Gender Portfolio

For my Gender and Communication class:)

[manylayersingender]

My #20 and last gender portfolio post is for the conclusion!!! It was an exciting project to undertake, and I was surprised by how many aspects of daily life have connections to gender and communication. Throughout this project, the concepts of patriarchy, gender roles, and intersectionality have reappeared, and I believe these are the key themes in my gender portfolio. I had expected to have these three as my key themes, and I also expected that these are the ones I would talk about more than once, even before I started the assignment. Patriarchy, gender roles, and intersectionality are all very basic concepts we covered in the class, but because they are basic, they have integrated into many parts of our lives. So, I think the reason these three concepts showed up multiple times is that they are some of the most common issues we face in this society, and they are intertwined with many different issues. 

There are so many things I learned that I did not know before or was not aware of before. One thing that I did not know before that has stuck in my head is the male gaze. I have never even heard of the word “male gaze” before in my life, so I had no idea what it was about until I read the textbook. Even after the class, my understanding was not clear. Then, when we watched the video clip from Aladdin, it all made sense to me. At the same time, I was shocked that many movies and TV shows I love include and promote the male gaze, and I ignored that part until I learned about it. So learning about the concept was very eye-opening to me, but because of the lesson, I started paying way more attention to the male gaze when I watch movies or TV shows. Now that I know about the male gaze, I will keep paying attention to how it is incorporated in the movie, and I would like to mention it when I talk about movies/TV shows with my friend or family. 

I do not have any questions that I can think of, but I wish we had learned more about talking back. It is a wonderful concept, and I think it is an essential strategy to know for people in today’s world, since there are so many problems impacting our lives, and we have more tools to raise our voice. 

Overall, the gender and communication class was absolutely amazing, and everything I learned in the class will be so valuable in my life!! I am so glad I took this class with the wonderful professor and classmates!!

[manylayersingender]

For my #19 post, I would like to talk about hidden curriculum in Japan. Hidden curriculum refers to the implicit and often unintentional lessons, cultural norms, and values students learn in school. It is the byproduct of the institution of education that society often fails to question.

In Japan, the most notable hidden curriculum that can be observed is the school uniform. Most middle and high schools in Japan have school uniforms regardless of whether it is a public or private school, and the majority of schools still make women wear skirts and make men wear pants. I went to an all-girls middle and high school, but when I was a student there, only skirts were available for everyone, and we were not allowed to wear pants. When someone tried to wear sweatpants under a skirt, some teachers gave a lecture to that student and said, "This is not what the school rule says, and girls look more elegant with a skirt." I thought it was ridiculous, but it was the school's rule, so I continued wearing a skirt even on the coldest winter days for six years. I suppose it's not only schools in Japan that assign skirts as a uniform to female students and pants to male students, but since most middle and high schools in Japan have school uniforms, I think it is a more serious issue in Japan compared to the U.S.

We should be able to decide what we wear without anyone's judgement, and in terms of school uniform, we should at least have both skirt and pants options for both female and male students so that they can choose whichever they feel more comfortable in!

[manylayersingender]

For my #18 post, I would like to talk about the TikTok video that caught my attention last week.

The video is about a husband doing the housework to protest against patriarchy. In the video I found, he washes all the dishes in the sink, puts them away, and folds all the clean clothes and puts towels on the hangers. He posts videos of himself doing housework almost every day, and in other videos, he mops the floor, cleans the bathroom, vacuums the floor, etc.

It was so satisfying to watch not only because a man cleans the house and does the household chores, but also because he does not make the video to make himself look good. He puts the same caption in the post every time he posts the household videos, and it always says "As a bare minimum husband, this is day ~ of protesting against patriarchy."

This video can obviously be tied to gender roles. Traditional stereotypical gender role under patriarchal society tends to make women take care of the household while men work outside the house. So, a video about a husband who does the household work actively and posts it on TikTok to protest patriarchy is tackling the stereotypical gender role!!!

I really hope more men in this world watch his videos and reconsider their gender roles.

As always, I attached the link to the video in this post!

