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[blogprojectgws101-blog]

Discussion of an Everyday Example.

            From personal experience, my family still has this machismo mentality. My dad would be the provider while my mom was the caretaker. My sister and I were the only girl until 5 years ago my brother was born. Growing up, I always knew my dad wanted a boy. So, when my brother was born I can see how my dad would be now that he has a son. The moment he knew my mom was pregnant with a boy, but my dad gleamed with pride. He would say how much he will teach him about things he never has taught me to this day, such as doing an oil change for a car. Even though I’m the oldest, my dad only wants me to do well in school and do the chores in the house. He never had higher expectations for me. My brother is going to be successful in my father’s eyes. These different views exhibit the machista ways I have encountered growing up. This can be backed up by the scholarly sources I have researched, specifically in the article, Siblings’ Differential Treatment in Mexican American Families. Although, it is quite common amongst my Mexican-American families. Family and friends have told me countless of stories on how, not only would the father oppress the children, but as well as the mother. Although common, it is not discussed among families because it is not seen as an issue but more of a commonality

[liszasantos-blog]

I can connect with you so much! Now as I am older with my own household I can see the difference between my little home now compared to the home I lived at before. There is a lot to learn from the children of a Latino family the way the parents discipline the children and the limitations set by the parents for the children based on their assigned gender. 

[paygapisreal]

My suggested solutions to the problem

  This problem is very complex because it begins early on with implicit biases in school or at home with gender conditioning. It is enhanced in the school environment and mostly cemented by college. As more women join the workforce and becoming more specialized, it is important to raise awareness about implicit biases and discrimination. This problem would decrease with the enforcement of pay transparency and encouragement in discussing salaries. Less women would be forced to leave the workforce due to childbirth or family reasons if affordable, high quality childcare was available and work-life balance policies would benefit the wellbeing of all employees.

It is also necessary to tackle the problem legislatively with equal pay laws and enforcement against gender discrimination in hiring, pay and opportunity of promotion.

Perhaps one of the most impactful changes we can make is change our perception, stop accepting injustice and stand up for our rights while also creating support systems and mentoring for young girls and women professionals. Change what we can and in time, if enough of us fight for it, a substantial change in discrimination can be achieved for everyone.

RZ

[liszasantos-blog]

I absolutely agree with you that the beginning of the problem is in schools and at home, Teaching children the importance of equality between both genders to children leads less discrimination in the work force in the future and awareness. 

[decenteringeatingdisorders-blog]

Right from the beginning of this article, the author claims that these “Western, White, waif” beauty standards would harm women of color even more than they harm white women.

I find this argument troubling, but it is based on the assumption that eating disorders are built solely on “standards of beauty”, and while I think this is a part of the etiology, I think it lets too many people and things and structures off the hook. I do think this piece raises a lot of great questions, for example: Does our Western society hold women of color to to the same unnatural standards were aware of for white women? Do women of color resist these ideals? How do, specifically gender and racialized stereotypes dictate what our bodies are supposed to look like and how we resist or become trapped by these standards and the gendered and racialized pressure around them? Unfortunately, this study solidifies my fears that most psychiatric and psychological studies are studied on nearly all white middle-class female samples, which is one of the research bias factors that actually creates false eating disorder narratives in the first place. This article does help us look at the body relationships with Black adolescent girls, of which we do have some research. 

Gabriel, B. A. (1998, Dec 31). Shades of difference: A new look at women of color and eating disorders. Hues, 27.

Picture found at Nalgona Positivity Pride

(no free access found)

[liszasantos-blog]

A lot of the questions you hold are the same questions I hold. A lot of issues do share some common ground.The problem of resisting and going with the flow. The idea that one race is stronger than another women is not true. I do share your opinion that each race does hold their own beauty standards when compared to other races. All women are affected. Not only once race or one specific group.  

