Week 6

This week we read Aging Bodies.  Its about two female icons Jane Fonda and Barbara Bush. More importantly it is about their aging bodies.  I didn’t know really anything much about Fonda other than she was an exercise queen.  She started out claiming that women needed to be in control of their bodies and that is what she does, she empowers them to be spiritually physically and mentally sound. She was thought of as a revolutionary.  I think it rather comical.

The funny thing I realized is that Fonda is thought of as a feminist which is something I really didn’t know. I have to wonder, especially after taking a woman’s study class, how is she a feminist.  What she is doing really is reinforcing a patriarchal view and transforming it into a “safe” message that says “hey, we are dong this for us, not them” but really we are.  Even when I work out it is only partly for me to look good but it is also because I want to look good for my husband.  This is horrible I know but it just makes me see that we are playing into the system that tricks us into thinking working out and looking good is just for ourselves which it isn’t.  I wish it were.

In class this week we saw some different types of advertisements which were solely aimed at making women feel like they need to mold their bodies for all of the wrong reasons.  It has to be sad to any women with a functioning brain that we are made to feel like we need to look a certain way.  Why in 2009 do we place so much worth on a woman’s appearance and why is an aging woman’s body viewed in a binary way. You are either a grandma or a sex object. That is if you are post menopausal.  Why is this? It is so frustrating to me that we can’t get past this thinking.

Society has to make a woman feel physically inadequate.  It isn’t enough that we are persecuted in so many other ways but that we have to be made to feel like our worth is based on our physical endowment and it is EVERYWHERE!  On the side of the road on billboards, on TV, on the radio, magazines, newspapers, buses, and the list goes on.  I am tired of seeing it. After reading the readings for this week every time I see a cover girl or maybeline ad on TV it really bothers me and I cant help but think of all of the poor souls that fall for this crap!

Final Post

A common and very troublesome dilemma that woman of all ages face is this idea that there are two different types of girl.  One is good, the other bad.  Thus presents the binary problem that you are either one or the other and that each has its own categorical guidelines to be followed and none is more true than in the Disney scene.  Let me just say that Disney is especially dangerous to this dualism because it perpetrates nearly every American home, myself included.  The affects of this harmful dualism of good girl/bad girl is prevalent all of our lives.  The idea that the good girl is the weak and soft spoken princess that must be saved and the bad girl that wants to corrupt heterosexual relationships which she herself is of sexual significance which is portrayed as evil of course.  This causes low self-esteem, preconceived gender roles, and most importantly stereotypes in the form of so called role models that women must adhere to if they are to be on the right side.
This only puts more pressure on women by categorizing them into good or bad girls. What adds to this strain is that the associations tied with good girl are associated with the myth of needing a man to make you whole, or even not openly competing with a male if a woman is interested. That’s right I said it, how many times have we heard a woman say “oh I let him win” “after all he is the man, and I did not want to make him feel bad if he lost to a girl”. This is a clear example of women conforming themselves into these patriarchal constructed ideas.  A good girl would let her boyfriend, husbands win a friendly game of basketball, because good girls rely on the boy to dominate conquer and win. A bad girl may be seen as aggressive and confrontational to men, and by being strong independently it implies that she is not a “real good girl” and also that a man is not needed.
First of all girls, I am not trying to deface the reputation of Disney, as a matter of fact even after all I have learned I still LOVE Disney movies and maybe that was part of their evil plan but I do want to make a recognition with the patriarchal heteronormative message it so strongly sends.  While it is ok to enjoy these playful fairytales lets not forget about the underlying and somewhat damaging message it sends.  They are fake and not to be taken literally hence why they are called fairytales.  Too many woman see notions of what it is to be a “woman” and these movies if emulated are adding too the idea that woman should only be quiet, beautiful, obedient, and kind to maintain the title of good girl.  At the other end of the spectrum if you dabble in confrontation, are for any relationship other than a heterosexual one, fight for your rights, or express your sexuality you are a bad girl. This must be eliminated; all of you girls have to know the truth!
It is important for us as women to be proactive and let our voice be heard. Its okay for a women to be in a position of authority, to be unique and fall into her own meaning of who she is. We have choices and are strong as individuals, and even stronger as a group. By educating ourselves and being aware of the influence that our society has over the normative roles and gender expectations of what is defined as good or bad we can make a difference by helping break the chain. Women need to be viewed in a different light, a light created by women that is not afraid to shine bright and reveal her inner uniqueness. The following is a poem to inspire the women with in you, to be set free from the patriarchal society, and allow her true self be accurately seen and portrayed.

Disney Can You See Me?

Disney can you see me?
I use time and space
Can you see the story my eyes tell?
Can you see the wisdom of my mind?

Make me Disney
Tell my story to the world
With the stroke of a pen
I can affect women from within

Disney can you see me?
I use time and space
Can you see the story my eyes tell?
Can you see the wisdom of my mind?

I am not your princess
For I don’t need saving
I am not your villain
I don’t want the world

Disney can you see me?
I use time and space
Can you see the story my eyes tell?
Can you see the wisdom of my mind?

I am a 21st century women
I am educated and Independent
I am a mother and a business partner
I am a 21st century women

Disney can you see me?
I use time and space
Can you see the story my eyes tell?
Can you see the wisdom of my mind?

By Natalie Hernandez, Sophia Herman, and Megan Powell

Week 5

Medicalization was the topic for the week and what  a topic it was.  Let me just say that I never new the history behind women having babies in the hospital vs. the home.  In reading Women and Medicalization, I learned about a topic that I never knew about and quite frankly am glad that I have been exposed to it.  I am floored by what I read.  Although it is not surprising that men have once again found a way to capitalize and control another aspect of women’s life.  Women didn’t need hospitals in fact it was and is quite the contrary.  It is reported that 90% of births go uninterrupted.  The hospitals just make things worse with their high infection rates, high costs, and lack of bonding between mother and child.

Another astonishing little fact I did not know was that abortion was acceptable 100 years ago.  In he late 1800s 1 in 5 births was intentionally aborted.  Women were more in control of their reproductive systems before abortion was made illegal.  Medicalization has gone too far, women’s bodies are being controlled in every way and they are being violated.  I found this sort of blog today and it touches on medicalization and home child birth.  It talks about women being raped by doctors or “medical rape.”  Doctors, according to this blog do their will with out regard to the women’s feelings.  Here it is below.

Medical Rape

This link sort of ties in to a video we watched called The Business of Being Born, by Riki Lake.  This documentary on home births vs. hospital ones has not only completely altered my view of home births but has also made me decide to have a home birth myself so long as there aren’t any pre existing medical conditions that require me to be in a hospital.  Between the Medicalization article and video on being born my view and opinion on the issue have done a 180.  I really enjoyed the video although, the thought of having a child creeps me out however, I feel a lot better and feel as though I have options and I refuse as a women to accept one kind of unwritten mandate that says women should have their babies in a hospital.

Medicalization of childbirth has scared women into thinking they need a hospital.  I am one of them, they beat it in to your head that childbirth is a dangerous and painful process that must be dealt with by “professionals” and the truth is is that these people are not professionals when it comes to childbirth, only when it comes to surgeries.  This is why there is an influx in cesarean births.  It is easier for the doctor, for his schedule for a women to come in, get it cut out and its home in time for dinner.  This is a disgrace!  It really makes me mad and I never used to give a flying hoot about the topic of childbirth and just thought it natural to go to a doctor.  Well not anymore, I’m glad I watched this video and read the article on Women and Medicalization.  I’m one more women in the world that has knowledge in the horrible truth of this subject and has decided to take her reproduction matters in to her own hands!