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This is a song from the movie "New Muslim Cool" that we watched today.

Michelle Ha - Extra Post

I found this picture interesting. Even though it is funny it holds a deeper meaning than just humour. It suggest that white parents are more lenient when it comes to parenting. Where as black parents are stricter. Thus the photos show the same scenerio where both boys are telling their mother's to shut up and it results in different outcomes. On mother was saddened by the comment contradictory to the other who seemed to use physical force which hospitalized the young boy. But parenting styles differ and aren't based on race. The outcomes could have easily been reversed yet it proves how we racialize certain parenting techniques.

Thjania Carter Extra Post

Response to Dannielle Romoleroux

Dannielle my household was similar. A domestic chore is not “woman’s work” at my house. The famous line said in my house is “you sleep & eat here, you cook & clean too”. My family has more females than males yet the males do their equal share of work. Some days boys would clean the kitchen while the girls helped do yard work. In my house it wasn’t about teaching us (me, my siblings or the other young family members) to do a gender based chore. It was more of everyone will learn to do everything. I see it as learning how to do work inside and outside the house would make us well rounded people. If we knew how to do work both inside and outside the household there would be no need to be dependent on someone else to do it for us. I feel that my family taught me to never limit myself to specific categories of work however, I am confused when they talk about how my cousin runs her family. My cousin is 27 and is married with two kids. Yet she works outside the home while her husband works from inside their home. So he is home with the kids more than she is. Thus, he does most of the grocery shopping, the cooking and does homework with the children. My family criticizes them calling him the wife in the relationship. Although I do laugh it is harsh that my family criticizes them. They are both doing what is needed to maintain a stable home for them and their children yet the “roles” they play in the family aren’t what is socially expected so they are picked with. I can never understand why my family encourages versatility but criticizes when it is put into practice. Even though I can’t see me doing the same as my cousin I respect the way she keeps her family and hopefully the rest of the family, especially the older family members, can see it the way I do and will be less critical of how she navigates her family.

Thjania Carter Week 14 Response to another person

An unneeded rescue?

After reading ts Not an Oxymoron by Susan Muaddi Darraj I have seen the way th media in Western cultures project this illusion of the women in the Middle East. As a child when I think of the Middle East as many ofthe stereotype Susanmentioned in her essay. I have thought of the Middle East as a desert landfull of underpriveleged people especially when I thought about the women of the Middle East. However, the reading made me realize that all that I thought before was wrong.

Those women in the Middle East lead similar lives as the women in America. et, since their customs are different we are taught to view them as needy. The women are seen as oppressed because in America doing housework is becoming less of a domestic routine practiced by someone living in the household but a job the home owner pays someone else to do. Therefore when we hear of women doing domesic duties in the MIddle East it seems like it is wrong. However, I think those women are not oppressed I feel like it is a task that they perform because they want to keep a clean, healthy and safe living environment for their family. In fact they have the right idea it is o need to look down on domestic duties why get someone to take care of your home when you can.

People shoud stop passing judgement on the things people choose to perform as the rituals that structure their life. When something is not practiced in one's household when someone else does it it becomes problematic because now those practices seem abnormal. Yet people need o stop being so prejudiced and take the time out to see if people are being oppressed before they try to "rescue" people who do not need to be saved. Because when a person assumes the worse from an ignorant piece of information, that has some how become a fact, it can start problems that wouldnt have bee initiated if people were better aware of other peoples circumstances. People really should get their facts before trying to help someone or better yet mind their business. Either way people need to become enlightened on other peoples customs so prejuding, stereotyping and have illusionary poerceptions of foreig people and places will no occur.

Thjania Carter Week 14 Response to Susan Muaddi Darraj

I remember having "boy talks" with my Indian friend and we would often mention guys on campus of whom we thought was really cute. While we talked about it for fun and to get some laughs out of each other, she would constantly remind me how she will have an arranged marriage when she gets older. I always feel pity for her because she has no say in the situation and it causes her pain as well, but there is nothing she can do but hope for the best.

-Katherine Hernandez, Extra Post

I think this woman's different tasks that she is trying to juggle and her facial expression says it all. Woman are being overworked and are becoming ever more stressed

-Katherine Hernandez Extra Post

Response to Dannielle

My family raised me pretty much the same way as your family has. While my mother represents the typical housewife, who cooks and cleans for all of us in the house and my dad representing the male dominant figure by working and being the breadwinner, I know my parents expect more from me than the limited roles that was expected of them as they grew up. My dad often has me sit in on crucial “everyday life tasks” that he expects me to know so I can be a successful and most importantly independent woman when I get older. My parents really push me to be independent and not rely on others, even though they are truly dependent of each other. I appreciate the fact that despite the fact that they were raised to have specified roles and be dependent of the other gender, my parents are raising me to be a well rounded adult.