[decenteringeatingdisorders-blog]

Decentering Dieting

Picture a girl on a diet. What does she look like? It’s probable that, in your head, she’s white, thin, middle-to-upper-class, and straight or straight-passing. Eating low-calorie foods or going to Pilates 6 times a week or eating a salad every day for lunch are behaviors that get coded as white people things. When these things become maladaptive and disordered, they are white people problems. However, we know that white girls are not the only people who diet. They’re just the only group expected to diet, and they’re most rewarded for dieting. Often, girls and women of color in the Western industrialized world find themselves unhappy with their bodies, and feel that this sentiment is not shared or accepted in their communities or families. 

This everyday example also ties into the stereotypes about Latina and Black women with “curvy” body types. Men have feigned respect for women with “curvy” bodies while really, they are just objectifying them differently, and often fetishizing women of color. Curves are only accepted in a very particular light, and you know that when a man says he loves a girl with curves, that he’s likely talking about a girl with a tiny waist, big breasts, large hips, a big round butt, thick toned thighs, with no cellulite, stretch marks, etc. Latina women are expected to have these kinds of curves and to love and embrace their curves. The “strong black woman” is comprised of harmful myths of being loud, angry, and matriarchal. She also has stereotyped body parts and an attitude of not caring about her weight or wanting to be thin. These kinds of attitudes and behaviors are expected of women of color, and it makes it harder for women of color to tell others about their feelings surrounding food and their bodies, realize they have an eating or dieting problem, and accept themselves for this. 

[liszasantos-blog]

I love this post because the first paragraph goes into the issue of who is expected to “do” diets. It talks about the singling out a specific group and the importance of noting how all races deal with weight problems. Then the second paragraph focuses on the image of another group of people. The specific example and detail to describe each groups makes it easier to see the great difference “expected” for each group of women depending on their race. 

[liszasantos-blog]

Discussion of an everyday example: Starting a Life Together

I have been extremely fortunate to find a man like my fiance. Unfortunately at the beginning of our relationship we had some clashes with the way that we lived our lives. I am a bisexual woman who is comfortable wearing a variety of clothing from both sections of the department stores. I am a college student and I have a job. He spent majority of his childhood in Mexico. The family he lived with is really religious and unfortunately doesn’t agree with a lot of things that affect who I am. 

For starters, I am bisexual. Homosexuality is frowned apon a lot. Not only within his family but a lot of the rural areas in Mexico. Mexico in general is very Homophobic. When I told my fiance, love interest at the time, that I was bisexual he seemed really uncomfortable by it. Mostly do to lack of understanding, but he told me how in mexico, where he lived, those types of things weren’t tolerated. Women were for men. He grew out of this believe. Secondly, me being in college with a job. He himself didn’t have a problem before, but his friend did. He would constantly be mocked of because he used to make as much as me. At some point he wanted me to quit my job. He said I wasn’t supposed to work. I explained to him how it didn’t matter. That the income of a man shouldn’t be more than a women. If it was supposed to be like that what was the point of me going to college. He grew out of this believe. The one thing that I really hated was the discomfort he felt when something emotionally hurt him. Around his family he was taught he wasn’t suppose to cry. “Los hombres no lloran”, men don’t cry. I explained to him how it wasn’t about him being a man, but about him being human. He grew out of this believe. 

One of the many problems with Machismo is the lack of space it gives a person to choose how a man should act. It’s like a mold that is premade for a child and with the lessons he learns and what he sees he is able to fit in that mold. In places like mexico, it is easier for ideas like this to become popular. Fortunately, as people learn more about ideas a concepts more, especially in places where this was less possible before, people push away from these ideas. Which is what the author from ‘Hombres y Machos’ was talking about.

-L.S

[liszasantos-blog]

Analysis of a Scholarly Source: Understanding Latino Families, Implications for Family Education

By: Linda Skogrand (Extension Family Life Specialist) & Daniel Hatch and Archana Singh (Graduate Students)

This extension focuses on the whole Latino Families specifically the “cultural themes that are evident within many Latino families”. I specifically focused on what the extension had to say about Latino men particularly the section labeled, ‘Gender Roles’. In this section they talk about the traditional roles within the Latino families specifically the idea of “machismo”. The man has to be strong, brave and is the head of the household. The women is expected to be giving and willing to cooperate with her husband to make important decisions. They explain how the men are expected to make the income while the women is expected to be the person taking care of the family. 

