First Steps Toward Equality

by Jamin Shih

Throughout studying gender and gender inequalities, a question always arises that seems gargantuan and unsolvable. How can gender inequality be rectified? The truth is, it is difficult if not impossible to achieve and even harder to conceptualize the process that would be needed. However, after researching throughout the semester about the plights of various minority groups, it seems that there is a preliminary step that many people miss before attempting to fight oppressive patriarchy. Before we can turn on the system, it is important not to turn on each other.

It seems like an interesting if implausible occurrence but I firmly believe that the way American society is set up, it is significantly easier to turn on individuals or other groups than it is to fix the overarching problem, and that is just what people have done. In this article about male issues with body image, it should become apparent that everyone is in the struggle together, but a comment says it all:

I give absolutely zero shits if guys are struggling with their body image due to media et al. You know why? Because women get it 50x worse. And it will never change.

I do not want anyone to ever feel bad about their bodies-- that is a hell I know very personally and everyday is a struggle. However, until we get a real response to what women go through, I am not throwing my support behind the other gender's problems anytime soon.

It took me a few reads to fully process both the hypocrisy and the ridiculousness of this statement. Here, this woman completely understood and could potentially sympathize with male body image issues, but vehemently did not support the cause- NOT because it was not a valid issue, but because she felt that her plights needed to be serviced first.

This is a kind of fallacious thinking. When searching for gender equality, we cannot simply focus on the parts of patriarchy that harm ourselves. As our readings have shown, privilege does not exist in a vacuum. It is an intersection of many labels. A person can have the disadvantages of being female, but still have the privileges of being white or well-off. A more conventionally attractive person holds privilege over those that are too dark or too pale or even too scrawny or large. If gender equality is to be achieved, it is necessary to pursue equality in all of these areas and stop focusing simply on our own problems.

When various groups fight amongst themselves, the larger problem remains unsolved. This is why it is important to show men how they are harmed by gender inequality as well. It is important to make this issue a human one, not simply a women's issue. Only through the collective power of all individuals can actual change be created. Otherwise, we will stay firmly divided groups that waste time and energy blaming each other for our plights.

Rape Culture and Stand-Up Comedy

by Jamin Shih

As we have discussed in our class recently, the media plays a role in the attitudes and perceptions of people in society. It also reflects the ideas present. This one-two punch makes media especially powerful because not only does it continue to air opinions and attitudes that are prevalent in society [and may be problematic], it also influences our thinking in the process. One aspect of American society that is of major concern nowadays is rape culture. Rape culture is the idea that attitudes about rape and rape victims are in part responsible for the relatively common occurrence of rape. A 2010 survey reports that rape is more common than smoking in women. This is a huge problem and it is time to examine what parts of the media are partially responsible and what we as a society can do to rectify the situation.

Stand-up comedy is a collection of jokes generally with an overarching theme told by a comedian to a live audience. In addition to jokes about spouses, pets, and sex, rape and sexual assault are relatively common topics. Rape jokes are inherently controversial, as are jokes about many crimes, but it is interesting to see how different comedians approach the subject (if at all) and how consumers respond to it.

Recently, Daniel Tosh [a comedian and star of the show Tosh.0] came under fire for this account of telling a rape joke. The audience member was reportedly heckled for disapproving of rape jokes and left the theatre humiliated after being the victim of another rape joke from Tosh. Almost instantly, the blog post received countless reblogs and comments. The owner of the comedy club later responded with this alternative account of the story where Tosh is portrayed in a slightly more sympathetic light. Tosh also apologized on twitter and linked directly to this post.

An interesting tangent to Tosh's predicament are the claims from some of those offended that rape jokes are not inherently offensive; they are offensive only if they make light of rape and contribute to rape culture. One user linked to a stand-up act from Wanda Sykes about detachable genitalia where she briefly mentions rape. Her joke was received significantly better, possibly because [as the user said], the joke was not making fun not of rape victims but of the ridiculousness of rapists. While this point does seem to have some merit, it should be noted that later on in the act, Sykes makes a gang rape joke that may be similar to the portrayal that Tosh made.

It is very difficult to say for sure where the line is for comedy. What is offensive and unacceptable and what is simply toeing the line in an effort to make social commentary?

