Blog Post 2

In this class we have talked about many different subjects but one that stood out to me was the idea of performativity where who the person we are is what we present to the world. This idea is that the presentation of ourselves is due to repeating patterned human actions where what you do is what makes up your performance. This idea expanded to “performativity”, which is when these repeated actions lead to a series of effects. An example that was used in class was that certain ideas surrounding masculinity can influence how men and boys are influenced by what is deemed right or wrong. For example, boys that want to wear dresses or makeup are beaten or negatively impacted in other ways by people in their lives that hold specific ideas and these men change their behaviors to fit that idea of the “ideal” man.

While reviewing the powerpoint, I came across a video we weren’t able to watch in class, the Huffington Post’s “Why Feminism Is Good For Men”. This video showcases different ways modern feminism has changed the lives of men and the breakdown of what a man “should” do. While showing men participating in different stereotypically feminine acts, such as knitting or watching the bachelor, they talk about important aspects of feminism that helps men whether in the workplace or at home. Their article published with this video states “...studies show that gender equality is good for the economy, your sex life, and your general happiness.”(Samakow, 2016) which goes to show that by tearing down this idea of masculinity can benefit everyone, even the men. Another article I read states, “Feminism seeks to get rid of those archaic notions of what it means to be a “real man” or a “real woman.”(Fradet, 2017) These acts of performance that show what the “ideal” woman or man are trying to be torn down by modern feminism. Performance shows who you are to the world but with these ideas, people are trying to make people more accepting of different aspects of others that were previously seen as “wrong” or other.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-feminism-is-good-for-men_us_574f1d58e4b0c3752dcc3018

https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/7-reasons-why-patriarchy-is-bad-and-feminism-is-good-for-men/

September Blog Post

The beginning of chapter 6 we talked about how we view identity. Identity can be defined as a mixture of one's experiences of social, political, and cultural aspect that help us paint a picture of all of our attributes. Perception then goes hand in hand with identity as our experiences help us frame how we see the world around us. So the person's communication is going to be greatly affected by his or her identity and perception. The book states that the relationship between communication, identity, and perception are a co-constructive relationship, meaning they both produce and shape one another so each makes the other one possible.

While talking about identity in class, we touched on certain identities of ours being “salient” or the one that is currently being used at a certain point in time. It ties in with the stage metaphor with “front of stage” is our form of identity we choose to show while “back stage” is our hidden self. For example, since I have been a dancer almost all my life, sometime my mom intertwines my dancer identity with how I present myself in a casual setting. For example, In ballet you always have to stand with perfect posture with your chin held high and shoulders back. But when I am not at dance and I am running errands or when she sees me walking around she will say things like, “ Why are you walking so slumped over I thought you were supposed to be a dancer?”. At the moment, my dancer self was very much hidden as “backstage” and was not being used at that time. My moms perception of dancers, especially ballerinas which I am known to be, could have interfered with how she thinks I am supposed to act since the world may see ballerinas as very disciplined individuals who are perfectionists in how they present themselves.

In addition to dancers, I noticed that social construction, which is how society is built upon norms we co construct as a society, has male dancers portrayed as a weak or even homosexual on many accounts. This stereotype has been made by society since men due to the fact that dance is a more delicate and emotional art yet many discredit the athleticism behind dance. The article by the New York Times, “ Of Women, Men and Ballet of the 21st Century” touches on why there have been these negative connotations to male and why society may have viewed ballet as a man’s idea of a woman.( https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/arts/dance/of-women-men-and-ballet-in-the-21st-century.html)

I think these concepts are important because it makes us examine who we are and what we know we are, versus what the world around us tells us who we think we should be based on race, age, gender, etc. Because we are our own individuals with different backgrounds and characteristics, yet society still tries to dictate what we should think of ourselves and what our identity should be.

Blog #2

Three ideas that stood out to me in September were perception, identity, and saliency.  I think it is really interesting how these things tie together. Perception is how a person sees the world as influenced by social, political, and cultural experiences that frame them. Perception is how we decide what we are aware of.  Your identity is how you answer the question “who am i?” This is always changing. Saliency is how your identity changes in different contexts. In class someone may be very shy and not talk, but outside of class they can be very outgoing.  A movie that I think is a good example of all of these is The Truman Show.  The Truman Show  is about a TV show that the rest of the world is watching, but the main character has no idea he is the star of a show.  The producers of the show adopted a baby right when he was born, and created a fake world for him that is on for 24 hours and everyone in Truman’s world is an actor and everything is controlled by the producers.  Truman’s perception of everything is based on a whole bunch of fake experiences that the producers forced him to create to get higher ratings. His identity was not his own and he formed opinions and perceptions based on how the producers wanted to control his life.  Eventually in the movie, Truman realized that something was off and that the same thing happened to him everyday. In the movie, the audience can watch how Truman’s perception and identity change because he forces his life to change because he tries to escape from his fake world.  Our perception is based on cultural, social, and political experiences so when Truman realized something was off, he was able to change. This is where saliency comes into play because the context of his life changed. He found out he was being controlled so at the end of the movie he is able to create a new identity and perceive things in a different way than how to producers wanted him to.  I think this movie is a good example because it really shows that your perception is created by your experiences and when our experiences are controlled we act in a way that others want us to.

