Gender Roles - Interviews with Children

These interviews with children are very interesting. Children develop gender schemas while they in their first few years of life. How does this happen? Does society train children to think this way? Do parents force these ideas into the impressionable minds of their little ones? After all, if these are all true sources of the development of these schemas, is it a bad thing that it is occurring?
Personally, I believe that boys and girls are born differently. I believe that there are innate, natural differences. I also think this is a good thing. Along with this belief, though, I think that gender roles are a social creation. After all, one individual cannot have a role by him or herself; a role comes when differences exist among individuals and they learn how to choreograph their relationships. Society has very strict guidelines for what fits in particular gender roles. I believe that these stem from natural characteristics possessed more in one gender (in general) as opposed to the other, but are pushed to the extreme. The roles that mostly fall in with one gender become strict guidelines to what individuals should and should not do. It is amazing that these strict schemas are in the minds of children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWc1e3Nbc2g

What is Man?

New York Times printed an article recently, January 9, 2011, titled "The Study of Man (or Males)", you can find the whole article here http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/09men-t.html?_r=1&ref=sociology. This article is very interesting because it points out the imbalance between a major in Women's Studies and the very fact that there is not a Male Studies major. In the article it says, "Male studies, largely the brainchild of Dr. Edward M. Stephens, a New York City psychiatrist, doesn’t actually exist anywhere yet. Last spring, there was a scholarly symposium at Wagner College on Staten Island, intended to raise the movement’s profile and attract funds for a department with a tenured chair on some campus. A number of prominent scholars attended, including Lionel Tiger, an emeritus anthropology professor at Rutgers, who invented the term “male bonding,” and Paul Nathanson, who specializes in the study of misandry, the flip side of misogyny. Both are on the advisory board of the Foundation for Male Studies, which Dr. Stephens founded last year."

I had not even thought about the fact that there is a major in Women's Studies, and none for men. The article then goes on to explain the differences between what would be Men's Studies and what would be Male Studies. There is a difference, (even though you may not think there is:) and it has to do with the sociological focus in the studies. "But the biology vs. culture argument has been going on for years, and the male studies movement is less an expansion of that debate than a response to a specific crisis, the nature of which both sides agree on: academically at least, young men are in trouble. Starting in grammar school, they lag behind girls by most observable measures, and the gap widens through high school and college. If males go to college at all, that is. College enrollment tilts at almost 60-40 in favor of women, and once enrolled, women are more likely than men to do well and to graduate." Interesting. Who even knew that this tilt was going on?
Professor Tiger believes that by the time girls get to college, there is a Darwinian component to the achievement gap: women are aware of the divorce rate and the likelihood that they may raise children without ever marrying in the first place. “They’re studying for two,” he explained. “Guys just don’t have that sense, that inwit. That’s biology at its most essential.” Professor Groth, Professor Tiger and Dr. Stephens all seem at great pains not to say anything critical about feminism or women’s studies. “I don’t think male studies has emerged from acrimony,” Professor Tiger insisted. And yet the male studies movement appears to be animated at least in part by a sense that feminism has gone too far on campus and the women’s studies departments are too powerful. Professor Tiger and Dr. Stephens like to recite by the sheaf statistics showing how much more resources are being poured into the study of women and their problems than into men and their plight.
The article ends with a circumstance to show give a little more credibility to their research. "Last semester, Professor Groth taught a course on the psychology of men; of 30 students, all but five were women. “I asked everyone, ‘Why are you taking this course?’ ” he recalled. “The boys didn’t say anything. The girls all said, ‘We want to understand the guys better.’ ” It is interesting, to me, to see that this is indeed taking place. As I look at my classes and see the placement of males and females in majors, I wonder if there is a gender role that they are trying to fall into place with, or if they really do want to study business or human development? Has anyone else noticed this shift of feminism becoming too strong or other related issues?

