Blog Assignment #3

In the movie boyz n the hood, several musculinities are considered positive. The first one is that men should have independence spirit and work for what they want to get. Just like Tre and Ricky, they fought for their independ and responsible life. Also, to be rational is another positive musculinity. Like Tre's dad, he was always able to guide the boys in the right track and tell them to distinguish the evil and the good. Moreover, boys all have good body shapes to show and it is positive to be strong physically. However, Dough's revenge action and his despise upon the female are considered "dangerous" masculine. The revenge action indirectly caused his death, which is so dangerous to think about. His disdain on female is pretty disgusting and rude, actually it is a reflection of extremely self- humiliation.
The race is playing an fundamental role in this movie. First of all, the movie is mainly about African American and the race is unique. Also, race plays an stereotype to show the negative side of African American blocks. Also, men of African American are considered to be strong in body in gender norms.
Women characters are not the dominant roles in the movie, and they go extreme. The Tre's girl friend was so hardworking and smart while others are kind of stupid and dependent. They are passive agents in the movie. In fact, they are just the affiliations of boys partly because the movie discussing about "boyz".
There are four or five characters who are "outsiders-within". Obviously, Tre, Tre's girl friend, Ricky, Tre's dad are the "outsiders-within". The one who is a little vague to fit in the expression is Ricky's mother.

Marisa Fentis-Boyz in the Hood Response

I saw two different lifestyles within the film Boyz in the Hood. The outsiders-within consisted of Tre Styles, Tre's girlfriend Brandi, and his father Furious Styles. I feel that their lifestyles serve as a contrast to the local gang culture that exists in South Central Los Angeles. Tre and his girlfriend are both working toward a higher level of education, which is not a popular goal within their neighborhood. They focus on getting out of their violent and chaotic atmosphere and taking advantage of other opportunities in the world. Furious helps to instill these values into Tre. The view of Furious Styles and the gang culture in his neighborhood both have different concepts of what it means to be a man. From the perspective of Furious Styles values like safe sex, having a career, being financially stable, being a good father to one's children, and staying away from violence are all characteristics of what being a man entails. In the local gang culture being a man involves sexual promiscuity (safe sex isn't a priority), violence, drug dealing as an acceptable career, and flashing money by driving around in souped up automobiles. In the movie it seemed as though the women were only used for sexual purposes. They were always called derogatory names and were constantly disrespected by the men in the movie. Even in the case of Tre Styles and his girlfriend Brandi, Tre was ignoring the fact that Brandi wanted to stay abstinent from sex until marriage. I wouldn't say that he was solely doing this because of the outside pressures from his friends, but I would say that he was not respecting Brandi's morals and values as a person. The mother of Ricky and Doughboy reminded me of an article that we read in class called, "Strong and Large Black Women?" Obviously her physical figure does not go hand in hand with the article, but I do feel that her mentality does. In the article the author calls black women "mules of the world", claiming that they carry many burdens without voicing them. Ricky and Doughboy's mother seemed to follow the stereotype, that has been created for black women, of being emotionally strained and cold towards those around her.

Erin Walker Blog #3

The film Boyz in the Hood focuses to a great extent on the importance of masculinity and expressing these characteristics as an acceptable man.  Although each relationship with the male characters portrays a variation on the perceived positive masculinities, there are several common themes that run throughout the movie.  The most prominent positive masculinity is the characteristic of independence.  Each male is expected to be self-sufficient and take care of situations on his own.  The male also assumes masculinity.  For example, the responsibility a father has for a child he has is emphasized several times.  This message is also reiterated by the fathers reminding their sons to use condoms (which basically implies that the son will be responsible if the woman becomes pregnant).  Males are also socially expected to pursue women.  Perhaps this is another example of the assumed positive masculine behaviors.  Males are also supposed to look out for themselves and defend themselves as well as their friends.  The depiction of African Americans portrays them as uneducated and more violent.  Even the more laid-back African American characters are portrayed as violent.  Women characters are portrayed as passive characters in the film.  Females never drive any of the action in the film and seem to always be byproducts of the action.  The one character that I feel may be an outsider-within may be Tre Styles because he is driven to succeed unlike some of the other counterparts.  Ricky Baker may also be seen as an outsider within because he is driven to succeed in football.

Emmanuel Casillas - Blog Assignment #3

An interesting idea posed in Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thronton Dill's article "Theorizing Difference From Multiracial Feminism," is the idea that the umbrella term Feminism does not fit every woman. There is the presentation of the idea that women of color have been given a back seat in Feminism, while white middle-class women take the charge of running the cause. This is an interesting point to look at since one would think that because Feminism is a response to discrimination against women, then women in this cause would include any woman and allow her an equal opportunity to represent herself (and in so doing her ethnic background). In response to this a new form of Feminism erupted, Multiracial Feminism. It is also interesting to note that mainstream Feminism acts as a social structure, which is what it is trying to demolish. Feminism tries to promote equality and a destruction of all social structures that cause separation based on physical or ethnic differences. While it tries to achieve this purpose it forms its own social structure that separates women due to majorities and minorities, whites from all ethnic groups. One last thing to note is that in multiracial feminism even men are allowed to join. This point is noteworthy because mainstream feminism relies on empowerment of women through basically seeing men as the root of the problem. Multiracial Feminism allows any to join, and in so doing probably promotes equality in a broader sense.
A second article to look at is Audre Lorde's "Age, Race, Class, and Sex." In it she discusses how it is commonly seen as the job of the oppressed to teach their oppressors about what they have done wrong and how to change it. I disagree with this idea that is posed by Lorde. The reason is because when it comes to oppression there have always been those who are a part of the "oppressors'" group but who choose not to partake in their actions, due to their own personal beliefs. It is interesting that Lorde believes this because since she is black she knows that in the Black freedom movement many whites joined in with black in order to help them. These whites were not taught by anyone that it was wrong to discriminate, they just knew it because of their morality. Another interesting point that Lorde makes is the fact that recognizing differences between people of different race, age, and sex is not what is separating us, but rather our refusal to recognize the differences. She makes a good point because if we recognize the differences then we recognize that the ones with the differences are still people; we recognize that as people they have small differences and we can learn to accept them, as long as they are shown and recognized.
In response to Prof. Messner's question of "situated knowledge" and whether or not it is an impediment to judgement I believe that no matter how neutral one tries to be one is still biased. One can be biased in the sense that when a judge for example sees one of his race on the stand he may be more inclined to believe what he or she has to say. Since they identify with the person they might see a part of themselves hidden in that person. So they try to help themselves by helping the accused

"Boyz in the Hood" -Gender Significance

“Boyz in the Hood” is seen as an important film of the time in regards to gender because of its portrayal of sexist views especially in African American culture. One of the main examples of this is that there are very few women in the movie with speaking roles. The mother seems to have no job in the son’s life, as his father takes over with strong discipline to put Tre down the path he thinks is right. The film creates the idea that in order to have morals, a child must have a father, and that these standards cannot be put in place by a female. Without a strong male role model, the film shows that issues such as pregnancy and violence will prevail. Often in the film, females are put down with derogatory terms and are looked down upon, as though inferior in the culture and the area in which they live. The women’s perspective is entirely overlooked in the creation of this movie. Although there are mothers and girlfriends, that seems to be all that women have any importance for in the ‘hood, as the many of the other women are drug addicts and cannot take care of themselves. In contrast, the males are seen as highly dominant and are always fighting for superiority.

Group Presentation

1. Paulina Johnson
(historical context for the film)
Boys n The Hood was produced in South Central Los Angeles in 1991. During this time, racial tensions were accelerated due to controversy surrounding an African-American man named Rodney King. Rodney King was speeding on the 210 freeway and was pulled over by police, however they determined that he was resisting arrest, so they shot King with a Taser gun and continued to kick him and beat him with their police batons. The police officers who were convicted for the abuse were released, which caused an outrage among the Los Angeles community and spurned racially fueled riots in the city. These riots, which occurred during the Spring of 1992, were so heated that the United States National Guard, Army, and Marines had to intervene. Fifty-three people died, and there were thousands of people who had been injured. The Los Angeles Riots had many other underlying causes. One of these was the mass unemployment at the time, which led to a huge economic gap in Los Angeles. This growing economic gap increased the tension between the poverty-ridden people in South Central and the wealthier people in other parts of Los Angeles.

