Ladies! What is worse than being a lesbian!?
“I don’t want children.”
*GASP*
According to self proclaimed “VERY outspoken mother (and ex-boss)” Carol Sarler she can barely tolerate lesbians having children. She cannot, however, trust a woman cold and unfeeling enough to not want to have a family. And if you don’t have children, she certainly will not be hiring you.
Yet if she says she hasn’t a shred of maternal feeling in her, moreover, if she says she would prefer to concentrate on her career and that a child would only get in the way of it, then my head might acknowledge her right to do so. But my heart whispers: ‘Lady, you’re weird.’
Okay crazy woman. This is why women like Supreme Court candidate Elena Kagan is ostricized for not only being an unmarried 40-something year old woman. She also has no children. What is going through the minds of the Republican party (no offense guys)? Uh-oh…we either have a lesbian or something much much worse.
For some reason the idea that not all people, including plenty of women, have the desire to become parents, and more specifically, the idea that not all people who can have children, should, remain two of the most taboo things any person, particularly any woman, can say out loud.
And finally, for all you non-mommies out there. What do people usually say to you when you tell them you don’t have children, or that you don’t plan to have children? Wait! We already know! Here are a few of our favorites taken from alternet :
”Aren’t you worried about ending up old and lonely?”
”But you’d be such a great mom!”
”But they’re so cute!”
”But it’s natural.”
And my personal favorite:
Sigh.
The above pictures are Dora the Explorer, a cartoon character from a Nickelodeon show targeted at young viewers.
The first picture is how she appeared for the first few seasons of the show. She could be labeled a tomboy, in these appearances. She is wearing shorts, tennis shoes and is very adventurous.
In the second picture, we see the new and “improved” Dora. She has clearly grown up and has gone through a lot of changes. Her clothing is drastically more feminine: a floral dress, leggings, bright shoes and she is wearing considerably more jewelry. Her hair is much longer and she appears to be wearing makeup (at least lipstick).
What sort of message is this sending young girls? That it is ok to be adventurous and casually dressed when you are young, but as soon as you grow up you need to dress like a girl and be more feminine?
The change was brought on to attract an older and changing crowd, but I think they are insinuating that girls should dress like Dora does now.
What do you think of the changes Nickelodeon has made with the character of Dora?
The above images are all images that showed up on a Google search for “tomboy fashion.”
In fashion, a lot of items are called “Boyfriend Jeans” or “The Husband Shirt” to signify that they are meant to look as through they belong to men. Often times when women’s clothing is labeled as slightly masculine in its style, it is juxtaposed with a feminine adjective. For example, “pretty tomboy” or “tomboy chic.” Can tomboys not be pretty or chic on their own?
Do you think the concept of the tomboy has been altered by the fashion industry?
Roller Derby
Roller Derby. A sport popularized in the 1970’s when it was televised as a weekly special. The sport went into hiding for a while, but now it is back in full force!
Roller Derby is now played on a flat track and while some all-male teams are popping up across the country, most teams are all-female. The teams are given names, such as the Bronx Gridlock or the Heartless Heathers and their members are given intense, threatening and pretty funny names.
Some names include:
- Viagrrra Falls
- Beyonslay
- Donna Matrix
- Man-n-Sleaze
- Tip-Her Gore
- Diva de los Muertos
- Mean Cuppa Joe
The main debate among feminists and their thoughts on roller derby is if it puts women in the same category as strippers and cheerleaders (exploiting their bodies for entertainment) or whether it liberates women by allowing them to participate in a very rough contact sport.
Recently, roller derby has taken a lot of public notice. The main cause of this was the movie Whip It. Directed by Drew Barrymore, the movie shed some light on the underworld of roller derby in today’s society and got a lot of people talking.
Most women who are currently members of a roller derby team enjoyed the movie, but had issues with its portrayal of the rules of a bout (a competition) and the lack of the homosexual lifestyle involved.
What are your thoughts on roller derby? Do you think it empowers women or sets them back? Do you think the portrayal of the teams in Whip It were accurate compared to the real-life teams we link to above? Any other thoughts or comments on the issue?
An article from Details magazine (click picture above) about the redefining of masculinity that our society has encountered in the last decade.
Excerpts include:
…we’re witnessing the remasculation of the American man.
For too long, American masculinity has been reflexively associated with a panoply of frat-boy clichés. A “real man” was a middle-management guy who watched the game in old sweatpants, scratched his ‘nads, and ogled the pom-pom squad while drinking cheap beer, stuffing his face with chili dogs, burping volcanically, and complaining about the ol’ ball and chain. A real man was a pig, more or less. Or maybe a snake—a slithering hedge-fund pasha who was more than happy to eviscerate the national economy as long as it bolstered his stockpile of jet fuel and foie gras. Of course, neither stereotype reflects the complexity and variety of the male experience.
One of the old stereotypes that always come up when people talk about masculinity is, of course, the image of the caveman. And yeah, it’s probably true that the average loincloth-clad Cro-Magnon gent spent a lot of time grunting, fighting, and downing mastodons out on the savannah. But is that who you want to be? Think about it. That was your average caveman. It was the exceptional caveman who helped the tribe advance. He was the guy, after all, who went out and discovered fire.
What are your thoughts the article? Do you agree that the idea of “masculinity” is changing before our eyes? Do you think most men feel this way? Most women?
Questions About Transgender Issues? →
Click the above link and submit them to Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth, who is working on “Trans Bodies, Trans Selves,” a resource guide for transgender and other gender-variant people, covering health, legal issues, cultural and social questions, history and theory.
Dr. Erickson-Schroth will be answering questions for the next week or so, so submit any you may have to the Comments box on the articles page!
Cheaters! Adulterers! Womanizers! Did you have a nanny?
Because according to psychiatrist, Dennis Friedman, if you had a nanny growing up as child, then you learned how to be a womanizer from the cradle! Apparently, young boys learn all about the “other woman” when their mother’s kiss them goodbye and leave them in the hands of their au pairs.
“It creates a division in his mind between the woman he knows to be his natural mother and the woman with whom he has real hands-on relationship: the woman who bathes him and takes him to the park and with whom he feels complately at one.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/03/22/2010-03-22_when_boys_have_nannies_theyre_more_likely_to_become_womanizers_psychiatrist.html#ixzz0jDJDXz3g
Friedman goes on to implore women to not go to work until their children are at least older than the age of one. Friedman, spare us the old-fashioned dribble. Please show us some empirical data before you put women back thirty or forty years and give spouses yet another reason why it’s okay to cheat.
The World's First Legally Genderless Person →
A very interesting, and groundbreaking, article on a person, born a man 48 years ago, who changed sexes at the age of 28 and is now legally recognized as gender-neutral.
After reading the article, take a look at the comments on it. Some people are obviously afraid of such a big change, while some grasp it and defend the story.
What do you think about the article and gender-neutrality?
Is dividing the oscar awards by sex, sexist?
Kim Essler’s Op-Ed article, “And the Gender-Neutral Oscar Goes to…” is thought provoking. Do we really need to separate Oscars into male and female categories? Is it just another way to segregate women while convincing them while they are separate they are still equal? Or is it truly necessary to keep things fair? There doesn’t seem to be any easy right or wrong answer here, but in a society where men are casted in roles at a 3:1 ratio to women, would women ever actually win? These questions go out to the readers.
