Chania Chorris”, by Sonia Shah discusses sexuality and feminism intertwined with culture. Sonia comes to a realization that when discussing her feminist viewpoints and sexuality with her parents, she needs to put a cultural spin on it. She tries to stop her sister from dressing provocatively and being so caught up with boys, and also tries to explain to her father why she likes ungendered nouns and stops shaving her legs and armpits. However, neither of her parents can understand because it is all through a western viewpoint. It is only after her sister goes to India that she understands she needs to communicate through Indian culture. This shows how different sexuality and sex is viewed in our country versus how it may be viewed in other parts of the world. I think this is important to note because we discuss heterosexuality and feminism strictly in a Western viewpoint, and I’d be interested to see how it is viewed in other parts of the world. For example how we were discussing in class what it would be like if our world was primarily homosexual. I’m sure that somewhere in the world this is the case, and it would be interesting to read about.

Class 10_6

I found Adrienne Rich’s, “Compulsory Heterosexuality” especially interesting given the recent events with the economy. Rich argues that because of external influences (such as fairy tales, television, or books), women feel inferior to men, and thus need to be heterosexual in order to survive in today’s economy. For example, she discusses a woman’s place in the workplace, and how no matter what job it is, women are always at the bottom of the ladder. She says that women must accept this sexual harassment or be called “dried up” or “lesbian”. Because of this economic separation, many women are forced to be heterosexual, or at least to marry a man, for financial stability. Also, she argues that a woman’s job depends on her pretending to be heterosexual, or attractive to males. I think this type of thinking is so unfair in today’s world. I think that women should be able to obtain the best job they can and be able to be self-sufficient. Women should not need to be married in order to live on our own, or conduct our own affairs; we should not be dependent

I also found the report from Norway ridiculous, that a woman was not allowed to be a lesbian. I found it incredibly cruel that a doctor would not allow her to be a lesbian, but instead subjected her to six months of rape, and she was not allowed to leave. This is also similar to the history surrounding lesbians. As Rich says, lesbians were given the death penalty, “witches” and widows were burned or tortured, and even today close friendships among women are looked down upon (Rich, 14-15). I find it incredible that these people were subjected to punishment solely based upon the fact that they were close with other women. I find it ridiculous that so many people would agree that there was something “wrong” with these women and they needed to be killed; this definitely says something about our “system” in society, and how patriarchy can be taken to an extreme.

I also found Gilbert’s article, “You’re not the Type” very interesting. I think it’s so true that today, if a friend got pregnant, your reaction would be to think that they weren’t the “type”, without actually thinking about what type that is. I think we are quick to judge others without really analyzing the situation. As she says, many people probably that she was “too smart” or “too sophisticated” to get pregnant at such a young age. People don’t get the full story before judging them. She is also extremely looked down upon in our society because she is a lesbian, a feminist, and a single mother. As she says, statistically, she was not meant to succeed. I admire her devotion to completing school and managing a career, all while raising a child; in reality, it is not an easy thing to accomplish. I think this is a view point that needs to be changed in our society however. People shouldn’t look down upon young mothers and assume that they will never amount to anything in life. I think people should spend more time helping these women, rather than degrading them. I admire her art teacher, for treating her like a normal person and not excusing her because of her “handicap”. I think there should be more people like that in today’s world that will encourage young mothers, or feminists, or lesbians to achieve greatness in the world, and not look down upon them for their convictions or decisions.

Newsflash: Women in Poverty in New York City

Article URL: http://wenews.ioco.com/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3753

Bowen, Alison. "Crisis Likely to Deepen Women's Poverty in New York." 25 Sept. 2008. 26 Sept. 2008 .

Frye, Marilyn. "Oppression." Feminist Frontiers. By Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier and Leila J. Rupp. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages, 2007. 7-9.

McIntosh, Peggy. "White Privilege and Male Privilege." Feminist Frontiers. By Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier and Leila J. Rupp. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages, 2007. 9-15.

Smith, Taigi. "This Place Called Home." Listen Up : Voices from the Next Feminist Generation. Ed. Barbara Findlen. New York: Seal P, 2001. 281-87.