-Katherine Hernandez, Response Post to Dannielle Romoleroux

#WCS Blog Post

Housework is not equal to women

In class the other day, there was a discussion about housework and how it is not valued as a real job. While reading, “It’s not an oxymoron” this topic about housework was also brought up and I completely understand where Darraj is coming from. I think that while women should not be seen as the only group capable of doing the housework we can not just leave it to be tended by men alone. I believe that if suddenly today we left the daily house chores to be done by solely men or tried to get them to do it, more often than not what would end up happening is the house would either not get cleaned or the it would not be as tidy and welcoming as often. However, what this class has taught me is that we can not generalize so it certainly not true that all women keep a clean and inviting home and the same for all men, not all men are dirty pigs. However, I do think the connotation between housework and women does need to change, especially since the roles of woman have and are continue to change. More women nowadays are full time workers and part-time students trying to climb the ranks in their job,. Therefore, trying to juggle these things with our expected roles as “good house takers”, wives and being a good mother, is becoming more of a detriment to our health than anything else. Depression is affecting approximately 1 in every 10 U.S. adults according to the CDC and out of those who do get affected women are more proned to get depression. I think the reason for this is pretty self explanatory, women now are expected to have more roles and it’s too many tasks for just one person.

Darraj mentioned how both her parents had placed value on keeping a well cleaned home. When I read this part it instantly reminded me of my parents who always raised me to clean up my room. I remember my mom constantly telling me that a clean room emits positive energy and therefore makes a more happier you. While I truly believe in keeping a clean living space, often I look at my sister who was instilled these same values but often leaves her living room full of my nieces toys and the kitchen sink buried under a mountain of used plates because she cannot incorporate cleaning in her hectic schedule. My sister is a project manager at Verizon and is always needed at her job and therefore can not meet the supposed expectations of being a mother of two, a fulltime worker and a housewife. Times are changing and so should the way we associate women with housework.

-Katherine Hernandez, Islamic Feminism Blog Post

#wcs blog post

Enough said!

-Ishanpreet Kaur

Extra Post 7

wcsfall2012movement

“I didn’t view housework as my oppression. There was a certain sense of pride placed on a clean, welcoming home, an both my parents had always placed value on it. That was why my father spent his weekends trimming the lawn and sweeping the walkways and why my mother mopped the kitchen floor and...

wcsfall2012bodies-blog

Nikki, I totally understand want you mean because it is exactly the same in my household. There are no specific roles for any gender, we all clean and maintain the house equally. Although both my parents work, but it was also known that whoever gets home first will cook. In my opinion this is not an uncommon thing, many families have had to deal with different changes in expected roles.

Dannielle Romoleroux

Response to "It's Not an Oxymoron"

While reading "It's not an oxymoron," I thought about the male figures in my life and what affect they had on my views of feminism. Both my dad and grandfather have played a major role in my life, I have had all grandparents and parents raise me. There was no one parent responsible for taking care of the kids, in my family we all helped each other out. My mom would take care of us (my sister and I) and do all the housework when she was off, and my dad would do it when he was off. It was never expected that my mom was solely responsible for the house chores, we were all responsible. When my little sister was born, my older sister and I were responsible for babysitting and cleaning the house. Because my dad is the only male in the household, the women are doing most of the housework but its not like my dad does nothing. Like in the article, Susan mentions her mother washing the dishes and her dad mowing the lawn, its the same way in my house. My dad has showed me how to mow the lawn, change oil, jumpstart a car, cook! Just like my mom has taught me how to drive a stick shift and put make up on. My parents have never limit me to roles that are typical for my gender, my parents have always wanted me to be independent and never to need anyone especially a male. When I saw my grandfather over Thanksgiving break we had a very long conversation about my goals in life. Both my grandmother and grandfather have their own business. And get this my grandfather owns a cleaning service business while my grandmother runs a taxing agency. I have grown up around adults that didn't play along side gender roles.

Dannielle Romoleroux

#wcs dsr blog post

Why do we need to use words like "gay" or "retarded". There are so many other options but we still choose to say these words. We all learned a lot of words that are not derogatory. So why do we say these terms.

