Globalization and Women Workers

1. Enloe debunks the oppression of Asian women workers in sweatshops and explores their labor movements. Can anti-sweatshop action really liberate women from economic injustice and help achieve women’s rights? Enloe exemplifies women workers in South Korea and further points out more women’s engagement in prostitution and sexual services due to exodus of sneaker-manufacturing jobs. Without specific suggestion, (uneducated and poor) women seem to have no choice except prostitution.

2. In the article “Migrant Filipina Domestic Workers and the International Division of Reproductive Labor,” Parrenas states, “Italy has witnessed an increasing number of married women in the labor force, but a surprising decline among younger single women.” Why do married women in Italy increasingly engage in the labor force? Does economic pressure force them to work? What about single women? I think they also need employment to secure their economic independence.

Grewal reading

"The discourse of human rights and pain and torture is so dramatically powerful that it can silence many discourses of exploitation and oppression."

1. Can any long-term good come of misguided aid? Although these may not be the only options, is it more harmful to impose Westernized cultural norms or to leave developing countries to their own devices?

2. Why is it that the US the US government continues to give monetary aid to human rights violations abroad when statistics on poverty, rape, lack of access to decent health care and education for impoverished children, etc. etc. indicate that programs to combat these issues in the US are in sore need of more funding?

On the New Global Feminism...

Grewal problematizes human rights advocacy in that she questions the universalization that human rights entail. 1. Do you feel people are born with universal, inalienable rights, or that as Grewal posits, the assumptions that such rights bring forth are too important to continue to ignore? 2. How does such a conclusion affect our discussions of feminism and human rights in general? 3. What can one do, as a "privileged Westerner"?

Women and Globalization

1. What would result from consumers choosing to stop buying sweat-shop products? Would the companies clean up their act and begin to pay higher wages and provide benefits for their employees? Would the economy be significantly affected? Would the factory workers simply be forced into further poverty, leading them to prositution or other "'entertainment'" industries, as Enloe put it?

2. In "third-world countries," where water is scarce and diseases like HIV/AIDS are extremely prominent, what actions can be done to give women more of a voice? If given the right tools, are women the ones who hold the power and knowledge to distribute water more evenly, while still considering economic needs, and allowing families easy access to clean, affordable water? What can we do to help out with this problem? Are their governments intentionally taking all power out of these women's hands in order to distribute the water to higher-income areas and make a bigger profit?

Servants of peace not domestic servants

After a long day of classes I came back to my room and decided to check my gmail before I wrote my post. I was astonished to find a forward that my mother had sent me – it was titled “She Cries out From the Philippines”. The first line when you open the email is a quote:

"I want to show the world that Filipina women are not servants

of the world but are servants of peace and freedom."

-Malayapinas, World Pulse "Voices of Our Future" Correspondent

It goes on to talk about Malayapinas and how she is working hard to become a leader to help her country (especially in the aftermath of the 57 women and journalists massacare that took place just days ago). It was interesting though to read the description they give of her:

Since childhood Malayapinas has seen the dark side of globalization and violence in the Philippines. She walked to school barefoot after selling eggs and cigarettes in her nation's ports, and toiled in banana plantations to earn her way through college. Her dream is to see her people free to chart their own destiny. For her, the risks she faces by speaking out are outweighed by the risks of continued silence

The description even blames globalization for the plight of women in the Philippines!

One commentor, after having read this same article, admitted that her privileged life had lead to a somewhat distorted view of the Phillipines: What the Philippines are, for us? A place, far away. The kind and sweet woman living upstairs of my house, who works as servant somewhere (so quietly lovely, despite the way she's treated, despite sons and daughters far away. Despite maybe a degree, and surely a voice.

So I guess my question is not only how can globalization and capitalism be changed to stop this funneling of women into the labor market, or how can the West or work conditions be changed to spare the human rights abuses, but also, how can we assist in the empowerment of these women? How can we get the world to recognize their agency? How can we make the Filippino woman a legitimate player in the thought process of building up herself and her country?

Sneakers, silences, surprises... but i think Enloe left out one last word- SHOCK

Enloe talks mainly about sweatshops and the role of women working in factories outside of our boarders in Asia, but what about today in the US? There absolutely are factories that violate minimum wage laws with such an influx of immigrants from other areas today.

Also If consumers stop purchasing these goods, then women working in factories could be forced to generate money in other ways, such as prostitution, but then what act should consumers take? Should women all over the globe be fighting for attire made in “sweat free communities?”

After reading this article I was inspired to find a potential solution to this issue of women sweating for my comfy shoes. Here are some actions that we the consumers can take to help promote women’s rights in these factories:

Create a sweat-free policy on your campus or in your community (Something so feasible and effective that we college students at Barnard and Columbia can easily do)

-Petition your student government or administration to only sell sweat-free clothing in campus stores.

-Urge the leaders of clubs to only order sweat-free t-shirts and other clothing for events.

Talk to your school's athletic department and urge them to use only sweat-free sports jerseys.

-Talk to local business owners about the importance of sweat-free products.

