"Like the term 'nigger,' 'bitch 'serves the social function of isolation and discrediting a class of people who do not conform to the socially accepted patterns of behavior." This quote comes from The Bitch Manifesto written by Joreen and many statements that she made echoed feelings that I have held in the past. Men and women use the term "bitch" to deter women from acting outside of their prescribed social roles and characteristics. When a women shows anger or aggression peers advise her "not to be a bitch about it." When women say things that others do not wish to hear, they are told to "quit bitching." This is a term that is meant to have a negative connotation, however I have respected women who would be labeled as "bitches."

Even though my mother was a "housewife" and my father the "breadwinner", my parents still raised a bitch. They taught me from a young age that I could aspire to be whatever I wanted to be and I have never questioned that to this day. My Father used to threaten to lock me in my room (to prevent me from competing-not that I ever did) when I went through a stage where I desired to be Miss America. I was raised to always voice my opinion, because it mattered. It is because my mother was a housewife and still raised me in the way she did that made me question the universality (even amongst middle-class white women) of the assertions made by Betty Friedan in "The Feminine Mystique."

Although both Firedan and Joreen had problems with essentialism within their manifesto's, they were both very important in bringing about momentum in the women's liberation movement. Both of their writings enabled the reader to find insight into their identity that they might not have been able to truly conceptualize without the assistance of others voicing it. For example, I realized that I was a true bitch:)

As I have been recently learning about the women who cleared the path in the fight for women's rights, I have realized what an utter shame it is that these events are not expanded upon in many school systems. I will be a college senior in the fall, yet this is the first class I have taken that has elaborated in any detail on the Woman Suffrage Movement. And before college, I had never been taught about the origins of women's rights at all.

I think that it is important to incorporate learning about this piece of history in our school systems. Females and males alike would benefit from learning about the struggles so many women went through to achieve the rights freely felt today. It would also enable girls to feel pride about their sex, and promote them not to remain placid, but to continue the fight until true equality is realized.

Unfortunately, we still have a ways to go before we reach the ultimate goal of equal respect and power. Susan B. Anthony believed that equality would occur once women were allowed to vote and make laws. While there have been huge strides in the right direction, I think that she would have expected us to be further in our quest by now.

We need to relearn the origins of the feminist movement in order to dispel the many stereotypes that are attached to the idea of feminism. In order to achieve all the goals laid out by the pioneers of the women's movement, we must regain momentum in the pursuit of complete equality for woman.

Grassroots organizations provide advocacy for many causes that would not get recognition without them. These organizations are pivotal in bringing about the awareness needed to promote change, and in many instances bring about change by going through the proper legal channels. However, despite their importance, many grassroots organizations can only hope to achieve minimal victories in their quest to advocate for their cause.

From the feminist perspective, it could be argued that these grassroots organizations lack the power that institutions of the state hold. These powerful institutions are founded on an andocentric ideology, and tend to find other issues more important than those fought for by grassroots movements. The state is also able to exclude institutions and favor others, which can also be detrimental to the causes of grassroots organizations that are not favored by the state.

The catch is that the grassroots organizations must be able and willing to work with the official power in place. The feminist perspective could also accuse the state of being oppressive over Grassroots organizations that must seek the support of the state. Because the state is able to pick and choose who gets what resources, grassroots organizations are at the state's mercy.

As a way of promoting awareness and gaining support for underrepresented causes, however, grassroots organizations play a vital role in bringing about change. They are able to lobby for their causes and gain support from politicians. Although these organizations don't always get accredited with changes that promote social well-being, you can be fairly sure they were behind the change in some fashion.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: Indeed it's the only thing that ever has."

-Margaret Mead

I would like to start out by saying that I do not believe that capitalism is the devil. With that being said though, I would like to add that capitalism benefits astronomically from the un-paid labor and public goods that many women provide. I was not surprised to learn that there is an estimated $11 trillion worldwide in unpaid labor. What women provide in day care and elder care alone would devastate the economy if ceased. Housework and other domestic duties that fall on many women to complete also enable employers to pay lower wages, because the employee does not have to hire outside help to complete those duties.

Of course the biggest public good that women produce are children. Most mothers raise their child by providing it with nourishment, emotional support, and socialization. This produces a well adjusted citizen who is able to work in the economy, pay taxes, and add to social security. This is a priceless public good that seems to be de-valued in our society, and there is truly something wrong about that.

I do not think that capitalism is to blame for the oppression of women, although I don't believe that it has allowed for us to go out of our way to fix that oppression. Overall, the amount of free labor that women provide must be given greater respect and recognition. Additionally, the priceless public good that women provide by supplying children should be revered and honored.

How We Learn Gender

Although I believe that biology has a part to play, I believe that most gendered traits are learned through socialization. However, gender socialization is so prevalent on a day to day basis, that it is difficult to determine which of the varying traits between the sexes are biological and which are socially constructed. Technology has even enabled family and friends to begin treating the expected child like it's a boy or girl, before the child is born.

There is a hilarious you tube clip that I recently watched and it provides the perfect example. Three children are in the back seat of the car dancing and singing along to "Single Ladies," two of the siblings are girls and the other is a little boy (around 3 years old). Well, the father in all innocence says "you're not a single lady buddy" which sends the little boy into a fit. Eventually the father tries to reassure the son that he can be a single lady if he wants to. Among my friends with children, I see parental gender socialization occur all the time. Whether they advise their son to stop playing with girl's toys, or get flustered with their little girl for getting her dress dirty, these actions help to develop the gender traits that are so ingrained in society.




In addition to parental socialization, peers and the media play an important part in gender socialization. Young children quickly learn whether their actions are acceptable based on the reactions of their peers. Someone completely unaware of gender roles could learn a great deal about them by watching T.V. commercials. It would be very interesting if we could discover what gender traits found amongst the sexes are completely biological, but that would be a seemingly impossible task.

*WMST 200 students: There seems to be a problem with my comment section. Feel free to leave a response to my blog on black board. Just title it -Katie's blog comment- or something like that. Sorry for the inconvenience!

From an early age little girls are taught to be sweet and subordinate. Good little girls don't raise their voices or stir up trouble, and they certainly don't participate in rough housing. The timeless poem, "What Little Girls Are Made Of," sums up the belief that females are supposed to be subordinate. This idea of female subordination is one that is seemingly as old as time, and is so deeply embedded in our culture that it is often hard to readily spot.

Through everyday interactions the "frailty" of women is perpetuated. Every time that a man hurries to open a door for a women or insists on helping her carry her load, it is once again determined that he is stronger than her, and that she is unable to do these things for herself. I'm not saying that most men do these things because they view women as the weaker sex, indeed many do it out of respect and courtesy. It is the fact that these actions are what society deems as courteous that is the real problem. Indeed, I would much prefer my husband to offer to vacuum then to hold a door open for me.

The media also does it's part to perpetuate the belief that women are the "weaker" sex, and are incapable of making difficult decisions in a purely logical way (unless they are viewed as "cold, ice-queens"). Generally speaking, whenever a women is portrayed in a powerful position within movies, she is also portrayed as having great frailty in another area, such as family or romance. It is very rare to be shown a successful, powerful women, with no stereotypes attached to her.

These everyday misrepresentations of women are what need to be addressed the most. While the feminist movement has done a wonderful job at attacking the obvious inequalities, it is the subtle ones that perpetuate male domination and the subordination of women.