Monday, June 25, 2012
Link: Rape as character building
Another twitter find (from @femfreq): an article discussing the use of rape as a character building backstory for "strong" (hyper-sexualized and violent) female characters. Very interesting and disturbing reading.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Link: Blog post on Science: It's a Girl Thing
I love science. I love physics and the strangeness of the Universe, that's why it is my favourite thing to teach. I love Chemistry for it's detail and intricacy, and for the truth that things are always in balance or equilibrium. Biology I didn't always love, but I will now admit to loving parts: how the brain works (which I hope to go back to school to study more some day), how diseases work, how genetics works... such cool stuff.
So I was quite disturbed by the EU's attempt to lure women into sciences with their "Science: It's a Girl Thing" project. But everything I could ever want to say has been said by women I greatly respect and admire, so I will let them say it.
It's a bit like going down the rabbit hole: @Scidoll from the twitterverse has put together a blog post with all the great links. So start with her post and follow all the links at the bottom. And if you are NOT left speechless, let me know what you think.
So I was quite disturbed by the EU's attempt to lure women into sciences with their "Science: It's a Girl Thing" project. But everything I could ever want to say has been said by women I greatly respect and admire, so I will let them say it.
It's a bit like going down the rabbit hole: @Scidoll from the twitterverse has put together a blog post with all the great links. So start with her post and follow all the links at the bottom. And if you are NOT left speechless, let me know what you think.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Article Review: Harrassment and abuse
Tonight I let my cat out on the balcony, but then got bored and came inside. I don't completely trust her, so I sat at my computer and looked through my various RSS feeds for something to entertain me while she explored her 20-30 square feet of wild blue yonder. I ended up reading a blog post by Felicia Day about some trolling she recently experienced. Looking through the comments (because this was one place I could look through comments and see mostly encouragement and positivity), I found a couple of links posted by people trying to explain why men can be so demeaning and abusive towards women.
The first one, a cracked.com post on men hating women started really interesting and making some good points. His first point, that men are trained by movies and TV that they will get a "hot" woman for their trouble (whatever that happens to be) seemed very logical to me. The second, that men are trained to see women as decoration, was one most women are very aware of but was another perspective on it. So far so good. Then it all went downhill, with the remaining reasons basically being about how men can't help themselves from falling into the lowest common denominator. It reinforces the concept that there is some deep physiological contrast in men and women that MAKES men act certain ways. To me this is just as demeaning towards men as the things I complain about are towards women.
The second one from the BBC with the specific context of harassment in gaming is more measured and a pretty good read although it doesn't really add anything new to the discussion. The one man interviewed who claims that women should just expect this because it's what guys do is disturbing, and again goes back to the excuse that men have to be crude (and cruel) because they are made that way.
Thoughts? Is biology an excuse for abusive treatment of women? Why are women in gaming considered to be open targets?
(Time to go try to let the cat in for the eighth time. She's been making her mind up for the last half hour... how stereotypical of her)
The first one, a cracked.com post on men hating women started really interesting and making some good points. His first point, that men are trained by movies and TV that they will get a "hot" woman for their trouble (whatever that happens to be) seemed very logical to me. The second, that men are trained to see women as decoration, was one most women are very aware of but was another perspective on it. So far so good. Then it all went downhill, with the remaining reasons basically being about how men can't help themselves from falling into the lowest common denominator. It reinforces the concept that there is some deep physiological contrast in men and women that MAKES men act certain ways. To me this is just as demeaning towards men as the things I complain about are towards women.
The second one from the BBC with the specific context of harassment in gaming is more measured and a pretty good read although it doesn't really add anything new to the discussion. The one man interviewed who claims that women should just expect this because it's what guys do is disturbing, and again goes back to the excuse that men have to be crude (and cruel) because they are made that way.
Thoughts? Is biology an excuse for abusive treatment of women? Why are women in gaming considered to be open targets?
