[alxqyhh]

Imagine A World Where Being "Gay" The Norm & Being "Straight" Would Be The Minority! [Short Film]

If heterophobia was actually real www.loveisallyouneedthemovie.com "Teen bulling and teen suicide based on someone's sexual preference is ridiculous - and th...

[brianavillegas]

The“Rape”of Mr. Smith

In The “Rape” of Mr. Smith basically spoke about victim blaming and how we as a society tend to blame rape victims for their own rape rather than blaming the actual rapist. This reading gave the scenario of a guy named Mr. smith being robbed on the street. The officer gave a line of questioning that we hear way too often when it comes to rape victims. Questions like why were you out so late and what were you wearing. Basically insinuating that Mr. Smith was asking to get robbed. How ridiculous does that line of questioning sound? If it sounds so ridiculous then why do we as a society feel like these are the questions that need to be asked when someone is raped?

The way that society handles rape is the exact reason why people don’t report rapes. We’ve seen time and time again, rapes being reported and it’s as if the victim is on trial rather than the rapist. Asking questions like what were you wearing, past history and why were they alone at night does NOT give any justification as to them being raped. I feel that we as a society need to stop blaming victims and start blaming rapists. It’s absolutely unbelievable that society feels more bad for the rapist than they do for the victim. It’s never the victims fault so we need to stop acting like it is. Start blaming the rapists for rapists and let people have a safe space and give them comfort in knowing that they can report their rape or sexual assault and they'll get help rather than getting blamed. 

[brianavillegas]

Reflection 8: Bad Feminist Selections

This was probably my favorite thing that I've read thus far. It was so well written and what she had to say made so much sense. She said things that I myself wouldn't have even thought twice about. 

With the Chris Brown example and how she explained that because he's good looking and talented that we tend to overlook the fact that he is indeed an abuser. I found this particularly interesting because if he wasn't a celebrity he would be scrutinized more for hitting a woman. But because of the simple fact that he is a celebrity people tend to make more excuses for him which I myself get because everyone does it. Everyone knows of a celebrity or even has a favorite celebrity thats done something controversial but their actions are accepted because of who they are. 

When in all reality his actions shouldn't be overlooked, they should be taken more seriously because there was not only the incident in 2009 where he literally beat up Rihanna, but there have been many other instances from then until now where he has shown that he cannot  control his rage. I personally just think that people should think twice before opening their mouths on things that celebrities do because yea they may be a celebrity but that doesn't give them a pass. Under the celebrity status is a human being. 

[brianavillegas]

The Gender Wage Gap By Occupation

Th Gender Wage Gap By Occupation spoke a lot about the discriminatory aspect of having a job being a man and having a job being a women. Women make less money than men across the board. I personally think that it’s unbelievable that woman make less than men especially for doing the exact same work.

i personally don’t see what the big deal is with paying women the same amount as men especially if they're in the same field and doing the same work. it should be a given that both male and females get paid the same. Women are just as capable of doing “male” jobs just as men are capable of doing “female” jobs. So why the wage gap? 

The wage gap is something that should be more spoken about because there just isn't any equality. Your gender shouldn't determine how much you get paid. 

[brianavillegas]

African American Women and Abortion: A Neglected History

The section titled “The underground movement:1950-1970″ was about abortions for african american women and contraception. Abortions were performed illegally by doctors and midwives and contraception was difficult to obtain. 

This section was the most interesting to me because abortions were a problem for all women but it was much harder for those who are african american. I personally find it ridiculous the lengths that these women had to go to to obtain an abortion. They had to call people so they could call people to tell them that someone needed an abortion. Many times african american women also could not afford to pay for these abortions so they were forced to carry to full term. African american women had been basically risking their lives to get abortions.

i just feel like reproductive rights shouldn't be something that these women have to go through these great lengths to obtain.

[brianavillegas]

Reflection 5: Gender Advantage, Checking in on Masculine Privilege

“Masculine privilege is the idea that society confers certain unearned advantages on men simply because they are male.” 

Male privilege is men being taken more serious than women and how men have more advantages over women for the simple fact that they were born a male. But there also unequal privilege among males. 

In the section titled “Unequal Privilege” it talks about how there is not only unequal privilege between male and female but that there’s also unequal privilege within the male gender. This takes into account race, class and sexuality. Men who are poor, who are colored and who are gay will have less privilege than a white straight male with money. I just find it interesting that there’s male privilege within male privilege. 

