Response to Tricia's week 3 business post

I totally understand exactly what you are saying. Women generally feel they are never good enough simply because of what the media portrays as normal. I have recently lost a lot of weight and its funny I am at the weight of where I finally want to be and I sometimes still say to myself if only I can lose 5 to 10 more pounds I would probably look even better. It is a constant struggle with the mind. No number is really ever good enough if people do not like the way they look. Hopefully, for the females of the future they won't be so caught up in the way they are suppose to look and rather be happy with who they are as individuals.

Response to Johanna's week 3 business post

Johanna,

That post was so personal it must have brought back so many emotions while you were writing it. Wow. First off it is never okay for a man to put his hands on a female and vice versa no matter what the situation or problem is. When reading your post I thought about gender intimidation. Right when your friend rejected this "idiot" he obviously had poor self-esteem and couldn't take no for an answer. So the only way for him to feel better about himself was to rip apart your friend. Which is just so horrible and so demeaning. I also understand that you feel hatred for those men and the cops that night it is only natural. However, it is not fair to hold that image of men an cops to what happened that night. Not everyone acts that way and it will probably just take some time to let that anger go.

Response to Jennifer S. Week 3 Business post

Interesting post. When it comes to the military, women can definitely fulfil a very important role. The women and their roles should not just be the job of nurses and clerical work. If they feel they are able to train and fight alongside the men then they should not be treated differently. In allowing women to fight in combat this will keep equality between the sexes. By having a gender mixed military this will keep the military much stronger in attempts to work together. Women are capable to perform just as good as men. This country should support women if they want to join the armed forces. I understand this is not for all women and not all people agree but people should be able to do what they feel they are capable of doing.

Business post week 3

Bodily Objectification of Woman is such an important issue. Women are constantly being objectified in the media. It is sad to know that we are seen in a way that "dehumanizes" us. Generally, men, for the most, part find it hard to see how woman truly are because they have such a hard time looking beyond our exterior. We are more known for what type of body we have rather than what we have to offer. Many times, when women are portrayed on television attempting to sell something, they are dressed in revealing clothing and have numerous close-up shots referencing their body. This really doesn’t settle too well in my stomach. There is such a double standard between men an women and it upsets me to know that in 2008 this is still going on. I would love to see the day when women are personified just the way men are.
Due to the observation stated above, I feel this contributes to giving young girls low self esteem and a sense that they have a poor body image. The effect that the media has on the young girls today is such a tight grip and it is almost like they are suffocating them. They feel pressure to look a certain way as well as act a certain way. I don’t think it is fair. I feel like young girls are being deprived because they cannot grow up the way they want to because of the environment they live in. Instead, they feel they most conform to what the rest of society says is right. I guess this can hold true for boys as well. There is the pressure to be the best at sports and pressure to succeed with the girls. I am sure it is a constant struggle for both sexes.

Response to Johanna's Business Post

Hi,

Good blog I definitely understand what you are saying. I come from a typical close knit Italian family. My extended family is like my immediate family. We are always together from the the time I was little until now. We get together for everything. I have some friends who say they would never be able to tolerate it if they had to see their family for every little thing the way I do. When getting together for dinners in my family all the men sit on one end of the table and the women on the other. We also knew that we always had to serve them their food first before we would serve ourselves. I guess there are just some traditions that can never really be broken.

Response to Sireen's Business post

Hi,

I enjoyed reading your blog post. I felt you made a lot of valid points. It is really sad to know that from such a young age children are constantly being told how they should behave and act. Boys are always told to be tough and not to cry. Girls are told to be respectful and act like a lady. It must be especially hard for children who don't feel they possess the right qualities. They grow up to feel inadequate with themselves. If society would just start seeing individuals as people instead of the gender qualities they possess the world would be a lot better off.

Week 2- Business Post

Women for the most part are constantly being objectified. It is sad to know that we are seen in a way that "dehumanizes" us. "Women are frequently defined by appearance or by relationships with others, whereas men are more typically defined by activities, accomplishments, or positions."(pg,119)
Generally, men, for the most, part find it hard to see how woman truly are because they have such a hard time looking beyond our exterior. We are more known for what type of body we have rather than what we have to offer. Many times, when women are portrayed on television attempting to sell something, they are dressed in revealing clothing and have numerous close-up shots referencing their body. There is such a double standard between men an women. I would love to see the day when women are personified just the way men are.
The effect that the media has on the young girls today is such a tight grip and it is almost like they are suffocating them. They feel pressure to look a certain way as well as act a certain way. I don’t think it is fair. I feel like young girls are being deprived because they cannot grow up the way they want to because of the environment they live in. Instead, they feel they must conform to what the rest of society says is right. I guess this can hold true for boys as well. There is the pressure to be the best at sports and pressure to succeed with the girls. I am sure it is a constant struggle for both sexes.
I feel women and men can come together to attempt to achieve equal rights and respect for women on a much higher scale then it is today. I would like to believe for the future that in a number of societies discrimination against women will no longer exist. I would also like to think that the ideas for sexist advertising which portrays women in a negative light will stop. If this should happen, I think women all over the world will be able to gain the same exact dignity and clout that men are usually always handed.

Business post

I particularly enjoyed reading about the social learning theory. I have previously learned about this topic in another class I took here at Rider. It was behavior modification. In that class we spoke about the social learning theory, imitating and negative and positive reinforcement as well as many other topics. So when I read about the social learning theory all the previous information I learned quickly came back to me. The social learning theory to me is such an interesting topic. It has been said that"children learn gendered behavior from their environment." This statement is so true. For example, if a male child sees their dad always working with tools, 9 out of 10 times they, too, are apt to need to be working with tools. The behaviors that a person can learn through imitation is amazing. This is especially true in a situation of a parent. They are "always on" and their children are watching their every move to imitate behavior regardless of whether it is good or bad. For example, when I am upset or angry, I always have to be aware of the words that come out of my mouth because if I don’t, my four-year old picks up on everything that I am saying. It’s funny at times. He occasionally hears the "bad word" and then looks at me and says "mommy don’t say that - it’s a bad word." Or he’ll say "don’t say that bad word because you know I say what you say." Another example is when he sees me watching television. He will try to be the exact way I am sitting thinking that it is the right way to sit and watch television.
Also, through the social learning theory, it is explained how we, as individuals, are learning gender. Starting from the time we are infants, our culture and/or society began to teach us how to be a boy or a girl. At such an early age, my son already is aware that he is a boy and boys like sports, playing rough and enjoy working with tools. My son enjoys all those things. By being around his father and male family members they, too, reinforce all of those behaviors.

All new to me

Hi all,

This is my very first time blogging. I feel a little overwhelmed. Hopefully I will get the hang of it.

Jenai F.