2. Marjorie Roesser
(How can this movie be seen as a reaction to those events?)
The movie Boyz N the Hood, which was released in the summer of 1991, can be seen as a reaction to these events. The storyline for the movie is centered around three African American males, Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky, who grow up in South Central Los Angeles. Tre is a senior in high school who wants to go to college, Ricky is a football player being recruited by top schools, and Doughboy is a drug dealer in a gang. As the story follows the lives of these three young men it gives insights into the racial disparity and gang violence in South Central Los Angeles. This movie can be seen as a reaction to the events that were occurring in South Central Los Angeles at the time because it gives insights into the racial injustices and gang violence that were occurring at the time. The movie gives its viewers a better idea of how such riots could begin and what it was like to grow up in South Central. The movie is able to show the tension that existed between races and the lifestyle in Los Angeles that led to such violent acts in the riots of 1991. In addition, Boyz in the Hood, explores the ideas of revenge and the seemingly endless string of violence that exists in South Central. So, Boyz in the Hood is seen as a reaction to the events in Los Angeles at the time because it was able to give insight into racial tensions and gang violence and give viewers a broader understanding of the lifestyle in South Central that could lead to events such as the Los Angeles Riots.

3. Kristine Busa
(Why is this movie seen as an important film at the time, especially with regard to race? gender?)
“The Boyz N the Hood” has seen as important movie because it reflects the events that happened in the real world at that time when the movie was shot. Movie was produced in 1991, it was the time when being African-American was really difficult because people needed to fight for their lives. For example, in the movie they talk about how the society wants to kill the black community by opening many liquor and gun stores around the region. Movie reflects the crime that was happening in South Central in Los Angeles; that was: sell and use of drugs, sex and gangster violence. All of these crimes were like “cycle of violence” that was going on in South Central; characters from the movie try to fight with it. They talk about how army is not for black people, but at the same time one of the characters decides that it is really good opportunity to get scholarship if he joins the army. Males are being masculine and strong , but females are being independent by raising their children alone. In some scenes, women are humiliated; as it can been seen in the scene when women intervene in males talk, she is called a “bitch”. Black people are trying to do their best to get out of the misfortune circle; if they manage to raise their children in a way that will open up a future opportunities. The poor families push their children to work hard, to do everything they could do to get into the colleges with scholarships. The main idea of the movie is to show the world real life actions that people experience every day; people are suppose to fight with those actions and not give up their dreams to become better; it is shown in the result of the movie because the director of the movie was nominated for Best Director and first African-American to be nominated for the award.

4. Ashley Edman
(history of South Central Los Angeles)
South Central Los Angeles is an area with a history of violence with its street crime. When people would attempt to move away from the crime and violence of the city, changes in the demography of the city would occur. In the late 1980s, Hispanic immigrants from Mexico and Central America came to live in Los Angeles. However, prior to the 1990s, South Central LA was populated mostly by blacks as it had the biggest African American population in the Western U.S. Many blacks came to Los Angeles looking for jobs during the Great Depression and wound up in a place that was becoming very overpopulated. In the 1950s, a lot of racial violence occurred between whites and blacks. Over the decades, as the poverty and unemployment levels rose in South Central Los Angeles, so did the amount of violence and crime as well as gangs, two of which being the Crips and the Bloods. In the 1980s, the gangs became much more powerful from money they acquired from trading drugs. The hostile relations between the black and Hispanic gangs instilled more gang violence in the city in the 1990s.

5. Yik Ki Cheung
(background info on John Singleton)
Son of mortgage broker Danny Singleton and pharmaceutical company sales executive Sheila Ward and raised in separate households by his unmarried parents, John Singleton attended the Filmic Writing Program at USC after graduating from high school in 1986. While studying there, he won three writing awards from the university, which lead to a contract with Creative Artists Agency during his sophomore year. Columbia Pictures bought his script for Boyz n the Hood (1991) and budgeted it at $7 million. Singleton notes that much of the story comes from his own experiences in South Central LA and credits his parents with keeping him off the street.
There is a quote from the interview that James W. Powell interviewing John Singleton:
JWP: I watched the film last night for the first time in about eight years. It seems to me that, unlike some of the other movies that came out in the late 80s, early 90s, it's aged really well. What do you think made it so powerful that it could age like that?
JS: I have no idea. I just think that the film has a kind of an emotional resonance with the audience because it's so personal. It was made from a personal standpoint. It's like, it wasn't so much of a manufactured thing. It was something that came straight from the heart.(http://www.dvdtalk.com/johnsingletoninterview.html)

"Boyz in the Hood" - Racial Significance

It's not a difficult task to point out the significant effect that "Boyz in The Hood" has when it comes to portraying or dealing with race, but certainly at the time it was the cause of much controversy. The film depicts the violence, turmoil, and struggles of inner city gang life specifically through the context and lens of black american youths. In a way it also almost glorifies this lifestyle through the inclusion of gangsta rap and its effect upon the culture. Ironically enough - almost as a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy - the film caused much controversy and nearly a year after it's release riots and violence broke out within the neighborhood in which the film took place. Now, what's interesting about this is that the people that the film portrays seemingly does not do anything to prove the filmmakers and audience otherwise. Instead, they only prove the films depictions accurate by cause such violence and controversy. I suppose it would be fair to say that the films representation of gang life and the black american youth of south central LA is stereotypical at best, but when the film itself causes riots that echo the events in the film it's hard to argue that the filmmakers weren't too far off the mark. It's sad when you think about it really... you'd think the youth of the targeted demographic would want to prove otherwise and would want to show that they are better than what the rest of America may think of them. It's understandable that they would get angry but acting on that anger in physically aggressive ways only perpetuates the stereotypes that one may wish to demolish.

Here's an article/review of the movie that touches upon these topics:

http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Boyz-n-the-Hood

Assignment #3

Julie Bettie’s article, “How Working-Class Chicas Get Working-Class Lives”, takes an interesting viewpoint on the class, race, and gender issues that separate young people in school, especially young women. While researching this topic, Bettie became close with a group of girls that called themselves “las chicas”. These Mexican-American girls were tracked on the vocational class schedule instead of the college-preparatory one, which most white girls were signed up for. This became the basic boundary that divided the Mexican-American and Caucasian high school girls through their class and racial differences. While the “preps”, or white girls, would opt for a more natural look, las chicas aimed to be opposite; the Mexican-American girls would wear lots of makeup, do their hair perfectly, and dress in clean clothes. They did these things in order to embrace adulthood more quickly, and to try to erase class boundaries. They also were thought of to be more sexually active because the Mexican-American girls were less likely to have abortions. While the white girls put their makeup on, expressed their femininity, and were sexually active, all in secret, las chicas openly exuded these aspects. Each class, both middle (primarily white) and working (primarily ethnic), work to differentiate themselves from another, while trying to eliminate such exclusive class boundaries.
Another interesting article was Audre Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class and Sex”, which touched on the idea that there is a white, male standard that society looks up to, but which is impossible for every human to obtain, and in consideration of this, we must all be accepting of each other’s differences in order to live together. She explains how most people make homosexuals, ethnic people, elders, women, etc. the “others” in society. She especially identifies with women and how women of every race, sexual-orientation and age must join together in the war on equality with men, in order to survive. Her strong assertions and poetic writing captures the attention of the reader to listen to her voice and her message; though she is a feminist, her words are wise and have great ideas to consider.
Answering Professor Messner’s question on whether "situated knowledge" is an impediment to seeing the world clearly or not, I believe it truly is. While we are shaped by our personal relationships and experiences, we are also greatly influenced by external establishments, like family, peers, mentors, school, religion, etc. A lot of our opinions of others are based upon the environments we grow up in and the lives we live.