The Future of Inequality

Our last unit for class is a lot about the future of inequality. After all of the readings and discussions we have had, I truly feel that is almost no hope for TOTAL equality for men and women. I do feel that there will definitely be progress, but I don't truly think that, at least in my lifetime, there will be real equality. I know that progress has been made, actually quite a bit of it, which gives me hope. I found a blog dedicated to the idea of the progress of equality for women. It talks a lot about Hilary Clinton and her beliefs on the issue. She explained that a lot of progress has been made, which actually gave me a lot of hope. In the blog it said,

She pointed to several other signs of progress:

• Women are the majority of students in law schools
• Women are the majority of students in college
• Women were the majority of voters in 2004
• The U.S. House of Representatives has a woman speaker (Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.)
• Harvard University has a female president

I think that all of those things are a very big deal, but when compared to many other countries in the world, it is almost nothing. Other places have had female presidents, women have been able to vote for much longer, and women have more control over their bodies. Again, I think all of these things show progress, but we are still far behind and I think we will be for a long time. In the long run, I think all of these things are somewhat insignificant compared to what they could be. I'm  not saying the points aren't important, but at this time in history, it should be much more than just small statistics. 

The day we have a woman elected president, women are allowed total control over their bodies, and are paid equally for the same job as men, they will be equal. I believe that until then, nothing that happens really matters, it is just progress, but progress does not mean equality.  This class really opened my eyes and made really want equality, but also made me a little more negative than I had been. It feels like there is almost nothing that can be done because the equality is so deeply rooted that only time can change it. I feel that with as much time that has already gone by with so little changes, it will take even longer to see real equality. Like I said, I don't expect to see any real changes within my life. 

http://outofmymindblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/on-hillary-clinton-gender-equality-and-the-future-of-politics/

Elizabeth Kramer

Gender Equality throuhgout the U.S.

by Jeff Cline

Gender equality is a huge issue within the United States and is constantly making the news.  There are tons of law suits and court cases all involving gender equality in the workplace.  I have attached an article that i read about cities throughout the United States that are top 10 in gender equality.  You will be able to look them up if you decide to read this article.  As I was reading i found it interesting to read why some cities have a greater equality and why some are lower.  Overall though, the idea of gender equality is becoming a real thing.  Just the ability for women to get higher education and the same education as a male has helped to significantly increase women's impact in the workplace. Michele Leber, Chair of the National Committee on Pay Equity stated that the fact that women are receiving this higher education will eventually help the workplace to have gender equal workforces.  However, it will take time for women to reach the level that men are on now.  Men have been getting the highest level of education for the longest time and women are just now becoming expected to get the same education as a man.  The article also talks about how working in the public sector has allowed for more equal pay.  The reason is most likely because of the ability to see each person’s income.  This would explain why Washington D.C. is among the top in gender equality in the United States.  I think this article was cool because it showed the top cities for equality and for inequality.  So hopefully you will all be able to take a look.

This is the website:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/05/13/the-10-cities-with-the-greatest-and-least-sex-equality

Mass Media Influence: What Influences Us?

Many articles and blogs I found about the media were pretty much the same. They talked about the media indoctrinating us and making us want to buy things, act certain ways, and look certain ways. The thing I found the most interesting was a post I found about how the media affected people of different ages and genders. 

It is obvious that we are all affected by the media. I know I am. If I see a commercial for food, I usually want it. For makeup, I always want to look like the girl who wears it. The media is good at what it does. This article explains what certain people are looking for, or basically, how the media influences people. The part I found most interesting was when it explained each part.

It explains, "While men usually find it difficult to hold themselves back in the face of the allure of sexuality. Other subjects which also appeal to men are financial security and a luxurious hassle-free lifestyle. Women on the other hand are more tempted towards products which guarantee immunity from aging altogether and not just what the previous generation called 'aging gracefully". 

Basically, this article is saying that in order to get men to do things, we need to shove sex in their faces. If that doesn't work, they like money and no hassle, which makes complete sense. The media takes what men want and like, or aspire to have, and let them think they can have it. Women like things that make them think they are immune to growing old, or, in other words, looking old and less beautiful.

