Playlist

Barbie Girl - When I thought about creating a playlist about gender, this is one of the first songs that came to mind. It is just a typical stereotype for girls to have to live up to, to be perfect and have to live up to expectations of perfection.

You Belong With Me - I chose this song because it a situation many girls are faced with - they want a guy, the guy is taken by a girl that doesn't deserve him, and it is an account of the girls feelings throughout the whole situation.

Just a Little Girl - I was going through my iTunes and this caught my eye when thinking about gender. To me, this song looks at the more emotional side of how girls are. As a girl we just want to be loved and provided for, and that's what this song is about.

Party in the USA - I chose this song because it inspired me to be empowering as a woman.

She's a Lady - This is another song that I found very stereotypical about women.
If I were a Boy - I could relate to this song because it is truly how I feel things would be different if I were a boy. It basically talks about how boys have it so much easier than girls, with things such as body image and relationships.

Reading Response

In the reading, women in the home is discussed. It was surprising to me that it was Lesbian activists to finally stand up for these critical issues. It also talks about the male domination in the home, and how activists were trying to find a balance when raising their children. When I get older and have children, I personally want to be able to stay home with them. I don't look at it as a negative situation at all. Raising my family is important to me, and I want to be able to say that I played significant, influential roles in my children's lives.

But I thought we were the same?

The very first time I was at a ballpark I was two weeks old. While most girls were being all dolled up and shown off, I was running around the ball field. It could’ve been baseball, softball, or football, but if my dad or brothers were there, so was I. I absolutely adored the “men” in my life, and, of course, being the little sister I was, I wanted to be just like them. Whether we were playing ball or just hanging out around the house I wanted to do what they did. Looking back, I did not understand that I was experiencing gender, but now, I realize that I was discriminated against many times. In my life I did not have one specific occasion that made me realize gender, but many situations helped to form my opinion of gender and the impact it plays in my life.
One of the first times I can remember facing gender roles was when I was about seven or eight. My brother and dad would always walk around my house without a shirt on. I was at the age where I did not understand why I couldn’t walk around without a shirt on too. Every time that I would try this, my brother, Caleb, who is two years older than me, would always make fun of me or make a big deal about the fact. My mom would proceed to make me put a shirt on, which would lead to my getting angry and pouting.
I became a cheerleader when I was in the seventh grade. I would not be the first one to admit that our seventh grade football team was awful. As a cheerleader, you are expected to be optimistic and try to boost the morale of the team you are cheering for, but if the team that is playing is that dreadful, it can be an extremely hard task to achieve. One day after gym class I had an astonishing idea – why couldn’t I play football? It was known that I was just as fast, if not faster, than almost every boy in my grade. I thought that I surely could make a positive contribution to the team; after all, it couldn’t possibly hurt the team at that point. After consulting my parents, I was instructed to call and ask my older brother, Trent, who is a head football coach, his opinion. I had planned it out perfectly, asking him if there was a girl that would be beneficial to his team if he would let her play, and he said yes. Then, to my misfortune, he explained but not his sister.
The most shocking experience I have had with gender occurred the summer following my junior year of high school. It was definitely one of the “in the wrong place, at the wrong time” situations. School was finally over, and it was the first weekend of summer. A group of friends and I decided to go camping to kick off the fun. The evening was going fine, that was up until around one o’clock in the morning. Around that time, my night took a turn for the worst. I had an encounter with a “friend”, who is now an acquaintance, which would change my life forever. I was raped. To make matters worse, around a month later the inevitable happened – my “monthly time” didn’t come around. Shock was the first emotion that I went through, then anger, and finally acceptance. I had no idea why this had happened to me. My plan was to keep the baby, but I had an unfortunate miscarriage towards the end of September.
From experiencing these few trials, I have learned many things. Even with equal rights in mind, I feel that it is still inacceptable for a woman to walk around without a shirt. Although, I was young, and I do believe my brother made a far bigger deal than necessary. I understand now that my brother and coaches were only looking out for my best interest in not letting me play football. It is a great possibility that I would have been many opponents first target, and I could have gotten seriously hurt. With that in mind, I still think that they should have given me a chance. After all, the boys won maybe two games that season. Looking back at my camping experience, I feel that I am somewhat to blame. In the future, I plan on making wiser choices on who I hang out with, and I will look out for myself better.
All three stories have affected me, but I feel that one stands out from the rest. On our camping trip I know that if I hadn’t been a girl, then this would not have happened. This experience has affected me in more ways than I ever imagined. I thought I had some slight trust issues before, but now they exceed anything I can think of. For about six to nine months after the fact, I kept the motto, “like everyone, and trust no one,” constantly playing in my head. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about the baby I should have had. I will carry the emotional trauma of this situation for the rest of my life.
Now, with my familiarity with gender, I have become aware of the many gender roles I must play. As a young woman, I must dress respectable. It might be expected for me to be the “dolled up” girl all the time, but that is not the role I wish to play. Sometimes I do not mind wearing sweats, with little to no makeup on. It does not make me any less of a woman by doing so. I have also come to realize that it is my own role to take care of myself because in the end I could be stuck handling a significant situation all by myself, with the man that caused it being nowhere in sight.
Bernice Johnson Reagon once said “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” This quote is a good explanation of what I have learned from my many different gender experiences. They have come as challenges, but in no way stopped me from living my life.

