Those "ridiculous" anti-housewife thoughts..

By: Caroline Crandall

My understanding about The Problem That Has No Name by Betty Friedan is that the problem is the fact that women in the 1950’s and early 60’s had no say in how they wanted to live out their lives. The purpose of a woman’s being then was to get married, have children and then do all housing tasks.  They really had no choice and if they did begin to question why their life was the way that it was or if that was what they really wanted, they would be frowned upon.  The article stated that in that time period, if a woman was feeling unhappy with her life, it was commonly thought that there must have been problems in her marriage or that she had something wrong with her. This caused Women to feel confused and alone, even though there was a large number of women who felt the exact same way. People who were against these ideas of women being something other than a house wife tried to come up with excuses as to why women could be having these “ridiculous” anti-housewife thoughts. The article said that women being educating was causing ideas to be put in their head. It also said, “ the problem was dismissed by telling the house wife how luck she is-her own boss, no time clock, no junior executive gunning for her job. “  First of all, she is not her own boss because she has to take commands form her husband and cater to her children. Second, she does have to follow a time clock because she has a time schedule to get all her daily house chores done. And third, she doesn’t have a junior executive gunning for her job, because no one else wants to have her job!

I enjoyed this quote that I found that pretty much sums up this problem that has no name.

“It is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities - is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=EZiKAskjPF8&feature=endscreenZ

I Call it CUNT

By: Krista Ahlgrim

I am rejecting the negative connotations you have put on it and reclaiming it for the sexual, powerful, vital, word that it is. CUNT. It is beautiful really. I don't know why in hell anyone would use it in a negative manner. Everyone likes them. Boys are fascinated by them, men cant get enough of them, women spend a good amount of time with it. I like to call it "me" time. Cunt Time. Personal time with me, myself, and my cunt.

When I hear the word thrown around in such a horrible way I always think to myself,

has a cunt really ever done anything bad?

What did a cunt ever do to you besides give you extreme pleasure, warmth, electricity through your entire body, love, tingling sensations..... hmmm now I am confused.

Maybe your missing the cunt?

Not getting the cunt?

Jealous of the cunt?

Abusing the cunt?

Hiding from the cunt? (you scared, scared thing)

Go ahead, call me a cunt. I like the word.

C U N T

cunt.

Found this video of this monologue and I fell in love with her. Enjoy Friends

drag king-ing it...

by: Veronica Silveyra


Reading "Girls Find Safety Posing as Boys on Tehran's Mean Streats" by Elaine Sciolino reminded me a lot of myself. When I was younger, about 8-13 years old, I was such a tomboy. I loved wearing loose shirts or baggy sweatshirts, hair always pulled back in a pony tail, wearing boys skating shoes. And I felt comfortable. I felt safe. Even though I still wasn't fully developed, I knew that just because of the simple fact that I was a girl, my body was going to be looked at. So I covered up. Did anything possible NOT to look like a girl. And most of the time it worked. I hung out with the guys and they treated me like I was one of them. And I was hardly ever looked at as a piece of meat.

The lines "posing as boys on the streets makes it easier to avoid rape and falling victim to prostitution rings..." (Sciolino, 2003:1) and "no one bothered me. I wouldn't have been able to survive in women's dress. I would have been finished by now..." (Sciolino, 2003:2) is a reminder of how much pressure women go through everyday of their lives. Not being able to dress a certain way or wear certain clothes because of fear. Its insane that women have to dress in clothes of the opposite sex to gain respect. "What is a Drag King?" by Susie Bright was a nice way to lighten up the mood a little after reading Sciolino's article... I think. I thought it was a fun and healthy way to express oneself in a setting or space where no one is judging. Here was a short youtube video I found to show an example of a Drag King performance...

Body Image in the Media

By: Starr


During class, I realized how the media can create a negative impact on our society. The most obvious is by painting a perfect picture of what a woman’s face and body should look like. What I was moved by the most was the video we watched in class of the model, not only was she altered with styled hair and make-up, but also with computer software. I am totally aware that they use software in the business to alter the fairness of skin and adjust sizing of the body a bit, but never did I imagine them going to the extreme of extending the length of the neck or even the eyelids. This irritated me so much because how do we even know what is real!? The most terrible consequence I find out of this is the pressure that is created towards models to be thinner, which then influences the rest of our population.


One of my good friends in high school suffered from anorexia. Sadly, even after completing therapy she still claimed to be proud and happy of the decision that she made. She stated that if she hadn’t been anorexic she would still be fat and not have the gorgeous body she has today.  Truth is she was never fat! Yes, as mentioned in Susan Bordos, Never just pictures, clinicians link anorexia to psychological issues, but maybe if the media did not have an influence there would not be so much pressure to fit into this perfect category. Maybe the thought of being perfect and extremely skinny would not have crossed her mind. Today, I am happy to see Dove creating a movement and being honest with sharing reality that not all women are skinny and use everyday women in their advertisements. Have you or anyone you know been severely affected by fitting into a “perfect” mold?  This youtube clip is a great visual for the medias affects on body image. Check it out.