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.