Main Post for 9/6/10

The Feminine Mystique is an obvious choice for what a women studies class should read. Betty Friedan started a new wave for feminism aiming at getting women equal to men. Although this chapter did little to explain the problem with minority and immigrant women a problem pointed out by Susan J. Douglas in her book, Enlightened Sexism. But other than that Friedan does an excellent job in explaining the problems women faced in the 60s but not only that she determined that many women have the same problem. That problem she described as something hard to explain. A sort of emptiness in the fulfilment of life. All their lives women where told though the media (magazines, educators, advertising) how to act and what to do, get married, have kids, take care of the household chores, etc. They were taught to look down on women who wanted a career in something other than being a mom. This lead them to that feeling of emptiness and depression... the housewife syndrome. It was a strange situation theses women were in because either they were in a relationship and felt incomplete or they weren't and they felt anxious for not being in one. Kind of a no win situation. Education seems to have created this feeling of incompleteness because these women know what is out there, yet they are unable to obtain it because society tells them no. The major theme of this chapter is the fact that women have no identity but someones something, a child's mom, a man's wife, etc.

This is difficult to comprehend because i feel women have come so far from this. No longer is it looked down upon to have a women in the work force, yes there is some discrimination but not like back then. When I read this I sometimes wonder what my life would be if I lived in this time. Would I even go to college? Would I even want to work? And how happy could I be if I lived like this? I want to say yeah I would definitely want to do something and I was born with this drive, but I don't know if that is true. Is your life what society makes it and what gives us the drive to become working women?

"The Future that never happened" was I think a more powerful read then the "Feminism Mystique." Susan Brown miller actually criticizes Betty Friedan saying that it didn't call for enough, she wanted to more, she wanted the whole thing overthrown, wanted everything transformed (politics, sex, romance, housework, education, etc.). That's a pretty bold statement and one very hard to back up. One of the most powerful statements of this chapter is its statement about how it isn't women's fault but actually the men's fault. Which is totally true they have been in control since the dawn of time and any problems we face when it comes to equality is mostly their fault. When abortion is legalized a lot of women are so happy and to me that is just so strange because I take for granted my right to my own body. Women back then did not have the same rights as us obviously and I think people of my generation take for granted what we have. Hugh Hefner says that he was looking for freedom for women but in truth i think he was just looking for women to be free to be naked so that he didn't look like such a creep making all these magazines. To be honest I don't think he cares about women's right unless it involves sex. He even says that socially he prefers to talk with men and in a relationship he does not look for equality but for other traits. His aims seem to be So talk with men and sleep with women. The one thing I did have a problem with in this article is the part about pornography. They describe it as rape of the women and I don't understand that why is it rape of the women and not the male? They're both there to have sex in front of a camera and the both do it voluntarily, how is that rape and how can tell who is raping who? And I think people should have the right to make. Yes i think it is gross and so wrong but who am I to say anything about it and who watches it. As long as your not watching it front of me then I don't care it's your life and I think these women have no right to say what people can watch and make. People have problems with all kinds of movies not just a porno and you can't just get rid of one type of genre. The whole cake parties thing i really did not understand. What is the point of them? How is dancing half naked in front of guys helping women? Susan Brown miller made a great point she says, "You think you're being brave, you think you're being sexy, you think you're transcending feminism. But that's bullshit (The future never happened 82)." This is so true, acting "sexy" is not doing anything for feminism. Yes you can act sexy and wear sexy outfits but don't try to act like your fighting for women's equality. A major theme in this text is just that there are to many forms of feminism going on right now. There are so many different groups that a women can join that its taking away from the major goal of actually gaining women's equality.

The Re-emergence of the "Women Question" was an interesting look at the way women were treated in the SNCC and the SDS. Women in these groups faced sexism like they would in any other, but they did learn skills that gave them the ability to escape their usual roles in the household. A major problem that faced the SNCC was the fact that some white women were sleeping with black in order to get ahead or to prove that they weren't racist. This might be true for some women but not all of the white women were doing this and I'm sure some of the men were claiming women were trying to sleep with them when they weren't. And plus so women might think its the only way they can get to the top and some are desperate enough to actually sleep their way to the top. Another problem with this is that if they were advanced on by some man and they refused then they looked racist and if she did do something then she was a slut. Stokely Carmichael's comment about women's position in the SNCC was seen as hostile when in fact he just thought if women wanted more they would go get it. He doesn't understand that for a women it is not as easy as that. This shows that men need to be educated about women and their problems and even more than that women need to find a way to get men to actually listen and not just role their eyes and pretend their listening. This article explains that black and white women should not come together and fight for equal rights because they have different goals. Black women in the SNCC were treated as sexless and did all the work that men did while white women were treated completely opposite. They both wanted part of what the other had. Maybe if they came together they may be able to help each other achieve their goals. One thing that stuck out to me was the fact that once the SDS had a successful anti-war march, women found it harder to get in. That's almost comical that once something is successful women can't get in. The major theme in this article is that women's right took a back seat to the goals of the actual group. The SNCC was a civil rights movement, they didn't really care for the rights of women because it was more important for blacks to equal first.