Blog Post Week 11

An update on Thomas Beatie: he is apparently considering a hysterectomy following the birth of his third child.

It was his wife who breastfed their babies as he had his removed in the operation. His male hormones also stopped him from producing milk and during each pregnancy, he had to go off his male hormones for the health of the child.

The transgender dad will reveal on The Doctors tomorrow that the impact going off the hormones had on his body is more than he wants to go through again.

A hysterectomy will help stabilise him medically as a male, according to RadarOnline.

Full article here: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/weird/pregnant-man-thomas-beatie-tells-the-doctors-he-is-considering-a-hysterectomy-after-giving-birth-to-three-children/story-e6frev20-1226181615048?sv=5bce883a93fd0306ecc899b429ea5525

I think it's intriguing that Mr. Beatie has now decided to get a hysterectomy, and it is interesting that the article claims that this will stabilize his masculinity. What does this suggest about the media's concept of what Beatie describes as his stable gender?

Blogging Assignment Week 11

After Professor Velasco showed us the video about the Chinese-Black girl, I became particularly interested in researching more about China's tolerance about interracial marriage. Surprisingly, I came across an article that addresses the solution to solve China's gender imbalance, and at the same time, discourages interracial marriages. In order to prevent the export of young, attractive Chinese women to other countries, Chinese government officals want to impose a "babe tax." The author of the article states that "while preserving women's freedom of choice in marriage, if they choose to marry an American, or foreigner, a tax will be levied proportionally to the foreign male's salary in his country." This then leads to my favorite line from the article: "No one likes taxes, but we're taxing the foreigners and saving our women!" Obviously, the Chinese are extremely concerned about the disproportion of male to female figures. Yet, this attempt to tax those who are foreign to China reveals the conservative and traditional Chinese culture.
Here is the link and feel free to check it out.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/02/how-to-solve-chinas-gender-imbalance-the-babe-tax/71440/

Dress codes?

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the relationship between how girls dress and how people think of them and treat them. (Maybe because of Halloween costumes.) So, I did some online searching and I found this article http://articles.familylobby.com/54-dress-standards-for-the-teenage-girl.htm. I was super surprised that people still think like the author of this article.

The article talks about the "modest" and "immodest" way for girls to dress and the consequences of their choices. One of the arguments is that dressing "immodestly" will lead boys to disrespect the girl (including rape) and will most likely lead to the loss of "purity"(virginity). Oh, and by "immodest" the author refers to jeans, tights, shorts, mini skirts, and any clothing that shows body shape or skin.

I have a hard time connecting the dots between how girls dress and the amount of respect they receive and their value as a person. First of all, "immodest" dressing, for me, is showing genitalia  and "butt cheeks." (To a certain extent I believe women should have the same right to walk around topless, as men do.) Anyway, regardless of what women/girls wear I believe they deserve as much respect as anyone else does. No particular clothing item represents what a person value is nor if there "pure" or not nor whether they should respected or not.

It makes me mad that society makes it okay for a male to be disrespectful to a female just because of the clothes she is wearing.It shouldn't be that way, its that mentality that justifies men's rape violation of women. Also, just because a women wears shorts, or embraces her body shape does not mean she is more likely to lose her virginity than a girl who dresses "modestly."

What do you think?

Blogging Assignment Week 11

I was reading an article about the changing attitudes regarding homosexuality in China. It was considered a taboo in China in the 1990s, considered both a crime and a mental illness. Joe Lam from Hong Kong was confused about his feelings for boys but did not know what to make of it because of he had never been exposed to anything regarding homosexuality, not in his community or in the media. In 1997 the government eliminated the hooligan law which prosecuted gays. After that the gay community expanded with gay bars, hangout spots, gay and lesbian organizations. China is becoming more tolerant of homosexuals and acceptance is especially rising among the educated. Symbolic marriage certificates were even issues to couples. It seems that China will be at the forefront for gay liberation according to professor Walter Williams. The internet has played a big role in this, people know what is going on and younger generations have become much more open-minded. The government is expected to accept homosexuality, in time.

http://www.uschina.usc.edu/article@usct?homosexuality_in_china_14740.aspx

Blogging Assignment Week 11

Just recently for Halloween, a Jesus Church of Latter-day Saints went under a lot of fire for putting up fliers that disallowed children to cross-dress for a Halloween celebration. Specifically, the flier, published by a woman's group in conjunction to the church, stated that no "cross-gender" costumes were allowed, along with masks and other such regulations. Some members of the church supported it, saying that it is their decision to make, and that anyone who disagreed shouldn't go to the event. Critics argued that it sent the wrong message to children and undermined acceptance. A child psychologist argued that Halloween had little correlation to gender confusion for kids. However, the policy was not nulled.