I think in order for the media to have the effect it does on society, it is important to realize these things. It also talked about the influence it has on children, who are much more likely to be affected by the media. "There is a burgeoning need amongst the youth to be accepted as a part of a group, to be popular, to have friends and relationships with people of the opposite sex etc." This explains that younger people feel the need to be accepted by everyone else, so the media will portray that in its commercials and TV shows. The children who are not the same as everyone else are shown to be ostracized. This makes kids think that in order to be popular, they need to look or act a certain way. I think this article gave really good insight into the mind of the media and shows how well they know society. It also shows why we, as a society, are so easily affected by the media. They know us too well!

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mass-media-influence.html

Elizabeth Kramer

Wage differences between men and women - sexist or functional?

As we were reading and discussing the job market and the differences in wages between men and women, I really wondered what exactly it was. It seems like after this long, there HAS to be a good reason women get paid so much less than men for the same job. While doing some research, I came across an article that was in Forbes magazine, with the same title as this blog entry. It asked the question about whether or not the wage difference was functional. In the article it explained something called "firm specific skills", which basically means skills that an employee could only get from working at a specific firm. It is more likely for men to be hired, according to this, because they have more of a chance to get firm specific skills. It takes someone a long time to be trained to do specific things. You can't just find someone off the street and show them how to work somewhere. It takes time to be good at a job, which is also getting those firm skills. It explains that women have these skills less because they need to take more time off due to child birth and taking care of children. The article explains that according to that theory, women should get paid less because they have less firm-specific skills. In order to see if that was true though, there had to be research done. Just because women couldn't, in some cases, work as long as men straight through, doesn't mean they don't have the same skills, so there was a study done at temp agencies, where firm specific skill wouldn't matter because all jobs were temporary. Men still make $29.66 on average to a woman's $25.08. This shows that for the same exact job, men still got paid more for no actual reason. So, the article concludes that "firm specific skills" is a good idea to explain the wage gap in theory, but in reality it really doesn't matter. No matter what, women still get paid less than men for the same exact job and there is no reason behind, besides the ones we have discussed in class. I think this article did a really good job of explaining the theory behind it, and the whole idea of the the firm specific made sense. I could understand women getting paid less in certain places because they really are less permanent. If I knew an employee was going to be gone for a year, I would definitely not be as likely to hire them and pay them equally because it would be obvious that the job would not be priority number one. But in every other reason, I think this article is correct.

The article can be found here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/freekvermeulen/2011/02/28/wage-differences-between-men-and-women-sexist-or-functional/

Elizabeth Kramer

Defensive Othering in the LGBT Community

by Jamin Shih

An interesting mechanism that is discussed in one of the readings is defensive othering. In the article, which describes how female rugby players manage their gender identities in a stigmatized field, the author describes how stigmatized minorities will often perpetuate their own negative stereotypes by exempting themselves from them but inadvertently confirming the stereotypes. This is remarkably true for the homosexual community. Homosexual males and females are generally treated in different ways by American society; male homosexuals tend to be significantly more controversial due to a male-dominated mindset where males being "unmasculine" is more offensive than females being "unfeminine". However, on the flip side lesbians are often ignored and invisible as straight girls "going through a phase" or being gay for the purpose of male enjoyment.

Because of this difference, male homosexuals have a much larger discrepancy between those considered "masculine" and those considered "feminine" and both sides have some animosity towards the other. Male homosexuals that identify as more feminine often accuse more masculine homosexuals as pretending to be masculine or putting on a front. This reinforces the idea that there is an essential nature to homosexuals- that all male homosexuals essentially act the same and those that do not fit in with the stereotype are pretending. More masculine homosexuals, on the other hand, often engage in a form of defensive othering where they claim that not all homosexuals fit the effeminate stereotype but then distance themselves from the stereotype and reinforce the notion that those who are effeminate are somehow inferior.

Just as in the case of the female rugby players, this ultimate hurts both sides as it reinforces notions of hegemonic masculinity which involves compulsive heterosexuality.

This discrepancy is most easily seen through online discussions of LGBT issues. On an article about straight-acting homosexuals [which fits into the argument that more masculine homosexual men are simply pretending due to internalized homophobia]. While this is not the best article about the topic, some of the comments do demonstrate this divide.