I agree with the majority of this, in terms of what is stereotypically believed of the Latino community and what is unfortunately the reality of the power structure of their homes. The thing that I don’t agree with is the lack of interest in the people who don’t follow this power structure. Most importantly, the lack of a thorough explanation that this is not how all Latino families are. 

A question someone might have is, The effects of Machismo in a home. What are the downfalls of Machismo?

This source is very different from the last two sources. The last two sources talked about noticing that not all of Latin America is stuck in this power structure and this source is focused on the part of Latin America who cant go forward from this power structure. 

In GWS 1O1 the Rios Article did a good job in explaining the importance of hypermasculinity to men, which correlates to what machismo is all about. It’s about the focus of the image of the man. 

-L.S

source:

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FR_Family_2005-02.pdf

[liszasantos-blog]

Analysis of a Scholarly Source: Hombres y Machos: Masculinity and Latino Culture

BY: Alfredo Mirande

This is a book written by author Alfredo Mirande. He talks about the need for change in the Latino community to be able to make progress. He talks about the stereotype of what is thought of the Latino man and how the ideas of what a Latino man is like, makes Latin countries look like they are in need of help. It makes them appear like they are staying behind with what appears to be a misconception. He interviews men to ask them about the topic of “Machismo” and what they think about it. He finds himself with a variety of answers, some supporting what is stereotypically believed, others who want to sway away from the stigma surrounding their culture. 

I agree with his method of asking men what they believe in. He goes in depth with the limitations that negative ideas like machismo can bring forth to a community. He does a good job explaining thoroughly how the idea of machismo can be shaped in different ways. 

The one question I have is, How do the women play a role to this patriarchal ideology in the Latino community. What should the women do? 

I feel that for a man to be able to act like he is the one in full control there has to be people allowing them to do it. Therefore, is the women, to some extent< guilty as well?

 -L.S

 citation:

Mirandé, Alfredo. Hombres Y Machos: Masculinity and Latino Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1997. Print.

[liszasantos-blog]

Analysis of a Web Source: Masculinity and the Latin Culture

By: Alexia

This blog post talks about the idea that majority of the images shown of what masculinity is in Latin countries are shaped by what white people believe. Majority of the stories and the history of Latin places were written by white people. She mentions a lot of authors who focus on the research behind men and their gender roles specifically for men of Latino backgrounds. These authors share the same idea that there are a lot of other aspects that affect how a man behaves in society. One of those aspects, for example, is religion. In Mexico majority of the population is Catholic. The catholic faith has a lot of stereotypical ideas of what a man is supposed to do and not to do. It is a mix of positive and negative attributes that are assigned to a group of people based on stereotypes.

I agree that a lot of the stereotypes that are assigned to the Latino community are not true all of the time. Like with every stereotype, there is always some stretch to the truth. No stereotype is going to fit a group of people who have very different cultures within themselves. What I don’t fully agree with is blaming it to the white community. Some people from Latino backgrounds choose to live with what is stereotypically thought of their community. Yes, someone might argue that if religion affects how a person might behave in a day to day basis and if majority of the people in Latin countries are of Catholic descent, which was the group who founded the Christian religion, it would make sense that it was, again, the white person’s fault. The reality is that no one can blame a behavior or the way to act fully on how their foundation was built. A person should never forget that they have a choice. The one question that I had when I was reading this was, how does a person define what a “macho”?

The reason why I was wondering the answer to this question was because their has to be a stereotyped answer to this word. Would definition would it be correct or incorrect? 

-L.S

http://alexiabrooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/masculinity-and-latin-culture.html

[gws101fall2015]

Man Up!