The article can be found here: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/29/church-halloween-event-bans-cross-gender-costumes/

I personally think that this is a very offensive policy. First off, something as minor as a Halloween costume is not going to cause major concerns for parents in terms of kids being confused about their gender. This policy means young girls wouldn't be able to dress up as Spiderman or Harry Potter because the character is a boy. It just seems like a very small correlation between a costume and gender identity. Secondly, this message strongly insults individuals who don't identify with their biological gender because it shows that the church looks down upon cross dressing. With such policies, acceptance will never be obtained.

To what extent does faith play a role in the acceptance of non-hegemonic norms in terms of gender and sexuality? Is faith becoming more and more concerned with gender identity, or is acceptance slowly growing?

Week 11

I had a very interesting conversation with my roommates this week. One of my roommates, let's call him Joe, has a group of guy friends who are all very conservative close minded people when it comes to gender roles and stereotypes. Now, Joe does not share these close-minded and backwards viewpoints. My other roommate, let's call her Katie, and myself have been becoming continually aggravated by the topics of conversations that exist when this group of guys are in our home. They often make snide and crude comments about women that they would like to sleep with. Though these comments are not directed specifically toward Katie and I, we both find it profoundly insulting. This is the first time in my life that I have ever been around boys, they are certainly not men, who have thought about women like this. I come from a very liberal background and from a household that has a great deal of respect for both sexes as well as people of varying sexualities. The other night Katie and I got upset about this and finally said something to this group of guys. We also both come from backgrounds that have taught us to stand up for yourself if you feel disrespected in anyway. After the boys left Joe went up to Katie, and told her that snapping at them was not worth it and that it puts him in the middle of the confrontation since they are his friends. Needless to say a larger discussion arouse out of this. Joe, though he has opinions about all of these topics, is a rather passive person when it comes to 'touchy subjects' and it took about an hour to explain to him why we would not tolerate that type of behavior, to an extent, and why we were going to say something. At one point, Joe said something to the extent of, 'well sometimes guys just want to have a guys night and talk about stuff like that and sometimes you guys want to have a girls night' in order to explain why that behavior goes on. However, Katie and I sitting on the couch and watching the tv show that we would like to watch has nothing to do with disrespecting anyone. Also, I understand that behavior, like Joe, was describing happen constantly, but when you come into someone else's home you must have respect for them and treat them with such. This group of boys have both political and religious view that I neither share nor particularly agree with. However, I have never once said anything which would disrespect or negate these views, because they are allowed to believe whatever they would like. I just do not understand why the concept of mutual and universal respect is not understood in so many situations. I also think it is extremely important for every person to stand up for themselves when they are being disrespected. This does not mean yelling but explaining to someone why that is not ok and why, without any violent reaction. Without this nothing will ever change, and people do not have a right to be upset about it.

Week 11 Discussion Questions

Hi,

Please submit your questions for Week 11.