Assignment #3

In Ehrenreich and Hochschild’s “Global Woman” article, the situation of third world women being shipped to do work in other countries is explained. Families in severe poverty need a way to be sustained and in poor countries, mothers see going to another country as an opportunity to do this. Upper class families see this as an opportunity as well because they will not have to pay as much for these women who are desperate for money. They leave behind their children and families and everything they know to work as nannies or maids. What makes the stories even more heart-wrenching is the children’s reaction to their mothers leaving them. Some children lose all communication with their mothers or even threaten to commit suicide. There are many issues with the situation at hand. One is a race problem as women from places such as Mexico, India, and Malasia travel to places such as the United States or England, thus solidifying the race gap. Also, this is separating men and women and showing that women have to provide for their families because the men cannot always, but also that they are traveling to do jobs that are typically created solely for women. In Yen Le Espiritu’s “Americans Have a Different Attitude,” the author describes the Filipino lifestyle and its views on American life. As a Filipino growing up in America, many children are taught that Americans have fewer morals and that they will have sex with basically anyone. Filipinos are expected to be less promiscuous and more reserved and these views obviously just continue racial stereotypes. Boys are even taught not to marry white women because “they will leave you.” Another interesting fact is that Filipina females are much more closely watched than males and are expected to carry on the family name and preserve their innocence. Males do not have as strict of rules and are treated differently. Filipinos often envision themselves as the superior group and look down upon whites and their decisions. It is interesting that Filipinos supposedly frown upon the United States yet they move here to live and work and raise their own families. I think that “situated knowledge” can be an impediment because if we rely on previous knowledge and let it impact our experiences, our own views will be affected and it may be in a negative way. Humans will probably always use situated knowledge as a basis for ideas and opinions but it is important to experience the world and not just see through a single-minded view.

Jane's Blog # 3

The first article I was intrigued with was Audre Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class, and Sex”. I was moved by her powerful words and I found her article enlightening, which allowed me to better acknowledge the struggles of a black lesbian feminist. The existence of the “mythical norm” that’s prevalent within our society creates a social hierarchy that distinguishes superiority and inferiority among individuals. Lorde noted that sexism, racism, ageism, heterosexism, elitism, and classism evidently coexist within our society;“ it’s not those differences between us (race, age, and sex) that are separating us. It’s our refusal to recognize those differences, and to examine the distortions which result from our misnaming them and their effects upon human behavior and expectations” (246). She highlights the dire need for women to revolutionize our “internalized patterns of oppressions”, and learn to acknowledge and embrace the differences that women of all ethnicities carry in order to collaborate and reform the patriarchal power systems. It was interesting to see how the perpetuating existence of patriarchy among the African American society that Lorde emphasized on is mirrored in “Boyz in the Hood” and how only the male characters are accentuated.
The second article, “Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism, Zinn and Dill praises that multiracial feminism embraces the interconnectedness of the various race, class, gender, and sexuality of individuals to bring forth a new analytical framework that may eliminate the notion of gender associating to other forms of dominations. It was interesting how Zinn and Dill pointed out the racial dominance of whites and blacks existed among some of the feminists; “Perspective can be hampered by a biracial model in which only African Americans and Whites are seen as racial categories and all other groups are viewed through the prism of cultural difference” (21). It was refreshing to read about a revolutionary feminism that recognizes the importance to fully understand both women and men in all parts of the society.
In regards to Professor Messner’s question about “situated knowledge”, I do think it is an impediment for many individuals to see the world clearly. Undoubtedly, we constantly experience various situations and scaffold our perceptions through them. One’s place in social class may broaden his or her vision of the world while as another’s may be obscured through his or her social rank Additionally, not everybody is open-minded, and some people awfully place bias on certain groups of individuals or objects, which their awareness would only be altered through an actual enlightening event.

Blog post 3

One of the articles that I found interesting was Audre Lorde's "Age, Race, Class, and Sex; Woman Redefining Gender."  In this article she argues that when talking about gender, one must also include age, race, class, and sexual orientation.  One should not talk about these concepts independently because they are all related and dependent on each other.  The author describes a mythical norm, which in my opinion is every president in our countries history except our current one.  On the subject of our current president, in the advertisement we looked at in class he is portrayed as being different from the "mythical norm."  On one hand he is different from the mythical norm because he is black, but this advertisement capitalizes on the differences and ignores the similarities.  The ad showed the difference by referring to him as chocolate, and the white house (or in my opinion the US government) as vanilla.  This ad is showing him outside of the White-house which I take as meaning the person who created the cartoon sees him outside of the mythical norm.

In Maxine Baca Zinn's article "Theorizing Difference From Multicultural Feminism" she brings up an interesting point which I will connect to the youtube video we watched in class.  The author says that she "expresses irritation at those feminists' who only see the problem in difference without recognizing difference."  In the youtube video there are clear differences between the white group, the black group, and the Chinese group, but they don't see there differences as a problem.  Instead they realize the differences and use that to their advantage to teach each other the cultural symbols of the other groups.

In my opinion situated knowledge is impediment on seeing the world clearly.  The reason for this is that our perception of the world around us as shaped from the experiences that have occurred in our lives.  Because of this we see the world through our own socialized lenses and therefore we have a biased, subjective view.   

blog 3

The two articles that hit closest to home for me were Ehrenreich & Hochschild’s “Global Woman” and Read & Bartowski’s “To Veil or Not to Veil”. I found the cultural connections in the two interesting, especially because of the comparisons of how we as ‘Westerners’ view immigrants or Muslim women in the respective articles. “Global Woman” reminded me of our discussion about how all the people whom we see working as janitors, cooks, and other workers at USC are of Mexican or African American descent. Though the article was specifically in the point of view of the women who move across the world in order to provide for their children back home, I personally felt that while we notice the troubles of people who immigrate across seas, we cannot see issues that are much closer to home. Living in the Bay Area, I was very unaware of the position of such immigrants, especially because all of my friends, and in fact most of my classmates, were kids whose parents were first generation immigrants and had come to Silicon Valley for pretty decent paying jobs and a more than acceptable education for their children. Only after visiting family in other parts of America have I come to see that immigrants really aren’t as lucky to have family in the country with them, and a visible goal to work towards. Growing up as a ‘Westerner’, I have to say that I honestly did see the efforts of women of other races working hard in public-sector jobs as a strength to be admired, but never realized that our constant outsourcing of such jobs really demeaned and demoralized their efforts at the same time. “To Veil or Not to Veil” also made me realize how ‘Western’ my ideas are, especially after reading the thoughts of women on both sides of the argument. Most impressive to me was how they expressed no ill will towards each other, nor towards the symbolic hijab that separated them, but only towards the ideals behind them that still tried to label them despite their equal but different attempts to use their position as a type of liberation. The idea that wearing a hijab could possibly make people respect them and take them more seriously was an idea I had never considered, especially when the youngest school girl to the respected businesswoman puts in an efforts to dress their best on their first day of school girl. In our culture, being taken seriously involves a great deal of work being put into dressing nicely and proving that we are civilized. For Muslim women, wearing a hijab symbolizes modesty not only for them, but for men, and thus allows all attention to be focused on their thoughts and ideas, not their looks. This opinion makes me rethink how hard we work to dress up in order to be taken seriously, when our clothes and makeup may honestly just push more attention towards our bodies and not our brains. I truly respect how much thought these women have put into the symbolism of their hijab and the conflicting ideas it can represent. The fact that they can see both sides of the argument and still respect each other while keeping faith in their religion whether or not they wear a hijab is a strength that I feel a lot of women can learn from, especially when we fight our feminist battles to be taken seriously and stand equally to men.
Like some of my other classmates, I believe that ‘situated knowledge’ is only an impediment if we don’t realize its existence. Our situations – age cohorts, culture, race and ethnicity, and location in the world – all give us different experiences and ideas to grow up with and agree with or rebel against. Thus, we will each have unique ideas about what stereotypes are, what divisions in gender or class are, and whether or not people are being treated fairly. However, if we know that all of these differences exist, then we can open ourselves up to the opinions and experiences of others and try to lose any bias that exists from our own experiences. We will be able to see the world as clearly as anyone else if we are willing to be open to others situations. According to the theory, no one will really ever be able to see the world clearly because of our situations, but the easiest way to understand each other would be to try to learn from others situations and work at a more global level to solve problems that are found in all situations but dealt with very differently in each.

