"No New Babies"

        There is not one female that can imagined being told, "you are not allowed to have anymore children." This seem just devastating not being allowed to reproduce anymore. So who has the power to instruct a female not to? There are many females that fine themselves in these situations, and if they step cross and continue to reproduce, they will have consequences that will follow.
       The person that has the power to do so is a judge. There are many females that are place in this position. There are many examples. A case where the woman name was, Dawn Sprinkle,age 29, was instructed by a Judge Dorothy McCarter, that she must refrain from having any new babies. Dawn was on probation and violated it by using drugs during her preganancy, and was instructed not to get pregnant for ten years. While having a 10 year sentence in prison, where she only served 5, Judge McCarter ordered her to take birth control and report for regular pregnancy tests at the local jail. After doing her sentence, and if she became pregnant, the judge will place her back in jail or place her under intensive supervision. Because of this, would Dawn ever be able to reproduce again?

        This brought up the topic of gender inequality. Issues were brought up detailing that there was never a case where a man was told not to reproduce beause they had a drug issue. This was primarily and only focus on women. What does this suggest? Is the judge being fair? Many believes that this is gender inequality and if it is taking from a woman then it should be taken from a man also.Whats the differene between a man who is on drugs, and getting women pregnant?

Princess Boy

Growing up, there were only girl cousins on my mom's side of the family. My uncles and my dad did not let that stop them from making sure we knew how to play every sport and play it well. No one discouraged me from wearing sporty clothes or always wanting to show up the boys when it came to some active competition, but the story seems to be different for boys who enjoy things that are socially associated with girls.

Cheryl Kilodavis is attempting to bring light to the other side of the tomboy that has not been as accepted. She wrote a book called My Princess Boy based on her son who liked to dress up in dresses. My Princess Boy

has raised a lot of controversy (surprise!) but as a former tomboy I cannot imagine anyone ever telling me that I could not compete with boys. It is small things like "you throw like a girl" that continue to unhealthily divide gender. Cheryl says the breaking point from when she realized she was going about her son's wants to dress up in dresses the wrong way was when he said "Why can't you just let me be happy mom?"

Earlier this year, J. Crew posted an ad in which a little boy is getting his toenails painted pink by his mother. Of course, the ad sparked a lot of controversy as well. Some mothers responded as "who cares?" defying traditional gender stereotypes, and others responded

negatively. As a woman, I can't bring myself to think that it is wrong to allow little boys to figure out who they are and be able to experience thinks like dress up and painting nails if that is what makes them happy. As women, we were once confined to cooking, cleaning, bridge games, and fashion. We were allowed to "cross-over" into traditional male territory, so why can't men?

Sex Segregated Schools Detrimental to Gender Equality Progress

For many years, people have been sending their children to sex segregated schools.  While the education received at these institutions tends to be great, it is not because of the separation.  In fact, in most cases, students attending these schools are at a social disadvantage.  Being in a same-sex learning environment tends to make these students more accepting of gender stereotypes.

There is no evidence to support the idea that separate but equal learning environments produces a better learning outcome for either males or females.  America is founded on ideals and principles that promote equality in education for all.  Also, students in single-sex schools are at a greater disadvantage because they don't experience learning proper interaction with people of the opposite sex in an setting where they are on a level playing field.

I think that it is vital for children to be able to interact with the opposite sex from a young age. This interaction is vital to understanding the opposite sex as well as their strengths on some levels.  This interaction is also vital to avoiding the belief in sex-related stereotypes because children will grow up with people of the opposite sex that will force them to at least question stereotypes that exist within our society.  For further reading, take a look at this article on Sex Segregated schools.

Gender Politics: Michele Bachman

Rep. Michele Bachman (Minn.) is one of 8 Republican presidential hopefuls. She is known for articulating plans of action (should she be voted into office) in stark contrast to those of the Democratic Party and offends many with her brand of politics. She is forceful in her speaking, spewing opinions that appeal of the Republican senses. However, as of late, she has been losing ground; while her ideas on policy tend to be in line with her party affiliation, she is not very popular among voters nationwide. However, this lack of popularity doesn't primarily stem from her politics; but rather her personality (saying that you believe that wives should be "submissive" to their husbands probably won't win over the overwhelming majority of female voters). She has decided to go against the grain in terms of women hoping to win the presidential seat, and downplay her gender.

In the past, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin played up the fact that they are women, which in many respects kept them relevant in the public. However, Bachman has opted to instead run her campaign primarily on policies. In her attempt, she never mentions the barriers that would be broken and opportunities that would be presented to women if she were to be voted the first female president, nor does she identify as a feminist or fully embrace policies that are deemed feminist or pro-woman.

While I am not a fan of most of her viewpoints, I have to admit, for her party affiliation, it works. This strategy is likely to appeal to conservative voters, especially in the South. Sometimes, bringing gender into the equation ends up doing more harm than good by turning the focus from the issues and towards the fact that the candidate is a woman. Also, because she could be the first female president, she doesn't want to ever want to appear less qualified because of gender. Let me be clear: gender does NOT determine qualification for the office of president. However, in the history of our society, being a woman has incorrectly been associated with weakness.

I am interested in seeing how this plays out; the more she shys away from her gender, the more she stands to lose as it pertains to women across the country. What effect will this have on women's rights activists and groups that would have almost surely supported her had she embraced her gender as a campaign point?