[manylayersingender]

For my #17 gender portfolio, I wanted to talk about the song my friend recommended a little while ago.

The song, titled "Girls on Fire," by Alicia Keys, was released in 2012. It has the theme of women's empowerment, and the lyrics tell women that they have strength, power, and resilience even if they are alone. The song itself is empowering, but the music video takes it to an even higher level of empowerment. (The video also helps understand the message.)

The music video features a woman who cleans the room, works, and takes care of her children and her mother. She does all of these completely by herself. Not only that, but when her husband, who does not do any of these things, comes around and tries to get her attention, she refuses it and keeps doing what she wants to do.

With the lyrics and the music video, Alisha Keys tries to tell women in this world that women are capable of taking care of everything by ourselves, even without the support from men, and that we are on fire!!!

This song and its theme can be considered an artifact to fight against patriarchy, which refers to a social system where men hold more authority and power than women. I thought this song and the music video show that women are not inferior to men, and they can manage everything they need to do by themselves, which is the opposite of what is expected in patriarchal society.

Listening to this song gives me courage that I can do whatever I want, and I have so much ability and potential.

[manylayersingender]

For the #16 gender portfolio post, I would like to talk about a microaggression I experienced last summer.

Microaggression refers to commonplace beliefs, often subtle verbal, behavioral, or environmental acts that (intentional or not) can injure targeted groups based on gender/sex, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, or religion.

Last summer, while I was in Japan, I worked part-time at a food stand for various events. One day, I was assigned to work at the food stand at a stadium for a soccer game. My supervisor needed someone to deliver a barrel of beer to various locations, and since I was standing nearby, I offered to help. While I was carrying it to the other place, he said, "You're strong, even though you're a girl." I didn't say anything at that time because he was my supervisor, but I was upset and angry about what he said. There are many women out there who are strong, and some men are not. Yes, male and female bodies have differences, but that does not mean that women are not strong.

What made that day even worse was that, before the soccer game started, we had to decide on our roles: some people were assigned to take orders at the front, while others were tasked with preparing food at the back. That supervisor said that having women at the front would attract more customers, so girls would take orders and boys would be at the back making food. So, I had no choice but to stand at the front, but what he said was unbelievable. It was sexist, and he took advantage of women's beauty or attractiveness.

I think what that supervisor told me and other women who worked there can be considered a microaggression, and since it was the first time I experienced it at the workplace, I understood how it can make it hard and uncomfortable to work. Luckily, I only had that job for two months, but I hope more people receive education and training about microaggressions so that more people can work comfortably.

[manylayersingender]

For my #15 gender portfolio, I would like to talk about Charlie's Angels (2000) and the male gaze.

The male gaze is a perspective, typically in media like film and visual art, where women are portrayed and viewed primarily through the eyes of a heterosexual male.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have loved the Charlie's Angels series for a long time, and I still do, but when I learned about the male gaze, I started seeing this movie differently.

Prior to this semester, I thought the series had a feminist theme, and it was groundbreaking that three women worked in a team to save the world from crisis.

However, ever since I learned about the male gaze, I realized that this series, especially the first one, is full of the male gaze, and it almost feels like the movie is encouraging men to view women in that way. The movie tells the audience that women can get anything they want if they use their sexual appeal. It is especially notable in the scene where Alex goes undercover at the software company as an efficiency expert. She wears extremely tight clothes, and the camera focuses on her buttocks, and male workers all stare at her sexually. She uses　a cane to whip the desk and make men fantasize. That is not the only scene in which women are objectified and promote the male gaze: it can be observed throughout the movie.

[manylayersingender]

For the #14 post, I would like to discuss body surveillance.

Body surveillance refers to a preoccupation with critically looking at and judging one's body against normative standards of attractiveness to determine what others might think of them. My mother does this to me whenever I am in Japan. Two years ago, during summer break, I went on a weekend getaway trip with my mother. In the hotel room, she told me that if I lost weight, I would look more beautiful and would not have difficulty finding a boyfriend. This is literally what my mother said to me, and I could not believe it for a while that my mother said it to my face. She also told me that I look better in jeans if I lose weight. She said she is just worrying about my health, but she definitely compares my body against the normative standard of attractiveness. She would never equate my looks with my chances of getting a boyfriend.