Blog Assignment

Audre Lorde's "Age, Race, Class, and Sex" and Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild's "Global Woman" were all good reads and I was very interested in the ideas that each one presented. "Global Woman" was a very interesting read because it demonstrated the effects and how gender roles extend to housekeeping. I was surprised in how the nannies made sure that the men could avoid the feminine tasks. Although the story had a slight satirical tone it strongly conveyed the hard lives of how woman had to leave their friends, family, and home in hopes of creating a better life for their family. This article deeply impacted me because my grandmother has a very similar story. My grandmother moved out from the Philippines in hopes of helping her family financially. But directly relating back to the article I found that the women willing to put their lives on the line for their family were very selfless and family oriented.
Lorde’s article “Age, Race, Class, and Sex” also sparked my interests because of how it portrayed the views of the oppressed and the dynamic relationship they share with those who oppress them. Society uses various characteristics to choose what groups are superior to others in this article it is specifically age, race, class and sex. As Messner said in his discussion there is a “mythical norm” that society aims at people being and if you don’t have all the qualities of the “mythical norm” than you are a repressed individual in America. I found that this article related directly to me because many qualities of the “mythical norm” I do not possess. Overall I believe that Lorde’s article was a strong piece that made me rethink how certain actions can affect (or oppress) another person.

Carmen Soret- blog #3

In Age, Race, Class, and Sex I identified with the author, Audre Lorde about feeling " a part of some group defined as other, deviant, inferior, or just plain wrong," although clearly not as deeply as she does. Even though I am not a "forty-nine-year-old Black lesbian feminist socialist mother of two, including one boy, and a member on an interracial couple" , I am still a eighteen-year-old hispanic female. The author talks about elderly age being discriminated against, but as young adults we are also discriminated against, although maybe not as strongly. Youth opinion is not given much credit or weight and from personal experience discredited or rejected because we are "so young." I have also been made to feel like I am less of a person because I am a woman, as if I was insufficient and because I am hispanic. In consideration I have not felt discriminated against enough to write an article or start a revolution, but I have felt that most of the labels which society has given me fall under the subordinate category. I also found it interesting that the author does not try to persuade her audience that differences must be elminated from our conciousness. She says instead that, "Too often, we pour the energy needed for recognizing and exploring difference into pretending those differences are insurmountable barriers, or that they do not exist at all... [W]e do not develop tools for using human idfference as a springboard for creative change within our lives. She does not want to eliminate the idea of difference or for it to be ingnore. She is urging us to use differences in a way in which they can be used positively and appreciate instead of being subordinances.
I also found the How Working-Class Chicas Get Working-Class Lives article interesting, particularly when they were talking about each others styles and prefferences. I went to a middle school that was considered "ghetto" by all the surrounding middle schools, even though it wasn't as ghetto as everyone though. In 6th grade I identified more with the "prep" style, but when I was accepted into the "cool" group of kids in 7th grade it changed. The cool group included a large group of Mexican, "gangster" guys and in order to attract them I changed my image. I started to wear things that a Mexican girl was "suppose" to wear like hoops and slicked my hair back with "glue stick" bangs. Then I went to a 80% white high school and again my image changed. It was no longer possible to be "cool" and hispanic. I had to fit into a new definition of "cool," the white girl definition. I returned to my "prep" style in order to be accepted by the dominant group on campus.
I believe that "situated knowledge" is a resource to seeing the world clearly. While, it may make decisions such as court rulings based more upon personal experience, the reality of our world is that the opressed and subordinate groups make up a large part of our society. The superordinates are not the majority of people. They cannot rule over people they know nothing about. The majorit of people have experienced adversity and in order to understand the full situation one must understand what if feels like to be discriminated against because of how one was born.

Amit's 3rd Blog Post

Audre Lorde’s Age, Race, Class, and Sex stands out to me as a powerful article that successfully argues and explains the reasons behind race and gender discrimination today. Her terms and examples are extremely clear and hard to counter-argue. For example, at the start of the article Lorde introduces the concept of a “mythical norm”. Like Messner describes in his lecture, we, as a part of American society, have a something in “the edge of [our] consciousness…[where] each one of us within our hearts knows ‘this is not me’. In America, this norm is usually defined as White, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure.” Although such a though does not exactly describe the way I always feel as a brown-colored American, it does concisely portray the reason behind many colored people’s insecurities in our society. By simply not meeting the criteria of the “mythical norm” one becomes a part of a group that falls under the hierarchy of white males. Another interesting part of the article was Lorde’s relation to literature and how she used that as a tool to describe the differences in white woman compared to woman of a different race. I found it interesting and, to some extent, very true when Lorde stated, “one of the reasons White women have such difficulty reading Black women’s work is because of their reluctance to see Black women as women and different from themselves.” Because there is a clear difference in the oppression white females face compared to the race and gender oppression black females do, coming to terms with such a reality can be difficult for the white-feminist figure who thinks only her gender is a problem. Many of Lorde’s theories can be seen in the movie we discussed, Boyz n da Hood. One of the reasons why the film is regarded as being very powerful is because it forces a mainstream audience, including those who are a part of the mythical norm, to see the realities of the struggle male and female African-Americans face in a society whites are not very far from.

Another article that I found particularly interesting was Ehrenreich’s Global Woman. In this article, the struggle of many single mothers’ face is presented; in order for them to provide for their families they often have to move far away from their homes to get jobs. Rather than praising the independence these mothers gain by working jobs, Ehrenreich shows the horrors of a working single-mom trying to keep up with the demands of a fast-paced metropolitan. This often leads to the mothers having to work corrupted jobs such as being maids, prostitutes, and underpaid nannies.

Situated knowledge is not an impediment to seeing the world clearly because in order to understand the world we must examine everyone’s opinions no-matter how “narrow-minded” they are. It would be impossible to expect everyone in the world to be tolerant to one another’s opinions and experiences and have the education to know what is right and what is wrong. Instead, a collage of everyone’s lenses of perception on the world would be the best way to gain understanding.

When I read "Americans Have a Different Attitude"by Yen Le Espiritu, I immediately connected with it because one of my best friends is Filipina. In her family, her parents didn't really allow her to be in a relationship until she turned eighteen. Although she is an only child, my reading of the article and my relationship with her make me believe that she identifies with many of the ideals for Filipina women. My friend respects her parents a lot. However, I would say that she is more focused on building a career for herself than on becoming a good housewife. In my friend's family, her cousin was seen as a rebel because she had piercings and a boyfriend.
One particular quote that stood out to me was the quote about the Filipino culture which stated "you know that your family will always be there, that you don't have to work when you turn 18, you don't have to pay rent when you are 18...". I remember my mom making a statement similar to this quote.This statement resonated with me because it reaffirmed the fact that I am very blessed to have parents who care about me enough to welcome me back home.

The article "Age, Race, Class, and Sex" by Audre Lorde was also interesting to me because it combined more factors besides race and gender that construct our identities. I found the statement "...In order to survive, those of us for whom oppression is as American as apple pie have always had...to become familiar with the language and manners of the oppressor, even sometimes adopting them for some illusion of protection" interesting because it suggests that members of minority races act like members of majority races in order to be accepted by them. I have read articles about African-American people and how they may act differently around members of their own race than they do around members of the Caucasian race. I also found her viewpoint of the mythical norm compelling.

I believe that situated knowledge can be both an impediment and a resource because at times it can hinder your viewpoint of the world, and at times it can enhance it. I believe it is important to remain open to other viewpoints because you can learn something from everyone.

Assignment 3

I enjoyed both Audre Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class, and Sex” and Barbara Ehrenreich & Arlie Russell Hochschild’s “Global Women.”
In Lorde’s article I was very interested in the idea that “it is the responsibility of the oppressed to teach the oppressors their mistakes.” It shows an interesting side of the views of the oppressed and those who oppress them and the dynamic between the two. Lorde illustrates how our society used the differences between age, race, class and sex to create the dominant and subordinate groups. The belief in what Lorde calls a “mythical norm” and how “in America, this norm is usually defined as White, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure” is prevalent in today’s society as well. Although there is a vast mixture of differences throughout America now, the “mythical norm” still holds true throughout the minds of most Americans. It is the fact that people still perceive the “mythical norm” to exist which causes the “mythical norm” to stay alive, also our society demonstrates this norm quite often. I especially like the part of Lorde’s paper where she addresses the idea that “white women ignore their built-in privilege of Whiteness and define women in terms of their own experience alone.” This brought up an issue I wasn’t really aware of, how women contribute to their own oppression by oppressing other women. As a woman I hope this stereotype and vicious circle decrease and eventually dissipate. I feel that Lorde ultimately wants society to become more excepting, and that this is essential to change.
In “Global Women” it very much emphasized the stereotypical gender roles prominent in society, with the women as the caretakers and the men as the breadwinners. While this is still eminent in today’s society, there has been a movement of women into the workforce that has blurred this stereotype. Women now have jobs and can “bring home the bacon.” However, while it is now accepted for women to work, it is still expected that they also do the caretaking and home keeping. While men have started to help out in the domestic things, they are discouraged due to the idea that men shouldn’t do such “girly” things. So working women sometimes hire nannies or maids to take care of these things instead of having the fathers do the domestic work. However, this article highlights that these nannies or maids often come from less fortunate countries and are there to provide for their families, which is a step away from the stereotype because the woman is the one providing for her family. This article touches up on the fact that this globalization of women maybe affecting their children in a negative way, such as the women who leave their families to work in America.
Both of these articles demonstrate norms and stereotypes that are well known in our society. And they both also shine light onto a new perspective on the stereotypes and how these norms are being slowly decreased with the change in society that is occurring and hopefully continues to do so.