The man with the most privilege is a white rich male. Male privilege is shown everyday through everyday things and sometimes we may not even notice it because we’re so accustomed to it. 

[brianavillegas]

Men and Feminism: Constructing Masculinity

A section from “Constructing Masculinity” that I had found to be the most interesting and intriguing was the section titled “Escape from the man box.” The man box is described as something that’s used to understand the dominant standards and norms of masculinity. This includes stereotypes towards men that we are all very familiar with. Some stereotypes include the fact that men don’t cry, they are tough, big and aggressive, they enjoy completive sports, they're sexual and powerful. These stereotypes and traits would be things that we would put inside the “man box” and things that aren't associated with mainstream masculinity are outside the man box. This includes things like kindness, sensitivity, gentleness and attentiveness. 

i had found this to be the most interesting because it’s very relevant to how we perceive men and how we as a society say that men are supposed to be like and act like. Not only is it stereotypical but it also doesn't let men be vulnerable and ultimately share their emotions because of the idea that men aren't supposed to have any. Which ultimately just ends up hurting men because there is no safe space for them to be emotional because emotions are associated more with women and if a man is emotional then they're seen as weak. 

i feel like us as a society need to get rid of the inside of this man box and these stereotypical traits that we associate with men. We need to start being more accepting of men being emotional and vulnerable and that just because men have feelings doesn't mean that they're weak. 

[brianavillegas]

Men and Feminism: This is what a feminist looks like

I found “This is what a feminist looks like” one of the most interesting things I've ever read. Many people have this misconception of what a feminist is and what a feminist looks like. People think that men can't be feminists and that feminists are these people who hate men and want women to be superior to men. They think that a feminist is someone who complains to much and is worried about women only when that isn't the cause and this reading really shed light on what a feminist really is and how men can be feminists too.

 One of my favorite sections from the reading was “There’s room for men.” The section spoke about how feminists aren't just women but men can also share feminists values which in turn makes them a feminist. Being a women doesn't make someone a feminist and being a man doesn't mean that you can't be one. Just because it’s primarily a woman’s movement does not mean that men cannot be involved. Which i thought was a great thing to talk about because people really are not informed on what feminism is and I feel like the word feminism is some sort of icky word to men. So I thought it was good that there was some light shed on what feminism really is and that it’s perfectly okay for a man to be a feminist. 

I personally feel like in general more men should consider themselves feminists because it’s true that people listen more when a man speaks. We need more men to care about  women’s issues and to help speak up for women. I feel like women can't be the only ones to speak out it has to be a joint effort between men and women. 

[brianavillegas]

Reflection #2: “Night to his Day” The Social Construction of Gender

In the Night to his Day reading what I found to be the most interesting was this idea of “doing gender.” It’s something that we do on a daily basis and most of us probably don’t even know that we’re doing gender. The reading describes doing gender as an everyday activity that we don't even realize that we’re doing. 

To me doing gender is assuming someone’s gender because of the way they look/ are dressed. We associate certain clothing with whether or not we label someone as a boy or a girl and same thing goes for someones appearance such as hairstyle. An example of doing gender as mentioned in the reading was when she assumed that the child was a boy because of the yankee cap that was put onto the child but then realized that the child was a girl once she saw flowered sneakers and lace trimmed socks. 

Doing gender is something that we subconsciously do on a daily basis. We see people everyday and assume they’re gender because as a society we have been taught to associate certain things with certain genders. For example associating the color pink with females and the color blue with males. Doing gender was something that I had found the most interesting because I myself have never really taken into account that I too “do gender” and categorize peoples genders according to what they look like. I feel like doing gender is something that everyone is guilty of doing. 

[brianavillegas]

Reflection 1: The Seductive Allure of Neuroscience

As i started reading it had mentioned the separation of boys and girls in schools due to the fact that both genders learn differently. They gave the example of boys supposedly being 4 years ahead of girls in math. I personally feel that how well you do in school has absolutely nothing to do about gender and everything to do with how capable you are in certain subjects. Some people are better at math whereas others excel in reading. I’ve never really thought of your schoolwork having anything to do with whether your a boy or a girl. To me it has to do with the simple fact that some people excel at certain things regardless of gender. In my opinion gender doesn’t necessarily play a role when it comes to schooling and how well you do.