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.