#lec127

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Parenting, Work and Families

“The Opt-Out Generations Wants Back In” - By Judith Warner

“O’Donnel told her: ‘This is the perfect reason why you need to work. You don’t have to make a million dollars. You don’t have to have a wealthy lifestyle. You just always have to be able to at least earn enough so you can support yourself,’” (Warner).  This quote reminds me of something my mother also says to me.  She always tells me to finish college so I can get a great job and support myself independently regardless of whatever circumstances I am faced with in the future.  

My mother could be considered to be part of the Opt-Out generation “…a group of former mega-achievers who were, as the anchor Lesley Stahl put it, ‘giving up money, success and big futures’ to be home with their children,” (Warner).  When I was born she decided to work from home, creating her business involving our home as a Child Day Care.  I believe, on her part that choosing to continue work to balance family life as well as continuing to obtain an income was a smart idea for her.  I know some mothers’ circumstances would not permit such a decision.  Eventually my mother had to join them.  

It is unfortunate that after putting so much time and effort into their child’s lives and education, mothers cannot seem to make it back into the corporate world.  They are no longer “qualified” which I believe is absurd.  After a period of time out of commission the mothers who decided to give up their work life for their children are still qualified to hold jobs that they once had.  If anything, some information should be brushed up on, for example science is constantly adapting, however, in the long run everyone is trained in the beginning of their job.  Just because one has not been working for a period of time does not mean they have lost the ability to learn and adapt.  If anything, being a mother has taught them to enhance those skills.

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Mentors’ Plenary - The Debate

I want to say thank you to the Mentors of the Issues in Women’s Leadership course for their plenary contribution and continued support throughout the semester.  I think the plenary was a great idea and a huge success.  Microaggression is something that happens on a daily basis that one may not necessarily pay close attention to but it is an issue.  It was interesting listening to the multiple stories my fellow classmates shared during this plenary.  For example, one girl spoke about how many people have said to her “Wow, you’re smart for a girl,” which is something, as an engineering student, that I always hear as well.  It’s so interesting because that is one of the microaggressions I feel women are heavily influenced by.  Many of my female friends have chosen majors that they believed were “simpler” than engineering simply because they felt they were not smart enough.  This is thoroughly shown throughout STEM courses.  A Statics class I took at NJIT a year or two ago took place in a lecture hall filled with students and I was one of four girls present and this is just one example of that gap.  Then, when one doesn’t feel that they are smart enough to go into a STEM field, they’re hit with another microaggression “Well at least you’re pretty,” like that is going to get them somewhere in life.  It’s truly sad to say that many of us subconsciously think this way.

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Plenary - Intersexion

Growing up in a Catholic household I was always told that God doesn’t make mistakes and that He created man and woman in his image.  It was interesting realizing later on in life that there are cases where people have been born with a mixture of both sexes.  I wouldn’t say that I’ve particularly struggled with this issue but it is definitely a complicated concept to wrap your mind around with a religious background.  If God doesn’t make any mistakes, then why were these people being “fixed” surgically?

The first time I was ever exposed to a “fixing” scenario was the Bruce Reiner case.  I remember watching a documentary on his story as a child and thinking how horrible it was that doctors attempted to cover up a mistake they had made and that his parents went along with it.  I agree with multiple aspects of the documentary Intersexion.  It is not fair for someone to make such a crucial decision for you.  People who have been born intersex should be afforded that choice.  I think that's common sense.  The fact that doctors and parents feel the need to “fix” their children before they are able to make their own decisions is uncalled for because, if tables were turned, they would have wanted to be able to make choices about their sex themselves.

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Media & Representation

Article: "Lagos Journal; Globalization of Beauty Makes Slimness Trendy" - By Norimitsu Onishi

This just goes to show how media can really manipulate the female image, or any image for that matter, make it into whatever they want and many people follow it blindly.  Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and many other celebrities are idolized by the general public and even if one says that they do not follow the crowd or assimilate to certain stereotypes they don't realize that they are actually doing so subconsciously.  There have been many times where I have spoken to female individuals who have started hitting the gym to make the glutes bigger or their bodies more toned.  Their response always is, "Oh, I'm not doing this to fit the general standard of the societal perception of beauty and how the media has influenced that portrayal of what my body should look like.  No no, I am doing this for ME."  I confess, have been one of those women.  There is a point in time when you truly convince yourself that you are going to the gym 5 days a week to work out a muscle that you paid no attention to prior to the media's utter obsession with it.  

It is so easily manipulated that the norm can change within seconds, all the media needs to do is change the model look and all of a sudden every woman wants to look like this model because she is the definition of "beauty".  This is not to say that one shouldn’t feel beautiful in their own skin, quite the contrary.  I would just be something if the media didn’t have so much power in determining women, and even men’s, personal perceptions of themselves

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Globalizing Feminism

“Women’s Rights as Human Rights: Toward a Re-vision of Human Rights” - by Charlotte Bunch

It is mind boggling to me that women’s rights and human rights are considered separate in society.  “Few governments exhibit more than token commitment to women’s equality as a basic human right in domestic or foreign policy,” (Bunch 487).  I find it interesting that out of the multitude of human affairs the government wants to “poke its nose” in, this is the one situation it refrains from involvement. 

Many government responses to women’s abuse have basically been: * Sex discrimination is too trivial; *Abuse of women is a cultural, private or individual issue; *Abuse of women is inevitable.  These are sorry excuses for not getting involved in issues that afflict women on a daily basis.  Yet, these are the same individuals that want to exclude women’s birth control from health care and control the legality of abortion.  Isn’t that considered part of women’s rights?  It seems to me that the government’s differentiation between women’s rights and human rights is paradoxical.

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Podcasting & Women Plenary

Though I did like the plenary with the three female religious figures I feel like some credit is due to the first plenary on Planet Money.  Ms. Caitlin Kenney explained her personal experience with finding what she wanted to do with her life professionally.  I feel like that is one of the many struggles all college students face.  Deciding their own fate at such an early age.  I think it is a pivotal point to understand that what you study in college is not the career path you may end up taking in life later on.  

Ms. Kenney explained that even though she studied Journalism in college, she never expected to be part of a huge podcast company and enjoy speaking on the radio.  That is part of the growth process.  I actually have a friend who studied to be a chemical engineer in college, worked in the field for a couple of years and then decided to become an event planner.  One of the many take-aways I got from her presentation: You just never know where you’ll end up, but as long as you are along for the ride and open to life’s possibilities you’re bound to be a personal success.