**Apparently yesterday when I tried publishing the blog post, I must have had technical issues. When I checked the site this morning I realized that my post had not been posted. I am sorry for the delay!
My group discussed De Beauvoir. We have not discussed many female philosophers, so I found her very intriguing. Being a woman, she was worried about the mistreatment of women. She became an avid feminist as many would suspect. For a majority of our discussion time, we discussed the idea of present-day radical feminists. As many have seen, some present-day feminists tend to take the topic way too far. We understand the need for equal rights of men and women, but some people do not realize that our country as a whole has improved greatly about equality. Some feminists refuse to wear dresses/skirts and act like the "traditional" woman. They refuse to be a stay at home mom, or refuse to take on household responsibilities that many women typically do. Dressing as men to try and make a statement does not really give equality to women. If anything, it is almost validating that men are more influential and powerful. We discussed the "roles" family members play. Typically women are seen as taking care of the kids and cleaning the house. In today's society, the role is often reversed since women are now also being offered high paying jobs. A question asked was, "Can we have it all?" Can everyone truly balance a family, a career, and everything else in life? All people are limited in what they can do to have fulfilment in life. This is not only women, but men as well. There must be at least some sort of balance in every life in order for one to feel complete and fulfilled. To sum it all up, everyone has the opportunity and the ability to choose what role they play in society. No one is forced into being a certain way, or living a certain way. It takes every person a bit of time to figure out his or her own role in society. No matter how long it takes, at least we are all given the option.
FQ: Who said, "Self-consciousness is not knowledge, but a story one tells about oneself?"
Answer: De Beauvoir
My only issue with having "balance" is that this too is kind of saying that it isn't okay to just be a stay at home mom or a business woman without a family. Can someone be fulfilled without a family or fulfilled without a job? I think they can. My mom has loved being at home and she feels like that's what she's been called to do. However, she sometimes feels that she is looked down on by other women for taking this role. Many women who "do it all" feel like what they do is what everyone should do. This is what Dr. Oliver talked about when he came to our group. Sometimes when someone makes a choice that is best for them, they thinks it is what's best for everyone. But I think we all do this to some extent. I choose studying over partying and although I think everyone can do whatever they want, I also think it would be beneficial for them if they studied instead.
ReplyDeleteWhen Keaton floated to our group we talked about roles that women and men take. We discussed this passage in Ephesians:
"For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of his body, the church; he gave his life to be her Savior. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives must submit to your husbands in everything.
And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God's word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man is actually loving himself when he loves his wife. No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body, which is the church. And we are his body."
I'm pretty traditional.. so I see no problem with the whole "wife submitting to her husband" thing. I think a wife and husband do have different roles in a marriage, both important and both necessary for a strong and intimate relationship. In 1 Peter it says, "she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life." It also talks about man and woman becoming "one flesh" when they are married. So I do think there are roles, but both are equally strong and important.
Great reply!
DeleteI totally agree that a family cannot function well without many responsibilities being fulfilled by both the father and mother. God created the perfect relationship between Himself and the church, and He transferred this into the human institution of family with the husband being the leader and the wife being just as essential, but in the submissive role. This is how successful families operate.
Focus on the Family is a worldwide Christian ministry whose mission is to strengthen the family in the Lord. They believe that "A dad's primary, underlying job isn't control. It's to validate every one of his children." They also believe that "The most important assignment a mom has is to nurture her children." These are what each parent does best, and is what is most essential to the child flourishing physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Without both parents working together, the children are not getting all they need. Both parents have very important roles that differ in ways that favor their strong qualities.
People who reject the familial role of the woman by claiming it "objectifies" them are just condemning the God-given natural instincts given to mothers that is meant to glorify our Creator and provide the best environment for our children. By completely removing the woman from her role and placing her in the role of the man, they are not helping but hindering the success of families, which leads to ultimately weaker future generations.
I do agree that women have every right to have the same professional responsibilities as the men. Like Focus on the Family, who recognizes and supports working moms, I believe it is totally possible to work and provide the necessary motherly roles just as the husband fulfills his fatherly roles while working. Both parents share the responsibilities of parenthood - they just perform them differently, and that is good and necessary. A kid needs the encouragement and "Don't quit!" attitude of the father but they also need the protective and "It's okay, you can take a break!" attitude of the mother. When both the father and mother recognize the sacred responsibilities they have and strive to fulfill them - that is when the family flourishes.
FQ: Who believes that life is absurd?
FA: Existentialists
DQ: Will you raise your children the same way your parents have raised you?