September Blog Post

September Blog Post

One topic that stood out to me this month was perception and how people want to be perceived. With social media turning into a big component of how people live their day to day lives it is important to realize who we really are versus who we show the world we are. This semester in particular has started to open my eyes to how prevalent this is to this generation of individuals, both within this class and a gender studies course I am in. A little bit of a disclaimer for me, I am a biology major, a scientist through and through so taking classes that aren’t all about animal behavior or the physiology of plants and fungi is very different for me as a student. That being said, this semester has been an eye opener for a lot of social issues that I have avoided talking about because they are somewhat difficult for most to talk about in everyday conversations. The perception of different identities being one particularly hot topic for most individuals in this day and age because most of the time these things are talked about through social media. I don’t know how many people spend some of their free time reading comment threads on articles that talk about the issues society is facing, and some of those comments can be nasty. It makes me wonder if all the people acted how they did on social media all the time, what would this world and culture look like?

The idea of putting on a performance of identity and also having both your front and backstage identities sounds like a lot to handle. What would this culture be like without the dual identities, what would it be like if we only had our backstage identities out for the world to see? I feel like in general people would be a lot happier not having to put the performance of self on every day. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-perceptions-reputation-identity-opportunity.html This article talks about how individuals that understand how different peoples perspectives are, are more likely to be able decipher how to interact with them in a positive manner. Even though most people’s perspectives are different, if you understand the type of person you are dealing with and understand their perspective you can be a culturally productive person.

Meagan Butera Blog post #2

What exactly is feminism in today's world? What has it become? More often than not I see feminists who are super aggressive, vulgar,  and rude women and its not a movement I want to get behind. But then I look back through history and I can see how feminism allows me most of the freedoms I, as a woman, get to live with a take for granted. Suffragettes worked hard to build up women and to make the men in our lives see us as the powerful, and intelligent beings we are. I take that for granted, my right to vote, my equality in the work force. Its all things I have taken for granted. 

I mentioned the work force despite all the talk of a wage gap because I have yet to personally experience the wage gap. That's probably an extremely naive way of looking at it, "I haven't experienced it yet so it doesn't exists". That's not what I'm saying here. I'm saying that in my handful of entry level jobs, pay gaps between men and women don't exist because our positions are arbitrary to these large companies. I started working at Nike, the boys I got hired with and I,were all told we would be making minimum wage,and that our pay and raises would reflect our work ethics. I was quickly promoted to cash registers while the boys mostly stayed on the floor or back on fitting rooms. I worked my rear end off, and eventually my work was rewarded with pay that I deserved. But never once did I see a wage gap where these guys started out getting paid more than I. It was an entry level, retail job, expectations are low anyway. Same thing for Fanzz and later, Camp Bow Wow.

 Now I housesit. I have my own LLC and set my rates, and I actually have two guys working as subs for me when my schedule gets booked up. In my small-job, world there has never been an opportunity to have a wage gap between men and myself. So while this is extremely naive, I do have to think that this isn't as pressing of a matter until I get older and until I start getting into more intense or specific jobs. 

Jobs are really the least of a woman's worry in this world, there is so much pressure to do what everyone else wants and put your needs last. And that is where I see a need for feminism. Women are expected to stay home and raise a family, while also expected to have a successful career, but its nearly impossibly to do both! And If we chose one over the other, people judge. A friend of mine got married and had a baby right away. She hadn't finished school and was working as a receptionist for a gym. Some of our mutual friends weren't fans of her choices and left her, but she was HAPPY. She loves being an at home mom, cooking and cleaning and being the wife her husband wants! On the other hand I have plenty of friends who are more focused their degrees and careers first before getting married or even dating. There is nothing wrong with either path and yet there's still judgments being passed. And that's garbage. Women should be allowed to take whatever path they chose in life without worrying about the stigma surrounding it and what others would think. 