Hold a Day of Conscience to End Sweatshops

On October 4, 1997, the National Labor Committee, the Feminist Majority Foundation, the People of Faith Network, the United Methodist Church Women's Division and UNITE, the Union of Needle trades, Industrial, and Textile Employees, held the first Day of Conscience to end sweatshop abuses.

And finally to shop with a conscience J

Source:

Questions

Are there sweatshops in the United States?
Will asking for improved conditions mean the cost of clothing will go up?
What are garment workers doing to improve their situation?
What can you do as a consumer?

Athletic Shoe Factories

1. Would it be possible for Nike and other athletic shoe companies to pay overseas workers a living wage, and provide a safe work environment, while also making a profit?

2. Cynthia Enloes' article seems a little dated. Have women made any strides in factory jobs in Asia? Have child laborers replaced them, working for lower pay, at worse conditions?

MARIA RUSSO Globalization Questions

At what point will the American public boycott products produced in a poor factory setting? In other words, how bad must conditions in the Reebok or Nike factories get before Americans realize that a pair of shoes is not worth the bleeding fingers or labored breathing of the workers behind the sewing machines and yards of fabric? Realistically, do you think that conditions will ever substantially improve in such foreign factories or will the American media and consumer industry continue to turn a blind eye towards helpless factory employees?

great article on progressive men

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=whats_the_alternative_to_tucker_max

free buses to washington dc for pro-choice rally

http://www.ppaction.org/ppnyc/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=18942100

Migrant Filipina Domestic Workers and the International Division of Reproductive Labor-Tess Gannaway

Discussion Questions

1. By purchasing reproductive labor do wealthy women actually escape all gender subordination? If not then what kinds do they escape and what kinds do they experience?

2. Does a higher income correspond to a more egalitarian distribution of housework? (658)

3. What is the education level of Filipina women when they arrive in the United States? What is the popular assumption about an immigrant’s education level?

Maid to Order

The end of Ehrenreich's essay taught me how central labor is to building valuable, equal and respectable relationships among family members. Given the transition of this country into a servant-oriented economy, how can these valuable relationships be preserved? Also, if the economy continues in the same direction, what will happen to American values and relationships in the family? While ostensibly liberating for white middle class women, it is clear that outsourcing household labor does not challenge patriarchy and its resulting gender roles, but rather perpetuates them even further through the employment of poor working class women of color. So what are alternatives to defeat patriarchy? Even with the liberation of white middle class women, white, middle class males are still dominant.

Ehrenreich, Maid to Order

I think Ehrenreich makes some important points about the reordering of the family. With the rise of the maid, the stereotypical, patriarchal definition of the roles of wife and mother are redefined. Ehrenreich states that working parents hire maids to ostensibly have more time to raise the children. But according to Ehrenreich, "parenting" used to mean teaching the children how to perform the household chores. Performing household chores together provided children with a sense of purpose and reinforced a feeling of teamwork. I find this to be true because when I was growing up, I helped my mother with the chores, and as a result of spending so much time together, we became close.

I think we need to think about how patriarchal and capitalistic structures continue to oppress the working classes:but with the rise of the domestic worker, concurrently with the rise of the professional woman, these structures operate within a more subtle framework.

Questions on Ehrenreich

Discussion Questions:
1. If the maid industry were unionized, would Ehrenreich accept people who employed maids?
2. What is the moral distinction between cleaning crews in offices and cleaning crews in homes?

1. Do you feel that Ehrenreich's commentary on the domestic labor belittles the job?
2. The implications of her arguments deal largely with class. Do you feel the only remedy for the disparity in the ability to acquire wealth of people of the lower classes is classlessness? Is this even a realistic solution?
3. What do you think the fact that such a large majority of female domestic workers are Hispanic means to race relations?

Ehrenreich's Maid to Order

What kind of values are instilled in children who grow up with a maid, serving as a sort of second mother who cleans the house, picks them up from school, and makes their food? Does this sort of a relationship create a superior mindset in these upper-class children, or does it lessen the social gap between employer and maid? Does referring to a paid employee as "part of the family" have equalizing or condescending connotations?

What steps must be taken in order for maids to prove themselves trustworthy, reliable, and competent to their employers? If it were possible, do you think it would be beneficial for cleaning ladies to transcend the traditional employee-employer relationship with whom they are employed, in the effort to gain benefits, better hours, or a more flexible schedule? Given the largely negative stereotype surrounding manua labor, how could maids attempt to legitimize and dignify the work that they do?

Lecture Tonight-Please Come Out to Protest!

Columbia Right to Life is sponsoring a Lecture called: "Echoes of the Holocaust": A Reflection on Abortion within Contemporary Society. It will be held in Altschul Hall, Room 202 at Barnard, at 7 pm. The speaker, Stephanie Gray, will compare the Holocaust to abortion practices. As a Jewish woman, I am offended by the comparison; the Holocaust was a horrible, deliberate effort to exterminate the Jewish population. It is not only disrespectful to the memory and dignity of the Holocaust victims and survivors, but it is also terrifying that conservative pro-life advocates can misconstrue history in the effort to plug their message.
Please come out tonight and debate! I apologize for the late notice, but I only just found out. Here is a link to an article about Stephanie Gray: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Stephanie+Gray+holds+her+own+against+pro-abortion+crowd.-a0145571291

Maids to Order

--In many ways, women actually maintain a great deal of power in their relationships by “running the household”. Therefore, is running the household such a bad thing?
--NOW argued, “The demand for household help inside the home will continue to increase as more women seek occupations outside the home” (61). Who will maintain the homes of the housekeepers then? Is NOW’s argument logical or improbable?