Because she has told me about these things for a few years now, I started saying the same thing to myself. This is very toxic and could be very harmful. I love my mother, but I hope she realizes how harmful what she said to me is, and I hope someday, I will be able to love myself and my body the way it is❤️

[manylayersingender]

For my #13 gender portfolio post, I'd like to discuss a song I've recently come across. The song is called "Free Women" by Lady Gaga. I like her song, but I have never listened to this one until my Apple Music played it when I was listening to random music.

It was released in 2020, so it has been a couple of years, and when I listened to it for the first time, I thought she was just singing about body autonomy and freedom. But, as I listened to it multiple times, I got curious about some part of the lyrics and looked up on the internet whether there is a meaning behind the lyrics.

This song is actually about how Lady Gaga herself moved on after she was sexually assaulted by her producer when she was young. In the song, she is saying she became free not because she got over it, but because she decided to stop considering herself a victim or survivor, and instead, she viewed herself as a free person who went through some mess. She said in the interview with ELLE that "All the stuff I went through, I don't have to feel pain about it anymore. It can just be a part of me, and I can keep going."

We did not talk about sexual assault much, but it is mentioned in chapter 8 in the textbook, and the song also includes the importance of body autonomy and the message to women to be strong and not let the pain ruin your life, so I think it is related to theme from the second wave of feminism.

I have never experienced sexual assault, but I have had an experience that I did not consent to, and that was unpleasant. It did not become sexual assault, but there is a part of me that understands and relate to Gaga's lyrics and message.

I hope this song gives encouragement and helps those who suffer from sexual assault, even just a little bit.

[manylayersingender]

For #12, I want to talk about cultural ableism with the example of stigma around mental health in Japan. For the gender portfolio assignment, I finally created a TikTok account and started watching videos occasionally. Recently, I found a video that was uploaded by one of the creators I am following. The video's link is attached to this post so you can watch it. It consists of a few interviews, and the interviewer asked the Japanese whether they can share their worries with their friends or family. All the people who answered the question said they cannot share it with the people around them because their friends wouldn't take it seriously, or because they would cause their family and friends in trouble, or because they think they should keep it to themselves and it is okay if they can solve the problem by themselves.

I think they are not the only ones who think that way, and these reasons are part of the reason counseling is not as prevalent in Japan compared to the U.S. The fact that they think they should keep it to themselves, regardless of reasoning, is tied to the Japanese culture of collectivism. Japan cares so much about how people are doing as a collective and focuses on the group's well-being more than individual well-being. I think this collectivism makes Japanese people think that they should deal with their mental health issues by themselves. This way of thinking contributes to social norms of making mental health issues taboo to talk about. This leads to the stigma around mental health and discrimination towards those who suffer from mental health issues. Some people think having a mental health issue is a shame to the family, or going to counseling means the person has a severe mental illness. These two are common stigmas around mental health in Japan.

I think mental health stigmas in Japan can be considered as cultural ableism, which is a form of discrimination and prejudice against people with disabilities that is embedded in society. Japan's stigma around mental health is deeply tied to Japan's culture and social norms. It is not easy separating mental health issues from culture in Japan, but as a person who has been to counseling for more than six years, I hope more people in Japan get access to counseling without worrying about how people around them will perceive them.

[manylayersingender]

For my 11th gender portfolio post, I want to talk about code-switching. It includes "adjusting one's style of speech, appearance, behavior, and expression in ways that will optimize the comfort of others in exchange for fair treatment, quality service, and employment opportunities" (McCluney et al., 2019). I was not aware of it until I learned about it in the gender and communication class this semester. However, during the class, I began thinking about my own experience with code-switching.