When a man gets a job, or when he finds his career path in life, he celebrated. When a man gives up his job to stay at home with kids, he is praised. The pursuit of a career is expected in a man, its what we as a society expect to see, but when he stays home with the kids, that's surprising, that admirable, and if the wife is the one working, he is making such a great sacrifice. Sacrifice? Isn't that what women are expected to do? Why is he praised for it, but his wife shamed for leaving her children? Why is he celebrated when he leaves for work and shes ignored when she stays home with the kids? Its a loop that could make you crazy and makes you realize how feminism can help you come out of this cycle, and empower you to do what is right for you and your family.

And I think that is why we need feminism still. That is the number one reason, at least to me, that we, not as women, but humans as a whole need feminism. To be allowed to follow whatever paths we want to follow without feeling the judgements passed by outsiders onto our lives. Why can't women chose to do what they want, like men, and be praised for it? There is no reason other than an archaic way of thinking and fear of judgement that has been keeping women from pursuing their ambitions and keeping them stuck in an unhappy cycle.    

I have zero experience in any of these examples that I have provided. I'm not married, I don't have kids, I'm still working towards my career goals and a degree. So my examples and perspectives come from the perspective of an outsider. Someone who is trying to be objective and get ideas written, or at least typed down, and reflect on it later. To chew on the thoughts that I've culminated into one document and see if this is something I would want to reflect in myself. Feminism is important. Women are judged whenever possible. And to be able to live life without worrying about wage gaps and what others think of the lives we have built for ourselves. Hopefully I haven't offended anyone who read this. I don't really follow this movement super closely. So what I have written down is the extent of my knowledge on the subject, and yes I am aware that I sound very naive or ignorant, I know I have a lot to learn, but these are my experiences and how I can relate the need for feminism to what I have seen in my own life. 

Blog Post #2: September

     This month in class we have talked a lot about identity and who we are in front of people. We discusseed how people have an on stage and off stage self. Our on stage self is the person that everyone sees and how we present ourselves. Our behind the scenes self is our hidden self. That is our self that only a select few get to see. Our on stage self is who the world sees and that is where stereo types come from. An example of stereo types that we talked about in class is the stereo type and stigma around African American women. The three stereo types that black women get are Mammy, Jezebel and Sapphire.  Mammy is the idea that black women are there to care for those around her. I feel like this idea is true to some extent. I would say grandmas of all races, not just African American races, are this idea of mammy and care. So this stereo for black women has faded away.  The next stereo type that is around is the one about Jezebel. Jezebel is know for being hyper sexualized for have the classic hour glass shape. It is true that African American women gain weight in different areas than white some do but that doesn't mean they should be hyper-sexaulized for it. The next stereo type is the classic stereo type that we see often today in Sapphire. This is the personality that American American women have loads of attitude and is always angry. We see this stereo type the most today due to digitization. Lately I have been rewatching a guilty pleasure show called America's Next Top Model. In this show, like many reality tv shows, the black women fight and argue, have drama, scream and yell and bring general chaos to the show. This stereo type is what brings people to watch TV but it is also the idea of what a race is. In my opinion stereo types are humans way of categorizing people to make sense. I believe that stereo types can be true about a population because it is the front stage appearance of the population,  but that doesn't mean it is true for everyone. The same way the stereo types have changed for American American women so can a populations, they just have to be willing to let their back stage selves show through.

blog#2

       Today what i want to talk about is the stereotype of a black woman. the first stereotype i want want to cover that we talked about in class in the Mammy. The mammy is suppose to be good at taking care of whit kids and doing stuff around the house. The next one is Sapphire. Sapphire is the angry black women that's always mad at everyone about something.And the last one is Jezebel. Jezebel is the attractive and often is hyper-sexual.

            Now these are the stereotypes given to the black women and to be totally honest some of its is true, but i don't think for just black woman i think for all woman. black woman aren't the only ones good at raising kids. Now when you say white kids is what their good at taking care of that takes me black to slavery time. But in today's world  all well most woman are great at raising children. No matter what kind of child it is i think that all woman have the power to protect their child and prepare them for the world.

the other one i wanted to talk about is the Sapphire one. Now this one is a Little funny to me. I know a lot of angry black woman but on the other side i also know a lot of angry white woman as well. I feel these stereotypes are wrong and instead of just saying black women i say we should say woman in all as a one not by race.  Their are all types of angry woman across the world but why do we only point out the black woman? I feel if we did a serious study on woman in general i think what we will find is that black woman are just like all other woman.

for real life example i wanted to use was my sister. My sister is a sweetheart, she do not fit in any of those stereotype categories. she liked kids but does not take care of them. she also is a pretty girl but is not looking for mans everywhere she goes because she respect herself. that's just one small example that i had to show that those stereotypes were wrong.