Kyle's Women Studies 201 Blog

This article is actually an interview with a writer named Leslie Bennetts about her book “The Feminine Mistake”. It’s basically refuting the idea that women think they can have both a career and a home life and be effective at both. I agree very highly with Bennetts, and read the interview eagerly. My own mother has always been a full time nurse, and I feel that she was both a wonderful and attentive mother and an excellent professional. So I know it can be done. It’s nice to see someone write about it.

She talks about how women can have successful home life AND work life, stronger(and more egalitarian!) marriages,  and she even talks about this issue in regard to women’s health. She also discusses the evolution of this concept of women “juggling” work and home. She does admit that a busy lifestyle entails comprises, but she also affirms that it is good to get one’s priorities straight: such as putting children first in one’s life. A great interview, and now I’d be interested in reading the book.

You can probably guess what Bravo’s article was about. But I actually found it to be interesting, and I learned a lot. And I certainly agree with her idea that we need to change the way welfare is structured. Part of the problem with it is that we’re going about it in the wrong way. Partially because many don’t understand the realities of welfare and its recipients. Which is problematic. As Bravo says, “If you don’t frame the problem correctly, you can never get the right solution”. In her article, Bravo attempts to clear up some myths about welfare, such as myths about its recipients, their jobs/lifestyles, what effects welfare has on people’s lives. For example, she tackles the idea of welfare being a “free handout”. She then goes on to discuss what’s wrong with our current system, by discussing the realties of its current effect, in comparison with what benefit’s a well-done welfare system could have. As welfare is an important topic of debate these days, this article is an important read. This is especially true for those who may not already know much about welfare in general.

A short rant. It’s late as I write this. My boyfriend is watching TV nearby, and the same type of commercials keep popping up: commercials for chat lines. And they’re almost always focusing on women. Usually scantily clad women with implants. But that’s besides the point. Even when these ads are for all “single’s” who “want to chat”, why is it almost always women being featured as supposedly being on the other line? These ads are kind of insulting for men and women. It gives off the idea that men have nothing better to do than call up strangers, in hopes of the cheap thrill of a one-night stand or some phone sex. And it gives the impression that there are lots of women just sitting around, waiting for these losers to call! Sad. And don’t even get me started about the ads  for those God-awful ”Girls Gone Wild” videos…

UGH!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/12/11/female.trafficking/index.html?iref=allsearch

This article reminded me of my Child Brides article that I discussed. It is also about mistreatment of women, and the horrors happening elsewhere in the world. This article focuses specifically however on trafficking and prostitution of Palestinian Women. The stories of certain women discussed in this article are really awful, but there individual stories help one visualize the horrors of this issue as a whole. It’s good that there are finally reports coming out about the awful things happening elsewhere in the world. Even articles such as this are good, because though painful to read, they spread awareness. And making people aware of such an ugly practice such as trafficking is the first step to rallying people to change the current situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpP4p4gh2g8

Another WOW video. This is a video off of the Jay Leno show, a segment he calls “Jaywalking”. He goes around the town and asks people “common knowledge” questions. This segment is specifically about Women’s History, and he talks specifically to women. The results are disastrous.

Ladies, don’t be these women. Know your history. Know ALL history. Don’t be ignorant, because it makes the rest of us look bad. Plus, who really wants to be stupid if they can help it? Anybody can pick up a book, right?

Q:”Who is Betsy Ross?” A:  ”Umm, a first lady?”

WOW.

There’s an idea out there that most women know next to nothing about cars. I don’t think that’s necessarily true, but I do think that many individuals feel that way. Thus, I think a women should always be smart when taking her car to a dealership or mechanic. I believe (as do many) that they are more likely than men to be ripped off at these places. This topic was certainly in my mind lately, as I had to have my car towed to a garage earlier this week. Luckily, I think I did okay, but I do admit I am woefully ignorant about cars, and I would like to correct this in the future. So, what to do if your car needs repairs (or you want to buy a new one)? This website has some tips:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/352656/the_single_woman_and_the_mechanic_avoid.html

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/12/02/ac.seg.women.in.military.cnn?iref=allsearch

This is a video on CNN that is basically an interview with three military women. I wanted to post it because I feel that women in the militay are not often talked about or focused on in the media, unless there’s discrimination involved. This is despite the fact that today they make up “about 20 percent of today’s military”(http://usmilitary.about.com/od/womeninthemilitary/Women_in_the_United_States_Military.htm) I feel that the military is not as well-supported of a career choice for women as it is for men, but the fact is that they are still serving their country, and so it’s nice to seem them on the news. It’s also interesting to hear them talk about their experiences.

 1,050,000 hits on google for “first lady obama outfits”.

49,000,000 for “first lady fashion”. 

 It’s all over the fashion magazines, and it’s all over the news too. Everyone wants to know what First Lady Obama’s wearing. But why? I’ve noticed lots of articles about her clothing (especially her recent J Crew outfit- yeesh) but not NEARLY as many about her charity work, or her work with the public, or even her personal achievements. What does it say about our society that we’re all about the appearance of  someone as potentially enormously influential as the President’s wife? Why is the media focus on what she wears, rathe than about who she is and what kind of effect she has?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU3LJPI2Op8

This is simply a video of someone’s women’s studies project I found on youtube. I liked enough to post it though, because I thought it was interesting and well done. The statistics prevented are certainly worth a watch. It’s kind of a neat medium with which to do a project, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwRF3W74Wng

Wow. This is the trailer for a full-length horror movie about “a women’s academy where female empowerment is taken to murderous extremes”. So ridiculous, such a pathetic plot line, that it’s actually kind of funny. I felt the need to post this after randomly running across it…

wow.