With the state of the economy today, it is becoming increasingly difficult to be a woman living in poverty in New York. While poverty is a widespread issue, it mainly affects women, since so many women are single mothers supporting their entire family. In addition, even when women can manage to hold the same jobs as men, they are often not paid as high of a salary. Many women, such as Tanya Fields are facing crises such as housing eviction, and are earning barely enough money to support their families (Bowen, pg.1). With the looming possibility of a bail out plan for financial institutions, the future gets even murkier, and for many women, their finances are on shaky ground. Extending this farther, women of color are at an even worse disadvantage since they earn well below what a Caucasian woman earns. The economy today has become very gender biased, causing women to be forced to live and suffer the abuse of poverty.

According to Janet, she stayed with an abusive partner only because she relied on him to pay for rent and food in order to survive. As she states, “Poverty is a form of abuse, she said. ‘It harms the mind and the spirit.’” (Bowen, pg. 1). Poverty is extremely widespread today, and as the New York Women’s Foundation’s June report states, “New York women are more likely to be poor now than in 1989”, which is a scary thought. Today, when discussing Wall Street, the talk automatically turns to the upcoming bail out plan, which the House of Representatives just denied passage. The plan would entail having the government buy around $700 billion worth of assets; some argued this would rip off taxpayers, and hurt the poor even more. A Bowen states, the effects of this will not be overlooked; as more and more Wall Street workers are laid off, more and more service workers will also find themselves without a job. Many of these people will be women who live in poverty. This will bring an extreme crisis as people will no longer be able to support their families unless they can find other jobs. However, the job market also seems to be going downhill.

To make matters worse, the problems in the economy will hurt African American women the most. Similar to the neighborhood depicted in Taigi Smith’s, “This Place Called Home”, many African Americans live in near-poverty conditions in New York City. However, she thought she would feel comfortable around people who she could connect with. Her neighbors though, did not have such a high paying job as Taigi did, and thus she continued to feel uncomfortable. This is not far from the truth, and many poor Americans happen to be African American. They tend to have worse jobs, earning far lower wages, with the average earnings of a Caucasian woman totaling to $39,700 and of an African American woman totaling only $33,800. This is a significant drop in income, caused in part by the types of job the women have, and also in part because of the family conditions they were raised in. As Diana Salas explains in this article, “Although poverty is identified as a problem, Salas said, policies don't target women, specifically women of color” (Bowen, pg. 1). This is something that needs to be changed, especially when concerning the economy, to allow for equal opportunities and equality between women and men.

As stated in Forbes’ Magazine, New York City was ranked the most expensive city. Here, people can afford to pay rent on a two bedroom apartment only; they cannot afford life’s other necessities (Bowen, pg. 3). This illustrates the actual abuse women living in poverty must endure. They have a hard time obtaining jobs, which means they have a hard time keeping their apartments or houses, and therefore they cannot afford to buy enough food, clothing, or other necessities that life requires them to. In turn this requires many women to either life with a husband they don’t care for, or live with a family member and rely on someone else’s income. Neither option is very enticing; in the end women are forced to be dependent on other people, they cannot be self-sufficient. Because of this, women are portrayed as being weaker than men because they cannot support themselves and their families on their own. Poverty is therefore a real abuse that needs to be amended in order to see equality between the genders. Although not all people living in poverty are women, the vast majority are, and need to be helped.

The bail out plan of Wall Street, although blocked, will ultimately be reconstructed into another plan to aid the failing markets. This plan, however helpful to the financial world, will only increase the oppression of women. The situation of women living in poverty in New York is similar to the bird cage example given by Frye. When looking close up, you can see the bars of the bird cage as obstacles, such as a job, money, a family, their gender, and their race. When looking at only one element, you can devise ways around it and you can see possibilities for that woman. However when you combine all the elements, you can see that these women really are trapped. As Frye states, “It is the experience of being caged in: all avenues, in every direction, are blocked or booby-trapped” (Frye, pg. 8). For example, a black, single mother, with a minimum wage job has relatively little hope of earning enough to support her family, or having the option of moving into a larger house. It is for this reason why poverty is a form of abuse. It forces women into corners with no options. As seen in the example mentioned earlier, many women turn towards their significant others to support them, even if that includes an abusive marriage. In situations like these, women have no choice, no escape plan; they are at the will of their caretaker.