Womens Studies and Working.

When it comes down to the truth, I honestly have no idea what I want to do with my life. I have no clue what vocation I want to pursue. I have literally changed my mind at least once a week just since I’ve been at OU. That being said, I have decided I will discuss some of my options right now.

Public Relations- If I decide to get a PR degree, I will use it to represent different large companies and organizations. Gender will play a significant role because some people might think that I am not as influential because I am a woman. It could also help because PR can sometimes be about publicity and it tends to be easier for a woman to get attention. A good course that I could take would be Gender, Politics and Leadership in Politics and Administration. This would be beneficial because it would help me to learn about the politics and types of leadership I could use in the workplace.

Sports Psychology- As a sports psychologist, I will be counseling athletes, and studying the emotional effects physical activity has on people. I’m not sure if gender would play a significant role as a sports psychologist. Women are often found in this profession. The issue I might face would be with salary. Courses that might be useful for me would be Women’s health, Women and Sports, and Body Image Vs. Reality. These would be helpful because they would give me insight on Women and physical activity, and how the emotional effects of body image are an issue.

Lawyer-Being a lawyer would bring quite a few gender role issues. Men are often more respected and receive more power than women. It would be helpful that I am decent at arguing, and I can typically get my point across. A few courses that would help me see if I would like to become a lawyer would be Women and the Law, Gender, Law and Human Rights, and Women and World Politics.

I worked as a gymnastics instructor for four years. I taught boys and girls ranging from the ages of 2 to 13. The main gender issue in gymnastics is that at those ages it is typically a girls sport. In the workplace I also received less pay than the men working there because the boss needed them to stay around. Men were hard to find to work there, and they are needed as spotters.

Iron Jawed Angels, and Reading Review

The movie Iron Jawed Angels was definitely an eye-opener for me. Women getting the right to vote was always something I knew existed, but never really thought about. I learned many new things because of this movie. I never knew just how radical the actions of these women were, and I learned that it is important to fight with every ounce of strength that you have within you for something that you truly believe in. The part that surprised me the most would have to be when they force fed Miss Alice Paul. It made me consider if I would go to through that extreme of a punishment just for something that I believe to be right. I believe the themes of this film to be fighting for what is believed to be right and true, and the questioning of gender roles. One of the biggest issues of tension would have to be that between the National Women’s Party and NAWSA. NAWSA didn’t believe that being radical and extreme would be the best course of action to receive women’s rights, while the NWP found it necessary to go to the extreme for what they were fighting for. In the end I believe they overcame this problem by realizing that they were fighting for the same cause, which brought them together and gave a greater respect for each other. After being arrested, which was later ruled unconstitutional, going through a hunger strike, and being force fed, all on top of the countless hours of lobbying for Women’s suffrage, they were finally able to achieve their political goals.

Reading Response

I liked that in FIFE it was clear that the focus was on ending sexism as the main definition of feminism. I also liked how there was an emphasis on all people being educated about feminism. I think that if people are better educated then feminism would have a greater impact in our lives.


Although I really appreciate FIFE, I have an issue with the fact that it is stated that one can’t not be pro-choice and be a feminist. Is it not equality for ALL people, no matter the race, gender or even point of views that we are fighting for?

My interview with SuzAnn Worley

Feminism is an issue that we have been dealing with for over a century, and it is an issue that over time continually changes. My mom, SuzAnn Worley, was born in 1963. When I asked her about her experience with gender she informed me that she feels that she has been treated differently because she is a woman. She stated that she was treated poorly in her workplace, and it was common for her to be talked down to. In her work and also in her life, she would be confronted with men treating her flirtatiously and acting perverted towards her. An issue that she doesn’t understand about men is why they think that they can treat women provocatively, just for the sole fact that she is a woman. Her history with feminism is that while growing up, feminism always had a negative connotation. She claimed that women that stood up for feminism were called “dikes.” Her definition of feminism is “believing is fair and equal rights because of qualification, not gender.” An experience that she had that made her conscious of being a woman was that she once had a stalker that would contact her through the mail. It made her feel vulnerable, and she feels that if she was not a woman that she would never have to go through that.

In today’s society, sex is everywhere. It’s in art, music, advertisements, television, etc. Because of this it is shocking to me to imagine a time when birth control and sexual education wasn’t around. Reading about the fight for those things really made me proud of the waves before us. I couldn’t imagine what our lives would be like without sex ed and contraceptives.
I personally am pro-life. I understand that some situations women should have the right to choose, but being a young woman that has faced similar situations I feel that choosing to terminate a life is not a positive choice.
I agree with the text in that the third wave isn’t nonexistent, they just don’t choose to be labeled. The things occurring in the third wave are exciting and the thing that sticks out to me to most would be keeping an open mind to all equality for all people, not discriminating against sex, race, sexual preference, etc.