When I am in the U.S., I try to be more explicit and tend to express my opinions straightforwardly, even if that opinion involves possibly criticizing something, because I have come to believe that this is the way many Americans speak. I also talk that way in English because I was underestimated multiple times due to my looks. I do not even look Asian-American, and it makes sense because I am completely Asian. So, some people I met in the U.S. thought I could not really speak English, and I could not express my opinions and emotions due to the lack of English vocabulary. So, whenever I talk to someone, I tend to be more explicit. (I naturally tend to speak straightforwardly, so this way of talking also suits me well)

On the other hand, when I am in Japan, I have to be way less explicit and have to use more euphemistic language because Japan has a social norm that it is better to express opinions indirectly, especially if it's about criticizing something or someone. Because I am naturally direct when I speak, there was a time when I expressed my opinions to others straightforwardly, and some people did not like the way I communicated. Since then, I have decided to code-switch depending on the country I am in.

I really feel like it is necessary for me to code-switch to fit in and to get fair and better treatment. It can be really exhausting, especially when I'm in Japan, because I have to choose words carefully and suppress my individuality. If I speak explicitly, people around me will think I show my individuality too much and give them the impression that I do not work well in a team.

[manylayersingender]

In this post, I would like to talk about a documentary I watched for the assignment. The name of the documentary is “She is Beautiful When She is Angry.” It captured the second wave of the feminist movement chronologically with footage from that time and interviews with women who were heavily involved in that movement. They reflect on how it was, how they engaged with it, and how they felt. It starts with a brief explanation of what it was like for women to live in the U.S. before the second wave of the movement. Then, the formation of the National Organization for Women, followed by WITCH (Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell, Chicago Women’s Liberation Union, Jane Collective, and so on. It ends with the video from the 40th anniversary symposium of the organization called “Our Bodies Ourselves.” I found this documentary when I looked up documentaries related to gender studies on Google, and the title caught my attention. I read some reviews that people wrote about it, and it sounded inspiring. I liked it a lot because it was informative, and with the footage and listening to actual living people reflecting on the plane, it made me feel like I was living in that era. I liked that the documentary included one negative outcome of the movement, which made the documentary objective in a way. However, the lack of representation of Black people and transgender people was irritating. There were only two or three black people who were interviewed out of close to 30 women. The struggle transgender people experienced during the movement or the effort they put into making their voice heard was not mentioned at all. These were the main weaknesses I noticed in the film, but overall, I would still recommend this documentary even to those who do not really know anything about feminism. 

[manylayersingender]

In this post, I would like to talk about fetishization, using my own experience.

Fetishization is defined as considering someone as an object of sexual desire due to a certain aspect of that person’s identity. 

I am Asian, and I was fetishized by my first boyfriend. Frtishizing asian women (especially East and Southeast Asian women) is also called “yellow fever.” It is a derogatory term and absolutely not a flattering term.

My first boyfriend was a white man who was the same age as me. We met on the dating apps, and when we first talked on the phone, we talked about what type of person we are attracted to. I said, “someone who is kind, caring, and someone who makes me smile.” He replied to it and said, “I am pretty much the same except I like Asian women, but only Japanese and Koreans.” The moment he said it, I should have realized that’s a reg flag. I thought it was weird, but it was a very early stage of getting to know each other, so I let it slide. (Yes, I now know that it was a mistake) We started dating a week after we met for the first time, and the first two weeks were great! But then, he kinda started neglecting me even when we spent time together. One time, he invited me to his house, and I thought we were going to do something. Instead, he abandoned me in the living room alone, and he worked on his car for 6 hours straight. It was not the only time that he did something similar, and I realized that he was viewing me as a sexual object because I am Asian, and he didn’t value the time he spent with me. So, after a month and a half of dating, we broke up. I found out after I broke up with him that I was not the only one who experienced fetishization.

I learned from this experience and became more cautious about who I date and how they treat me. 

