Yesterday, Today, and Beyond

Women in the past were often limited in the educational opportunities available to them.   They were often expected to dress certain ways, sometimes sexually in the workplace.   Some women were forced or pressured into sexually compromising positions, such as “entertaining” male clients.   Women were subjected to blatant sexual harassment.   Women were also limited to certain careers, such as teachers, nurses, and secretaries.   Even though some of these things still happen today, they are not as prevalent and out in the open.   I am most happy that education and career opportunities are more open now than they have been in the past.   Girls are taught to be polite and lady like, to like dolls, and playing house and things like that.   Boys are taught to be tough, defend themselves, and to play with “boy” toys like cars, action figures, etc.   A boy’s parents usually dissuade their son from playing with dolls or dressing in pink.  ...

I found an article linked to the Families and Work Institute website, entitled "What if Labor Day Fell Every Week? Here Are The Alternatives to Your Overworked Five-Day Week."   The articles talks about how some employers are opting for a shorter work week.   There are many different strategies that people are using.   Some employers are cutting the work week down to 3 or 4 days, while increasing the number of hours worked each day.   Other employers are paying employees for the work accomplished, no matter how many hours are worked.   And there are a plethora of other different options suited to individual employees or businesses.   I think this is a wonderful idea that more companies should look into.   Flexible work schedules or work weeks would make it easier for employees to take care of children, sick, or elderly family when needed.   It also makes the option of going to school or pursuing opportunities and interests available to employees...

            In “Aligning Bodies,” Judith Lorber and Lisa Jean Moore bring to light the burdens endured by people in our society that don’t necessarily fit into preconceived notions of sex and gender.   On a daily basis there are issues they must consider:   when filling out forms that ask for their sex, when going to the restroom and when showing legal documents that may not match the gender they identify with.   Transgender people may or may not have surgery on their chest and/or genitalia and/or face or other surgery and may choose to use hormone therapy.   Some people are born with ambiguous genitalia or with genitals or chromosomes of both sexes.   Yet others may identify as a gender different than their birth sex and choose to not alter their body physically.   There is a wide spectrum of people in our world that don’t neatly fit into the “F” and “M” boxes.   Society and individuals need to ...

            According to Carol Bohmer and Andrea Parrot, two factors that are most common in determining when acquaintance rape will occur are the number of men a woman dates and the intoxication level of the man.   The more men a woman dates, the higher the probability that she will encounter men with these tendencies.   When men are drunk, they are less likely to understand that the woman may not want to have sex or may just be emboldened to ignore her wishes.   Another factor that increases the chance of acquaintance rape is the intoxication of the female.   I was shocked to read about a Stanford professor’s belief that “if a woman does not know that what happened to her is rape, then it is not rape” (Bohmer and Parrot 357).   Sexual assault by someone you know is very confusing and extremely hard to define and work through.   This sounds just like another example of victim blaming.   The vict...

In E.M. Broner’s "Honor and Ceremony in Women's Rituals," Broner changes patriarchal ceremonies to women-centered experiences by taking common male rituals and prayers.   Broner changes the names and words to represent females that have been left out of the traditions, stories, and prayers over the years.   She also showcases the anger that many Jewish women have felt for being left out of the history, the Torah, and many customs and prayers over the years.   It is socially and politically important to create rituals for women, so that generations of women will have self confidence to do what they want in life.   When women are seen as subservient, it affects their self worth and limits them.   If I were to create a feminist ritual, it would be a holiday honoring all women and girls.   We would honor women of all kinds, no matter their race, religion, sexual orientation, or whether or not they were married, had children, or ever wanted to have children. ...

I had not heard of the relationship between Mary Woolley and Jeanette Marks before reading “The Historical Denial of Lesbianism.”   I was shocked that Anna Mary Wells wrote a book entirely based on Woolley and Marks’ relationship and lives together, but denied they had a loving relationship.   It sounds as if they had a really amazing life together.   They had been in a committed romantic relationship for 47 years, sleeping in the same bed, yet were portrayed by Wells as “poor old maids.”   Wolley and Marks were both very important and influential women involved in first wave feminism and the women’s suffrage movement (Cook). One example of how lesbian women’s experience was seen as “less than” that of a heterosexual relationship is that the medical community used to not acknowledge lesbian sexual encounters and relationships as genuine experiences.   Instead, they were viewed as getting ready for the marriage bed with a man.   Also, cultural attitude...

In “Shakespeare’s Sister,” Virginia Woolf talks about a hypothetical life of William Shakespeare’s sister.   Shakespeare did, in fact have a sister, but she died very young.   According to Woolf, a woman who lived during Shakespeare’s times would not have been able to write plays or anything else for that matter.   There are several reason for this. Many girls and women were betrothed and married off at very young ages, many times against their wills.   Males had authority to beat their daughters and wives.   In fact, it was customary and not looked down upon.   Women were usually not sent to school, nor taught to read or write.   Women were not considered more than property of their father and later their spouse.   Women were also not typically accepted in work outside the home. Today, women deal with some of the same stereotypes now.   Though not as bad as in the past, women are still seen as primary caregivers of children and the dom...

I was shocked to find out about Aristotle’s thoughts of women in “A History of Women’s Bodies.”   Aristotle hypothesized that women were created as a birth defect because they weren’t fully developed before birth.   Dang, I always thought Aristotle was so smart…   How did such a smart man reconcile the fact that no one could be born without a woman?   He really dropped the ball on that observation.   Darwin’s views on women also shocked me.   He believed that women basically use up all their energy on childbirth.   Therefore, Darwin argues, women will always be lacking in development both physically and mentally.   One of the current women’s issues that stem from previous thoughts and attitudes about women is the view of PMS as a medical diagnosis for “behavior problems” in women (Weitz). Works Cited Weitz, Rose. "A History of Women's Bodies." Women In Culture An Intersectional Anthology for Gender and Women's Studies , Second ed., Wiley ...

In "To Live in the Borderlands Means You," Gloria Anzaldúa ’s main idea is that when you are a person with so many intersectional identities, you cannot depend on being wholly accepted by one of the groups you belong to.   Instead of being accepted as your whole self, people will pick at and point out the ways you are different.   In order to survive where all these groups meet, you can’t fully identify with any of them.   She means that you are basically on your own.   The stanza that was most difficult for me to read was the one that talks about the struggle to not commit suicide.   It makes me understand how much people in her position are dragged down because of other’s unacceptance of them as a whole being at the intersectionality of different race, a female, and with gender nonconforming identity (Anzaldúa). Evelyn Alsultany, who is a female of Cuban and Iraqi descent, and is Muslim – describes how she is seen differently by different people she encoun...