Discussion Questions-Maid to Order (Tess Gannaway)

Discussion Questions

1. How does the franchised maid service differ from the traditional practice run out of an employer’s home? What are the pros and cons of each?

2. What does the process of cleaning another person’s filth symbolize? How can it be used to subjugate a group of people and who has is subjugated in the past? Who is it marginalizing now?

3. Are the franchised systems “cleaner”? If not then how is this representative of the theme of American superficiality.

“But the point at The Maid’s, apparently, is not to clean so much as it is to create the appearance of having been cleaned, not to sanitize but to create a kind of stage setting for family life. And the stage setting Americans seem to prefer is sterile only in the metaphorical sense, like a motel room or the fake interiors in which soap operas and sitcoms take place” (67).

The Desire for Whiter Skin

Mary Elizabeth Williams from Salon posted this article about Sammy Sosa's lightened skin, which he openly ascribes to a bleaching cream. It's worth a look, because it examines the wider acceptance of lightening creams around the world, from Sosa's native country the Dominican Republic to India.

The Anthropometry of Barbie

Is it ever possible to make "the norm," what a woman normally is? Can we successfully cut the media, ads, and false perceptions of what a woman should be out of our lives? Is it possible to love what we see in the mirror?

If Barbie’s can have such a negative effect on girls and how women perceive themselves, why don’t we stop promoting our children to play with these “toys?” Toys shouldn’t be harmful, but rather harmless.

A Blog based on barbies-"The black snob"

I would like to share with everyone an interesting blog I came across that really struck me. The writer refers to her own experience with Barbies and it ties into our lecture. Here is the

link: http://blacksnob.squarespace.com/snob_blog/2009/2/3/on-little-black-girls-beauty-and-barbie-dolls.html.

And here is a portion of the piece that I was particularly interested in:

"I could draw for hours and color for hours, but all I drew and colored were white people.

I would take out my Barbie coloring book and select the yellow crayon for her hair, the blue crayon for her eyes and the pink "flesh" colored crayon for her skin. I would make her "beautiful" in what my little noggin thought was beauty.

What's funny is my parents, like many black parents, were trying their hardest to make sure myself and my sister had positive images of other black women and ourselves. My mother constantly fought with the toy store owners about getting in more black dolls because she wanted to buy me Barbies, but worried about how having a gaggle of blonde Malibu and ballerina Barbies could effect my young mind. She immersed us in our culture. She told us we were beautiful all the time.

Yet I still drew and colored nothing but white people".

It seems absurd that this girl was intrigued by the colors of whiteness as opposed to her own dark skin. It makes me wonder, is there a proper way for parents to approach their children with regards to their own culture and race? And how can parents properly do this if their children are exposed to only white barbies?

The Anthropometry of Barbie

Urla and Swedlund mention a commensurate change in the Barbie’s appearance with the increase of African-American and Latino consumer power in American society—does this mean a possible change the dominant aesthetic ideal? Or does simply engaging the emerging buying power of minority communities into the dominant existing consumer capitalist society simply perpetuate these ideals? If so where would the fault lay—with the emerging heterogeneous consumer base or the dominant producers of the doll?

Journal #8 Questions

Would it be possible to make a “feminist Barbie”? If so, what would should wear? How would feminist feel about a feminist Barbie?
Would you forbid your daughter from playing with a Barbie doll?

"The ways of seeing" starts from a young age

After this week's theme I found I constantly evaluated each ad I saw in a magazine or on a billboard and thought about how it influenced my image of myself. I realize as a young adult, the message I pick up from an ad or perhaps what entices me is much different than from when I was younger. Therefore, I asked myself, what images of women was I surrounded by when I was younger? For the most part, the books I read had images of healthy looking kids my own age...and even today, Dora The Explorer is an image of a girl who is healthy weight-wise and appropriately dressed. I then got to thinking that when I was young it was the princesses and the adult characters that I perceived as the type of women I should look like one day; more so than what the kid characters in books and movies looked like. So I googled some Disney images and here is what I found. Check out the princesses (the good girls we were encouraged to be like or want to be like) and the villains (the women who are bad and wrong). What message did that send to us as kids? Did you ever find yourself scared of an adult woman who looked more like the villain characters when you were young? Did you generalize your notions of a princess and think all older "beautiful" girls were nice? If you found you look more like one of the villains, did you think that meant you were evil or unlikeable? etc.

The Anthropometry of Barbie

Barbie is a image of "the beauty myth" or ideal body type for ever women. But before Barbie was Norma which was muscular, weighted more, and over all had a bigger stronger looking body than Barbie. I would like to question what was it in women that thought looking skinner was beauty? I find the idea of beauty somewhat twisted and distorted from a feminist point of view when women have always competed with men to be there equals. As men started getting less fat and more muscular women just lost weight and became less muscular. I would like to know why?