[manylayersingender]

For the gender portfolio #8, I chose to talk about bathrooms in Japan, which has been VERY controversial for years. When we talked about bathroom issues in class, I wondered about the bathroom situation in my country. I am already aware that there are only a few gender neutral bathrooms in Japan, but I was not up-to-date about the issue since I came to the U.S. four years ago. I looked up on the internet about Japan's gender neutral bathroom problems, and I found an article published by TIME that talks about Supreme Court Rules regarding illegal restriction for transgender people, so I want to talk about it here. In July 2023, the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that it is illegal to restrict transgender people from using certain bathrooms. A woman who was assigned male at birth is working at Japan's trade ministry, and she was not allowed to use the bathroom on the floor where her workplace is located. Instead, she was forced to use the bathroom at least two floors away. In my opinion, this is absolutely unbelievable because in June 2023, the Japanese government implemented a law that prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, and the same government that implemented it forced a transgender woman to go to a different floor to relieve herself. What they did to the woman was, I think, against the law they implemented.

The survey that the article mentions shows that approximately 70 percent of cisgender people in Japan do not have concerns about transgender people using the bathroom that accords with their gender identity. However, because some people oppose that idea and raise their voices a lot, a lot of transgender people in Japan are not comfortable using the bathroom they want.

Gender neutral bathroom exists in some places in Japan, but they get criticized a lot and tend to be demolished. Also, there are multi-purpose bathrooms in Japan, and they have more than gender neutral bathrooms, so transgender people can use them, technically. However, there is an unspoken rule that it is for the elderly, people with disabilities, or a parent and their child. So, even though it is a bathroom that anyone can use, a lot of people tend to hesitate using the multi-purpose bathroom.

This whole bathroom situation in Japan needs to be changed and should be accessible to everyone. Since the Japanese government is reluctant to make the situation better, I am not sure how long it will take for Japan to become a country that is friendly for everyone, but I still have hope.

(I embedded the link in this post for the TIME article I found.)

[manylayersingender]

For my gender portfolio #7, I want to talk about my favorite song to listen to! The song is called "Independent Women Part 1" by Destiny's Child. It was released in 1999 and used for the Charlie's Angle movie 2000. I first listened to this song when I watched the Charlie's Angels movie series, and I felt empowered. Since then, I have had this song in my playlist, and I listen to it whenever I need encouragement or empowerment. The reason I picked this song for gender portfolio is that not only is it encouraging to women, but also, I think it dismantles hegemonic patriarchal society!!!!

The title of the song gives you a sense of what the song is about. It is about the woman talking about how independent she is even when she is in a relationship with a man.

One part of the song says, "Try to control me boy, you get dismissed. Pay my own fun, oh, and pay my own bills. Always 50/50 in relationships."

The reason I like this part is that she tells a guy how independent she is and that she does not have to rely on him at all. She emphasizes that she is absolutely equal to the man, and because the she calls out to a man, I feel like it makes the man acknowledge equality.

Another part says, "Tell me how you feel about this. Do what I want, live how I wanna live. I worked hard and sacrificed to get what I get. Ladies, it ain't easy being independent. Question, how'd you like this knowledge that I brought? Bragging on that cash that he gave you is to front. If you're gonna brag, make sure it's your money you flaunt. Depend on no one else to give you what you want."

The reason I like this part is that it is meant for women. She tells us how empowered women are and that they are capable of anything they want. I also like it because it acknowledges that it is not easy for women to be independent. This makes the song more empathetic and relatable to listeners.

Both parts I mentioned disrupt and dismantle hegemonic patriarchal society. Hegemony is the process of domination by a ruling group. They dominate by establishing common sense. Patriarchal society is a hierarchical social system in which men are privileged over women, masculinity is privileged over femininity, and some men are privileged over other men. In a patriarchal society, men are the breadwinners, and women are stay-at-home wives who do all the chores and raise kids. Women do not work, so they rely on men's income. So, this song clearly challenges and disrupts the hegemony and patriarchal society by telling how women are capable of living independently.

