Blog #3 Iron Jawed Angels

I learned so much through watching Iron Jawed Angels. I wasn't aware how much women went through just for us to get the right to vote. You always hear about the womens suffrage, but this movie really opened my eyes. There were many tensions between the women throughout the movie. Some of the women didn't support the womens suffrage movement which caused discourse. In the movie when the President had declared war, some of the women wanted to quit because the country was at war and they realized that people are focused on the war. When their main spokesperson died in the movie, Alice Paul runs home and wants to give up. The women always overcame these tensions because they were there for one reason and always found the strength to move on and fight for the right to vote. Alice Paul and the other women achieved their political goals by being relentless and not giving up. When they were sent to jail, Alice Paul refused to eat and caused problems in the jail and it got leaked to the public how these women were being treated in jail and it just showed how much they were not going to give up until they got their way. This movie was really good and I'm very glad that we got the chance to see it because it really opened my eyes to what happened during the womens suffrage movement. I think that this should be a required movie in history classes while you are in high school or junior high. These women were heroes and without their hard work and dedication, we would not have the right to vote. I liked this weeks reading because I believe that it explained feminism better to everyone, hence the title of the book. I feel like the F Word was talking specifically to women, but this weeks book talked to the general public. I think Bell Hooks is a good author. 

Bog #2

The person I interviewed was my nanny. My nanny didn't really have an experience of gender or at least none that she can remember, but she does have a history of feminism. I come from a long line of strong, independent women and that all started with my great grandmother. My nanny was raised to be independent and strong willed just like my great grandmother was. My nanny was raised during the era of feminism where women should be housewives and not be in the workplace. However, my nanny worked as a veterinarian technician at one point and worked in a hospital at another point. She was a single mother raising my uncle and mom and they were around the age of 2. She struggled with being in the workforce at that time and not having equal pay or equal rights as men do. Feminism is the political journey of having equal rights for women. One experience in my life that dealt with gender was in junior high. I had joined my high school's colorguard which is the flags in the marching band and didn't really realize that we were only girls. It wasn't until I saw other guards with boys with them that made me wonder why our guard didn't have boys in it. The boys in these other guards were so graceful and you could never take your eyes off of them because they were so good. I finally had asked why our high school doesn't have guys in our guard and that's when the guard instructor told me that he would never allow a boy into our guard because he wanted all girls which was weird since our instructor was a gay man and was phenomenal in guard. It was weird to me that our high school didn't allow guys in the guard and I was a little offended because most guys in guard are absolutely wonderful at guard. It made me aware of the gender differences. We also don't have guys in the guard here at OU and I remember the Big 12 Championship in 2007 when there was a group of our fans yelling at Missouri's colorguard because there was a boy in their guard and they were calling him a fag and saying extremely rude things. I thought the readings this week were good. I liked Chapter 5 because it talked about women in the workplace and about statistics. It also talked about how different races of women don't complete college and never reach high paying jobs. In Chapter 3, I thought that there would be more of an issue with body image and although it was an issue for women, it wasn't one of the highest. I also really enjoyed the movie that we watched in class and it makes me feel more empowered as a woman. 

Blog #1

My name is Maile Naone and I am a senior that will be graduating in May 2011. I'm a human relation major and a womens studies minor. I am in the Pride of Oklahoma and I spin the flags, but I play clarinet in my free time. Music is such a huge part of my life and it's one of my passions. I also hula dance and I truly enjoy doing that when I get the chance. My number one passion is people. There's nothing that I love more than helping people and observing the relationships that people have with each other. I'm in a music sorority named Tau Beta Sigma and I'm an alumni of Phi Mu and I would still be in Phi Mu if weren't for our house getting closed because nations decided to not tell us that some alumni members from a while back had racked up $200,000 in debt while they were attending OU. I'm taking this class because I made women's studies as my minor and so this class is required for me, but I'm also interested in this class because I've always wanted to learn more about feminists. I think this class will help enrich my knowledge of everyday issues that women face. 

Questions I want answered

1. What exactly does feminism mean?

2. Can men be considered feminists?

3. What issues do women still face with feminism and what are some top concerns for women?

4. Have the views of feminists changed throughout the years?

5. What will be the biggest thing that I learn in this class?

Blog #10 The End

Raunch Culture refers to the sexual culture of the 20th century in which sexually explicit language and themes in the performing arts, as well as sexually provocative clothing and expression are openly celebrated (Wikipedia.) A good source for raunchy culture are magazines like Playboy and Maxim where women pose in outfits that are barely covering their skin and in Playboy, women pose naked. Men and women are posing in ads that really degrade men and women all because sex sells and sometimes the sexual environment of the ads have nothing to do with what the ad is selling. TV commercials are becoming raunchy as well and children are beginning to see these ads which leads them to want to be in those ads and they start this vicious cycle of this ideal body image. The media seems to be a source of a lot our problems with body image and I wish that companies would just start using positive images. Parents needs to start stepping up to the plate and having a say because kids are seeing these raunchy ads no matter how hard we want to deny it. Children are beginning to learn what sex is at extremely young ages and the raunch culture isn't helping. I could go on and on about how negative the raunch culture is, but there can be some positives. For example, women never used to have the freedom to decide whether or not they wanted to have a choice to do these ads and the raunch culture can show how far women have come. I suppose you could look at the raunch culture as some form of celebration of women and that we have the power of sexual desire. There are women that pose in Playboy who are successful and it can provide a better living for some women who had nothing to begin with and it provides jobs. To be "like a man" to me means that men need to be masculine and to provide for the women. To be like a man is to go to football games and drink beers and watch sports all the time. To be "like a woman" to me means that women need to be comforting and kind and need to be the child bearers. To be like a women is to go shopping and gossip with your closest friends and to keep the house clean and be a good mom and wife. There is such a thing to be like a man or woman because it's prevalent in our society because it's the gender roles. I think that women inherit traits to be feminine and be more innocent like and to communicate better while men have the trait to be aggressive and strong and to not be the greatest communicators. 