Assignment 3

The article “Global woman” raises a serious problem—women leave their home and children form a poor country , and immigrant to affluent countries so as to make money, or pursue their career. The article is satirical in tone. Writers don’t think this kind of woman globalization will contribute to the equality between men and women. I agree this to some extent. However if you think in other side, these woman are brave enough to break the tradition role that woman should put their family into the first place, especially in a more conservative poor country. This kind of behavior is precious. Because they are not able to get equal opportunity such as the chance to get educated, in their home country, move to a industrialized country is the only choice. They could only do non-skilled required jobs as they are untrained, but at least they can make money and not need totally rely on men. And if they are lucky, they can change their children’s life. Let their daughter grow up in a better environment and make their daughter get chance to get educated. They can’t change a lot about their destiny but can change next generation’s life.
I find the second article “Americans Have a Different Attitude” is interesting because it makes me thinking about the fact that, in my hometown, China, people likes to behave like an American. However for those Chinese who born in USA, they want to distinguish themselves form Americans, they don’t like their style. I guess it is because as a racial minority in a foreign country, it is a way to establish their self-concept and social status.

What stood out to me in Prof. Messner's article, like most of his lectures, is his use of his own personal experiences as a means to demonstrate the point he is making. His discussion of the range of sexuality in his article is very similar to his description of Alfred Kinsey's view of the spectrum of sexuality that he presented in class. By clarifying that all actual sexual encounters were heterosexual, he is able to juxtapose his more secretive feelings of homosexual attraction at different periods in his youth.
I found Karin Martin's article particularly interesting as well, also in regards to Prof. Messner's discussion of Kinsey. Martin furthers her discussion by integrating block quotes from the teenagers whom she interviewed. It was extremely enlightening to have her points solidified by hearing it, as they say, "straight from the horse's mouth." While some of the information presented were things I knew intuitively, reading about the concerns and views of teenagers about sex was another interesting juxtaposition to my own experience with educating myself about and engaging in sexual activity.
In regards to Prof. Messner's question about "situated knowledge," I do think it is an impediment because we are doomed, no matter how open we try to be, to look at the world through glasses with some sort of shade of rose lenses (horrible sentence, but i think my point is clear) We build our knowledge and understanding of the world upon our own personal experiences and that makes it extremely difficult to be completely objective.

assignment 3

For the first article, I choose “global Woman” which written by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild. In this article, it shows the change of gender roles. In traditional concept, women tend to work at home while men tend to work outside. The main jobs of women are taking care of children, educating children, doing housework… however, the main jobs of men are work outside to earn money, they need to support the family’s spending expenditure. However, the concept has changed. In this article, it shows how women, especially women from the single family, how to adopt the new environment. It shows the women need to leave their house and work in order to support their family. It stood me out with some similar cases. In Asia, there are very common while a family hire a maid for taking care of their house. And those maids are come from some less developed countries, such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Philippines. Those maids leave their home town and work oversea as they want to earn more money to let their families have better lives. Therefore, the gender roles of women and men have a big change.For the second article, I choose “American Have a Different Attitude”. In the first two paragraphs, it shows how a traditional concept of a Filipina mother and second generation Filipina daughter. From paragraph 2, it states that “I found that a lot of Asian American friends of mine, we don’t date like White girls date. We don’t sleep around like White girls do. Everyone is really mellow at dating because your parents were constraining and restrictive.” It shows how an American and Asian behave differently. As being a Chinese, I also agree a Asian doesn’t do what American or white girls do. It may be refers to different region has different culture. For me, my mother teaches me in a harsh way. The attitude is totally different between me and American. In order to response to the question that professor mentioned “Is situated knowledge?”and impediment to seeing the world clearly?, I think the situated knowledge is an impediment to seeing the world clearly.. It is because we need to experience in order to know more about this world and we cannot restrict by the knowledge, we can recreate our new world.

Blog Assignment #3

One of the articles that I found most interesting was the Ehrenreich & Hochschild article, “Global Women.” I like this not only because it shows how societal wealth helps perpetuate the gendered roles of housekeeping and child-rearing, but also because it touches on the idea that nannies help men avoid performing feminine tasks. One quote in the article reads, “The lifestyles of the First World are made possible by a global transfer of services associated with a wife’s traditional role- child care, homemaking, and sex- from poor countries to rich ones.” (51) I completely agree with this because many of the successful “career-women” of today’s age would not be able to continue with their lives were it not for the housekeepers from Third World countries that they employ. By going off to work and importing domestic house workers such as Josephine Perera, First World women help to continue the system that they are trying to break free from. Furthermore, I believe that many women in today’s society prefer to find a female nanny to replace them when they enter the workforce, which obviously perpetuates the views of the gendered roles in child rearing. I also found this article interesting because it briefly mentioned the fact that the use of nannies and domestic servants not only allows women more freedom, but also allows men to avoid having to perform these cross-gender tasks. I find this interesting because I believe that not only are men more likely to hire domestic servants so they can pursue their careers, but it is something that is expected in society. I think that society encourages men to hire nannies because it allows the children to have a feminine influence on the children.
Another article that I found interesting was Read & Bartkowski’s article “To Veil or Not to Veil?” Just as Professor Messner pointed out in class, I found it interesting that each side was able to understand the opposition’s viewpoint. The fact that each side recognized veiling was a personal choice and did not have to do with religious devotion showed the extreme amount of tolerance Muslim’s exhibit. I also find it interesting that each side realized how the veil is a form of social control, even the women who choose to veil themselves. The fact that they succumb to this form of control shows that they are willing to perpetuate the gendered stereotypes of sexuality for the sake of their culture. I believe that this shows how many women believe that feminist issues are not nearly as important as the preservation of culture and heritage. I think that this also holds true for many Asian cultures where many women simply succumb to systems of patriarchal oppression because they believe it is a part of their culture.
In regards to Messner’s question on “situated knowledge,” I do not believe that it is an impediment to seeing the world clearly. As people progress in their lives, they are able to accumulate a vast array of experiences and through these experiences, they can develop informed opinions. Although each experience that a person goes through affects their short term decisions, I believe that in the long run it allows for more objective viewpoints.

Blog #3

Blog Assignment #3

I think that Audre Lorde’s Age, Race, Class, and Sex is interesting because this is the first time we have read anything that discusses ageism or the elitism of those who are younger. This is also the first time we have discussed the possibility of the fact that unacknowledged class differences can rob women of each others’ energy and creative insight. An example in the book that was interesting to me was the idea of art, and literature specifically, as an experience that a group of women could miss out due to differences in race. There is something preventing white women from understanding literature written by a black woman, and the article argues that the answer to this problem is complex. Stereotypes present a problem and a barrier between the “races.” White women are afraid that the literature is “too different” for them. My only experience reading literature from an African-American woman who deliberately uses the dialect that she was exposed to to enhance the quality of her work is Zora Neale Hurston and her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. I found it difficult at first to understand and I would not choose to always read that type of writing, but I also found it enjoyable and emotional, signs of good writing. I can understand the hang ups that people who are not exposed regularly to that type of literature have, but I also think that that type of literature is worth reading and exploring. This also ties into the “situated knowledge” that Professor Messner discussed, in that the experiences that people have and the knowledge that they gain can color their perspective. I do not think that this is always a disadvantage because it is through these different perspectives and points of view that we gain diversity. There can be disadvantages when these perspectives are used in extreme to judge a type of literature or art or group of people, but I believe that there is something to be gained from the different perspectives that are present in the world. Julie Bettie’s How Working-Class Chicas Get Working-Class Lives also touches on the problems that stereotypes can cause for people, however the problem is now focused on the people who are being judged because of their ethnicity and gender. The situational knowledge in this situation would not be ideal.