-Ishanpreet Kaur

Extra Post 6

Truth of life. This reminds me of a conversation with my friend couple days ago. I got a new case for my phone and it said "Made in China" and he was like isn't that given. And then he mentions how iPhones have a weird way. They say box is "Made in China" and Packed in somewhere in California. I don't remember exactly, but something like that. It was weird. As we all know, most of Apple products are made in Chine. They didn't have to mention it was packed in US.

-Ishanpreet Kaur

Extra post 5

Response to Lika

Hi Lika! I really liked your post and that's a crazy situation that you were put into. I actually thought about that one time but in relation to myself. Like I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, my mother wants me to marry out of my race, preferably some type of oriental Asian or White. When I was told this, the first thought that came to mind was what about our differences? And I didn't mean differences as in what's our favorite food. I meant religion. From what I know of, not many orientation Asians are Catholic Christians. Actually, I wouldn't really know. But what if I did marry out of my religion. What would happen to the child? Who would make the decision?

One of my friends is in a similar situation, but it isn't as a big deal because her father is a Christian and her mother is a Catholic. She tells me that sometimes it's a hassle because she has to do things that her father makes her do that she doesn't want to do. If she had to choose, she would rather be a Catholic than a Christian. This is sad to say, but I honestly can't differentiate between religions because I have been raised as a Catholic my whole life, so I don't know much outside of it. I can't even say that I know much about my own because I've never been religious enough to learn about everything. I always wanted to, but never really took the chance to.

When it comes to marriages, I really believe that religion takes a huge role. It's always up to the couple, but one day, it could cause problems especially if neither is willing to convert.

Patricia Benito Week 14 - Islamic Feminists Reply Post

This video portrays stereotypes that are seen in children's entertainment. Its so sad that children are growing up watching such things. Although kids don't think of the shows in terms of racism or any sort of stereotyping, it may still have a little affect on them resulting in bullying at school. The video summarizes a great deal of material we learned in class.

-Krupa Gandhi Extra Post week 14

Roommate

After reading the articles for this week, I had a conversation with my roommate. Her religion is Islam. which I never knew (I'm such a bad roommate!), but I really enjoyed the conversation we had because I did learn a lot. I mentioned to her everything that I read and how I found certain things interesting.

I probably got all up in her business by asking how her family is like. I asked her if her family gets into the whole arranged marriage thing. Surprisingly, her family doesn't do that. We ended up talking about how her family is actually not that strict. Sadly, I have to admit that I thought I knew a lot about her culture/religion. All I really knew though was that they're not allowed to date, they have to wear those hijab, they aren't allowed to drink or smoke, they're pretty much completely conservative! I always felt bad for them, thinking that they were pretty much living a boring life. Then again, I also looked up to them because I always wanted to be that kind of person who had something to work towards to like they did. I felt like they knew everything they wanted by the time they get to college. I'm now a sophomore and I still don't know exactly what I want. That's the part that surprised me about my roommate though. She isn't as happy as I thought she would be. This whole pharmacy major? She just chose it because it was the best for her, but it wasn't something she really enjoyed or loved. She's just doing it to fulfill her responsibilities as a daughter. It's crazy. I've known her for a year now and it was the first time that we ever had a heart to heart conversation. I also found out that she's not forced into arrange marriages, so I learned that not everyone does that. I still find it interesting how marriage is done in her culture though (which was mentioned in the article too!). I asked her why they did that because it didn't make sense. She told me that "marriage is not only between two people, but between two families. The point of marriage is to unit two families as one." As corny as it is, I thought it was the cutest thing ever! I'm pretty much traditional when it comes to dating, or at least I wanted to be, it's had finding guys who are still traditional! By traditional, I mean I wanted to be courted. This is where everyone starts laughing at me. The last time I told my friends that, they burst into laughter. "Who still does that now-a-days?!" I felt embarrassed at first, but I mean, there should be some guys that still do that, right? Of course, I mean that's what guys in this culture does. But that's off-topic now!

I also asked her why did she start wearing a hijab because when I met her last year, she didn't wear it at all. By the next semester, she was wearing it. I never bother to ask until that night. We ended up talking about how college influenced us to be more religious. Actually, we weren't really influenced, it just happened. We were never really into praying or anything like that. Now I see her praying like three times a day and reading one of her required texts. Every time I see her, it just inspires me. Being with her has really taught me a lot about lives outside of what I know. I love having her as my roommate because I never thought that she would be so filled with wisdom. I never expected us to be this close due to the difference in interest and religions/culture, but that night really proved me wrong. Now I couldn't have asked for a better roommate!

Patricia Benito Week 14 - Islamic Feminists Post 1

This picture clearly dictates the gender roles our society tends to assign

-Krupa Gandhi Extra Post

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