Lining up

Lining Up 

While recently studying issues between the two genders, I've started to notice these problems coming up in real life. However, I've also noticed that not all these issues are as simple as originally stated. An article in The New Yorker, 'Social Animal' by David Brooks, looks at a multiple of social issues and problems in modern day life. While gender related ones are included in these, they are not by any means the focal point of the article and so it helps put these issues I've studied into a greater perspective. 

                  What is so great about this article is that these situations need to be put in perspective before  it is possible to properly judge a person, let alone an entire gender. People don't, or at least I don't and have no knowledge of anyone who does, go around with thinking about all the gender problems in the world. Most people have a lot more that they are thinking about. It is perfectly possible for someone, to view someone else of the opposite sex as an equal and not purely as a girl/boy. Not every action that someone commits has to be against a girl/boy, they can simply be against another person. 

                  While the evidence to his arguments can at come over with a sense of arrogance, they are perfectly reasonable (at worse) arguments for actions of some people. Not every thing a man does has to be a 'sexist' action, it can be completely physiological. It can be just as natural as a mother's reactions to her baby child. Peoples' lives don't turn around their relationship with the opposite gender, and neither do their actions.
                 So why so some peoples’ perceptions of individuals completely depend on their gender? Why are people stereotyped and pigeon holed for their gender to such a extreme degree? Any idiot will tell you that not all girls are exactly the same and neither are all boys, so why are treated like we speak for our entire gender?  A boy and a girl of the same age will have far more in common than a child and an elderly person both of the same gender.
          And this is by no means harmless, some of our biggest day to day conflicts arise from the way we separate genders in our mind. I’m not saying we should separate people at all, but if you are going to, there are far more logical ways of doing it than male and female.

Grandmother interview

Going back to the question whether or not it is better to be a women now or fifty years ago, I decided that one of the best ways to answer that would be if I was to talk to a women who had had experienced both lifestyles. If I had gotten my first choice then I would have talked to Queen Elizabeth II, however, for obvious reasons this was not quite possible. Instead I chose the more realistic option and interviewed my own grandmother.
           After asking her a series of questions about her past and lifestyle, the first thing I noticed was how much her life reminded me of the famous movie Greece. After that however, I started to notice some far more significant regarding society. After a while it became quite clear to me that my twelve year old sister already has more freedoms than my grandmother claimed to experience in her entire teenage life. Of course, this may have something to do with the fact that my sister is only twelve and not yet into the world of a teenager. Not to mention she goes to a posh girls only school on the outskirts of London.  However, she is still treated fairly similarly to the way I was treated at that age while my grandmother and a boy of the similar age would have almost been living in separate worlds. Of course, there are differences between the way me and my sister are treated my our parents and by society as a whole, some of them justified. Everyone is far more protective of her than myself. It should be said that when I was twelve I was very tall for my age and I went to school right in  the center of London, not to mention I was faster and more responsible than she is. It is more than fair to say that I would be less of a target than she would and if I was confronted in some way I would be far more able to protect myself. This is not to say that she can't take care of herself. But, there is definitely a logical reason in the difference some people are treated.

Power of Music

After looking at gender issues in photography, I couldn't help but notice very similar issues in another favorite art form of mine; music. On my iPod I have nearly two thousand songs covering the majority of common genres. What I've noticed recently is that my library contains more stereotypes than I can imagine and a large amount of them are gender related. While not all of them are negative, there is a large proportion of them highlight the issues between genders. This is clear in the music itself, but when you consider music videos and the whole celebrity persona then it really becomes 'punch you in the face' obvious for lack of a better term.
           This is mainly a problem with female artists. You'll find hugely talented artists that record labels won't sign, instead they'll pick completely talent less people simply because they are deemed 'popular' and attractive' enough to make them money. I've also never heard an interview on the radio with a male musician where the interview is giving them a go for their sex references yet I hear this constantly with female artists. Some male artists have proven that there is almost no limit to what they can say without anyone paying much attention yet female artists get grilled constantly for the message in their lyrics. Had Madonna been a man, she never would have had such a hard time for referencing 'dance drugs' in one of her concerts. In fact, male artists would never have done it as 'subtly' as Madonna did. I've seen videos from concerts where they take drugs on stage and yet no one seems to have a problem with this. While this may seem to be a problem for women, it is actually a bigger problem for men as it is promoting illegal and otherwise immoral behavior among young men.
           What really puzzles me about this is that music, for the large part, is generally aimed at females. Very few female artists have large male fan bases while the majority of male artists have a significant number of female fans. So why themes that are deemed only acceptable for men used in music?
           

Increase or Decrease?

Having recently being reading 'The Beauty Myth' by Naomi Wolf a question that I've noticed coming up more and more is whether or not women have a better everyday life now or back a few to when they had less legal rights. Obvioulsy what makes this such a hard question to answer is that people disagree as to what makes a better lifestyle. People who fought for the equal rights of women are going to be more inclined to prefer life today, but not everyone agrees that these rights have come at a worthwhile cost.
This is the basics of the question, is it better to be held back by legal methods or by mindsets? Legal methods may be more constricting on what you can and can not do, but at least you know one hundred percent where you stand. Women nowadays may have the right to vote among others but they have very little to defend themselves from the way the treated and though about by men.
             In 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a 19th century house wife is driven pretty much insane by the 'second citizen' nature of her relationship with her husband. What surprised me most about this when I re-read it was how not surprising I found this simply because of the time setting of the story. Nowadays, while women do have new problems to deal with, they are at least considered to be equal human beings (if not people) in most educated circles.
             While I personally have never experienced any serious discrimination against myself, it is still hard for me to understand how anyone would prefer the life my grandmother lead over the life my little sister lives. I actually find it hard to understand the point of view of people who would prefer to have their rights taken away than to deal with the problems modern day life presents us. This is just my opinion, but while it may be more obvious to know your goal when fighting for equal rights, surely it is all together easier to deal with our modern day issues of sexism?