Oyewumi--separating from the biological

Do people with biological differences naturally interact in a separated manner? For example, in the Yoruba society that Oyewumi describes, where gender is supposedly absent from hierarchy or social structure, did women approach men with their biological differences in mind? Is it natural for us to be weary of people who are biologically different, whether it be race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.? Can social categories be singularly defined (i.e. can one category have significance without another)? Is it really possible that "gender, being a social construction, is also a historical and cultural phenomenon. Consequently it is logical to assume that in some societies, gender construction need not have existed at all" (10)? I mean, don't you think the first humans looked at each other, and were like, "okay, our bodies are different, we have different strengths and weaknesses and biological functions. This will affect how we interact."...? Sorry if this is sort of abstract, I guess I'm just trying to understand Oyewumi's hope for a completely non-gendered society...

Visualizing the Body

Oyewumi describes Yoruba culture as one in which social facts precede biology in the legitimization of social relations. If I understood correctly, however, her argument was largely commenting on Western culture and gender constructs. Yet as she describes the Yoruba culture, explaining that "persons [are] situated in relationships depending on those involved in the particular situation" i couldn't help but feel that this is also inherently how social relations work in the West. There are plenty of relationships I can think of in which the woman plays a much more dominant and "masculine" role than the man, simply because her personality lends itself that way. I also feel that the argument leaves relations that do not fall under the category of man-woman somewhat out.

Sorry this was so long. I actually had a lot of issues with this article.

1. "As a woman, however, her excessive slenderness also signifies a rebellious manifestation of willpower, a visual denial of the maternal ideal ... Hers is a body of hard edges, distinct borders, self-control. It is literally impenetrable." How might this view of Barbie and her interactions with her own body come into play in a Barbie-owner's interaction with her doll? Especially considering that the doll has literally no control over her body, the person playing with it has complete control over her body.

2. Is the idea of a "real woman" (spoken of not only in the Dove campaign but in a lot of advertisements and media geared to women) just an updated version of "Norma"? What are the differences and similarities?

The Meanings of the "Real Women" and Female Body, especially Breasts

What does the “real women” mean in dove commercials? Though Dove tries to present the figure of “real women” by casting real women, not models, I think the advertisement of Dove cannot deliver the true figure of “real women.” They apply the concept of “real women” to present the values that Dove pursues and create the notion of “real women” through the lens of the image of “real women,” not how real women really live in the world.

I also have a question regarding female and male bodies. I wonder why people pay so much attention to women’s breasts, while they pay attention to a man’s penis. In Korea, for the customary one-hundredth-day celebration portrait of a precious first-born son, a photographer shots the baby’s naked body and the boy exposes his penis without any cover sheet. However, a girl baby does not expose hers. I think someone suggested a male penis symbolizes his power or political identities. So, do female breasts represent her beauty or her domestic identities? Or what do socially or identically they mean to women?

New Ken Doll

The Barbie essay reminded me that earlier this week I heard about a questionable new Ken doll that is coming out on the market: Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken. Just thought I'd share with everyone.

Barbie and Yoruba

Oyewumi argues that there is a difference between gender and sex and that gender is a Western social construct. What are the true differences between one's gender and one's sex? Or is Oyewumi simply splitting hairs?

Urla and Swedland touch on the growing numbers of women using plastic surgery to "improve" their bodies thinking it will also improve their self-image. Recently, there have been growing numbers of men seeking plastic surgery. Does this trend signal the emergence of a male "beauty myth"?

MARIA RUSSO QUESTIONS: Visualizing the Body: Western Theories and African Subjects

What purpose does catcalling call to the guy; does he think that he might score a date by doing so, or is he simply trying to show off to his friends? If a woman found someone to be attractive on the street, should she catcall him or her just as men do? Would doing so serve as a means of 'getting even' with male society in general, or would she simply be stooping to its level?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703740004574513890645608558.html

Barbie

--I feel like people are now aware of the image that Barbie sends to young girls yet they continue to buy the plastic doll. Why might that be? This seems hypocritical.
--“’Frankly, we only kept the doctor’s uniform in line as long as we did because public relations begged us to give them something they could point to as progressive.’…Ironically…the doctor and astronaut uniforms never sold well” (283). Why do you think that is? Does Barbie simply appeal to a certain kind of person who is drawn to the “traditional” Barbie? (Consider: “A next step we would want to take in the cultural interpretation of Barbie is an ethnographic study of Barbie-doll owners” (302).). Why can’t Barbie become genuinely progressive?

Discussion Questions for Urla and Swedlund

1. 1. With pressure from the feminist movement to prove its social consciousness, Mattel expanded Barbie’s professional repertoire beyond fashion model. In 1973, Medical Doctor Barbie and Astronaut Barbie were introduced. However, “the doctor and astronaut uniforms never sold well.” Is this Mattel’s fault? What does this say about the girls who play with the doll?

2. 2. “Barbie has become a somewhat celebrated figure among avant-garde and pop artists, giving rise to a whole genre of Barbie satire, known as ‘Barbie Noire.’” Does “Barbie Noire” perpetuate the feminine image of Barbie and the social gendered norms that accompany it, or is “Barbie Noire” ironic enough that it counteracts these values associated with Barbie?

