Gender Oppression
Answer the questions numerically, and in a conversational way (not too formally).
1. WHAT WERE THE MOST APPLICABLE OR ENGAGING PARTS OF CLASS OR THE ASSIGNED ARTICLES AND/OR VIDEOS FOR YOU THIS WEEK? WHAT WERE THEY ABOUT? WHAT SPECIFICALLY CAN YOU TEACH ME ABOUT WHAT YOU LEARNED? WHY WAS THIS RELEVANT OR ENGAGING TO YOU AND WHY DO YOU THINK IT MIGHT MATTER TO ME? HOW, IF AT ALL, DID THEY RELATE TO YOUR LIFE PERSONALLY? THIS QUESTION CALLS FOR US TO BE SPECIFIC AND TALK IN ENOUGH DETAIL TO DEMONSTRATE OUR LEARNING FROM THE CLASS MATERIAL.
2. WHAT IS SOMETHING NEW YOU LEARNED FROM OUR CLASS MATERIAL ON GENDER OPPRESSION THAT WILL HELP YOU ELIMINATE THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN OUR SOCIETY? WHY WILL EVERYONE BENEFIT FROM THIS CHANGE? BE SPECIFIC ABOUT HOW YOU LEARNED THIS FROM OUR CLASS MATERIAL AND/OR ASSIGNMENTS THIS PAST WEEK. REFER TO SPECIFIC MATERIAL FROM CLASS. OR... IF YOU HAVE NO INTEREST IN ELIMINATING THE OPPRESSION EXPERIENCED BY WOMEN AND GIRLS PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW YOU COME TO THIS CONCLUSION AND THEN DISCUSS HOW YOU ARE RESPONDING TO THE ASSIGNED MATERIAL ON GENDER, REFERENCING SPECIFIC CLASS MATERIAL.
3. THERE WERE A RANGE OF ARTICLES AND VIDEOS DISCUSSING THE MISTREATMENT OF MEN IN OUR SOCIETY. HARVEY JACKINS ("THE HUMAN MALE") IDENTIFIES THIS MISTREATMENT AS "OPPRESSION" AND THEN ARGUES THAT THIS IS A PRINCIPAL CAUSE OF PATRIARCHY AND SEXISM (THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN/GIRLS). THAT IS, HE ARGUES LITTLE BOYS ARE COERCED INTO CONFORMING TO NORMS OF PATRIARCHAL AND HOMOPHOBIC "MANHOOD" THROUGH PAINFUL MISTREATMENT STARTING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD. OTHER ARTICLES AND VIDEOS REINFORCE THIS PERSPECTIVE. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS? WHAT ARTICLES/VIDEOS RESONATED POSITIVELY WITH YOU, OR DID YOU RESPOND NEGATIVELY? HAVE YOU SEEN IT? EXPERIENCED IT? HAVE YOU SEEN THE INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN OPPRESSIVE GENDER ROLES? HOW CAN YOU RESPOND POLITICALLY? LET'S AGAIN BE SPECIFIC.
Readings/Videos:
Sum of Us by Heather McGhee- Chapter 7: Living Apart
https://www(dot)ted(dot)com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men?language=en#t-16105
https://www(dot)americanprogress(dot)org/article/the-straight-facts-on-women-in-poverty/
Instructor
Course
Date
Gender Oppression
Question 1
Tony Porter’s TED Talk on “A call to men” was the most engaging video for the week. It was interesting to learn about what Porter called the “man box” which encompasses the ingredients of what society defines to be a man. For instance, men are expected to be aggressive and dominate over women, not supposed to show weakness, and should demonstrate power control and view women as objects, particularly sexual objects. I related to the presentation seeing how boys are taught to be strong and not display emotions, while women are encouraged to demonstrate tenderness and restraint. I related the talk with other materials, in particular, “Bitch” by Jaime Wiltz and “Daughter” by Hina Qureshi. Wiltz reinforces how the view of women as sex objects has made her encounter sexism every day. It is common for women to encounter random men in the streets who initiate sex talk. Wiltz demonstrates how mass media propagates the idea that women are objects through highly sexualized women in submissive postures (Wiltz 2). Qureshi goes into detail to demonstrate how she was forced into early marriage to someone she did not like. The man raped her continuously for two months, while her parents supported the same. The account of Wiltz and Qureshi demonstrates that the “man box” has distorted men’s perception of women to be that of sexual objects.
Question 2
I have learned that because of economic inequality, men oppress women. Alexandra Cawthorne Gaines’s article, “The Straight Facts on Women in Poverty” demonstrates that women are more likely to be poor than men. This is because women earn less than men, are segregated into low-paying occupations, and spend more time on unpaid caregiving. This is what Qureshi sees as the problem which forced her mother to remain in an oppressive marriage because the husband was the “provider.” The inabil...