Women Live In a Cruel World

Articles: "Americans Have a Different Attitude" by Espiritu and "Global Woman" by Ehrenreich and Hochschild

When I read the article "Americans Have a Different Attitude", I saw how making a different group an "other" exaggerates and focuses primarily on the differences of the groups and diminishes the similarities. It makes one group superior to another, creating inequalities. It is similar to the idea of the 'poser's' video, that focused on the differences of the "other" groups and exaggerated the differences. Everyone takes pictures, but the video chose to focus only on how different the same 'pose' was interpreted by each group. As I was reading the quote from page 234 by the Filipina immigrant, it showed how distorted American values can be seen by someone who is from another culture. Through taking the situation out of context, it makes the Filipino culture superior to that of the American one. I have had the same experience. A family member of mine also had the same view about senior homes, but as someone who understands the American culture more, I realize that the situation needs to be put into context and understanding. If seen from the point of view of gender, the responsibility of taking care of the elderly is primarily a female role. However, in American culture, women are going out of the homes more because of job opportunities, which does not allow them the liberty to take care of their elderly. In contrast, the traditional Filipino women are confined to the home, allowing them to have time to take care of their elderly. It is not a case of whether or not American women are more distant to their families, it actually in the best interest of the elderly.
While reading this article, it also made me angry because of the roles of women. They are the ones who are keeping the traditions of a culture. It seems as though it is their duty to keep the culture that suppresses them, and it does not help that men marry these women for this purpose. Men do not have roles that preserve their culture, but rather the women.
To tie this to my next article, the women from 'Global Women' is completely opposite. The women are leaving the homes completely for jobs because their husbands are unable to be the complete breadwinners. This article completely contradicts the values of the traditional women from the other article. As these women are becoming the substitutes for First World women in the home, they are allowing the disparity between the First World and the Third World to grow wider. The children of these women are growing up without a mother figure, which may hinder their success, causing them to live in more poverty. This is contradictory because these women are slaving themselves away from the home to raise enough money for these children. It brings up the issue of whether is it better for a child to have a mother in poverty, or no mother with wealth. Although I believe that women should work, I think that this situation is mostly definitely an exaggerated version of what I believe to be a benefit to women. Children are growing up without seeing their mothers for years at a time, and that is unfair to anyone growing up. Also, the fact that these women are kept from society makes it a much more devastating situation. If they were visible to society, these issues could be improved on, but since they are hidden away because of social norms, this problem may not be put into the spotlight. Just leaving this issue the way it is, would be unethical. This is an issue that needs to be improved.

I believe that "situated knowledge" is not an impediment to seeing the world clearly. I believe that everything is viewed in proportion to its surroundings. For example, an elephant is only big compared to a person, but compared to the universe, it is minuscule. As a result, one's surroundings, environments, culture, race, gender, and beliefs are important when seeing the world. It defines what we place importance in our lives, and it is what makes our individuality unique. I do not believe that you can be objective about anything in life, because you are defined by your past. Who you are is in relativity to what you have experienced or lack thereof.