Female Prisons vs. Male Prisons

       Gender inequality exists in many things, even in the prisons. This occurs in a variety of places, even here throughout South Carolina. This problem has existed in previous years, and even though we have came up a little, it still does occur.

       In early years, it was said that inequality existed and it caught the attention of many. First off, females were treated differently because they are one's society view not to be committing crimes and doing deviant acts. They are suppose to act like a"lady" and committing a criminal act will be going "against her very nature as the fairer sex." Due to this they were treated with lesser compassion then men. Men sometimes were expected to act out and commit crimes to display their strength and masculinity.
      Some inequality's that existed in early years was that women received inadequate health care, there were different educational opportunities,  as well as different vocational programs, and even not libraries. Men received these many opportunities and programs and more money was invested into them. Another inequality was that because of the men population in prisons, they were distributed in minimum, medium, and maximum security prisons. Women were all place together, not distributed based on the severity of their crime, which was automatically maximum security prisons. They were not equal due to the large gaps in population between male and females. Did this seem unfair?
      Now, today it is said to be equal when compared. The reason in being is because, the rate for women population in prisons has risen tremendously. Another reason is said that because the severity of their crimes are closely related, but a few a little different such as prostitution and check forgery. Due to this everybody is at fair game and is equally said to be punish and put in the same situations, and have the same benefits.But society knows this isn't the case....

Do you think gender inequality still exists in prisons?

Occupy Wall Street

This is a gender inequality blog but I thought this Occupy Wall Street movement was too great  to not talk about. A little back story about Occupy Wall Street is that the movement began September 17th in Liberty Square. There were only a little over a thousand people who came to the first protest so no one really payed any attention to it. But over the past few weeks this movement has grown unbelievably strong, garnering international media attention. The protesters call themselves the 99% which is a nod to the statistic that the top 1% control 42% of financial wealth in the US. There is no leader of this movement and they don't have any clear objectives other than to show their disdain for the current economic climate. One growing theme that is coming from Occupy Wall Street is that people feel that there interests aren't be thought of in government. That while these huge financial corporations are being bailed out, the rest of America is being told to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.


What I find amazing is that these are people who come from all walks of life coming together to protest. This past Sunday there were about 100 New York public school teachers protesting, a group of Marines came all the way from Florida to show their support, celebrity activists such as Dr. Cornel West and Michael Moore have lent their voice to this cause and there are countless students at these protests. Not only are the protests getting bigger in New York but they're spreading all around the world. There are 52 American cities starting their own Occupy demonstration. By September 28, 2011, all six of Australia's territories had their own Occupations being organized in major cities. There are also occupations being organized in Britain, Canada, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. 


 I think that it's also interesting how little i've heard about this! I first heard about this on tumblr (a social networking site), and it's not being picked up by major American media while I've found while doing research on the movement that foreign media has been most up to date on this movement. I am really interested to see where this thing goes. 

Here is a quote by Michael Parenti that seems extremely pertinent, "A nation's greatness can be measured by it's ability to create a society free of poverty, racism, sexism, imperialism, and social and environmental devestation."


Brief Overview of Occupy Wall Street


There will be an Occupy Columbia, SC! Here's the facebook page for Occupy Columbia to get updates:
http://www.facebook.com/occupycolumbia

Gender Inequality: Sex

According to our textbook Social Problems, by James B. Coleman, “They [women] are taught from childhood that beauty and sex appeal are the keys to happiness. Success comes not from their own efforts but from the ability to appeal to the “right man.”” (256) Just Google images of the popular women’s magazine Cosmopolitan, sex appears on every cover and usually multiple times. The monthly magazines are filled with sexy tips and tricks to get the guy. In society, however, women are taught to hide their sexual desires. A little Ludacris anyone, “We want a lady in the street, but a freak in the bed”?

Author of Schoolgirls, Peggy Orenstein, examines

how middle school girls are socialized specifically to sexuality, “As they mature, then, the question they begin to ask themselves in not whether they desire (a notion they quickly suppress) but whether or not someone would desire them. The idea, as articulated in the time capsules, is to look sexy, but say “no”; to be feminine, but not sexual; to attract boys’ desire, but never to respond to one’s own.” (63) The whole concept is confusing with an easily crossed line. Part of the reason is boys are taught the exact opposite. Males are glorified for higher numbers of hook ups than female. Just think of all the names used to describe someone who is promiscuous: hoe, slut, whore are usually always used to describe women. Therefore, a woman’s reputation is more easily ruined than a man’s making it important for women to know the “balance” between showing desires and being desired. Orenstein continues, “When being desirable supplants desiring, sexual activity takes on a frightening dimension: it becomes an attempt to confirm one’s self-worth, one’s lovability, through someone else.” (63)

The suppression of women’s sexuality is not the only dimension; on the complete opposite end is the hyper sexuality expressed through sources like Playboy. Some would say that women being able to pose nude or barely there clothing is a sign of equality, but others say that it just increases victimization of females. Many people are fixed in their ways about female sexuality. Some think it will never change. Is gender equality in sex possible? I don’t think we will even become close to knowing until women are consistently taught from a young age that sex is natural, and men are reprimanded for outlandish sexual behavior and the victimization of women.

Cosmo Magazine

Peggy Orenstein Website