3. 3. Is there anything positive girls can learn from playing with Barbie? Are there any positive effects that Barbie has had on our society?

DQ's on Visualizing the Body: Western Theories and African Subjects -Tess Gannaway

1. Is it possible for our culture or any other culture to have a “third gender”? Do the Yorùbá people have a “third gender”? If not then what do they have?

2. How is the argument of Nature vs. Nature intrinsic to the second wave feminist discourse on gender vs. sex?

3. Examine the quote, “When we are busy arguing about the questions that appear within a certain frame, the frame itself becomes invisible; we become enframed within it” (13). How does this relate to Westernized feminism?

4.Why is it wrong to assume that a familial group in any culture that is made up of a man a woman and a baby is a patriarchic one? How does this relate to looking from the inside out instead of from the outside in? (21)

President Bachelet, Runaways, and the Gender Gap, Again

I'm resending the link to the Economix article on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report. Additionally, you can read about Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, whose father was tortured and died in prison under Pinochet's regime, here and read about teenage runaways who have become targets for pimps here.

Women and State

When women are involved in politics today are they, as Pettman states, “under current masculinist arrangements?” Do women, with regards to politics, have to act as a man at times, or on “his” terms to succeed, as Pettman suggests?

Although it seems unfair that a woman should be limited to this “private” space while the man can run freely between the "public and private" world, as Pettman says, would it be possible for a woman to gain political power without ever crossing her “confined” boundaries? How can a woman take political action and be involved with the state if she doesn't leave her home? Is having a political opinion enough?

Question (regarding Women and State)

1. Canada and Switzerland granted women voting rights in the late 1900s. Those countries are depicted as westernized and modernized. Why did they approve of women’s suffrage so late?

2. According to Pettman, socialist feminists suggest considering not only gender interests for the state, but also class, race, and ethnic interests. Do they mean that we need to rethink the structure of power in the state in terms of intersectional multiple discrimination, not only through the gendered way?

Kaplan

How can women feminist groups get men to join them? Would demonstrations be more effective if men were with them? Should women feminist groups decline men from joining? Why was it so important for women to "argue with their bodies?" Was it beneficial or degressive for the feminist groups to use "the rhetoric of 'women,' strategically trying to turn gender to their own advantage?" How was this turned around after Pinochet fell from the dictatorship?

The Gender Gap, Around the World

Great posts so far, everyone. I want to call your attention to this article on the World Economic Forum's annual Global Gender Gap Report, which was released yesterday. The link is here, and it presents some criteria for evaluating whether or not countries are “dividing their resources and opportunities among their male and female populations, regardless of the overall levels of these resources and opportunities.” The U.S., incidentally, ranks 31st, behind South Africa, Spain, France, Mongolia, and Argentina (not necessarily in that order). Chile, for those of you who read the Kaplan, ranks 64th.

Journal #7 Questions

How can we overcome traditional and conservative forces in society that pose barriers to women's political participation?
What are the important dimensions to measure women's political participation in a society where women voters outnumber male voters?

Food for thought on this week's reading

I found this blog[1] entitled I'm Glad More Men Are Getting Breast Cancer. When It's Only The Women Who Are Doing The Dying, Nobody Seems To Care. In it the author states, “Most of the research that is done in the field of health is done for the benefit of white men. They are the wealthiest and most powerful group of people in this country since they tend to exclude women and non-whites from well-paying jobs. The white men also tend to have health insurance so they can pay for whatever expensive treatments the medical industry comes up with to prolong the lives of white men.” Women are an after thought.

So, if the realm of politics, health care, and the State or synonymous with the white male, where does that leave women in the fight? Were does that leave political, health, and State issues that effect children, women, and minorities? Can white men emphasize? How do they look at State issues that don't directly effect themselves?

---

[1] http://nabnyc.blogspot.com/2009/10/im-glad-more-men-are-getting-breast.html (Oct 13, 2009)

Democracy in the Country and in the Streets

1. In "Women, Gender, and the State," Pettman criticizes the state's "construction of women as mothers," positing that it "helps constitute women's unpaid work." In Kaplan's "Democracy in the Country and in the Street," however, presents the Mujeres Por la Vida's use of universals such as motherhood as a factor in their success. Is something such as motherhood a legitimate generalization of women, or does it conflict with inherent feminist goals?
2. Do you feel that this case demonstrates that perhaps generalizing may create for more productive situations?

Interesting Article

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/97f5e7a8-c186-11de-b86b-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1

Taking Back the Streets - Kaplin

While the Chilean government fought to stay away from a country of civilian rule, could it be said that it only progressed the Chilean women? While the Chilean government sought out many men who supported the left side of politics and imprisoned and killed them, the Chilean women were left standing. It seems as though while the government stripped away all norms from society, like men working and women staying home and taking care of the children, this gave the women an opportunity to become liberated.

Discussion Questions for Taylor

1. In today’s society, if women’s suffrage were revoked, would male politicians look out for the needs of children? In other words, do men take more responsibility for the health of society’s children now? What about their own children?