"If you really are do have an inner bitch, queen or princess, great. Let her rip…be yourself, we may even become fast friends but don’t call me names because I’m not attracted to you because of your inner bitch, queen or princess."

"I agree with you. Straight-acting is just that: ACTING."

"I feel so disillusioned in the gay community. We preach tolerance and acceptance, yet we’re not willing to accept a gay man who’s a little too effeminate for our standards, or we cant accept a gay man being naturally masculine without accusing him of putting on an act."

How the Media Controls Society

by Jeff Cline

This week in the discussion board we talked about the media and the effect it has on society today.  I have attached a video that i felt represented this subject very well.  The men in the video talked baout how the media and political groups are all working to control the minds of the people.  At the beginning of the video they talk about professional sports and how the media has labeld those superstars as people that especially men look up to and praise for what they do.  The leadership that these allstars have has allowed them to control what us as men do.  We find the need to relate to these sports stars and follow them with everything they do. 
At about 5:50 in the video a man comes on and talks about the audiences control.  We as memebers of the audience can have control when we realize what the media is doing.  When we realize the attempt of the media trying to control us the media loses their edge.  The man also suggest that we get to know our neighbors and us thepeople around us to relate with, not the TV and media.  Today's audience allows the media to make decisions for them.  We feel the need to follow what is happening in the media and what the media portrays as the "right" thing to do.  Everyone is looking for that leader who will tell them what to do and how to do it instead of thinking on their own making a decision based on their own opinions.

Watch this video!
How the media controls Scoiety video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOQ1jZOj_ho

Notice the begining of the video where it talks about professional sports!  Go Kansas City! Cheifs and Royals! Thought it was ironic it showed up in the video because i am from KC.

Slut Shaming and the SlutWalk

by Jamin Shih
 
To be honest, slut shaming is not a topic that I fully understand, and despite my interest and research into it recently I still do not feel knowledgeable enough to confidently write about it. Nonetheless, I find the topic to be very interesting, but more than that I enjoy reading debates about the topic to see the general points of both sides of what could still be considered quite a contentious issue. To the best of my understanding, slut shaming is the act of referring to female sexual expression as a negative thing [hence names such as 'slut' or 'whore']. It also involves the double standard of sexual expression. Whereas men who participate in casual sex may be celebrated by other parties [called a 'pimp' or congratulated], women who do the same are labeled more negative names.

This is not to say that opponents of slut shaming are advocating for unprotected or dangerous sex, it is to say that a person's sexual life is their own business and as long as all parties involved are honest, safe, and consenting then it should not be a problem.

The idea of slut shaming may also have to do with American society's obsession with female virginity, as compared to male's. Female virginity is pure and sacred, whereas society almost "gives up" on male sexuality under the pretense that it is inevitable that males will have sex. This is reinforced by telling young girls that "boys only want one thing" as well as the pervading notion that all males are willing at any time to have sex [this leads to the notion that male homosexuals are extremely promiscuous and also the shaming of male virgins as non-masculine, to some extent].

Slut Shaming also presumably reinforces rape culture, because girls that can be labeled "sluts" are "asking for it" by their style of dress or reputation for casual sex [whether or not their reputation is true]. It has also spurred on the idea of SlutWalk in cities such as San Francisco, New York, and Toronto as sites of active protest against the idea.

Traditional vs. Modern Marriage

by Jeff Cline

This article that i have attached almost  identical to the topic we had talked about in this weeks discussion.  The idea of Traditional and Modern Marriage are deeply discussed and compared.  The article talked about how traditional marriage is fading as the style of marriage.  Traditional marriage was the idea that our grandparents followed to a "T".  The man was the provider while the woman was the home keeper.  The two separate roles were expected years ago.  The article talks about how today's modern marriage, including same-sex marriage and opposite sex marriage, still include partners will shared roles.  The roles in today's society are not separated between a couple but shared. Both partners are sharing the role of supporting and providing for a family as well as helping out around the house.
The article also talked about how the modern world has also change the idea of the role in the house.  With the invention of the microwave, washing machines, dish washers, etc. has lowered the responsibilities around the home.  Microwave dinners can be purchased at the store and time is saved with automatic washers.  So the role to fill is not as large as in traditional times.  Also with the increase in women's education and opportunity for employment has helped women grow into the economic world.
Modern marriage has grown to be accepted by the modern world and the idea of sharing roles within a household has grown to be expected.  This article does a great job to explain traditional and modern marriage and how society has changed over time to accept modern marriage.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-14/the-economic-case-for-same-sex-marriage.html