For these reasons, it is imperative to implement a financial bail out plan that will aim to help women living in poverty. Instead of just helping the financial giants, it should propose a plan to help people facing foreclosure, people with a very low income, and single mothers with families. This is similar to the ideas discussed in Peggy McIntosh’s article, “White Privilege and Male Privilege”. In her article, McIntosh argues that while many people see others as having a disadvantage, they never consider that because of this, others must be at an advantage. This is similar to the financial problems in today’s society because while many saw the bail out plan as a disadvantage for others, they never considered that it might put them at an advantage. For example, the bail out plan might take money from taxpayers (hurting the poor especially), or there could be a run on the dollar. On the other hand, this would make Wall Street workers at an advantage because they would not be losing their jobs, they would still earn money, and their companies would be saved. This idea is assuming that most Wall Street workers are male while most poverty-stricken people are female. This furthers the notion that men gain advantages from women’s disadvantages because male privilege is very rarely recognized. Men don’t realize that they are at an advantage, so nothing is done to correct their behavior in society. If Congress, or Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke, the Treasury Secretary and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, took the time to consider the disadvantages of others, they might be able to realize that they are at an advantage and change the bail out plan to accommodate others. This would then hopefully lead to a downturn in poverty, and thus more equality between men and women. Hopefully more women would be relieved of the abuse they are suffering.

It is for these reasons that women convene in New York City, and other locations around the world, in order to voice their concerns and tell their stories. I commend the “A Day of Voices: Women's Tribunal on Poverty” because it highlights how poor these women are and how much help they need (Bowen, pg. 1). While the United Nations is including eradicating poverty by 2015 as one of their goals, this might not be enough. More women need to come forward and force others to hear them in order for change to take place.

As countless women suffer each day, it is impossible to recognize poverty as anything other than abuse. Women are being forced into this position, which only strengthens the divide between males and females. Women continue to be viewed as being weak because they are dependent on others. Males and people in power of Wall Street need to recognize that they are at an advantage and should be responsible for helping people like this. Overall, this shows the abuse women go through on a daily basis, and how in reality, they are trapped inside a giant birdcage, which has blocked all routes of escape. The oppression of women is real, and they are aware of the message, “Mold. Immobilize. Reduce.” (Frye, pg.1).

Class 10_1

When reading the final book in Middlesex, I was brought back to our conversation held in class on Monday. The last part of this book features Callie’s decision to change her physical appearance into that of a male’s. At the very beginning of the book she reads Dr. Luce’s evaluation of herself, and discovers that she is in fact a boy, not a girl. This discovery prompts her to look up the definition of “hypospadiac” in the dictionary, which ends up leading to the word, “Monster”. I found this very alarming how words like hypospadiac and hermaphrodite lead to the word monster. This truly shows how much of a closed culture we are, and how reluctant we are to accept others that are different from us.

As a result, Cal then proceeds to cut her hair, buy a suit, and head to California. This transformation is similar to the one Myhre went through in her article “One Bad Hair Day”. In order to be more like a feminist, she cut her hair, stopped shaving her legs and armpits, and dressed in more gender neutral clothing. This is similar to Cal’s reaction of Dr. Luce’s discoveries. However, it is in California that Cal begins to get comfortable with his body, working at Bob Presto’s strip club, displaying his body to strangers. Here he takes a liking to Zora, and learns more about hermaphrodites, finally not feeling so isolated in the world.

Farther on in the book we learn about the betrayal of Father Mike to Milton. I was absolutely shocked when the “kidnapper” turned out to be Mike, and how he coaxed Milton to give him $25,000. This related back to what we discussed in class about relationships and sympathy for the characters. I think that throughout the entire book we have sympathized with Father Mike because of how his life played out. However after reading the book, I am found with no sympathy for Father Mike, and instead feel incredibly sad that Milton died. I found myself wishing that Father Mike would have received a harder sentence than two years in jail.

Along these same lines, I remember discussing the traditional Greek storyline in the book about testing the Gods and trying to alter ones fate. I linked this back to the actions of Milton. As he says himself, he constantly doubts his decision to give into this “kidnapper” and hand him $25,000. As Cal describes the situation, “Milton, quite simply, had ceased to think things through. What was he doing out there on the dark train platform? Why did he go out there alone?” (pg. 503). I think this is another example of the Stephanides family attempting to change fate instead of letting the Gods take over. This extends the theme of Greek into the story line farther, finally ending with a traditional Greek funeral for Milton.