(Time to go try to let the cat in for the eighth time. She's been making her mind up for the last half hour... how stereotypical of her)
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Divisiveness of Gender
I was intending to post tonight on names and why I love my gender-neutral name, but that post will have to wait a day or two.
On my walk home from work I listened to the second half of that CBC podcast I linked to, which is about a family who has chosen to not reveal the gender of their infant. They talked about instances with their older two children (who identify as boys but are very fluid in their identity and are often taken as being girls) and some of the incidents they have faced. While I LOVED their attitude and the way they dealt with it, I found it sad that someone's gender would be such an issue to someone else.
Then I got home and thought about other things, and started watching streaming video. One show I watch (a guilty pleasure) is a Canadian singing competition where two workplace teams compete for charity. And the first group did a beautiful mash-up of hopeful songs that made me cry. One of the songs was "One World" and the between the wonderful performance and the judge's comments I went back to my earlier thoughts.
Why do we have to see gender as so divisive? Why do we insist on a system that emphasizes the differences and not the similarities? And most of all, why do we get so freaked out when such a system is called into question?
On my walk home from work I listened to the second half of that CBC podcast I linked to, which is about a family who has chosen to not reveal the gender of their infant. They talked about instances with their older two children (who identify as boys but are very fluid in their identity and are often taken as being girls) and some of the incidents they have faced. While I LOVED their attitude and the way they dealt with it, I found it sad that someone's gender would be such an issue to someone else.
Then I got home and thought about other things, and started watching streaming video. One show I watch (a guilty pleasure) is a Canadian singing competition where two workplace teams compete for charity. And the first group did a beautiful mash-up of hopeful songs that made me cry. One of the songs was "One World" and the between the wonderful performance and the judge's comments I went back to my earlier thoughts.
Why do we have to see gender as so divisive? Why do we insist on a system that emphasizes the differences and not the similarities? And most of all, why do we get so freaked out when such a system is called into question?
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Facebook = Stereotypes
I don't know if it is that I am more aware lately or if it has actually gotten worse, but I am finding parts of my Facebook feed really hard to handle lately because of all the "funny" pictures that promote gender stereotypes.
The stereotype I have been having the hardest time with lately is about relationships and how women treat men. It is the stereotype that it is a man's job to keep his woman happy, and that the woman will make him miserable with nagging if he doesn't. The ones about how a woman is always right and is the boss. I am driven nuts by sayings like "happy wife, happy life" or cartoons like this. I feel these are RIDICULOUSLY harmful to our concepts of relationships. They spread the stereotype that women are unreasonable, passive-aggressive, and unwilling to compromise. I had two others on my feed today, but before I decided to write this I hid them and now can't find them to show examples.
Am I the only person in the world who believes a healthy relationship involves compromise on BOTH sides, rational discussion, and mutual respect? I don't want a relationship where I get what I want all the time, I want a relationship where we work like a team and get what WE want.
If women want respect we have to stop encouraging the stereotypes about ourselves. Encouraging other women and showing ourselves to be demanding, passive-aggressive, and unwilling to listen only hurts us and our attempts to create a healthier, more equal future. And even if I love you, I will hide your posts when they have stereotypical portrayals.
The stereotype I have been having the hardest time with lately is about relationships and how women treat men. It is the stereotype that it is a man's job to keep his woman happy, and that the woman will make him miserable with nagging if he doesn't. The ones about how a woman is always right and is the boss. I am driven nuts by sayings like "happy wife, happy life" or cartoons like this. I feel these are RIDICULOUSLY harmful to our concepts of relationships. They spread the stereotype that women are unreasonable, passive-aggressive, and unwilling to compromise. I had two others on my feed today, but before I decided to write this I hid them and now can't find them to show examples.
Am I the only person in the world who believes a healthy relationship involves compromise on BOTH sides, rational discussion, and mutual respect? I don't want a relationship where I get what I want all the time, I want a relationship where we work like a team and get what WE want.
If women want respect we have to stop encouraging the stereotypes about ourselves. Encouraging other women and showing ourselves to be demanding, passive-aggressive, and unwilling to listen only hurts us and our attempts to create a healthier, more equal future. And even if I love you, I will hide your posts when they have stereotypical portrayals.