From Gangs to Green Collar

From Gangs to Green Collar
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6932000


I grew up in Southern California and I witnessed personally how gangs can affect a family. With more immigrants coming into this country, there will be an increase of gang activity. A lack of education and goals drives many adolescents into gang involvement.

How about those who want to reform? Does society have a place for felons and reformed gangsters? I know for a fact that it is almost impossible to get a job as a convicted felon. This creates a cycle of illegal activity and frequent incarceration. Is there social mobility even for those deemed by society as delinquents?

The Helpless Homeless?

This is a quick clip that became one of Rush Limbaugh's most prominent arguments on homelessness. Do you think that the homeless are such because they choose to be, or is it really a problem with society that the government needs to fix? Is there a social mobility for the homeless?

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/videoplayer.guest.html

Obviously there are a lot of factors that go into this, but I served a mission in Ottawa, the capital of Canada and let me tell you that the homeless were hooked up! We worked in a soup kitchen with professional chefs providing three 3-course meals a day. And we are talking top notch meals! In between meals the homeless would go up to the tourist section of town and make bank off of all of the visitors who felt sorry for them. When the night came they had a very nice homeless shelter where they have "maids" that make their beds for them in the morning. And not to mention the other government privileges the are receiving for being "homeless." I feel like we just violated the very definition of the word.

No way to lose: Gay Rights

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/opinion/23savage.html?ref=homosexuality
The editorial director, Dan Savage, claims that we all should save our time and money by approving the gay rights. He states, "Gay Americans are eventually going to win..." so why not just legalize gay marriage and let all of us not spend anymore time on this matter. He uses a stat on how most Americans support the same sex-marriage so eventually the same-sex marriage will be legalized.

I can't really argue with Savage because I think what he said is true. As the time passes, more people will accept homosexuality and will believe that they should be able to marry someone they love. It's happening all around the world. As Savage even mentions, Canada already legalized the same-sex marriage so it's not an "issue" anymore in Canada. So should Mormons just sit back and let this happen? Should we just not "waste" our time and money because it's going to happen no matter what?

I remember hearing a comment from a missionary on my mission. He said that the Proposition 8 was like separating chaff from grain. (You can agree or disagree.) It is to see who is willing to follow the prophet no matter how difficult it is for the member of the Church. Of course, there are far more non-members of the Church than the members of the Church so it is very possible that the same-sex marriage will be legalized; however, I don't think that's the real issue for the members of the Church. What really matters is "are we willing to do what the prophets, seers and revelators tell us to do?"

Reparative Therapy

I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about same gender attraction and therapy. I took an LDS Perspectives on Psychology class last semester and the professor showed us a video of Dr. Jeffrey Robinson, a clinical psychologist who treats homosexuals who are interested in changing their sexual orientation. The video blew my mind, I had never heard anything that he talked about. Previously I had always pictured reparation therapy (or conversion therapy as it is also called) as a shady, unethical, ineffective practice where your pastor locks you in his basement and administers electric shocks while showing you pictures of shirtless men. This speech changed my whole outlook on it. It also presents an interesting theory of origins of same gender attraction.

Here is a link to the transcript:
http://www.theguardrail.com/transcript_printable.htm

Dr. Robinson doesn't make the argument that everyone has the potential to change their sexual orientation and become attracted to the opposite sex through therapy, but he does present some interesting information that a surprising amount of change is possible.

-Jared Parker

Single, Female, Mormon, Alone

This article was in the New York Times a couple weeks ago. It begins with one man's opinion of the role of a husband/father. In turn, Nicole Hardy wrote about her experience being a woman in the LDS church and her reaction to the man's statement.