“Man up.” This is a term that many American men have been told when they have expressed an emotion at a moment deemed inappropriate. This simple quote easily passes through the lips, without an understanding of its true implications. Women are taught to be in tune with their emotions from an early age. They are encouraged and rewarded for expressing their thoughts and feelings through emotional expression. If a female child falls down, her parents will come to calm her immediately. It would be typical to hear a parent asking his daughter if she is okay or if she needs a kiss to make the pain go away. On the contrary, if a male child falls down, the reaction is short of affectionate. Young boys are simply told to “brush it off”. Implications of such socialization can be observed by analyzing the behavior of male and female adults in terms of emotional expression. I will never forget when the love of my life, Drew, lost his grandparents just months within each other. The two of them lived a long beautiful life together. At the funeral, I was flooded with emotion. I cried for all of the moments we no longer had to learn about one another. I cried because I could no longer see his grandfather’s face light up when we snuck a bar of chocolate into the nursing home. I cried because his sweet grandmother still didn’t remember who I was, but she hugged me like I was one of her own anyway. I felt strong pride and admiration for the beautiful tree of life they had created by the eight children they had raised. I looked up at Drew to realize he hadn’t shown any physical signs that he too was feeling these strong emotions. Not because his grandparents meant any less to him than they did to me, but because the men of our society have been taught to believe that displaying emotion reveals weakness. When I asked him how he was able to stay calm throughout the service, he replied “If I would have shed a single tear, I would have lost it.” Unfortunately, women pay a hefty price to be able to express their emotions freely. It is extremely difficult to have a confrontational conversation with your colleague, with a pestering lump creeping up your throat. I have had such situations in the workplace that have had me cursing at my female upbringing. Most women can relate to the idea of having an intense conversation with a colleague and having to rush to the bathroom to chug water or sit down and take some deep breaths and blot your eyes, simply to avoid your body’s “natural” reaction to stress. There are times where I believe having the ability to “shut off” my emotions would be almost super-power worthy. It is no surprise that men are able to succeed in stressful high management positions. Emotional stability is vital to clear and concise decision-making and processing skills. In the respect of the workplace and emotional stability, the value of males overshadows that of females.   With this super-power worthy ability to “shut off” emotions, comes the reality of emotional suppression. Men are forced to suppress their feelings for such long periods of time, that expressing them can feel unnatural and forced. This plays an extremely important role on the male Psyche. Suppressing or diminishing feelings of grief, depression, or fear, can lead to serious psychological trauma. This may have a detrimental effect on the way in which men view themselves. Without recognizing and accepting negative emotions, irreversible damage can occur. Those who break the social rules of gender and emotional expression may receive maltreatment. Gender roles are extremely important to our society, and people often react with anger when others don’t fit into a specific preassigned category. Bornstein defines gender roles as, “…a collection of factors which answer the question, ‘How do I need to function so that society perceives me as belonging or not belonging to a specific gender’” (26). Men and women are expected to perform or “do gender” in the appropriate manner. A woman without emotion may be deemed heartless or cold. While a man who cries in public, may be perceived as weak and sheepish. Everyone should be entitled to their own idea of emotional freedom. Until socialization becomes equal across genders, gender inequality on the basis of emotional expression will remain.

https://uic.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-4396614-dt-content-rid-49747813_2/courses/2015.fall.gws.101.21683/Bornstein.pdf

[liszasantos-blog]

Your paper is different to majority of the papers here. It stays focused to how men are affected in this society. The expectation of not having any emotions or staying strong and suppressing their feelings. The example you have gave me the chills. It really touches a soft spot because it is a very real example that shows how much this idea of “Men don’t cry” actually affects a person. 

[gws101fall2015]

Looking Pretty

Photo found on womanthouartgod.com/images/drlaura1955. jpg

                                       Looking Pretty by Nikki Martin

           Very rarely are people encouraged to be who they are, more often than not they are told who they are and who they should be. “It’s boy!” “It’s a girl!” Phrases that are used when assigning a sex to a child at birth. This gender placement occurs way before one is born, gender decided for a person who is not even capable of speaking yet. Parents throwing baby showers with the main color being either blue or pink depending on the sex of the child. Before a baby is even born they already have clothes to wear and toys to play with. Sailor suits and trucks for the baby boy, and dresses and baby dolls for the baby girls. Many unconsciously hoping that their children will grow to fit into the gender roles assigned to them.