Week 10 Blogging Assignment

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1925589,00.html

As Xiaoxin mentioned in Wednesday's lecture, interracial people in China are having a much harder time fitting in and Chinese society is still having trouble accepting them as Chinese people. I was interested in finding out more about this concept, especially after the statistic mentioned that 90% of Chinese people are full natives. After looking online, I found a TIME article that discussed the same girl who went on the American Idol version show in China. The first issue or aspect the author of the article explored was the marketing advantage this girl gave to the company. Other sides to the story include: blog/chat room comments, statistics on interracial kids, ex:// Ding Hui (National Volleyball player), etc. One point brought up that deeply disturbed me was the fact about documenting newborns. The government requires parents to register the child in one of the 56 ethnic groups, but interracial is not an available option. As an interracial myself, I feel strongly that the Chinese government and the Chinese people should be willing to accept people who are of other races. I understand the need for Chinese integrity and purity and chastity, but because of the globalization that is occurring in our world today, acceptance is a must. When discussing Ding Hui, the author states, "the athlete should be allowed to represent China alongside pure-blooded Chinese competitors". This specific quote made me think of Harry Potter and this obsession with "pure-blood" vs. "mixed blood". I think J.K. Rowling brought up a good argument about the lack of acceptance society (in this case China) has. Grace Huang.

Gender Neutral Pronouns

In lecture and discussion, the idea of gender pronouns has come up quite a bit. I searched the internet and came across this blog that discusses the idea.

http://genderneutralpronoun.wordpress.com/

What I found particularly interesting and hopeful was the comparison between the need for the creation of a gender neutral pronoun and the creation of the title Ms. Previously titles for women were only mrs. and miss so that a woman would be defined by whether she was married or not. Finally a more honorable title was created and now it is common nature to use. Hopefully the transition to gender neutral pronouns will be just as easy and quick.

Week 10 - Femininity and Masculinity in Ads

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/asr/v007/7.2unit07.html

The essay “Marketing Femininity: Images of Modern Chinese Women” by Harriet Evans made me think about representations of femininity and masculinity in the media, especially magazines and advertisements. The article linked above is “Representations of Masculinity and Femininity in Advertisements” from a journal on advertising. The article starts by discussing the distinction between gender and sex and then it thoroughly examines the representation of gender in ads through the life cycle, from infancy through old age. It provides many examples of gendered advertisements for each stage in the life cycle. It is interesting how the article progresses chronologically through the ages and how the ads go from showing a gender-neutral infant to showing mature masculine or feminine depictions of men and women. There is also a small section on gays and lesbians in ads. The article seems long but it includes many examples of advertisements.

Blogging Assignment Week 10

I read an article on women in management positions - a fairly common topic of discussions

http://sundial.csun.edu/2011/10/gender-inequality-still-an-issue-for-business-women/

So clearly the article suggests that the glass ceiling is extremely hard to break - it seems that the articles implies that nothing short of a transformational, charismatic female leader is going to allow women to break the glass ceiling simply because women lack networks in corporations. Mentorship correlates with networking opportunities and because mentors tend to provide mentorships to people like themselves, men mentor men - when the system is such that almost everyone in upper-level management is male, it becomes extremely difficult for women to advance. Sure our culture is pushing for reforms and such, but even if we reach true equality, how long is it going to take for the glass ceiling to break? You simply can't force people to change their natural affinity towards individuals who share similar traits, ie gender.

Week 10

I found this article about the effect that too much BPA exposure can have on infants. I thought the title of the article was particularly intriguing. The article is called 'Gender-bending chemical that 'makes girls as young as three aggressive and hayperactive''. The title of the this article already gives the reader a very specific viewpoint and opinion, even if the article is not discussing gender roles explicitly. Actually, the fact that the article does not mention specific gender roles, makes this title all the more meaningful and the implications of this. In light of everything we have been discussion in class about tolerance of 'gender-bending' and what not, this article gives the word 'gender-bending' a very negative connotation. This is about over exposure to a chemical, which causes what the author titles as, 'gender-bending'. This is also significant since the BPA exposure seems to only have an effect on females, making them more 'agressive...etc.' Here is the article if you would like to read it:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2052586/Gender-bending-chemical-makes-girls-young-aggressive-hyperactive.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Week 9 Blogging Assignment

When I heard the teacher talk about She's The Man in class I wanted to figure out what Amanda Bynes had to personally say about the guy role that she took on. On YouTube, I found an interview of her where the interviewer asked how it felt and what steps she took to prepare to be a guy. She replied with going to the mall and watching couples interact. What she found was that guys were just more protective and tried to be manlier. In terms of the movie, I thought the fact that she was not a very believable or acceptable guy made it easier for the issue to be comedic and allow the audience to not feel uncomfortable or disturbed by the fact, as compared to the TransAmerica or other movie we watched in class. Grace Huang.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9QZrhXa-yY