Margarita: Blog Assignment #3

One article that stood out to me was "American's Have a Different Attitude" by Yen Le Espiritu. She discusses how Filipino women view White "American" women as sexually immoral because White women are promiscuous and don't value their virginity. In the Filipino culture, women are taught to value family and be very family-oriented and to have sexual restraint. Saving sexual acts for marriage is highly valued in the Filipino culture, so it shocks them to come to the US and find that White American women are so liberal and behave differently, "they have sex without marrying. They want to do their own thing," claims a Filipino man stationed in the Phillipines, looking for a wife. I personally feel it is both a sexist, and a racist remark to claim that White American women are immoral simply because they may or may not have had sex before marriage. It is stereotyping all American women as promiscuous and devalues them. While reading this article, I began to think about racism from different points of view. I felt as though we have grown to accept racism against White people, but only towards White poeple. We stereotype White people as selfish, uncaring, wealthy people who think they are better than us, but we fail to see our own racism in thinking about White people in that way.

The song presented in section, "Everybody is a little bit racist" by Avenue Q, came to mind while reading this story. I feel like we have an automatic reaction when someone accuses us of being racist, to say "Oh no, I don't hate Black people!" We fail to see that there exists this double standard that we are we are solidifying when we accept people's comments against White individuals. It's as if there existed an exception to racism, as if it were no possible to be racist against White people.

In her article "Age, Race, Class, and Sex," Audre Lorde focuses on the rejection of simple dichotomies. She claims that most movements fail to see beyond their simplistic oppositions. the Women's Movement, for instance, only focuses on women's empowerment. It does not take into consideration the ethnicity or race of a woman or her sexuality, claims Lorde. "White women ignore their built-in privilege of Whiteness and define woman in terms of their own experience alone." As to sexuality, most cultures valued sex in different ways. In Espiritu's article, the Filipino women would see the Women's Movement as White American women's form of deviance and wanting to sleep around. I do believe in equality, but I also understand that different cultures have different values and that we should not be too quick to stereotype everyone who fits a simple category. Everyone is different. Just as there are White women who are promiscuous, there are also White women who save themselves for marriage and carry similar values as "traditional" Filipino women. And just as there are virgin Filipino women, there are promiscuous Filipino women who do not value sex as important enought to wait for marriage.

I do not believe "situated knowledge" is an ipediment to seeing the world clearly because I think we are all entitled to knowing some "history." If we want the world to be a better place, we need to know what it is that we need to change. We need to understand why segregation occurs, why there exist prejudices. Some things we learn to be the way they are, and some of us may be comfortable with that. Like certain stereotypes, we do not challenge them even though we know they are just stereotypes. I think with situated knowledge, we are more esily comfortable with things, but that doesn't mean we can't see things clearly.

Assignment 3

I chose "Americans Have a Different Attitude: Family, Sexuality, and Gender in Filipina American Lives", and "How Working Class Chicas get Working Class Lives".

Even though I am no Filipino, I could definitely relate to the Americans Have a Different Attitude article. I have a very large close-knit family, and my parents are always saying that we are lucky to have that because American families aren't as close, and instead of dreading getting together with our family, I am always looking forward to it. I can always relate to the overprotectiveness of the family, and how my parents feel the need to know my every move.

When reading these 2 articles, it struck me how different the 2 cultures were. The Filipino families are very structured and they say how it is important to do well in school and for girls not to be promiscuous, or date at all, whereas the Hispanic girls are completely opposite. They seem to not care about any of it, and if anything encourage sex. They don't care about their schooling or what they want to do after high school. The Filipinos dress conservatively, while the Hispanics were wearing midriff tops and short skirts with heavy make-up. I thought it was extremely sad for them, because no one expected them to be any better than what they are doing now, and they did not feel the need to prove any of these stereotypes wrong. They already know that they are going to be young mothers that need to work several jobs to keep a family stable, and they can't rely on a man to do anything. Filipino men, on the other hand look for filipino women because they know they can take care of the children, and that the men will be able to go to work and bring home money, they are reliable.

I definitely think that situated knowledge is an impediment in seeing the world clearly. Situated knowledge is almost like tunnel vision. You only see one side of the situation, and cannot adequately give information on the other side. In order to be successful, you need to be able to have intelligible answers on both sides so you are able to argue your side better. This affects a person's worldly knowledge because they refuse to look around them and expand their horizons to different people's views

Blog Assignment #3

In reading “To Veil or Not to Veil” I was shocked to see that the women of this society actually thought that the veil was “liberating.” To me it seems like not only an inconvenience, but a form of degradation. These women say that they have a “choice,” and yet they still wear the veils. Is this really a choice though? Or are these women simply trapped by the influence of their religion? I guess if they find satisfaction and purpose through wearing the veil then it’s alright, but to me it still seems bizarre. I’m sure I could never really understand what it’s like unless I was in their shoes.

In “Age, Race, Class, and Sex” I thought it was interesting to see how even though there are movements in support of women’s rights, that they don’t support the rights of ALL women. This really became apparent to me as I thought about it more and more. For instance, one of the goals for many feminist groups are to promote further equality in professional fields. This may help upper class women who are trying to become doctors, lawyers, or accountants- but what about lower class women? Truly there is inequality in groups that are trying to promote equality!

I guess situated knowledge can impede seeing the world clearly, but if you really think about it, there is nothing in the world that is “clear.” What each of us perceives to be true is our own reality, and that’s all that really matters. Who says Barack Obama’s view of the world is any more correct than a homeless man’s? The only “reality” that exists is our general consensus- which is all socially constructed anyway!

Blog post 3

The two articles that stood out the most in my opinion were “Age, Race, Class, & Sex,” by Audre Lorde, and “Global Women,” by Barbara Ehrenreich.

In Lorde’s, “Age, Race, Class, & Sex” article, she talks about how society tends to use human differences as a means to make some people superior and others subordinate. Whether you look at this notion from a 21^st century standpoint or any earlier in our history, this idea holds true in nearly all societies across the world. Regardless of age, gender, race, or any other distinction between humans, there will always be some justification to oppress the minority population. In recent times, the problem has not been so much that society recognizes difference, because in America we are a melting pot of cultures, it is that, as Lorde illustrates, “we pour the energy needed for recognizing and exploring differences into pretending those differences are insurmountable differences, or that they don’t exist at all.” For example, as Professor Messner and Lorde both touched upon, societies tend to have a “mythical norm” that the social hierarchy based upon. In America, that mythical norm tends to be a white, financially stable, Christian, and heterosexual male. Even Lorde herself admits to how she fits outside the “mystical norm” in America – she is a 49 year old Black lesbian. Lorde ultimately criticizes society for squandering their energy on further dividing our society, and instead should thwart that energy to redefine our society and create a better future.

In the next article, “Global Women,” Ehrenreich discusses how many single mothers have to move away from their homes, often to other countries, in order to get a job and provide for their families. This article got my attention because I was unaware of how prevalent this occurs in our world today. Although it may be rare to see this in American society, but in third world countries like India, it is a more common occurrence. Many people would argue that this is a liberating opportunity that provides women with the freedom of finding work outside the home, which is true, but Ehrenreich portrays this in a more negative light. She argues that, this globalization causes millions of women from poorer countries to travel to the rich countries to work as maids, sex workers, and nannies. In addition, many of these women are single mothers who are leaving behind their children. An absence of a fatherly and motherly figure within a family structure can be very detrimental to the children and the family relationship.

In response to Professor Messner’s question, I feel situated knowledge is not a barrier to seeing the world clearly. Yes it can cause narrow-mindedness because you are extremely knowledgeable about a specific topic, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you cannot see the world clearly. A person learns, not only out of textbooks, but also in real life experiences and situations. People are bound to form opinions and create their own beliefs, and that is not entirely due to their situated knowledge.

Blog 3

First article I chose is "Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism." Zinn and Dill highlight the fact that there are "multiple hierarchies" when dealing with feminism because gender relations are constructed by and between "classes, races, and cultures." Instead of simply discriminating women compared to men based on the difference in gender, there are many more discriminating levels as it deals with non-white races and lower class females. I also liked how the authors point out that the society's perspective is hampered because of "biracial model in which only African Americans and Whites are seen as racial categories" and that all other races in between are viewed through the "prism of cultural differences." Although many might think that factors like gender, race, class, and culture are separate, they are in fact very interconnected, with certain groups suffering from more discrimination than others (i.e. non-white, lower class females would be viewed differently from white, high-class females).