Link: The Gender Trap podcast
I love radio documentaries. In a strange way even more than film documentaries, though that might just be because they are more portable and can be enjoyed while I try to get exercise (a WHOLE other issue in my life!).
One of my favourite things is therefore the CBC radio show "Ideas" which I enjoy in podcast form while going for walks or runs. It is a series of radio documentaries about anything and everything under the sun. Sometimes I agree with what is being said (lots of times), and sometimes I disagree but listen anyway because it's good to be informed and open.
A great episode I just finished listening to is The Gender Trap, Part 1. I have no idea how long they keep podcasts up, but if it is still up you can check it out at http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2012/04/25/the-gender-trap-part-1/
It is an analysis of the faults in the science behind "male brains" and "female brains", and looking at the role unconscious bias plays in the development of children at very young ages. I quite enjoyed it. I have just started Part 2, which is about the family in Toronto who decided to keep their child's gender a secret which seems fantastic and interesting and may be the subject of another post later.
One of my favourite things is therefore the CBC radio show "Ideas" which I enjoy in podcast form while going for walks or runs. It is a series of radio documentaries about anything and everything under the sun. Sometimes I agree with what is being said (lots of times), and sometimes I disagree but listen anyway because it's good to be informed and open.
A great episode I just finished listening to is The Gender Trap, Part 1. I have no idea how long they keep podcasts up, but if it is still up you can check it out at http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2012/04/25/the-gender-trap-part-1/
It is an analysis of the faults in the science behind "male brains" and "female brains", and looking at the role unconscious bias plays in the development of children at very young ages. I quite enjoyed it. I have just started Part 2, which is about the family in Toronto who decided to keep their child's gender a secret which seems fantastic and interesting and may be the subject of another post later.
Introduction
I am starting this blog as a place to post my rants, findings, and thoughts about gender. Why? Because lately I have been seeing more and more things about gender issues (women's health rights stuff in the States, internet attacks on females for having opinions, and harmful stereotypes jumping out at me everywhere to name a few).
To state my position on gender very clearly from the start: I believe a dichotomous system of gender (male/female) is convenient, but false. I see gender as a spectrum, partially because I believe I fall fairly middle on that spectrum. In some ideal future world gender will be seen and treated this way, and people will be seen and treated as who they are, not what category they fall in.
However we are not in that world. And we cannot be until we see people from all over the spectrum as having the same value. We don't. So, in the current world we have to use the male/female dichotomy until we can bring the two sides to equal. In this dichotomy, I am female. And I am feminist. And I have lots of opinions that I want to type up and put out there, even if no one wants to read them.
The things I feel the need to post about soon are:
-The importance of a name (my own experiences with having a gender-neutral, or maybe better described as gender-confusing, name)
-Why do we find stereotypes so witty?
-Life as a female math/science teacher
-Why does society get so freaked out when we challenge stereotypes and ideas?
-Media and pop culture
-And many other random little thoughts I have.
To state my position on gender very clearly from the start: I believe a dichotomous system of gender (male/female) is convenient, but false. I see gender as a spectrum, partially because I believe I fall fairly middle on that spectrum. In some ideal future world gender will be seen and treated this way, and people will be seen and treated as who they are, not what category they fall in.
However we are not in that world. And we cannot be until we see people from all over the spectrum as having the same value. We don't. So, in the current world we have to use the male/female dichotomy until we can bring the two sides to equal. In this dichotomy, I am female. And I am feminist. And I have lots of opinions that I want to type up and put out there, even if no one wants to read them.
The things I feel the need to post about soon are:
-The importance of a name (my own experiences with having a gender-neutral, or maybe better described as gender-confusing, name)
-Why do we find stereotypes so witty?
-Life as a female math/science teacher
-Why does society get so freaked out when we challenge stereotypes and ideas?
-Media and pop culture
-And many other random little thoughts I have.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)