By: Malynn Robbinson
In the reading The Problem that has No Name by Betty Friedan, the author entertains her readers by pulling them through the emotions that many housewives of the 20th century were experiencing. The emotion of emptiness and dissatisfaction was actually the result of a woman who has experienced the thirst of knowledge and want more. These women have been to college and dreamt of becoming something and being someone but are forced to face the bitter reality that the “proper role” for a woman is to take care of the house. This “problem that has no name”, is the outcome of their restlessness and their yearning to grow more. These women did not realize that was what they wanted because society had told them that this was their dream life and that was the best thing for them.
Many people already know about the controversy about Rush Limbaugh media broadcast concern women’s contraceptives. I believe that it relates to the reading assignment The Problem that has No Name because in that article society was telling women that they should be happy and this is the life they should want while Limbaugh was saying women shouldn’t use contraceptives to sleep around (although he completely ignored the context of stance the college student was making). There is a similar theme of society (male) control over women and they are both coming from a male perspective.
Friedan, Betty. "The Problem that has No Name." Issues in Feminism. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1999. Print.
Limbaugh, R. (Actor). (2012). Rush Limbaugh Doubles Down On Sandra Flu [Motion picture]. ABC news.
Hi Malynn, I totally agree with you about the comments that Rush Limbaugh was saying, clearly from a male perspective. If men were the ones that had to go through pregnancy and being a single mother (risk that a woman takes by not using birth control)then he would probably have a way different opinion about birth control. The truth is he was just talking out of his ass, he didn't realize how much controversy his comments were going to make. He lost sponsors because of that as well.
ReplyDelete-Marlene Marin
I loved reading you article. It is true that women were,and even still to this day, expected to live the certain way: become a loving housewife. And if they were to live the life that they wanted such as a student or a woman with a professional job, it was seen as wrong and even crazy. This was the result of patriarchal society and how men wanted to control women's lives.
ReplyDeleteHello Malynn!
ReplyDeleteI was reading your blog and it struck me as very interesting! I enjoyed discussing in class about second wave feminism and the readings including “The Problem that has No Name” by Betty Friedan, how women were discovering that they were bored and unfulfilled in their role of housewife, and wanted a different identity, challenge, and role in society. I understand your point in that men tend to control and decide women health issues like contraceptives, but when I read and saw the video on the link you posted, I would have to disagree with what Limbaugh was saying. While he did call the woman a “slut,” he was referring to the fact that she was demanding that tax payers should pay her to have sex, much like a prostitute, not anything to do with “sleeping around” as you put it. Much of the same backlash would happen if anybody would attempt to go before their peers and ask for 3000 for personal alternative activities, such as sex. This current healthcare bill that Limbaugh and Fluke are commenting on is completely irrational in my opinion. There are already plenty of FREE birth control methods available, at Planned Parenthood and college campus health facilities. To automatically budget for every woman in America for birth control out of the tax payers’ pocket goes against the 1st amendment- freedom of religion. As a Catholic-Christian, I am highly offended by this proposal, even though I myself use birth control! I have a year supply of two different kinds of birth control because one brand I didn’t like. However, there are many Catholics in my parish such as the Priests who are 100% against birth control and find this proposal to go against everything our religion is. To be forced to pay for sterilization is preposterous. Birth control is highly dangerous and is even ineffective! In fact, I may be pregnant! It may just be the Pill that is causing these daily cramps, nausea, bloating, and fatigue, but in either case, after using birth control since I was 16 (for 5 years now), I’m over it and am quitting it. I just realized that the progestin in the pill creates a thick mucus for any fertilized embryos to drown in. Many women suffer miscarriages without even knowing it, and many more suffer painful side effects and even infertility from use of the Pill. I hope I am pregnant, my boyfriend and I are very excited about the prospects of becoming a family. I feel guilty for any created life with my man’s and mines genes that were sacrificed that came before this one who survived. Even if it is my choice to use birth control, and I do, I still do not want the government to be involved making it their business to force me to just on the basis that the tax payers are funding it. My body, my choice! The influence and pressure to use birth control is becoming irritating. Employers and government officials have no business in regulating nor interfering with a woman’s reproductive choices. To prescribe 15 year olds the Pill for acne or to stop menstruation is so common today. Obama suggests that employers ask women to sign a contract explaining their current contraceptive methods. The all you can eat birth control debate seems like rights being not addressed when women do not want this kind of invasion into their privacy in reality.
Your friend in resistance~~~Stephanie C. Martyr
Hey Stephanie
DeleteI remember writing about this topic because there was so much heat about what Limbaugh's comment and it fit perfectly with our topic of that week. When I first heard his comment about calling the student a "slut" because she wants tax payers to pay for birth control I was like, "Heck yeah she is!" But then as I listened to the argument, I found he had said that because he took her statement out of context and that much set me off. I am a Christian so my belief on birth control is absence but realistically thats not possible in our society. I think it's ignorant for people to try and dictate whether or not contraceptives, and I completely agree with you, its their body, let them do with it as they please! When it comes to birth control, my issue is how will affect the bodies natural hormones and the eggs that women have, its not like we create new ones like men. I am holistic, kinda, and I feel that when anything unnatural is put into the body, it will alter the bodies natural rythms. Thankfully the body is so amazing that it can also cure it's self, but for things that are long term, like birth control, I wonder about the permanent side effects. Its great that you are being safe with birth control, but please take with caution!!
Malynn Robinson
The problem that has no name, there is a name and it’s a problem. Its name is stay at home mother, its name is back seat caregiver, its name is homemaker. These are all roles that are expected of women in America and many other countries worldwide. Societies pressures for women to bear children and raise a family inhibit women from creating a life they want to live for themself.
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