           From infancy girls have been trained to assume to the position of a caregiver. It starts with the baby doll given to a young girl in her childhood. It starts with a game of House where the girl acts as the mother, taking care of her baby doll as if it was her own child. She gives her baby doll a name and she may do her hair. Little girls are being taught that their biggest accomplishments will be their family, and that little girls must do all that they can to care for their family. It is their husband’s responsibility to bring home the bacon, the wife’s responsibility to cook the bacon and to look good while doing it.

           Putting any extra efforts into looking nice is a behavior that has been coded as feminine. Guys are allowed to get up in the morning, shower, get dressed, and walk out the door. Women, on the other hand, do not have that luxury. Our hair must look nice, our makeup must be done (but not overdone), we must smell nice, and we must always dress to impress. Unless our dress codes conflicts with the idea of what a woman should dress like.

There is a ton of pressure on women to look a certain way. We are bombarded with pictures and commercials filled with woman who all possess “the look”. All tall, all thin, with thick luscious hair, and complexions as clear as day. Are we as woman suppose to look like the models in the magazines?  We as women are expected to be thin but not too thin. We must have curves, but not too much. We must have hips, but not too wide. We must have a nice, tone, round butt, but it can not be too big. If we opt to cover our bodies we are labeled a prude, but too much skin and we’re slutty. Woman are taught to order salads and glass of water on dates, for having an appetite is unappealing. We must always play the role of a dainty woman even it that role does not truly encompass who we are.

Woman are not the only ones forced into stereotypical gender roles. Men are also expected to look and act a certain way. Men are also surrounded with pictures of Calvin Klein models, football players, and basketball players because their physiques are to be desired by woman. Men should not care about their appearance nearly as much as women do, and if they do men unfortunately are looked at as being “too feminine”. Men do not have the luxury that women have when it comes to picking out outfits and showing a little self-love. Women can go to any nail salon and receive a manicure and pedicure with no problem, but a man may be labeled as gay if he decides too. Apart from the occasional hair cut men are not socially allowed to style their hair because a cut and color may be a little too feminine.

No man or woman should be forced to accommodate a society that tells them they are not good enough. Men and woman should not be expected to look or act a certain way just because of their genitals. “… the way we perceive another’s gender affects the way we relate to that person (Bornstein 27).” We should no longer use gender and/or gender roles to determine how we relate to one another, for gender and/or gender roles to not determine the worth of that person.

[liszasantos-blog]

I love how your paper really focuses on the issue of what is considered normal or standard in our society. I also like how you give the perspective of what men can and cannot do. The essay does great justice to the explanation of what is male and what is female as well as what we shouldn’t do and what we should do. As a woman who was raised to act and behave as the stereotypical norm of what a women should act like and dress like, I can wholeheartedly agree with what you say. 

[liszasantos-blog]

Maternity

gws101fall2015

Majority of women are stereotypical raised to believe that they need to have a maternal side, and have been taught how to be servers and caring. They have been raised to be housewives and potentially care for future kids. As a society people tend to make comments like, “She’s so good with kids, she’s going to be a great wife.” Women are often told by their parents, “No man is going to want you if you can’t even take care of a kid.” The value of a woman is often questioned when she isn’t capable of handling children in a way that is deemed as socially acceptable. This often leads to the idea that a woman should be delicate with her obligations and have a basic idea of how to take care of a sentimental situation. Women as a whole are stereotypically expected to have a more noble and caring side with men.

In the same way that women are expected to be “housewife material”, men are usually frown upon when they decide to take the decision to take the role of the nurturer instead of the economic provider. It is expected for a woman to put a hold on her career to have children and to take care of those children, but for a man to do the same as a women is less common and is talked about in a negative way. Men who attempt to take the role of the caregiver

, are often questioned about their masculinity by the rest of society, while a women won’t have anyone intervening with her decision to stay at home and be a stay at home mother.

-L.S