The second article is "Global Woman." The authors of this article underline the traditional gender roles set in our society. Women's "traditional role" includes child care and home-making, while men contribute very little to the housework and are expected to have paid jobs. Although in the modern world, women have begun to compete against men in workplace outside of home, it is not true the other way around as men continue to remain uninvolved in their homes. The rigid traditional beliefs that discourage men from "women's work" often lead to women doing both home-making and bread-winning. Because of this overwhelming responsibility, women in Western countries often hire paid domestics and caretakers. Though it may seem that we are steering away from the traditional norms as these women get paid for their domestic jobs, this only leads to men to continue avoiding the "second shift" and further emphasize the traditional gender roles.

I think that situated knowledge is an impediment to seeing the world clearly. Each and every person is brought up observing and learning different things and having different opinions. Therefore, everyone has his or her situated knowledge. Because of this, situated knowledge leads to prejudices and thus impede to seeing the world clearly without any bias. However, I do believe having this difference is inevitable because of the diversity of cultural and structural influences in one's life.

blog 3 erin walker

I found the article, “Americans Have a Different Attitude: Family, Sexuality, and Gender in Filipina American Lives,” by Yen Le Espiritu, to be particularly interesting.  The article begins with several quotes from Filipina women that contest to the belief that white girls “sleep around” much more than Filipinas do.  Throughout the article it becomes evident that many Filipina Americans hold a firm grasp to the concept that white women are sexually immoral.  The part of this article that I found to be particularly interesting was the idea that these claims of sexual morality (of Filipinas) gives Filipinas a sense of “power that is denied to them through racism.”   As these women may feel subordinate to white women in several aspects of American society, they seek to surmount these social structures by portraying their moral superiority.  The author argues that female morality is one sect in which “dominance” is not dependent upon race or social class.  The author also sheds light on the Filipina interpretation of a woman’s value as dependent upon preservation of her virginity prior to marriage.  Ultimately the author proves a valid point that Filipinas use female morality as a method to achieve the superiority that they are otherwise denied.

 

Another article which brings up several thought-provoking concepts is “Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism,” by Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill.  The authors face the challenging of analyzing social structure as it relates to race and as it relates to gender.  Multiracial feminism takes the broad concept of feminism and breaks it down by treatment of feminism on a racial level.  This article prompts the reader to question the possibility of separating race and gender.

Blog #3

In Audre Lorde’s article, Age, Race, Class, and Sex, she displayed her belief that through the idea of feminism, we think of that term as only for white middle-class women. We forget that there are other issues with regards to women but don’t have to do with feminism, such as racial, class, and age issues. This goes with Professor Messner’s discussion in class about the mythical norm (an example being an American white, thin, heterosexual, young, Christian, financially secure person). This stood out to me because I definitely can see where Audre Lorde is coming from. It was interesting to me when she talked about how “black lesbians caught between the racism of white women and homophobia of their sisters.” I had never thought about feminist ideas being different for different races, ages, and classes.
In Read and Bartowski’s To Veil or Not to Veil, and in Messner’s lecture about how veiled women actually feel liberated, it really surprised me. I had always thought of the unveiled women as liberated, not the veiled women. After reading the article, though, I started to understand their reasoning behind continuing to veil. They felt like it was their choice to veil, it would show their obedience to the Islamic religion, it would clearly distinguish men from women, and it would remind them that their proper place is the home. They respected tradition but weren’t continuing being veiled because they felt they were forced to. They felt liberated because they have the choice to do what they feel is best for them.
As to the question Professor Messner asked during lecture, I believe “situated knowledge” absolutely is an impediment to seeing the world clearly. Not one person is the same in how they were raised and what experiences they go through throughout their lives. People learn through institutions such as school, family, friends, sports teams, groups, and many others that instill certain ideals and morals. Not only that, but I think we subconsciously gain knowledge by what we see and experience. It molds our perceptions of the world. We become accidentally biased because of these different perceptions.

Blog Assignment 3

One of the most interesting articles that we read was “Global Women” by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild, because it showed how globalization truly affects everyone in the world, and how one women’s feminist actions can have global implications. The migration of women doing household jobs like cooking, cleaning, and nannying from lower income countries to high income countries is one that is not looked at very much. Women in developed countries think of domestic tasks as beneath them, and yet the women they hire achieve great success for their families by taking these jobs. Unfortunately the success comes at a cost. Many women, like the woman featured in the article, are not able to live with and support their own families. Having domestic servants used to be a status symbol in the developed world, but now most domestic work is done behind the scenes. The modern woman in a developed country is expected to be able to do it all: cook, clean, take care of kids, and have a career. This high standard that women are held to is incredibly unfair. Most father’s do very little housework and child rearing, even though many wives work outside the home just as much or more than their husbands.

I also thought that “How Working-Class Chicas Get Working-Class Lives” by Julie Bettie also raised some interesting points. As a white girl going to a private school in a pretty well off neighborhood in Seattle, I never had to deal with or even witnessed much of what Bettie describes. It seems to be a vicious cycle, one which very few lower class girls manage to escape. Even if the lower class girls are very smart, they are often tracked into the vocational school, meaning that they have no hope for college. The idea of the Business school is just a hoax to give them something to aim for, yet none of them even end up going their anyway. I also thought it was interesting how they perceived themselves moving up in society as they moved towards “clean” jobs, like secretaries instead of labor jobs, yet still they were making very little money. The girls had no role models to look up to, no one to show them how to get to the other side of life. Even if they wanted to escape, they couldn’t because they had no idea how.

In response to Messner’s question about situated knowledge, I believe that it is definitely an impediment. We all see the world through our own lenses, depending on what our past life experiences have been like. Because of this, everything we experience we subconsciously skew to fit into our perception of the world, even if it might break our mold. Unfortunately, we cannot escape our situated knowledge, so we must be careful when observing things to acknowledge the bias we put on our observations.

Ashley's Blog #3

In the article of “Global Women,” it is clear that the idea of gender roles is quite prominent. There have always been separations of labor due to gender divisions, but this article makes an interesting point. My family never hired a nanny for me, my mother spent her time raising me while my father was at work. It was my mother’s job to take care of me and had my mother been at work all day while my dad stayed home and looked after me, my family would have been thought of in a peculiar manner, as my parents gender roles would be backwards. However, many of my friends were always with their nannies or housekeepers as their mothers had to work. This articles plays upon the fact that when women leave their roles as the caretaker of the home and children to have a profession, there is a role that needs to be filled. However, it is not automatic that the other person in the marriage, the husband, would take over the housekeeping and child rearing. These things are seen as feminine roles and jobs defined for a woman. Therefore, the use of nannies by many families seems completely normal and the only option as it is not a man’s job o look after the children. If the mother herself cannot be there to fulfill this role, another woman must be called in to take over and do the job the mother should be doing. The father, however, is defined to have the gender role as the bread-winner, not the bread-maker.

            In regards to the article “Age, Race, Class, and Sex,” stereotypes of different people are discussed. Stereotypes are something that society will never be able to escape, so people should learn to deal with them efficiently. When the article states that colored women earn the lowest wages, one must take a step back and analyze this. Yes, this may be the case and yes many colored women may suffer greatly in the work force. However, someone’s race is not the final say in how they end up. Let’s take a look at Oprah, has her race inhibited her? Perhaps she may have struggled in her past due to predudiced people, but look at her now. She is one of the most successful people in American and her opinion is respected greatly by the American people. Yes, as a whole, women of her race may not be as successful as her, but people must realize that, despite the stereotypes, success is possible. Even though the picture we looked at in class poked fun of Obama, one cannot deny that “black” really is in the “white” as Obama is in the White House. People can may all the stereotypical comments they like, and some very well may be true, but people cannot let those stereotypes define them and inhibit them from becoming successful people. Rather than focusing on age, race, class, and sex, we should focus on education, morals, diligence, and drive.