Campus Bullying of Homosexuals

In one of the readings we were assigned by Don Sabo, "Masculinities and Men's Health", the health of men is discussed, both physical and mental. It is about age, color and sexuality of men, and how those things affect overall health. Something that I found interesting was the small part about the mental health of gay and bisexual men. It says that the social responses of being gay or bisexual can impact the health of these men and may lead to emotional confusion and even suicide. They have to deal with homophobia everywhere, even in the healthcare field, which can cause health problems not only mentally, but also physically. They can even lose health insurance, according to the article, if their homosexuality is known.
The part of this article I chose to do more research about is the emotional damage being gay has on young men, specifically college-aged. An article I found on ABC news stated,
 "According to a recently released study by Campus Pride on how gay students are treated in higher education, gay students experienced significantly greater harassment and discrimination, and they were more likely to seriously consider leaving school because of it."


I knew that it was a big problem among people my age, but I didn't know how bad it has become. The article I read was about a young man who ended his life after his roommate put a video of him having sex with another man on the internet. It was the fifth gay suicide in three weeks, according the the article. It described the situations on all of the cases, and stated that almost none of the bullies were being charged with any sort of crime. 

In the article it discussed how, as a society, we could make homosexuality more acceptable. A big part was to have openly gay celebrities discuss it to let everyone know homophobia is not okay. Celebrities discussing it would open up the topic to the people who really need to hear it.

As I said before, I knew gays being bullied was a problem, but I didn't realize the real effect it had. I had no idea there were so many suicides occurring because of it. I think it is awful it is such an epidemic and nothing is being done about. I have heard there are support groups and clubs for LGBT, but it seems like that is obviously not enough. There needs to be actual punishment for bullying, especially if that bullying ends in injury or suicide. It is disgusting to me that these bullies in the article were not charged when they clearly had a large impact in the suicide.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/gay-teen-suicide-sparks-debate/story?id=11788128#.T-vKZBdfEpU

Elizabeth Kramer

Body Image vs TV Image

by Jeff Cline

Continuing this weeks discussion questions and one of my fellow bloggers i have decided to comment and write more about body image and the toll it takes on people.  I found this article by Yale Daily News.  It is an article discussing the conversations between a panel of professors, sexual educators, and the cheif of Health at Yale University.  This article talks about how men and women are categorized based on how we are taught.  We are taught that men have bodies that do things and that women are displayed.  Women are looked at as objects of display and used for the sexual desire of others while men are considered the machines that are expected to perform.
These images that are taught to everyone has caused women and men to feel the need to meet those requirements to be accepted.  A woman who does not see herself as a sexual desire to other will more likely have problems with their bodily image.  This is what leads to eating disorders and even weight gain.  The article also talked about what has led to the images everyone expects.  Movies and TV were labeled as the biggest influence on stereotypes we get for men and women.  One of the professors stated that if they are going to put sex on TV then they need to make it "ugly and messy and funny" because that is what it really is.  The images that TV puts out there has coused people to expect a perfect romance and everything to go as planned.  People feel they need to look that way or do things a certain way to be accepted. The images on TV should not be condsidered the perfect image.  Yale has students who are raising awareness of mental disorders caused by body image and are hoping to help people to see life how they live it and not how TV lives it.
http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/feb/07/panel-discusses-body-image-sex/

Secondary Sex Characteristics and Societal Pressures

by Jamin Shih

Secondary sex characteristics (like body or facial hair, the development of breasts, and voice changes) occur to demonstrate an individual's sexual maturity. They are a marker of gender in many cases and are a relatively clear indicator of pubescent state. However, an increasing trend in American society is the general distaste for secondary sex characteristics and this does not match historical attitudes.