Because we are students at BYU we are members of the LDS church or are surrounded by members of the LDS church, I found it particularly interesting to see that she defined herself as "singe, female, mormon, alone." To her, being a single, mormon woman is a way to define herself - or a way she doesn't want herself defined anymore.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/fashion/09Modern.html?pagewanted=2

Gender Identity

"My Princess Boy is a nonfiction picture book about acceptance. It tells the tale of a 4-year-old boy who happily expresses his authentic self by enjoying "traditional girl" things like jewelry, sparkles or anything pink. It is designed to start and continue a dialogue about unconditional friendship and teaches children -- and adults -- how to accept and support children for who they are and how they wish to look."(myprincessboy.com) In a recent television show titled, What would you do?, it discusses the issue of gender identity and one the show an older grandmother states, "Gender identity is up for the individual to decide." What are your thoughts? Do you believe that your child's gender identity is up to them at an age where they fully haven't developed? Here is a link to the news interview from Joy Behar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfkb0kdo0sQ

The Difference Between Men and Women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGoC8FTLKSI

This a clip from Friends right after Ross kisses Rachel for the first time. It illustrates the typical gender stereotypes that exist in America and are projected by the Media. It states that females are emotional and sensitive and men are cold and unconnected when it comes to emotions and relationships. It is interesting that not only are they projected, but they are followed as a result of their projection.

Gender Roles

My roommate is taking a gender sociology class and she shared this article with me. It discusses different sociological insights on gender roles and how they are created by society. I thought it was very interesting. Specifically, in the last two pages of the article it discussed the ideas of how a "real man" or "real women" should act, dress, and socialize. It discussed that it is more scrutinized if a man is not behaving in masculine manner. I think the boundaries and roles set by society for men and women can make it difficult for them to be themselves. This article made me think a lot about the pressures put on men and women to behave in a certain way. For example, women are seen to be very emotional and it is frowned on at times if men show their emotions openly. The article also discusses about gender stereotypes and the negative repercussions they can cause. I wish our society was less focused on labeling people. I think that if everyone was more accepting of people's differences this world would be a better place. I uploaded the article to a google document and by clicking on the link below you may access it. When you read this article think about different gender stereotypes you have seen in your life and how they can be harmful to society. It is very hard to change a societies' perception, but you can take individual action and change the way that you think about gender roles.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B0LAw4x1UXl6MmYxOGVmM2EtMTM2OC00NWU0LWE3YjctMDM2ZGI4NDEzOTQ2&hl=en

Rising Star Outreach and Micro Lending

In June of 2009 I was able to go to India to be a part of the Rising Star Outreach program. Read more about that here http://www.risingstaroutreach.org/lifeinthecolonies .

Part of the program is the work of Padma Venkataraman (she's really cool read about her here http://www.risingstaroutreach.org/PadmaVenkataraman). Her approach is to provide small loans (usually between ten and two hundred dollars) which enable people to buy basic equipment and supplies to begin their own small businesses. Using Padma's methods, Leprosy patients have been presented with a viable alternative to begging and the opportunity to rise about the stigma of their disease for the first time in known history.
Read more about some amazing stories here http://www.risingstaroutreach.org/microlending



So while I was there Padma would tell us to NEVER give handouts to the leprosy patients. This would only stop them from working it out for themselves and destroy any hope of someday that they, or their children, could be known for their hard work and not their disease. But since then, when I would walk by a beggar or homeless person in the states, I'm always torn at how I should act? Who knows what they've gone through, or what life has dealt them, but we're in America right? If a leper in India can start their own small business to support themselves, shouldn't the homeless in America be able to work something out too?

What do you think?

Confederate States of America

What if the south had won the war? The following video clip is a commercial from a mockumentary called The Confederate States of America and addresses what a family insurance company commercial might look like had the civil war ended differently. This is an interesting video when taking into consideration what life could have been like if racism was still as prominent as it was then. However, it is important to remember that just because traditional prejudices are supposedly less common as this video illustrates, how many people would watch this clip and find it to be in place? Just because traditional prejudices are less common, doesn't mean that new prejudices aren't increasing.

In what ways is this mock-commercial similar to commercials today? Are traditional prejudices really gone?