Class 9_29

The novel Middlesex has proved to be an interesting and captivating read. It has been awhile since reading a novel, and it is a nice break from the traditional articles read in all classes. The book is especially interesting in the sense that it is both very connected to real life, while also varies from the traditional family story. While following Callie/Cal through her/his life, you are struck with similarities to ourselves growing up, as well as seemingly blatant clues hinting that something is wrong with Callie. Right from the beginning you can distinguish this novel from reality, with the marriage of Callie’s grandparents.

Many stories also stick out as being funny for a normal “girl”. For instance when she practices kissing with Clementine, you get a hint that Callie is not exactly a traditional girl. This novel considerably stretches the boundary of a normal childhood. For instance when she is at the Obscure Object’s vacation house, she is found making out with Jerome, while the Object is preoccupied with Rex. In a traditional society, this is thought of as normal behavior. However, Callie feels weird about the situation, as she says, “her heart is not into it”. On the other hand, she feels more comfortable with the Object and doesn’t feel awkward or wrong when she is with her at night.

Also, as she hits puberty, and her body refuses to change, you would think that her mother would do something about it. Even though Callie faked her period, I think that a mother would be able to realize the act, and take Callie to see a doctor. Also, judging from her feelings for the Obscure Object, and their affair over the summer, you would think Callie would realize something was wrong. I think it is normal for a pubescent teenager to want to have their period, and thus want to go to the doctor to figure out if something was wrong. I don’t think any child wants to feel “left out” or “fallen behind”.

The ideas in this book relate back to Lorber’s article “Night to His Day”. She discusses the social construction of gender, which we can clearly see with Callie. Even though she is biologically partially male, she was brought up as a girl, so everyone sees her as a girl. She has long hair, she shaves her legs and armpits, and she pretends to be grossed out by things, or act such as a traditional girl would. I have a feeling the consequences of these actions will surface in Book 4, when both Callie and her family must confront the fact that she is in fact a male. I think that she will start dressing and acting as a traditional male would, thus enforcing her new gender identity. Thus, in this novel I can clearly see how nurture comes before nature in a way. Because of the way she was raised, Callie fits into the “feminine” gender, and thus acts like one. Nature is somewhat disregarded until age 14. Overall, I think the novel so far has questioned nature versus nurture and caused us to question what is normal in society.

Class 9_24

Suzanne Kessler’s article, “The Medical Construction of Gender” discusses the occurrences of intersexed infants. This idea is rarely discussed in our culture and after reading the article, I would think most people would never want to be in a similar situation. She discusses how some babies are born without a distinct sex; they are neither inherently male nor female. In these cases the parents and doctors must work to try and discover the true sex of the child, and then once discovered, they must correct the outward appearance. I found this article difficult to read, in the sense that I could not imagine being a parent of an intersexed child. While I agree with most parents cited that changing the outward appearance of the child would be necessary, I’m not so sure I agree with the process of deciding what the child’s true sex is.

Many of the pediatricians and physicians cited in this article say that they judge a child’s sex based solely on the size and looks of the phallus. For example, Kessler gives the example of a child with XX chromosomes and a normal female reproductive system, yet also with a “perfect” penis. Where some doctors would advocate raising this child as male, I think I would want to raise it as a female. In my opinion, I would want the least amount of pain or humiliation done to my child. If the problem could be fixed with simple surgery, and no hormone therapy was necessary, that would be the path I would choose.

In Book One of Middlesex, we discover that Cal was really born as a female, but changed his gender and sex as he grew older. As he states at the beginning on the book, “If you were going to devise an experiment to measure the relative influences of nature versus nurture, you couldn’t come up with anything better than my life.” (19). While Cal represents a typical male, he admits to having female urges that he is unable to stop. He also recalls being brought up as a girl and being forced to memorize family lineage such as a girl would. He didn’t have a typical “boyhood”. I think this refers to our discussion in class on Monday about nature versus nurture. While it is true that Cal was raised as a girl (with feminine gender), nature ultimately won the fight because Cal believed he was a boy. This is an example that as much nurturing as society gives us, nature is all-powerful, and can determine gender.