2. Would the progressive women be pleased or disappointed to see where society is in terms of gender in politics today?

Worlding Women: A Feminist International Politics

--“Gendered and feminist analyses reveal that the state is in almost all cases male dominated, and is in different ways a masculinist construct. It is simply not possible to explain power without explaining women’s systematic exclusion from it” (5). Why do women account for such a small percentage of politicians? Is it a choice? Do American women refrain from running for office (at all levels) because the state is a “masculinist construct”? Or is it the opposite: does the “masculinist construct” limit their role?
--“Because public space is male, and women are seen as belonging in the private, women appearing in public are seen as belonging in private, women appearing in public space appear ‘out of place’” (7). Could this explain some of the obstacles and dislike that Hilary Clinton faced during the 2008 election? When will the United States be ready to elect a woman president? Why is the United States behind other countries…for example Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Argentina, and Israel have elected female heads of state (just to name a few)?

Gender and State Questions from: "Women, Gender, and the State"

When considering the physical and emotional pains of childbirth and postpartum stresses, roughly 18 years of ending emotional support for probably at least one child, some three meals a day for her husband and that one child, countless loads of laundry, and an infitine number of shelves dusted, floors vacuumed, and beds made, how much should women be paid for the work they do for the sake of their families in and around the house? Should the primary domestic worker of the home get a salary from the state for his or her constant devotion and commitment, or should their work just be seen as a "labour of love" (Pettman 14), as Pettman names it? Seeing as though the domestic worker would likely make more money that the partner who works out of the house, how would the dynamics of the home and martial relations change if a price was set on the work the domestic partner does? Do you think the domestic partner would consider the ramifications of implementing a domestic salary worthwhile and beneficial, if it may very well cause the foundation of his or her marriage to crumble?

Mothers and the Sheppard-Towner Act-Taylor: Tess Gannaway

Discussion Questions

1. Did the agents of the Sheppard-Towner Act follow the bill's declarations exactly? Or did they take a little bit of license while enacting it? If so how?
2. How did race and class play into the Sheppard-Towner act? Who was the act successful for?
3. What determined the success of the act?
4. Examine the quote “Middle-class women benefited disproportionately from improvements in health care, employment opportunities in welfare programs, and the right to vote. As relatively privileged women made strides toward equality in the public sphere, motherhood became less central to their political identity. However, for poor and working-class women, who still shoulder the burden of child welfare in a period of economic recession and constricting government support, motherhood remains a dominant political concern” (339). What are the implications of this quote? What does it say about how we perceive Motherhood in our society today?

Interesting Op-Ed

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/opinion/24lipman.html?_r=1&sq=the%20mismeasure%20of%20woman&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1256414862-pyop/mPF4wGlauCXf5GfEw

Handmaid's Tale discussion questions:

1. Part of what makes a this novel effective is how realistic the transition from the previous society seems and how feasible (though obviously so different from our society today) the dystopian society portrayed in this novel seems. What aspects of Atwood's narrative style make this novel so believable (and therefore so disturbing)?
2. The roles of men and women in this novel are made very clear by the names given to different classes of men and women (Commanders, Eyes, Gender Traitors, Jezebels, Handmaids, Martha's, Aunts). Although the meanings of these distinctions are obviously taken to the extreme in the novel, could one realistically say that they are categories that exist, though obviously to a lesser extent, in American society today?

"The Handmaid's Tale" and the restriction of women

My middle school teacher used to always say, “if sex is the problem and if its such a risk and danger because men, who need to focus on public society, can’t control themselves around the women, why oppress and hide the women...why not put blinders on the men?” In addition, a question posed in lecture was, "is this (situations like the veiling of women or like in "the Handmaid's Tale"), the only means we have to ____?" (fill in the blank: better society, get the men to do their jobs, end "degrading" bodily objectification, make babies, etc.) Both the quote and the question bring up my question of, why are women always the first to be restricted of their liberties, their freedoms and what other changes in societies could be made before or instead of making drastic changes that subordinate women even further?

The Handmaid's Tale

As humans, do we value survival more or morals? Did Offred sacrifice her morals as a feminist in continuing to see the Commander? Is it necessary to turn against or change our morals in order to survive and get ahead, possibly to a place where we'll be in the position to instill our morals? How can the Commanders believe that Gilead will succeed, when they recognize that all humans need emotion and variety, and they themselves give into temptation by going to the gentleman's club, of sorts? Will the girls who are born into this lifestyle truly be able to endure it, as they say, because they know nothing else? Will they not see injustice in it, and fight against it, as our ancestors did, for suffrage and everything that's come after it?

The Handmaids Tale-Tess Gannaway

Discussion Questions

1. Compare and contrast the roles that women play in the novel. How are these different than the roles that the men play? Include the significance of the names that groups of women and men hold. Examine the quote “Which of us is it worse for, her or me?” (95)

2. Why might the protagonist feel the desire to steal? Where is this evident in the novel? What larger themes are connected with this image?

3. What is the significance of the name in this novel? Who has names and who doesn’t?

The Handmaid's Tale

Atwood introduces religion as an integral motif to the narration. Biblical allusions are interspersed throughout the story and allow the reader to begin making a connection between religion and the totalitarianism of the Gileadian regime. Taking into consideration the different scenes in which religion is openly dealt with (the preface to the ritual, the soul scrolls, the pillow with the embroidered FAITH, to name of a few) what do you feel Arwood's intentions or attitude may be in regards to organized religion? Do you feel that there is a link between the religious nature of the state and the lack of freedom imposed on the citizens of Gilead?