This article from a column briefly talks about how expectations have changed for women about what amount of body hair is acceptable. Photographs from years past lack the obsession with hairlessness in women that characterizes sexuality today. Indeed, the same can be applied to men (although it can be acceptable for men to be hairy, there is an increasing trend in finding male body hair repulsive). In older forms of media, male body hair is seen as a positive trait, one that denotes age or manliness. Nowadays, many male celebrities wax or shave for blockbuster movies.

This scholarly article (which is over 300 pages, and thus I regrettably lack the time to read completely) has a handful of very helpful graphs that demonstrate this cultural attitude and the distaste for body hair. The graphs (on pages 250 - 302) show that many university students feel that to be beautiful is to be relatively hairless.

A reason for this may be rooted in the recent obsession with youth in American society. The idea that getting older is not a good thing, the mass marketing of age-reducing wrinkle creams and hair dye to cover gray hairs work in tandem with the almost anti-pubescent nature of mass-shaving and waxing. Combined with the fashion trend of models lacking much breast development (with the exception of lingerie models), it is interesting to question what forces are at work at stigmatizing or downplaying secondary sex characteristics and why.

Social Media and Body Image

One of our discussion questions for the week is about using body image to maintain power over people and if bodies are an important way of maintaining power in society. I think the body is a very important way to maintain power. Attractiveness is important in daily life, as we have seen in previous lessons, and in the last discussion board when we listed five things we do to make ourselves more attractive everyday. Obviously people care about how they look if they are willing to go to such great lengths to make themselves better looking. People who are more attractive have more power over others because others want to emulate them,  have the attractive person like them, or simply just be associated with them. A good body image is necessary to go far in life and to make people like you.
A big part of today's society is social media, which I've always thought has a lot to do with body image, but never have seen any proof. Facebook is arguably the biggest social media website. With all of the pictures, statuses, and comments people post, it is no wonder that facebook has such a large effect on its users. People naturally want to project the good things going on in their lives to show off, and facebook is the easiest way to do that. In the summer girls post pictures in tiny bikinis, and men show off their six-pack they have been working on all summer. People only show the good things going on, not the bad, so naturally, people compare themselves to how well they think everyone else is doing. The problem is, when you only compare yourself to other's good things, you're in for some negatives. In The Baltimore Sun, they posted a study that said that 75% of facebook users were unhappy with their body. Also, 51% said facebook made them more conscious about their weight. Again, this is no surprise with all the pictures people put up of themselves, but it definitely creates a bias. The "normal" looking people don't put up pictures, so no one is comparing themselves to what they should be. This goes for media in general, but since facebook is such a big deal in today's world, it makes the biggest difference. Considering how important body image is for success, I think it is very sad that social media can have such a large effect.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-03-28/health/bal-poh-facebook-and-poor-body-image_1_body-image-facebook-users-social-networking-sites
Elizabeth Kramer

Sexual Division of Jobs and Chores for Adolescents and Young Adults

by Jamin Shih
 
This topic has always interested me because I've felt its effects first hands. The majority of, if not all, chores and jobs are gendered. That is, it has been decided by our society that they are either a "man's job" or a "woman's job" and this has implications both in the home and on the unofficial job market. As many adolescents grow into their teenage years, they'll search for jobs. However, if their job interests do not line up with the genderedness of the jobs, then they may have a difficult time finding one.

There was an article that I read back when I was a child about how girls were rarely hired for mowing the lawn or shoveling snow whereas boys were rarely hired to babysit or watch pets. This hurts both genders because they are limited to jobs that society tells them are appropriate- similarly to some aspects of the adult job market.

This translates to chores as well. Young girls are instructed to do such chores as mop the floor, help cook dinner, and wash the dishes whereas young boys are told to mow the lawn, take out the trash, and shovel the snow. While both boys and girls are generally doing the same number of jobs, it is important to look at the time commitment that creates an inequality between the two.

"Girls'" chores are those that must be done everyday. Sometimes even multiple times per day! Boys chores are often weekly events. Thus, boys tend to do fewer hours of chores per week than girls. This is again due to the genderedness of jobs. Boys who want to babysit [or like to wash dishes] will be hard-pressed to find jobs that fit that just as girls who prefer physical labor like mowing the lawn.

Unfortunately, I could not find the academic article I was referring to, but I found an article that has roughly the same information and quotes from the one I read a while ago. This can be found by clicking here.

