Carolee and interior knowledge

By: Nichole Jones

Carolee Second Wave Feminism flourished during the 1960’s and was a time when women really came together to strive for improvements in the treatment of women and the discrimination of women in the world. I recall my mother-in-law telling me that as a young mother of two boys, she found herself divorced and seeking her independence. She was no longer going to be the typical housewife and needed to find a job and make a living for herself as a single parent. She went to get car insurance and was told she needed to have a husband to sign the contracts. The 1960’s were fueled with anti-war demonstrations and civil right movements and women were a great part of that. I believe we are all familiar with the statement that it was a time when women burned their bras. However, women band together to protest the 1968 Miss America pageant by trashing their bras, girdles and nylons. They threw them away as a symbol of the binds that society has on women to look pretty. This is taken from an article written by Jone Johnson Lewis entitled, Bra Burning Feminists NOT. I read from our course reader and found myself bothered yet intrigued by the Carolee Schneemann piece, More than Meat Joy and the Interior Scroll selections. This woman seems very controversial and for some reason reminded me of Frida Kahlo, the famous female Mexican painter. She was something the world was not quite ready for during her lifetime. The photos of Carolee seemed strange and I found a youtube video of her from 2008 where she discusses where the idea of the scroll came from and why she choice to do the piece. Her work was on display in the Brooklyn Museum entitled “Burning Down the House” Building of Feminist Art Collection. Here is the link for the video, Carolee says that “the scroll represents interior knowledge” and it is represented by pulling the scroll out of her body and she reads what it written on it. One of the things on the scroll is the statement “Be prepared”. That sort of made me laugh, because that is the Boy Scout’s National Motto. Anyway, she did find that some viewers of her performance art found it very confusing and felt that it may have played into men’s fantasies of women. She saw it in a different light. She was a huge inspiration for our recent readings and classroom activities, the Vagina Monologues. 

Ballet and its American Icon

By: Annika Wiesemann

Women and men are still not always treated equal in our society related to their job positions or their different roles in the family. Referring to the article “Balanchine women” from Ann Daly (2002) Ballet and its American icon (The Ballerina) supports this unequally image of women and men.  “The girl is like an instrument” (Page 280) and is directed by the man. The men manipulate and assist the dance of the woman so that women don't make any movements without the initiation of them. They are the doers and prevent women power and ballet supports the men´s leadership. The image of men and women are shown in a conservative way in ballet and it´s not easy to rebuild it. I think a beginning would be to let men and women do the same movements and to let women also support the men while dancing. Anyway women are shown as light weighted figures in Ballet and they’re attracting the audience by their look. It’s all about the beauty and the perfectness of a ballerina. This New York Times article discusses how “Ballet demands sacrifice in its pursuit of widely accepted ideals of beauty”.

It’s not just that sacrifice. It’s also the women’s acceptance to be lower status and be constructed to be looked at. Men are represented powerful.

I don't like that they are not shown equally but I can also not imagine women to lead the men. That shows that I am already influenced by the way women and men (genders) are shown in our cultural mediums like on TV, theatre, books, movies… 

My Granny

by: Jasmine Morrow

This past week, my granny passed away. This entire week has been extremely difficult for me, but I am trying to find ways to remember the great things about her life and how she has impacted mine. When I was younger I was the ultimate “tom boy”. I wanted to do everything the boys did. I wanted to play football, skateboard, climb trees, play video games, everything. I can remember one time I was sitting, slouched over, legs open and my granny hollered at me. She told me that I was a young lady and ladies don’t sit and act like little boys. I remember crying to my mom and my granny told me that I would thank her later.

Well that later has come. I am still a “tom boy” at heart, but I have learned throughout my life what my granny was really trying to tell me. She was born during a time where people of color were not allowed to do much of anything. She grew up in the country of Georgia. She has seen Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. She was able to grow up in a time when she was able to see real change taking place. She wanted me to understand that as a Black woman in this country we at one point were the lowest of the low. She wanted me to understand just how much oppression Black women have endured so that in my lifetime I could continue to make a change.

My granny is the reason why I am the feminist I am today. That is why the monologue about the woman who had a good experience with a man reminds me so much of her. When I was reading that monologue, Because He Liked to Look at It, I was instantly touched. This woman did not truly understand her worth as a woman. She did not see her true beauty within herself. Although I am sad it took a man to be able to open her eyes, I am happy she was finally able to see. My granny wanted me to always understand that I was beautiful and strong. She wanted me to understand to that I could do anything because I was a woman.