Crossdressing

This video recently came to my attention: "Little Boy Dancing to Burlesque" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3FeXYW_Je8&feature=related). It is a little boy wearing a dress, fishnets, and make up. The feelings expressed in the comments of this video (and other video's of him) are either of "disgust" or "humor". I personally don't know how to feel about them. On one hand, I'm impressed by his ability to remember the moves, perform, and have confidence. On the other hand, I'm concerned for his well being: some of the comments are very threatening and I wonder if he gets bullied, and I also wonder if he actually enjoys making these videos and if he agreed for them to be on the web. 

What do you all think? Should he be praised for his talent, should people be concerned for his safety, or should his parent be reprimanded for posting the videos of their young son?

Week 10 Blogging Assignment

I came across this article as I was browsing through the Web. I was extremely interested in it because of the different perspective it provided. It was nice to read about transvestites and cross-dressing through the eyes and views of another country other than the United States. Below is the link to the article and, hopefully, you will all find it useful.
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/sexandrelationships/transvesticism.htm

Week 10 Assignment

On the topic of transvestite films, I saw a trailer for a movie called "Jack and Jill". While the character played by Adam Sandler does not cross-dress in the movie, he plays both Jack and Jack's twin sister, Jill. This is a recurring event in many comical films. What effect does seeing Adam Sandler dressed as a woman have on our response to the movie and Jill's character? What does this say about the way we categorize gender?

Week 10 Blogging

I found an interesting article today about the practice of naming some girls the Hindi word for "unwanted" because the families favor male children.

A central Indian district held a renaming ceremony Saturday that it hopes will give the girls new dignity and help fight widespread gender discrimination that gives India a skewed gender ratio, with far more boys than girls.

The 285 girls — wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair — lined up to receive certificates with their new names along with small flower bouquets from Satara district officials in Maharashtra state.

The plight of girls in India came to a focus after this year’s census showed the nation’s sex ratio had dropped over the past decade from 927 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of 6 to 914.

Maharashtra state’s ratio is well below that, with just 883 girls for every 1,000 boys — down from 913 a decade ago. In the district of Satara, it is even lower, at 881.

Such ratios are the result of abortions of female fetuses, or just sheer neglect leading to a higher death rate among girls. The problem is so serious in India that hospitals are legally banned from revealing the gender of an unborn fetus in order to prevent sex-selective abortions, though evidence suggests the information gets out.

Part of the reason Indians favor sons is the enormous expense of marrying off girls. Families often go into debt arranging marriages and paying for elaborate dowries. A boy, on the other hand, will one day bring home a bride and dowry. Hindu custom also dictates that only sons can light their parents’ funeral pyres.

The rest of the article can be found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/285-indian-girls-replace-names-meaning-unwanted-to-rise-above-gender-discrimination/2011/10/22/gIQAb9vI6L_story.html

Blog Week 9 - Transvestite Films

http://videos.oneindia.in/watch/35776/avvai-shanmugi-vs-mrs-doubtfire.html

http://www.boddunan.com/component/content/article/7-movies/5966-avvai-shanmugi.html?directory=104

The article about Temporary Transvestites by Straayer, which mentioned the film Mrs. Doubtfire as an example, reminded me of another film called Avvai Shanmugi. Avvai Shanmugi is basically an Indian remake in the Tamil language of Mrs.Doubtfire and I like both films. It’s about a man (Pandian) who has a divorce with his wife (Janaki) and dresses up as a housekeeper so he can secretly see his daughter who is in his wife’s custody. Eventually he reveals his disguise and makes up with his wife. It’s a really funny and entertaining movie that adapts the Hollywood film.The first link is a video comparing the two movies with clips. The second link is a summary of Avvai Shanmugi with photos.

It shares some common characteristics of Temporary Transvestite Films like the need for disguise, the diegetic characters’ belief in the disguise, heterosexual/homosexual love, the temporary nature of the disguise, and the eventual failure of the disguise. Eventually, the temporary transvestite is “corrected” and returns to his/her former gender role without the disguise.