Body Outlaw Project

I'm doing a free form poem for my body outlaw project

An Ode To My Body: Thankful For You

By:Maile Naone

I am thankful for the hair on my head that I can style both straight or curly

I am thankful for my long eyelashes because I don't have to use a curler

I am thankful for my eyes so that I can see the beauty of the world

I am thankful for my nose so that I can smell the April showers that bring May's flowers

I am thankful for my mouth so that I can speak my mind

I am thankful for my smile because it makes a difference in someone's world

I am thankful for my ears so that I can hear the voices of my loved ones

I am thankful for my fingers so that I can play my clarinet

I am thankful for my hands so that I can hold the hand of my future husband

I am thankful for my arms so that I can hug those around me

I am thankful for my  toes so that I can have the balance to walk

I am thankful for my feet so that I can wear the latest fashions

I am thankful for my legs so that I can march in The Pride

I am thankful for my hips that allow me to do a beautiful hula

I am thankful for my heart because it is filled with a lot of love to give

I am thankful for my compassion so that I can help people in need

I am thankful for my outgoing personality because I'm not as shy as I seem

I am thankful for my laughter so that the room is filled with joy

I am thankful for my life because I am blessed in so many ways

These are the things that make me who I am and I am thankful for who I am as a whole

Blog #9

Cosmetic surgery was initially used by men who were disabled by war or industrial accidents.  Cosmetic surgery has become centered around women because women are trying to conform to society's ideals of beauty. Women feel pressured to have a certain look and cosmetic surgery can give women that ideal look. I personally don't want to ever get plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery does sadden me because I believe that we shouldn't alter ourselves to conform to society's ideals of what it means to be beautiful. There are so many risks during surgery and of course there is going to be a lot of pain involved with cosmetic surgery. There's a lot of bruising and you do have to worry about scarring. However, cosmetic surgery can make women feel better about themselves and then they have a positive image of themselves. Cosmetic surgery can lead to confidence, but it can also lead to obsession. There are some women who will get their nose done and then they want a face life and then they start obsessing about getting a tummy tuck. Some women don't know where to draw the line and they become obsessed with cosmetic surgery and they will spend thousands and thousands of dollars for emptiness because they will never truly be happy with themselves. I don't judge people who want cosmetic surgery or who have had cosmetic surgery because each woman is different and it truly can help people become positive about themselves, but it's just not for me. Even though there are times where I truly don't like my body, at least I can say that I have a natural body. We live in a society obsessed with bettering our looks and it only causes damage to men and women physically and emotionally and we have become obsessed with cosmetic surgery. 

Blog #8

One of the benefits of men putting "tough guise" is that men are seen as the caretaker of their wives and women can feel protected and safe. Putting on this "tough guise" allows men and boys to be ready for a society that puts pressure on men to be strong and masculine. It can be dangerous though because it leads to a negative image of violence for men unfortunately. Gender issues can actually run synonymously with women's issues to an extent. When dealing with gender issues, gender roles also need to be mentioned. Men are expected to be the provider and the strong one and women are supposed to be the child bearers and women need to be soft and gentle. When looking at women's issues, our specific gender role causes gender issues because you run into women who are masculine like Ellen Degeneres and it blurs the line of gender roles and issues and the same goes for men who are more feminine like Elton John. It's a big circle when dealing with gender issues and women's issues as well as men's issues. Since men are supposed to be tough and strong, you don't take a second to think that men are affected by body image and eating disorders. When we watched the film Thin, there wasn't a male patient and majority of the male models are beefed up and muscular. I honestly have never thought about how the media can scrutinize men as well and give them this pressure to have the perfect body image. Just like with women, men can suffer from eating disorders like anorexia. Men spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on pills to beef up. It can also tear men apart and pressure them to fit the ideal body image. Men can suffer just as much as women do. Men sometimes feel pressured to use steroids and it can lead to steroid abuse and it has even cost some athletes their careers. I believe the media inspires change because you're beginning to see male actors who have some meat on them and they aren't very muscular. There are male actors stepping onto the scene who are overweight, but they are still wonderful actors. The media has complete control over the ads that are put out there and they have the control to use men and women who are real and not skinny. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwZUsZWMjwE

This is a video just raising awareness for eating disorders with men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIFAoRU1veo&feature=related

This is a video that follows a male model who suffers from anorexia