Homosexual Boy Scouts? What About Gay Girl Scouts???

This week's reading made me think a lot about the inequalities between men and women I see everyday. I mostly thought about myself and other people I know who either follow the norm or who don't, and how they are treated differently. Something I never really thought of was the gay community and how I have seen in the past that gay men and lesbian women are treated differently. Although neither are widely accepted, I have definitely seen that more lesbians are accepted than gay men, which made me want to do a little more research on that topic. Although not directly related to the topic, I found a letter to the editor for the LA Times about the Boy Scouts being allowed to involve gay leaders and members. Thus far, it has not been allowed to have gay members.

Besides the obvious importance of this article, I thought it was very interesting that there is nothing similar for Girl Scouts. There has been nothing in the news (to my knowledge) about anything concerning lesbians in Girl Scouts, and if there has, it definitely hasn't gotten the same amount of coverage. Boy Scouts are outdoorsy, manly, and like to do "manly" things, which is why I would assume gays, who would, according to the stereotype, not be those things, wouldn't be allowed in. The girl scouts are about being caring and helping others, which is I would think lesbians would be more accepted in that group than gays in Boy Scouts.

Again, my thoughts on this topic don't directly relate to this article, but it has bothered me that gay women seem to be more accepted than men, and the idea of this article demonstrated my thoughts. A woman was involved in this, but not about Girl Scouts, just about wanting to help her son. It shows inequality for men, specifically gay men. The Boy Scouts, as a whole, is meant to create "principled young men", according to the article, but all this is teaching them is inequality for certain men. A principled young man does not have to be straight, like the outdoors, or be manly. The Girl Scouts was made to do the same thing; make well-rounded women, and yet, lesbians are allowed to be involved. The difference in the gender treatment on this topic definitely caught my attention, and I wish there was more about it.

(http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-gay-scouting-20120613,0,7381538.story)


Elizabeth Kramer

The Gender behind HIV/AIDS

by Jeff Cline

 
So i finally figured out how to get on to this blog here.  I am not the most technologically person!  So hello to my three classmates who will be participating in this blog.  I was reading through regular news articles online and came upon and article that had to do with HIV/AIDS.  However, the article was not only about this world wide disease but how it is viewed by men and women.  The focus of women and HIV/AIDS has grown to be main attention of this disease.  Men are still a big part of the disease but the main attention is on the women and how it affects them.
As i read this i began to think why is the attention more on women.  And in my head i began to think that maybe it is because of the stereotype that men have related to sex.  Men are considered the dominant person and the one in control.  So by that definition a man is the one who decides to be "stupid" and spread this disease to innocent women.  A woman is considered the one victimized by the acts of a man.  And in some cases i would agree this is the truth and men should take more responsibility but i do not think that it only pertains to women being victims.  A man or woman who does not take into consideration their well being and allows themselves to infect another person is the criminal. 
A woman and man are both just as vulnerable in this situation.  I do not agree that a man should be put on the side of criminal just because of the definition of masculinity.  A masculine man is dominant and in control but in the sense of a HIV/AIDS a man should not be automatically considered the criminal.  And the woman should not be considered the vulnerable innocent female. 
I thought this article was very interesting considering that the focus of this disease truly has come from the stereotypes of men being in control and the women being innocent victims.  Hope you guys have some comments or thoughts. 
I hope this is how this is supposed to work!

Jeff Cline

Assimilation of Homosexuals in the Bay Area

by Jamin Shih

Lots of media attention has been garnered towards the lives and tribulations of homosexual youth in various more conservative areas of the United States as well as more liberal cities such as New York and San Francisco. However, the discussion generally ignores the sizable population of homosexual youth that do not grow up in one of these two extremes. While the presumed gay-friendly metropolises seem to create a nice and simple dichotomy with the presumed anti-gay fields in the Midwest, suburbs across America have a growing and largely invisible problem regarding the differences between public opinion and private opinion, that is the problem of how young homosexuals must "do sexuality" in the public and private quarters.