Source:
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting_roles/successful_parenting/real_job_of_dads.aspx
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting_roles/successful_parenting/real_job_of_moms.aspx
While researching for this post, I stumbled upon a term that I was unaware existed: post-feminism. Some who adhere to this term believe that feminism has had its heyday and that it is now time to devote resources to more pressing issues, at least in the United States. I have to agree with this side, as I see women being treated equally, or at least as equally as they will ever be, in the majority of the United States. Granted, some sexism still exists, but it is impossible to eradicate all aspects of anything as long as humanity continues to exist. Feminism was important when women were treated as second rate citizens and rights were not shared equally amongst citizens of the U.S., but now that great strides have been made in that area, I think resources could be allocated elsewhere in more pressing sectors. In other countries, however, sex trafficking and oppressed women is a huge issue, but that does not mean the protesters in these countries are aiding their causes. Many groups, while trying to raise awareness of these problems in their countries, strip in public and do outrageous things that are meant to further their cause, but only further objectify women, in my opinion. The cause is a noble one, but the implementation of such radical measures seems counterproductive in my mind, and I do not think that de Beauvoir would have advocated such behavior.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/03/do_femen_s_topless_protests_raise_awareness_about_women_s_rights_or_just.single.html
FQ: What is the movement that aims towards equal rights for women?
A: Feminism
DQ: Do the benefits of protesting through nudity outweigh the costs and backsliding effects?
Feminism is definitely been put on the back burner in American culture. With all the other groups lobbying for attention, feminists have faded into the background. This is for good reason however. Women no longer face oppression in America. They are offered the same opportunities and salaries as their male counterparts. However feminists seem to try to push the idea that being a stay-at-home mom is somehow demeaning. I personally think this is ridiculous. A woman should have the option to stay at home with her children and not feel guilty, just as a man shouyld.
ReplyDeleteFQ: What female philosopher wrote about feminism?
De Beauvoir
DQ: Should women feel guilty for being homemakers?
First of all, I want to say that Simone is beautiful. It totally doesn't matters, but she is. Check her out. I totally "ship" her and Sartre.
ReplyDeletehttp://noriminnis.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/beauvoir50ans.jpg
In a more serious response though... Trevor. Please back up your statement that "Women no longer face oppression in America. They are offered the same opportunities and salaries as their male counterparts."
According to the US department of commerce, women at all education levels make 75-79% percent of the income of their direct male counterpoints.
Female-headed families have the lowest family earnings among all family types.
Women are more likely then men to be in poverty.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/Women_in_America.pdf
Beyond just economic oppression, there is clear societal oppression in the maths and sciences. For example, both female and male professors view their male students as more able than their female students.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/science/bias-persists-against-women-of-science-a-study-says.html?_r=0
And when it comes to leadership, well, I'd point you to an interview with Hilary Clinton:
Interviewer: Okay. Which designers do you prefer?
Hillary Clinton: What designers of clothes?
Interviewer: Yes.
Hillary Clinton: Would you ever ask a man that question?
Interviewer: Probably not. Probably not.
Or, as she says in her own words, "If I want to knock a story off the front page, I just change my hairstyle." This is because women simply aren't taken as seriously as leaders.
it doesn't take much sleuthing around to find out these facts. This is why it is important that feminism not fall asleep because once it does people keep their eyes closed to what is happening in the outside world.
And yes, I think this pertains to other minority group-advocation as well.
I think statistics can be easily twisted to suit any argument. As a statistics major, I know this pretty well. Something we discussed in our group was that women seem to get paid less. However this may not be caused by employers being discriminatory towards women. To get paid the big salaries, you have to work your way up. Many women have children and will be out of work for a while if they decide to raise them at home. This will skew the results. I'm just saying, be careful when looking at statistics.. it's extremely easy to make them look however you want.
ReplyDeleteI don't think people are purposely discriminatory towards women. In the past, women have had the tendency to not have leadership roles. It's something that people and interviewers are going to have to get used to. There's no quick fix. The thing that I see that will help is to have more successful women in leadership roles. And this is happening. And if you can prove sexist discrimination, you have a lawsuit. So I agree that this is no longer a pressing issue. People's views of women have changed, but it still takes time for everyone to completely get used to.
ReplyDeleteI think people get the complete wrong idea about "feminism." It has become a dirty word in our society because a select few have made fools out of themselves by burning their bras in public, acting as "man-haters," and just generally taking it too far. This can be applied to any group.
ReplyDeletePretend you run a zoo and you have to put humans in the zoo to represents each major "group" in America. If you want to have a good representation of what a Christian group is like, you are not going to put members of the Westboro Baptist Church in the exhibit. It's common sense. Just because there are so women who go to such extremes in their feminism doesn't mean that we all do. For most of us, being a feminist just means that we do want equal pay and we don't want people to consider us silly and submissive. It's a shame because, as a woman, if you do have a taste for fashion or cooking or what-have-you, people will automatically assume that it is *because you are a woman.*
So, yes, we have come a long way in under one hundred years, but we are not quite there yet.