[manylayersingender]

For the gender portfolio #6, I want to bring an artifact that I have not brought in the gender portfolio, so I will discuss a long-running TV show called NSCI. It is a great crime-solving TV show, and I love it, so I have watched it many times. But, in this post, I want to focus on the behavior of one particular character from that show. That person's name is Anthony DiNozzo. He is a special agent, and a good one at that. However, in the TV show, Anthony (known as Tony) is also described as a man who loves women and who loves having sex with women. He seems interested in every woman he meets and lays eyes on her. He flirts with women, asks them out, and talks about women's bodies a lot. So, one thing I can say about him is that he objectifies women. Objectification occurs when people view others as objects existing solely for the viewer's pleasure rather than as agents capable of actions. In season 3, episode 9, he even admits that he objectifies women. Even though Tony's objectification of women is just portrayed as one of his personality traits, it could affect society negatively. Objectification in media can contribute to self-objectification, body dissatisfaction, sexist beliefs, tolerance of violence against women, and so on. Therefore, as much as I love this TV show, I do not like that aspect of Tony's personality, and when people make movies and TV shows, these sexist conversations and jokes have an effect on people's way of thinking.

(In the image I attached in this post, Anthony DiNozzo is the man in the middle.)

[manylayersingender]

For my gender portfolio #5, I want to talk about my struggle in Japan related to clothes. In Japan, many clothing stores, especially women's clothing stores, only sell one size of clothes, which they call "free-size." "Free size" is not what a lot of people think in English. It means they only have that size, and it does not mean that size is meant to fit most people with various body shapes. I HATE "free size" clothes in Japan because whenever I find clothes I like, it does not fit me if they're "free size." They are almost always too small for me so it is quite difficult for me to find clothes that I like and that fit me. I am pretty sure I am not the only one who struggles with that system because even though a lot of Japanese women are skinny, not all the women and body shapes vary from person to person.

I believe this stupid system is a big issue because it contributes to the concept of body privilege and promotes people's judgmental thinking towards other people's body shapes. When I went to a clothing store and told a clerk that I wanted to try some clothes on, she said, "These are free-size clothes." It sounded like she was telling me that you are not slim enough for those clothes to fit me. Even though she might have just wanted to tell me the size variation of the clothes, I got uncomfortable when she told me that. I cannot count how many times I had to give up buying clothes because of the "free-size" system.

This promotes a toxic way of thinking in people's heads that they have to be slim to be normal and promotes people's judgment towards other people. In addition, it contributes to the concept of body privilege. Body privilege is an invisible package of unearned assets that thin individuals can take for granted as they navigate public space in their daily lives.

Everyone's body shape is different, and the size variation of clothes should not limit people's freedom to buy and wear what they want.

(The image I put in this post is a picture of one of the famous Japanese clothing shops for young women, and that store only has "free-size" system")

[manylayersingender]

For the gender portfolio #4, I chose one of my favorite movies, which I watch occasionally. I first encountered this film when I was in high school in Alabama. A teacher put it on the screen during study hall, and I fell in love with it.

The film is about three black women (Mary, Dorothy, and Katherine) who work for NASA and contribute significantly to the success of space projects. They face discrimination every day and are underestimated by men and white women, but they fight against all the difficulties and never give up and keep going. I chose this film because it tells a lot about intersectionality. Intersectionality is a theory of identity and oppression. In other words, it is how a person's different identities are connected and intertwined.

The difficulties, discrimination, and mocking that the three main black women face can be observed easily in the film. At the very beginning of the movie, they were mocked by a white police man. In NASA, they are not allowed to use the same bathroom as white people; they have to use the colored people's bathroom. Katherine, one of the three main women, was not allowed to use the same coffee pot that white men and women used. She was also not allowed to put her name on the paper she wrote. Dorothy and her kids were forced to leave the public library because she was in the white people's section (she was just looking for a book). Mary's husband thinks she cannot be an engineer because she is a woman and she is Black. All the unfair and disrespectful treatment they receive throughout the film is due to their gender and race.

At that time, women were treated poorly regardless of race, but these three women, Mary, Katherine, and Dorothy, received even more cruel treatment because of their race on top of their gender. Hence, it is quite clear that this film is about intersectionality and how these three women face it and pave their ways.