As for situated knowledge, I feel that although it is inhibiting as to how clearly we all see the world, it is necessary to create individual people. No matter what, everyone learns through their environments and cannot escape situated knowledge. We all learn through the lens such as where we are from, where we grew up, and how our families interacted with us. Because of this, we are all different people and all have differing opinions which makes the world more enriched with various types of people. Situated knowledge can indeed heighten prejudices and close-mindedness due to how sheltered someone’s lifestyle is, but without situation knowledge, most people would fit one standard stereotype, which would be detrimental to the world than people who see the world unclearly due to their situated knowledge.

BINGXIN'S assignment #3

I chose Global Women, written by Barbara Ehrenreich and To Veil or not to Veil, written by Jen’nan Ghazal Read & John P. Bartkowski.
As for Global Women, she argues that there is a new shift among the women’s development in the world. More and more women, especially women in the developed countries decide not to stay at home and be traditional housewives. Instead of that, they choose to compete with men, get the job and even be the bread- winners at home. However, more and more women are feminists and pay more attention on their rights, it causes a new problem called “care deficit.” Therefore, it offers opportunity for immigrants women who are from the less developed countries. Women who usually have little education and in poverty, they usually would like to take those jobs. In class, we discussed the division of labor at home. It shows that women are still supposed to do the housework, take care of kids and stay at home. Even though, there are more and more women going out and working, there are still immigrants women who fulfill their space to take care of families for them. So, women are still put into the division of labor at home.
Another article I chose is To veil or not to veil. I chose it because it is interesting to see the facts from a non-Muslim view. I saw many Muslim women are still veiling in America. I thought it should be more serious if they are in their home country. Veil and veil are not the main point here. The meaning behind veil is the main issue that is may be involved in feminism in Muslim world. Women who veils would be considered as good women and acceptable. If not, they would be accepted by other Muslim or even could not find a Muslim as husband. However, being a non-Muslim, I do not think it is a big deal since it is a personal decision to choose veil or not. We can’t force anyone to do anything. In the lecture, instructor discussed the veil thing in Muslim world. Students do prefer to not to veil in an aspect of set Muslim women free.
Is "situated knowledge" an impediment to seeing the world clearly? Why or why not?
I think the situated knowledge is an impediment to seeing the world clearly. Society’s development is based on breaking the old knowledge and come out new one. Those situated knowledge would blind our eyes and result in a false judgment. However, the situated knowledge could help a person suit in the mainstream of society faster. Since the majority of people think a wrong thing right, then you will be considered right if you join them. Therefore, situated knowledge becomes an impediment to seeing the world clearly. We need to take advantage of the situated knowledge but rely on that knowledge. We can’t judge anything only based on those situated knowledge.

Blog Assignment #3

“Americans Have a Different Attitude” Family, Sexuality, and Gender in Filipina American Lives

This article frustrates me. Greatly.

As a Filipino-American myself I feel like I can see through everything that I read and into a mindset that fosters a more positive attitude of Filipino life, American life, and the lives of both men and women of either community. Maybe I can… maybe I can’t, but I do know enough of either culture to say that what Filipino immigrant parents are doing to their children is completely self-limiting and stagnating their children’s development. Not only on does it affect them on a personal level, but also on a cultural level that will influence generations to come.

My parents are Filipino immigrants, but they left the Philippines to literally get away from it. From everything that it stood for and everything that Filipinos did. Both were subject to the cultural restrictions detailed in this article, especially my Mother. She was the victim of so much criticism. From her own culture no less. On top of the traditional views enforced upon Filipina women, she was the victim of prejudices based upon the dark color of her skin and her features. She grew an aversion to her own culture and as a result escaped to America as soon as she found out she was pregnant with my older brother. My parents raised my brother and I as American children would be raised. They gave us American names: Nicolo and Kyle (taking our names from American films they loved) and made sure that we grew up in healthy American communities. They didn’t want us to be subjected to the constraints of a traditional Filipino mindset and fostered individuality within both of us. The only thing they maintained from Filipino culture (other than the delicious food) was the notion of respect for your elders and for your family. They always told me that family comes first and that blood is thicker than water and all that jazz… and looking back on it I thank them for it cause my family is extremely important to me, but they never enforced it to the extent in which it would limit my own personal growth. My parents are very liberal and I suppose they started off pretty liberal to begin with they first raised us, but I’m guessing that they had to further expand their notions of tradition, culture, and religion. Specifically, in my case, because I am gay, they really had to open their minds further than what most Filipino immigrant parents are used to or would be willing to do. Of course, they love me completely and completely support who I am and my lifestyle, and for that I am grateful because I have a healthy view of myself. I don’t believe I could’ve survived or grown into the person I am today had I been raised by more traditional Filipino parents. I would’ve been stifled and conflicted and definitely not as happy. Often times I joke to my parents that we’re Italian at heart, because honestly… I was born and raised in New Jersey, and we live right outside of New York City, my mom cooks Italian food all the time, and just the general family dynamic is very healthy and loving and fosters individuality while maintaining that idea of a home that we can always come back to. My parents don’t disagree when I mention this… they merely laugh and say that we basically are.

Now in contrast, the families in this article are completely self-limiting. It frustrated me when I read this because they think they’re somehow maintaining a better lifestyle than that of the American lifestyle. They think they’re somehow more morally and ethically pure than the people of the country that they wanted to move to. I mean, honestly… why move somewhere if you’re not even going to try to embrace the culture of that place? Not only are you limiting your views of the world but you’re further delineating the concept of racism and prejudice and making the distinctions and walls harder to break down. I feel like most traditional Filipino families don’t see what they’re doing to themselves. They’re just blindly following these traditions because it’s all they know and all they think they should know. They don’t even bother questioning any of it. It doesn’t make sense to scrutinize the roles of one gender over the other. They stress that girls shouldn’t go out and date because they can lose their virginity, but they say that guys can go out to date… that they have nothing to lose. But whom do they think the guys are going to go out and try to have sex with? Other guys? Unless they’re sons are gay (which they do not believe in either and strictly shun) they’re sons are obviously going to try and sleep with their daughters. How does that help their cause of preserving their daughter’s virginity? It doesn’t! It’s mind boggling to me who stupid it all is. They say they want their kids to be successful and to lead great lives, but then they tell them that they should be doctors or nurses or housewives. They limit their children to these arbitrary options simply because it’s what they know… it’s the only thing they know. I always see Filipino-Americans trying to be successful and make a name for themselves or branch out and be individuals, but when you have an entire culture of people limiting you to so many things there’s no way any progress will be made. There’s no way the prejudices will be broken down or eliminated because people are blindly feeding them and people are blindly eating them. It’s like a cycle of self-limiting prejudice that doesn’t help anyone become better people.

I’m happy my parents raised me American. I would not want to be caught up in all of that insanity. I don’t think I could’ve survived.

“Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism”

This article is interesting to me because I feel like it said a lot but I simultaneously feel like it didn’t say very much at all. It felt almost redundant and repetitive in its definition of multiracial feminism. I don’t think I gleaned much from it in terms of new insight to feminism. I feel like race and class is something already present within the ideas of feminism. I mean I think it would be fair to say that they go hand-in-hand affect each other to the point that you can’t really fix one without addressing the other. So I’m slightly confused as to what exactly the writer was trying to say. It’s interesting though to think of the struggles faced by women of different color, race, or ethnicity. I suppose they really are “outsiders within”. I mean what’s the point in trying to unify oneself under a common cause when an extraneous factor limits the influence that you have over the main issue at hand. It’s like saying: “oh you can join our team, but you can’t play… just sit on the bench over there and we’ll call you if we need you.” It is largely unfair… but like I said one issue cannot be solved without solving the others as well, in this case race and ethnicity as well as discrimination against women.

Now, in terms of situated knowledge I believe it definitely hinders one’s ability to see the world clearly. For instance, in terms of Filipino immigrants coming to America, their situated knowledge is based upon the traditions and values they were taught by their parents, culture, and society. However, they do not bother to question these values and instead just perpetuate them regardless of their logic or lack thereof. They’re willingness to follow these traditions without any skepticism prevents them from seeing beyond themselves and thus from seeing the world and the people within it in a much broader and open-minded perspective. Likewise, I myself am probably a victim of situated knowledge, due to the way I was brought up. My mother’s disdain for her own culture was instilled into me whether or not she intended it to be, and despite the liberal perspective that my parents fostered within me I could still very well be prejudice towards the Filipino culture as well. I might be able to see outside of what traditional Filipinos can but that doesn’t necessarily mean I can see inside and fully understand what they are dealing with.