Genders in Media

Recently while studying the issues that commonly arise between the two different genders I've learnt about a lot of the subtle ways in which men and women 'battle' with each other. Ways as simple as body language and minor behavioral qualities. But as I've studied this topic more and more I've started to notice how out in the open it really is. It's pretty much every where that we go. From massive billboards to the news.
          In a lot of articles I've read recently on this topic that are written by women, there is this idea that men are holding back and objectifying women in this almost 'sneaky' way. In my opinion from what I've noticed recently, it really isn't that 'sneaky'.  Like the book 'The Beauty Myth' by Naomi Wolf, I agree that the main reason that this issue has come out in the open recently is through advertising. People know that sex makes money and wiling to go above and beyond in what is considered 'appropriate' to make even more. When people of older generations attack newer generations for 'lacking morals', they really putting blame on themselves for allowing money to become more important than their so called morals.
          It has even become the case that places where money shouldn't be a major factor has embraced this ideal. Maybe news stations have become a less honest place in the last few decades or so, but the reason female news anchors, weather girls etc. are forced to look better and 'sexier' than there male counterparts is because advertisers have overridden us with sex and 'sexiness' being linked to success and money. It's why, there a far larger proportion of successful, famous, 'unattractive' male actors to 'attractive' male actors than there are with actresses. Why more often than not you'll find movies have given 'attractive' famous actresses token roles to boost audience ratings and very rarely do the same with male actors. Directors and advertisers equally link a movies 'sexiness appeal' to it's future success, yet only one of these people can be blamed for this type of thinking.
        This isn't a happy accident advertisers have stumbled upon. They know they're doing it. Why wouldn't they do this? As long as advertisers have the legal rights to use sex to sell products that may have nothing to do with sex and as long as this continues to make them money then we can't expect them to have a sudden moral turn around.

Who really runs the world?

I'm beginning to reach the last of my blogs of feminism and feel myself asking the same question over and over. While I've read multiple articles and stories that all claim to be able to answer this question one way or another, I still don't know; who really does run the world? The source of all the main issues between the two genders is that one of them normally has power over the other group. If we're talking politically and physically than historically it is men who have had the power over women. However, if we're emotionally and sexually than women are generally considered to have power over men.
           Recently, I've read a fair few articles and stories that address the subject of one gender controlling the other. I've read stories such as 'The Handmaids Tale' and 'Jasmine', both of which are set in religiously based societies in which women are controlled (believed for their own good) by men. While both of these make connections with modern day life, both also have very obvious differences to our Western life in 2012. On the other hand, I've also read works such as 'The End of Men' and 'The Beauty Myth' which both have other ideas.
         'The End of Men' by Hanna Rosin is an article that tries to prove her point that women have now over taken men and are actually the leading force in places such as businesses and government. She may not have any decent proof to back her argument up, but her idea is definitely a strong one. The idea that, while for a long time women have been suppressed by men, in fairly recent years they have been able to improve their situation and that, if they haven't already, they have the ability to draw level, if not overtake men in terms of power. While so much of the world is changing, it is still hard for me to imagine what the world would be like if women indeed got or already had the power men have for so much of history.
         The other piece of work I've read recently that had an interesting view on this subject was 'The Beauty Myth' by Naomi Wolf is a non-fiction book that addresses many of the reasons that women are being kept down, especially by men. While it probably would have been all too easy to use this book as an opportunity to blame men for the problems of women, she actually chooses to use a more educated response to the problem. According to her, it is not so much men that are responsible for the control of women, but instead it is mixed between other big companies and other women. Going back to the idea of power, it doesn't need to say that big companies and banks do have an extreme amount of control over the common man. However, it is far less obvious that women have a significant amount of power over other women and themselves. Which would suggest that women do in fact have more control and power in their own lives  but they just don't know enough to be able to use it.

What makes America so good?

What makes America so Good?

As I am currently reading "Jasmine" by Bharati Mukherjee, a story about an Indian women making a new life for herself in America and risking a lot to travel half way across the world to make it happen, I am forced to ask myself, what is so good about America? Why do so many people risk their lives everyday just to reach America? A country that is no longer the most powerful in the world and is currently in enormous debt. While this doesn't directly relate to the time period of 'Jasmine', it still creates a good question, what is so appealing about America?

             When people think of 'The American Dream' they think of possibilities for anyone and everyone. But even a country like America has it's limits. With thousands upon thousands of immigrants (as well as actual Americans) living in America, it is a wonder as to how many possibilities the country truly has to offer. In , arguably, the best country in the world you'll find people in squalid poverty living in some of the worse living conditions imaginable. Yet, people still flock to shores of America for a better chance of a humane life, just like the main character in the novel 'Jasmine'.
          Now, I'm not saying that there is a massive problem with America and people wanting to live there, I myself live very good conditions and yet I still want to live in America some day, but I do feel as if America is overrated. It's own set of ideals and common dreams has out shined the reality of the country. People now come to the United States not for America, but for the American dream. For example, thousands upon thousands of Africans come to Europe and America constantly to avoid war or famine in their home countries. While a lot of them will aim for America, England and France, they could almost as easily find an equally good life in another European country that is in fact a lot closer to their origin. 
          In Jasmine for example, the main character, whatever her chosen name is, makes the dangerous trip to America for reasons that have less to do with reality and more to do with wishful thinking. She gets experience of rape, murder and dozens of other personal tragedies that, in my opinion, would be less likely to happen in certain other countries. While she does get a happy life in the end, it comes at the massive cost that living in America can put upon you.