Using experience and research in the relatively bustling suburb in northern California that I've spent the last five years in, I've found a distinct disconnect between how young homosexuals in the area feel they must act at first to gain support as a newly openly gay individual and how they later feel is appropriate. For some background on the area, San Paolo [dubbed name] is a suburb in the Bay Area relatively close to San Francisco. It is generally more open and tolerant than some other areas that I have lived in, perhaps due to its proximity to such a progressive city. Despite this, there is a significant difference between the tolerance and acceptance that high schools in the area claim to perpetuate and the behaviors of high schoolers.

However, I do not claim that this is the experience of all young homosexuals in the country, or even of all young homosexuals in the community of which I studied. However, there is a significant population of individuals who have followed this path or feel this way, and thus their claims deserved to be mentioned.

The Westboro Baptist Church came to protest at the gates of a school in 2011 and the faculty and students rallied together in purple to show support for the "homosexual community" with signs and chants. However, this spirit rally was relegated to within the school, preventing any actual contact with the church. In addition, on the annual Day of Silence, in which LGBT individuals and their supporters don black tape to show support to the cause, I have witnessed several individuals either ripping down fliers advertising the event or communicating a desire to rip the tape off of those participating. In addition, an LGBT individual that I spoke to expressed frustration that some teachers would penalize participating students under the pretense that it interfered with class time.

Thus, while the external culture seems overwhelmingly supportive and tolerant as seen by the spirit rallies and general atmosphere on a good day, it hides the same prejudices that characterize homophobic hegemonic masculinity elsewhere in the country.

This disconnect can be extremely confusing for homosexual youth growing up in the area. The school does sport a Gay-Straight Alliance as well as teachers displaying a "Safe Space" sign outside their doors to signify that LGBT individuals should not feel threatened. Yet, school officials can only do so much in preventing the bullying, verbal or physical, that permeates the lives of individuals who fall into the gender transgression zone.

The first inclination of many newly out homosexuals is to envelope themselves in "pride". Being so close to San Francisco and the ideals of complete tolerance makes some individuals feel that they must make it "official", so to speak, taking their new self-identities to Facebook, where previously those aspects of their lives were fairly invisible online. Common actions include "coming out" on Facebook statuses, generally in an aggressive way (I find it fairly common to see such statuses include sentences similar to "if you don't like it, you weren't my friend anyway" or "if you hate now, then fuck you"), changing the "Interested in" section on Facebook to the appropriate same-sex, or editing the online biography. It is interesting to note that these changes often invoke homosexual stereotypes (one biography described a love for certain stereotypically homosexual hobbies followed by "what gay doesn't [like them] lol").

However, this attitude changes for many individuals when they realize that the community's outer facade may not match the realities of people's attitudes. Individuals have complained of actually losing friends or occasionally being distanced from friend's parents. Several individuals I spoke to had difficulties with their parents that may not have been predicted before "coming out". This often leads to a desire to assimilate, or return to what the status quo once was. If not returning to a heternormative identity (as at least one individual I spoke to did), emphasizing normalcy or a distaste for being tokenized.

What were once individuals that felt that they needed to be "out and proud" about their sexual identities become individuals who may become annoyed by both opponents and supporters alike. Indeed, my last count had the schools' Gay-Straight Alliance filled with significantly more heterosexual girls than homosexuals, bisexuals, or transgender individuals combined. While opponents' opinions and nuisances to LGBT individuals are relatively obvious, it is the occasional feelings of animosity towards supporters that is perhaps most surprising. A few individuals have complained of being seen only as members of their sexual identity or their hobbies judged based on how well they lined up with gay stereotypes. Increasingly, supporters may not realize these statements can be construed as offensive to individuals that are no longer "out and proud" but simply "out".

The disconnect between public and private attitudes to homosexuality in suburbs can be extremely jarring to young homosexuals trying to find their place in society. The transition between being fully closeted to "out and proud" to just simply "out" is one that not all individuals pass through, but it is an experience that a sizable population do. It is not only the struggle within an individual that is most difficult during the process of "coming out", it is the constant struggle with societal labels of masculinity and femininity and the constant seeking of approval from both opponents and supporters alike. Despite not being at either one of the perceived extremes, liberal metropolises or conservative countrysides, young homosexuals in quiet suburbs can face many of the same challenges as other homosexuals in perhaps a unique way.