Discussion Question (The Handmaid's Tale)

In the social structure of The Handmaid’s Tale, women are portrayed as vulnerable and oppressed. Eyes supervise women and prohibit women’s collaboration and resistance. However, women in different classes, such as Wives, Handmaids, and Marthas, do not empathize with other women even though they are classified as the same the same class. I think those scenes of disharmony between women question the difficulty of harmonizing different feminist point of views towards different positions of women in the world. For example, women in the western world and women in post-colonial countries require different views to sense their identities and social rights. Or does Atwood dramatize women’s vulnerability and powerful influence of the Public Gilead in a patriarchal society through disconnection between women?

Handmaid's Tale

Clearly there is this main theme of class and gender, which is portrayed even through the dresses that these people wear, but what would happen if there were no dresses to match the peoples new “class," would this system work, or would there be confusion since now the guardians wont know who they are watching? Without their uniforms could there be order? And was it really necessary to install figures that are actual “Eyes,” are not all characters “eyes” since they can “gaze” and judge each other?

If Offred had stopped being so nostalgic for her “past life” and past “liberated state”, then would her transition into this new “force,” been easier? Are there these constant flashbacks more for the reader to understand how Offred’s world has drastically changed, or is to emphasize the fact that Offred will never fully mentally morph into her “new role” as a handmaid?

Handmaid's Tale

If the Republic of Gilead's main goal was repopulation of the country, why wouldn't they have younger men than the Commander be the ones with handmaids and then send the older, infertile men to a place like the colonies? And perhaps I have just forgotten, but the discussion in class brought up the Historical Notes and how the lecture was about Caucasian Anthropology. I don't remember any references to minority races in Gilead. How did Cambridge, MA become all white in the transition to Gilead?

Discussion Questions for Atwood

1. If one had to imagine a utopian, as opposed to dystopian, society, are there any aspects of Gilead that one would want?

2. Is Offred a trustable narrator? How do we know if things were actually as bad as she makes them seem? I suppose we could never know. But does that even matter? Isn’t any situation gauged by perception?

Questions in Response to The Handmaid's Tale

--Why are the Commanders’ wives present during “mating” if it’s meant to be such an impersonal, loveless process? It seems as if perhaps their presence is meant to keep their husbands in line...
--Why don’t they use artificial insemination?
--Why do the Commanders cheat the rules by going to a club when they invented the rules?

Maria Russo Questions about The Handmaid's Tale

Rather than believing that she can one day escape her current life, would it be easier for the narrator to simply give herself over to the 'new world', body and mind, and stop wishing for the return of normalcy as she knew it? Would doing so afford her any semblance of peace and liberation? What would be the pros and cons of doing so?

Questions on The Handmaid's Tale

What do you think the point of the contrast is between Japanese Women and the women of Gilead? What is the significance in naming the place "Gilead"? What connection does this place have to the land in the Bible, if any? Why are some stories told in the present tense? Why does the author sometimes switch between past and present tense? It appears as though the revolution that established Gilead must have been quite recent. How could a revolution such as this one happen so fast? What themes of the women's movement is Atwood blending together in the novel?

Lacquer

Lacquer presents several historical and literary examples that illustrate the role of the male as the true parent, the female being connected to offspring only emotionally. It is interesting to consider these examples in a time when most child custody cases result in the children staying solely or primarily with their mother, insinuating that the mother is the primary parent. When did this shift in thought occur? Or does the mother just win custody because an emotional connection is considered more important than an argument of 'true parentage'?

Another Interesting Parenting Dilemma

On the New York Times parenting blog, intriguingly titled "Motherlode," one confused father has posted an interesting dilemma. I was struck by his claim that "I have discussed [the issues] with friends, and the situation comes up so rarely that nobody has convincing advice." (Italics' mine.) The information provided by readers in the comments section is also worth a look.

Bad Parents

Back in May, Salon writer Rebecca Traister wrote an interesting review of two memoirs -- one by a mother, one by a father -- which both reflect the growing trend among upper-middle and upper class parents to admit to "bad parenting." It's worth a read if you have the time. The link is here.

Father Vs. Mother

With regards to the importance of these gender specific roles I wonder, are fathers only this "idea" rather than a "fact" because of how our specific cultures define them? Has it become too universal to say that “men belong to the public sphere of the market place”, while “women belong to this private sphere of the family,” because the “traditional family” structure has faded?

After reading "The Facts of Fatherhood" I thought, where do couples that adopt a child fall into Laqueur's argument? Then Laqueur would have to look not so much into the biological “fact” of motherhood versus fatherhood, because then who takes what gender-specific role if there is no specific "sperm" linked to the parents?

