Karina Buckholz
Dr. Alissa Burger
Intro to Women’s Studies
8 May 2015
Feminism Final Project I am a feminist. My feminism is inclusive. My definition of feminism is a movement to make everyone positively represented, protected, and equal, regardless of factors like race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender. While I know that feminism has made great strides in the past couple of centuries, I also know there is a lot of work to be done. Things like beauty ideals, gender roles, and ****************** are still prominent in our culture and still oppress and complicate women’s lives.
Beauty ideals are something feminism challenges everyday. Women are constantly fed garbage that their is something wrong about them. All of American culture …show more content…
Black and white, chocolate and vanilla, polka dots and stripes, boys and girls. How do people expect 7.2 billion human beings to fall into two groups? Lets not just stop there, but these 7.2 billion people must conform to gender expectations, or be punished. I have been asked not to come to many school events (like chorus concerts and my sixth grade graduation) because I did not want to wear a dress or a skirt, let alone fancy clothes, this was my punishment. More examples include things like how when a woman is assertive she is often seen as a “bitch”, and a man who is passive is a “pussy”. Gender roles do not just influence how people act, gender roles influence every aspect of our identity. There are different expectations for males and females in regards to things like domestic behaviors, occupations, and physical appearances (Planned Parenthood). Men are expected to do household repairs, while women are expected to cook and clean. Occupations like nurses, secretaries, receptionists, hostesses(I know this is a term for females, but I have never seen a male host) are seen as jobs for women (when they want them to have jobs). Jobs like construction work, doctors, CEOs, and athletes are seen as manly occupations. Women are expected to be soft, graceful, small-framed, hour-glass shaped, and without flaw. Men can essentially look however they would like, unless it is related to anything above. So much of our lives revolve around gender, the clothes we wear, the products we buy, the way we act, the way we spend our free time, and the occupations we choose, just to name a few. Fighting gender roles is important to me, because without disestablishing or disempowering the gender expectations of our society, equality will never exist among people. As long as there are these dichotomous gender roles, there will be men/women who strive to meet them. This is because this is how they are raised to think, to act, and to live.
Dr. Alissa Burger
Intro to Women’s Studies
8 May 2015
Feminism Final Project I am a feminist. My feminism is inclusive. My definition of feminism is a movement to make everyone positively represented, protected, and equal, regardless of factors like race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender. While I know that feminism has made great strides in the past couple of centuries, I also know there is a lot of work to be done. Things like beauty ideals, gender roles, and ****************** are still prominent in our culture and still oppress and complicate women’s lives.
Beauty ideals are something feminism challenges everyday. Women are constantly fed garbage that their is something wrong about them. All of American culture …show more content…
Black and white, chocolate and vanilla, polka dots and stripes, boys and girls. How do people expect 7.2 billion human beings to fall into two groups? Lets not just stop there, but these 7.2 billion people must conform to gender expectations, or be punished. I have been asked not to come to many school events (like chorus concerts and my sixth grade graduation) because I did not want to wear a dress or a skirt, let alone fancy clothes, this was my punishment. More examples include things like how when a woman is assertive she is often seen as a “bitch”, and a man who is passive is a “pussy”. Gender roles do not just influence how people act, gender roles influence every aspect of our identity. There are different expectations for males and females in regards to things like domestic behaviors, occupations, and physical appearances (Planned Parenthood). Men are expected to do household repairs, while women are expected to cook and clean. Occupations like nurses, secretaries, receptionists, hostesses(I know this is a term for females, but I have never seen a male host) are seen as jobs for women (when they want them to have jobs). Jobs like construction work, doctors, CEOs, and athletes are seen as manly occupations. Women are expected to be soft, graceful, small-framed, hour-glass shaped, and without flaw. Men can essentially look however they would like, unless it is related to anything above. So much of our lives revolve around gender, the clothes we wear, the products we buy, the way we act, the way we spend our free time, and the occupations we choose, just to name a few. Fighting gender roles is important to me, because without disestablishing or disempowering the gender expectations of our society, equality will never exist among people. As long as there are these dichotomous gender roles, there will be men/women who strive to meet them. This is because this is how they are raised to think, to act, and to live.