Class 9_22

Judith Lorber, in her article, “Night to His Day”, discussed the issue of gender and how it fits (and doesn’t fit) in today’s society. She goes on to differentiate between sex and gender, which I found very interesting. I had taken classes before in which we discussed this topic, but never to the extent that Lorber goes to. I especially agreed with one comment at the beginning of the article, “And everyone ‘does gender’ without thinking about it”. I find this statement especially true because we all “do gender” because of the way we were brought up. For instance, girls wear makeup and earrings, have long hair, and dress in tight clothing, which all in turn makes us “feminine”. As Lorber continues to say, when we see a baby in dark clothes and a hat, we automatically assume it’s a boy; but if that baby has earrings, our thoughts instantaneously switch to thinking it’s a girl.

I also found it interesting how in other cultures there are up to four genders: “Among some North American Indian cultures, the hierarchy was male men, male women, female men, and female women.” I found this very interesting how other cultures can recognize mixed gendered people, but our society cannot. We constantly look down on transvestites and transsexuals, when really we should acknowledge them as a different gender. I also completely agreed with Lorber’s idea that if women didn’t need to pretend to be men to get certain jobs, there would be no need to have traditional “women’s work” or “men’s work”. I completely agree that all jobs should be open to the most qualified applicants, men or women. I think we need to get rid of the stereotypes in the workplace.

I also enjoyed Myhre’s article, “One Bad Hair Day Too Many”. I liked the fact that she spoke for herself and not telling everyone what they need to do to become a feminist. For example, she cut off her hair and stopped shaving because of her own wishes (she didn’t want to deal with the hassle anymore). She never said that a “good feminist” cuts off her hair and stops shaving. I think that a lot of people have a misperception that everyone who is a feminist needs to become “masculine” or “butch”. I like that Myhre did it for herself. I also liked that she confronted the names masculine and butch. Her definition of when women act masculine is basically how men act all the time. Yet somehow, when we act this way, we are wrong and should be made fun of for it. When we are called butch, it is because we want to be able to hold our own ground and be able to fight back. As Myhre points out, these words are not inherently bad, and we shouldn’t feel shunned for the way we choose to act or dress.

Lastly we were asked to take a path of most resistance over the weekend. This weekend, all my friends were preparing to go out Saturday night as usual, but I decided to stay in because I have a week filled with exams and assignments. I was met with quizzical looks and I felt pressure to go out. In the end I stayed in and got a good night’s sleep, but I was definitely pushed to go out when I didn’t want to.

Class 9_17

When reading Peggy McIntosh’s article, “White Privilege and Male Privilege”, I found myself many numerous connections to the article we read for Monday by Johnson. McIntosh’s article discusses the simple everyday things we, as white people, take for granted, when in fact we are unknowingly privileged. She lists many conditions that we do not notice, and as she says, “white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject.” I connected this with Johnson’s article on the system of patriarchy. As Johnson describes, we don’t tend to question the system in which we live. We don’t notice that we are somehow superior to other races; we do not associate that since we are at an advantage, other people must be at a disadvantage. I agree with McIntosh when she says that privileges like the ones she mentions should be the norm in a society. Everyone should feel comfortable in their environment, and no one should feel singled out.

This also relates to Miles article, in the sense that most of the women on the Rag felt singled out, or excluded from the group. Many of the reasons associated were because of either their race or their economic class status. This is something to think about in today’s society, that some little action can have a much bigger effect and force others to feel uncomfortable or unwanted. This article also reminds me of the history of women’s rights that we have been discussing in class. We had talked about the second wave of feminism and how there were many groups, composed of different people, because it was impossible for everyone to be in the same group without conflict. This is similar to the issues happening on the Rag because initially they all wanted to write this journal together, but in the end their differences split them up.

When trying to do something on the path of least resistance, I found myself talking amongst friends at dinner. We were discussing certain girls at Colgate, and many people were trash-talking this one particular girl. I have nothing against the girl, I don’t even know her, but I allowed myself to go along with their comments. This is a good example of following the path of least resistance, because if I had stood up for the girl I might have faced criticism or weird looks across the table. I think this occurs a lot, especially in groups of females because appearance and looks dictate our society to a certain extent. I wish that our world could learn to appreciate a person on their personality, rather than solely on how “cool”, or attractive, they are.

Class 9_15

Both articles read for today, “Patriarchy, the System” by Allan Johnson, and “Oppression” by Marilyn Frye, express both the causes of and the issues with oppression of women in today’s society. The first article, by Marilyn Frye, uses a great example of the bird cage to represent how people view oppression. She says that when observing a bird cage microscopically you see only one bar and assume that the bird can fly around it when necessary. However, when you take a step back, and observe the scene macroscopically, you can see the entire cage and you realize that the bird really is trapped. I agree with her perceptions of oppressions, in that people question the wrong causes and symptoms of oppression, but no one ever takes the time to observe the scene macroscopically and try to change the bigger picture.