The Distinction between African Wives and European Wives

We saw the pictures of the western nuclear family in class. A wife or a mother in the European nuclear family is portrayed as a woman who has her own choice for herself and for her family.
However, Oyewumi describes African women as wives who must be obedient to their husbands or male figures in family. African women are more perceived in the kinship structure rather than the modern nuclear family. Though both are identified as women, we cannot ignore the distinction between the western women and the African women.
Thus, the circumstances of African women require another point of view of feminism, different than women from in the West. African women suffer from patriarchal oppression as well as racial discrimination. Can we apply post-colonial point of view to interpret the different circumstances between wives in the European nuclear family and wives in the African family?

Feminism and Family

Feminism and Family Discussion Questions

Why is it beneficial to deviate from defining families as “traditional” and
“non traditional”?

How is this idea related to Mohanty’s critique of defining others in relation to ones own culture? And how can we “read for difference” when examining different family groups?

The Facts of Fatherhood

Is it not detrimental, as Laqueur interprets it, to regard the "factual" connection of a mother as stronger and more concrete than the "ideational" connection of a father? Would arguments such as Chesler's not legitimize paternal negligence and even absence?

The role of fathers/men

With the issue of having men feel that they should take more responsibility in the home, I wonder if our new culture of single working mothers and various fertility methods threaten what superiority men feel in the family order. Does that make sense? In other words, I guess I am saying the psychoanalytic approach behind why men overcompensate in the public sphere and subordinate woman, is to make up for their rather small part in the overall reproductive process. If you give women the public sphere equally and fully, this renders men as not having a dominant role either in the production of life nor in life itself.

My second question to pose comes from Oyewumi's piece where she states "According to Miriam Johnson, 'in the West the marriage relationship tends to be the core adult solidarity relationship..." (1094). This I believe is true. Why? And can we think of other adult relationships that hold significant value in our society and culture?

Feminism and Families by Nelson

As I looked for similarities among the African and white western women I noticed that still no matter what race the women "wife" was she is still seen as the subordinate in the relationship. But I wondered how can this be so when Nelson stated for the African female, " Females too assume the role of husband; thus some of the "husbands" alluded to in the quote are women". So if the African female does take the role of husband then why can't they be seen as a "man"? In the beginning of the reading it said that men aren't define by the family but is this ideal only applied to the white man and not the African man? If it doesn't apply to African man this means African women are less surpressed than white women, because they can take on a role of dominance.

Questions about Family

Is it possible for females to don the role of father and males the role of mother within a particular familial arrangement? How might the structures of our society, our government laws, and our families change if such roles were possible? Lastly, is it even necessary to title the many parental units (mother, father, mother-figure, father-figure) within some children's lives, or is it simply sufficient to disregard the title of these units if all involved are striving toward a common goal of happiness and success for those children?

Myth of the Traditional Family

Questions in response to “The Myth of the Traditional Family”, Linda Nicholson

If schools were not geared toward there being an adult at home, is it possible that we would see an increase in the number of women working? Or are our culture’s gender roles so thoroughly established that such a change would have little effect?

Discussion Questions for Oyewumi

1. Africa is a complex place; I have to think that cultures differ. How can the reader know if what Oyewumi argues really applies for all of Africa?

2. All women are not united. But will there ever be a time when women will compromise in order to generate political power?

Q's RE: Family

Must one have been born a man to be legally recognized as a father?
How do fathers with custody in earlier times compare with single custodial father today, in light of the earlier legal view of children as paternal property?

My Questions

Is every experience of beauty also a source of harm? Is beauty intrinsically and inevitably wrong? Is there a place in feminist thought for what we might call a positive aesthetic, an affirmation, of the value of beauty and aesthetic pleasure? Is it always possible to translate every experience of beauty into precise calculations of either social benefit or social harm?

Discipline and Punish

Foucault speaks of a shift from corporal punishment to non-corporal. However, evident by his length description of the architecture of the military camp and prison, this concept of non-corporal punishment continues to rely heavily not just on physical space but on the human body as well. Do you agree? As you understand it, is the shift described linear in nature, a simply transition from corporal to non-corporal? Or are there other factors at play?

Foucault Discussion Questions

In lecture we talked about "normalization" that urges people to want to conform to a standard however, don't most people yearn to be more than just "normal" and be noticed as different or superior in some regard?

I have often felt that women are most critical of other women. Is this an effect of the self-policing power of the panopticon?

Discussion Questions for Bartky

1. Are societal pressures really as gender unequal as Bartky makes it seem?

2. Is it possible to disregard the pressures, or are they immediately internalized?

Focault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power

Discussion Questions

Do race and/or class effect how a woman perceives femininity? Or is the one "power" that drives women to "self discipline" universal for women of all races and classes?

Why are women drawn to studies and portrayals of eating disorders?

More on Persepolis: Interview with Marjane Satrapi in 2005

Jorie found a very interesting interview of Marjane Satrapi from 2005, conducted by the Asia Society here in New York City. She addresses issues that include the veil and whether or not her books have been translated into Persian. You can find it here.

Discipline and Punish

In what instances is it appropriate to rule that an individual's behavior is too far from the mean and therefore needs to be altered? If she is not endangering herself nor anyone else, what is the harm in allowing someone the freedom to believe what and act how she pleases, especially if she is her individuality and uniqueness in doing so? And might it be possible to use reinforcement rather than punishment when trying to fix a particular behavioral problem of a child in school?