Sth about Gender

By: Huixian

This week we will learn the construction of gender. Actually, I feel interested after I read Girls Find Safety Posing as Boys on Tehran's Mean Streets by Elaine Sciolino with Nazila Fathi. In the article, it said “ Some girls have taken to disguising themselves as boys. They cut their hair short, wear loose-fitting clothes and speak as little as possible. It is a growing phenomenon mainly among lower-class runaways who believe that the disguise gives them a degree of freedom and protection they could not enjoy as girls. Posing as boys on the streets makes it easier to avoid rape and falling victim to prostitution rings.” As female, we definitely do not want to pretend as a male. However, I believe, the girls in Tehran’s have no choice. In order to be in safe, posing as boys is the only way to protect themselves. Male plays a dominant role all the time. Sometimes I wonder, can boys understand the pain that girls suffer? Do they willing to pretend as a girl everyday?


On the other hand, I remember back there’s a film “ It’s a Boy Girl Thing”. It talked about sworn enemies find themselves in each other's bodies, and use this to ruin each other's lives. They had to learn how to control an opposite gender’s body. They need to imitate each other’s acts, gesture, the way they speak, and so on. It is funny and worth to see! I recommend it.




Tomorrow, we will have a little “Drag King” party. As an international student, to be honest, I have no idea about what “Drag King” is when I heard it first time. But now, I am kinda get the idea about drag king. I am looking forward about it.




Girls Find Safety Posing as Boys on Tehran's Mean Streets


http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/19/international/middleeast/19IRAN.html






It’s a Boy Girl Thing


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482527/

Challenging Conformity

by: Kristi Reid 

If your son wanted to dress like a princess, would you let him? If your daughter wanted to cut her hair into a Mohawk, would you let her?

Gender identities have long been constructed to fit into a controlled box, and if anyone stepped outside the parameters would be ostracized. Under such conditions people may answer either questions with a no, or no to the initial and yes to the latter. Either way it is because some things are more or less accepted than others. Judith Butler calls attention to “sex, as a biological facticity, and gender as the cultural interpretation or signification of that facticity.” (394) By falling into this belief one sees how gender is constructed and made to fit in this box. Those who choose to allow their son or daughter to step outside the box are challenging conformity.

One parent who challenges conformity and allows his son to dress up as a princess declares “We are following his lead and supporting him for who he wants to be.” (Hoffman 1) Although they may be discriminated against because they allow their son to be his own person without any person telling him that’s wrong, they are changing the way gender roles are constituted. They are creating a world where everyone is accepted and no one gender is accepted. They are reconstructing what it means to have a gendered identity and breaking the historical idea.

How do you challenge conformity?

I would let my son dress as a princess and I would let my daughter sport a Mohawk.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/fashion/new-challenge-for-parents-childrens-gender-roles.html?pagewanted=all

The Construction of Gender

By: Yesenia Rayo

Reading the article “Girls Find Safety Posing as Boys on Tehran’s Mean Streets” made me think about how at a very early age we learn about gender roles and that in some way we need to stick to them or else we will be punished by society. Little girls shouldn’t have to dress as men to have a better life or have more opportunities. One of the girls said that dressing like a man was the only way to find a job and another girl said that “[she] wouldn’t have been able to survive in women’s dress” and that [she] would have been finished by now.” The same opportunities should be available for both females and males.  It is interesting that women have also had to dress as men in the United States in order to achieve their goals.

I’m currently reading a book called Medicine Women, Curanderas, and Women Doctors by Bobette Perrone, Henrietta Stockel and Victor Krueger (for my anthropology class), which focuses on the many struggles that early women healers faced for choosing a male dominated field. This book relates to the article because some women had to also act and dress up like men in order to succeed, for example Lillian Heath. Heath was the first women doctor in the state of Wyoming. During the period that Heath became a doctor society had not yet accepted this idea. So, in order to protect herself Heath had to wear men’s clothing and act like a man. Disguising herself as a man was the only option to succeed in her field.

I think that it takes a lot courage and strength to go against society but it’s necessary if we want things to change for the better. 

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...