This article is definitely linked to Allan Johnson’s article when talking about the macroscopic issues in today’s society. People blame other people for bad behavior, but they never think to question the society that raised and educated those people. Speaking specifically on patriarchy, people automatically assume men oppressing women, and decide to take the “path of least resistance in life”. I agree with an observation that Johnson made, “When a man hears other men tell sexist jokes for example, there are many things he could do, but they vary in how much social resistance they’re likely to provoke. . … The path of least resistance is to go alone, and unless he’s willing to deal with greater resistance, that’s the choice he’s most likely to make.” This transitions very well into real life, where many men simply go along with the crowd when judging other women or telling jokes, when many of them don’t even agree with what is being said. I think that that is one of the many things that our society will have to overcome if we want to overcome patriarchy and live in an equal world. People need to be able to stand up for themselves and say what they believe without the fear of social resistance.

Going back to Frye’s article, I also see the catch-22 issue that she describes. She says that women have two basic options: they can either be sexually active and be viewed as a slut or a whore, or they can be sexually abstinence and be viewed as being prude or a lesbian. This catch-22 is very realistic and represents oppression of women every day. Going back to the birdcage example, women are very much similar to the bird. Through many actions and beliefs in society, we are literally caged in from all sides, and are restricted in everything we do.

These thoughts relate back to Neuborne’s article on programming. Somehow in our society is has been programmed into men’s minds that they need to have control over everything. Just the same, women’s minds have been programmed to say that women need help from men, that we are defenseless and need to be protected. Related to Johnson’s article, we need to question the deeper meanings in society, and change the way that our social system works in order to achieve equality. A complete overhaul of our system needs to take place, or else nothing will be accomplished.

Class 9_8

When reading the "Declaration of Sentiments" from the Seneca Falls Convention, I found myself agreeing with many of the claims made by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. I think they made very solid convictions of how women were being treated, and to an extent, how women are still treated today. The fact that women were subjected to laws in which they could not voice their opinions on, and were treated as slaves in their marriages still resonates with me in today's society. While women are allowed to vote, there has yet to be a single woman President or Vice President, and in many families across America, women have a very inferior role to their husbands. I admire the "Declaration of Sentiments" that these two women wrote, and their courage to speak out against men.

The Dubois article, “Feminism New Wave and Old Wave”, reminded me of Ellen Neuborne’s piece, “Imagine My Surprise”. When Dubois spoke about how Lucretia Mott was not allowed to represent the United States as a delegate at the World Anti-Slavery Convention, I was reminded of how Neuborne spoke about being pulled off of the reporting job down south. As Dubois says, women have always done the “shitwork”, and the men have received all the credit. In Neuborne’s piece, she was responsible for the story right up until it was time to do the story, in which a male was assigned to it. I am strongly against this type of prejudice and I feel that women can represent themselves and present work that is just as good, if not better, than a man’s work.

Dubois’ article also discussed the two waves of feminism that have occurred in our country. There is no doubt about the first wave, when women fought for the rights of men. However, the second wave of feminism is still occurring. While Dubois remains optimistic that two waves might be enough to “free us”, I believe that it might take more than that. I feel that today’s wave of feminism is much weaker than the first, and women have grown comfortable with their role in society. I don’t feel strongly that there are many women out there like Elizabeth Cady Stanton who are willing to fight for more equality. I hope that women will continue to slowly work their way farther into society, so we can see equality in the sexes, especially in the workforce. It would be nice to not have a “male dominated industry” or a “female dominated industry” in the future.

I think Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott would agree with Ellen Neuborne in the sense that women are highly programmed in today’s society, and we need to break free of that in order to strive for equality. I especially agree with one line in Neuborne’s article, “It is a dangerous thing to assume that just because we were raised in a feminist era, we are safe. We are not. They are still after us.” (pg. 184). I think that many women do assume that we are safe because of the long fight that occurred before us. I think we overlook the injustices because on the surface, we are an “equal” society. I think we need to check ourselves, and learn to recognize programming so that we can finally overcome it.