Week 10 Discussion Questions

Hi,

Please submit your questions for Week 10.

lieutenant nun

I personally really liked this reading; it was easy and super intriguing. When I was reading I was thinking about how in present day it’s really hard for transvestites to be accepted and understood, I can only imagine the reaction people had when they learned that their dear lieutenant was really female. I really wish we had a better idea of how the lieutenant nun was really like. Maybe someone who had serves with her in the military or someone who had employed her could give us description of his/her character. I wish we had also learned what became of her in her later years. I think something that stood out a lot to me was that regardless of where she was, when she found herself in a difficult situation she turned to the church for support and the church always offered a safe haven. Even at those times when they knew that she/ he was guilty of the crime they were charged with.

The Women Behind ‘Mad Men’

I just recently started watching TV series Mad Men because my coworkers from the marketing department highly recommended it. I was very much surprised to learn that “behind the smooth-talking, chain-smoking, misogynist advertising executives on “Mad Men” is a group of women writers, a rarity in Hollywood television. Seven of the nine members of the writing team are women. Women directed five of the 13 episodes in the third season. The writers, led by the show’s creator Matthew Weiner, are drawing on their experiences and perspectives to create the show’s heady mix: a world where the men are in control and the women are more complex than they seem, or than the male characters realize” (Wall Street Journal).

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204908604574332284143366134.html

Week 8 Blogging Assignment

In the book titled, "Not Now....I'm Having a Bad Hair Day" by Christine Lindstrom talks about getting cancer and is a help book that is meant to ease people have recently found out they are diagnosed with cancer. In her personal story retelling, she mentions that "I knew that of all the side effects I was about to experience, losing my hair would be the most traumatic." As a woman, not having hair is a clear physical indicator that a women currently has cancer. So therefore, women have a greater emotional burden from that changed physical experience. I think that it is an interesting aspect geared more specifically toward women, since men who are bald could have cancer, but more likely are just are at an older age or they shave for the war or they have a bald/scalp condition. In that way, women feel more of the pressure from society's judgement and make more of an effort to get a wig or wear a hat in order to hide the fact that they have a very unfortunate disease. Grace Huang.

Blogging Assignment for Week 9: Lady Gaga Crosses Gender Lines Through her Alter Ego

Lady Gaga's male alter ego, Jo Calderone, made a debut this year in the MTV VMA Awards. Dressing up as a man, Gaga seemed to be imitating John Travolta's famous and hot "Grease"character. Gaga has not only revolutionized the music industry, but has also surprisingly reinvented gender roles. By redefining femininity, Lady Gaga has changed the image of female celebrities which has been popularly accepted by her "monsters." (Gaga refers to her fans as monsters. Thus, the word "monster" revisits the article we read about in Week 8 in which hermaphrodites were thought of as monsters because they endangered the socially- and gender-constructed norms defined by early society.) Gaga has received numerous amount of support from her fans, and although the media categorizes her image and actions as absurd and unreflective of modern society, her power over individuals has greatly amassed her to become one of the most influential people today. Although her drag show appearance did shock the MTV audience, the next day, most people seemed to have been applauding her performance. She won best female and best video, reflecting the power she has acquired. Thus, it seems that Gaga has made a stance in addressing an issue that affects transsexuals and the gay community in large. (The LGBT community seemed to have celebrated Gaga's image.) Now, the question is, if Lady Gaga can succesfully get away with "cross-dressing", then why can't others do it as well? Is it because Lady Gaga is not fully considered homosexual? Or is it because we are only viewing it as a sort of entertainment?

Beaty and Hair

I stumbled upon this article in a magazine's website:

http://www.glamour.com/beauty/blogs/girls-in-the-beauty-department/2011/10/the-top-10-beauty-songs-of-all.html

Its a list "Top Beauty Song", dated as of this past Friday. So, I'm guessing this is what popular culture considers to be beauty. So, it makes me wonder if the notions of beauty regarding hair that we have discussed in class have changed.

I especially thought this song was interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFeNopYqthE because it talked about body hair.

Listen to some of the songs, or if you've already heard them, let me know what you think. Do they make it easier for people to own their body hair? Is this empowering of hair (if that makes any sense)?