Hi everyone,
This is the blog for our section. You can use it as an opportunity to share a news story that relates to our class and tell us what you think. Or you can raise a question about gender. The question doesn't have to be about our class readings. Or you can respond to your classmates' comments or questions.
No blogging for Week 1. We will start from Week 2.
Have a good weekend.
Xiaoxin
Does anyone have any idea how the theory of "heat" and "coldness" is related to Yin and Yang???
ReplyDeleteI think there might be some connections but I don't know if there is an "official" and professional explanation
Hi everyone, I found an interesting short article online with the title of "Why women are missing out on jobs". The article included survey results regarding women not gaining the most powerful positions and presented some explanations to it. Here is the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2011/aug/22/sex-power-women-missing-jobs
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I thought was particularly interesting came from the "Should a Fetus Have Rights?" article. The concept of gene therapy, and how doctors now have the ability to fix defects for children while they are still in the womb is very intriguing.
ReplyDeleteDo any of you guys think this will lead to a decrease in abortions? As sad as it is, many families do decide to have an abortion when they are told their baby will have a defect of some sort. But, I guess it all comes back to the debate of whether you are pro-choice or pro-life.
@Eric's question: I feel it would reduce the number of abortions if the risk to the mother's health is low. Otherwise, people might just want to abort the fetus instead of risking the mother's health. Also, that brings up an ethical issue where they need to prefer between the life of the mother and fetus, if both would exercise human rights under the law. Shouldn't the mother be certainly at an advantage because she is the one bearing the child and if it wasn't because of her, the child would never have been conceived.
ReplyDelete@Eric Reza: For now, I don't think technology or the risks in fixing defects for unborn children can ever be safe enough to lead to a significant decrease in abortion rates. An important thing to keep in mind is that the stories the article shared all had successful outcomes. There is a high possibility that there are many cases whereby mothers made the decision not to abort their unborn child, despite knowing they were suffering from some kind of illness that would affect their future abilities, and lost their lives undergoing an operation that tried to fix the issue.
ReplyDeleteI found an article that I found interesting due to the fact that it looks into both sides on the rights of a fetus. This article reinforces the point that there are many different positions on this particular topic. (http://carijean.hubpages.com/hub/Fetal-Rights-Protection-of-the-Unborn). It starts out saying, “There are more rights for animals, trees and the environment than for the fetus that is developing inside his/hers mother's womb, developing to the point of being born one day - a life that began nine months prior.” It then goes on to say the problems of giving a fetus rights, such as “the fetus is not yet a human life until he/she is able to breathe fully on its own, life does not begin at conception, Population control, women's rights and the right to choose”. Another article, which I found useful, looks into different factors- philosophy and religion. (http://civilliberty.about.com/od/abortion/p/fetus_rights.htm)
ReplyDeleteIthink you should read this article, its pretty intresting. Its called "Prejudice Linked to Women's Menstrual Cycle, Study Suggests"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110622102857.htm
I found an article online with the title of, "Muslim Daughter in India Breaks Home-Bound Custom". I think it is interesting to see the gender issue in other parts of the world. Here is the link, http://womensenews.org/story/education/110901/muslim-daughter-in-india-breaks-home-bound-custom
ReplyDeleteCurrently in my writing class I am writing an essay on the use of nail polish. While writing about how women painting nails has become a kind of requirement in today’s society, I realized a gender conflict arises. Recently I have notices that women refer to “needing their nails done” rather than “ wanting to get their nails done”. It seems normal to hear this come from women but when a guy says it, there tends to be a different reaction. I did some research and came across an interesting article. (http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/04/13/gender-nail-polish-politics/) This article discusses Beckett; son of J.Crew designer Jenna Lyons who is wearing pink nail polish. The question is, why is it normal for women and not for guys?
ReplyDeleteI am doing my writing 140 paper on self-help books and found something very interesting. There is a website of 15 facts about self-help books(http://www.onlinecollegesanduniversities.net/blog/2011/15-surprising-facts-about-the-self-help-industry/) and it says women became the new target audience of self-help books. Additionally, it says women buy stupidly named self-help books. According to the stereotype of women, I think they are more emotional so that they will easily get hurt to seek for self-help.
ReplyDeleteAnd the reason why they buy stupidly named books is that once their emotions take over, their rationality will be pressed.
Anyone who has other opinions?
unknown is Tianyu Lang.....I'm sorry...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehttp://theweek.com/article/index/218922/rick-perrys-abortion-doctrine-humiliating-women
ReplyDeleteLooks like there's going to be a whole lot of pregnant women running to Texas' neighboring states to get abortions.
Rick Perry knows where it hurts.
Personally, I think that's a little too harsh. I doubt anyone can go through with the abortion procedure after those 24 hours and live with it.
From an article I found, "CA Senate Passes Gender Identity Protections," it seems like trans-gender identity is getting a stamp of approval from the California Senate.
ReplyDeleteThe article can be found at: http://www.care2.com/causes/cali-senate-passes-gender-identity-protections.html
This is an interesting article about homosexuality and hinduism:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuality/hinduism.htm
-Prerna Agarwal
I read the article "Gender, Nail Polish, and Politics" posted by Monica and found it to be very interesting, what caught my attention is how you stated that woman are more likely to say "we NEED to paint our nails" than say "want." I think that painting nails should not be taken as seriously as they are making it out to be, the boy that likes the color pink is innocent to any gender stereotypes and I feel that the reason why people think it is such a big deal is because of how strongly we have imposed our stereotypes onto children. I don't feel that because he is painting his nails will cause him to be transgender or have a different sexual orientation, it is just another one of societies rules.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20193
ReplyDeleteThis is an article about men breastfeeding. It states that all men are physically capable of breastfeeding, which could potentially change the way babies are raised. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I'd love to know your opinions!
I read the article "Homosexuality and Hinduism" that Prerna posted. I found it interesting that homosexuality and romantic pleasure of a constructive kind (within marriage and love) was encouraged and accepted in ancient India, while today there is debate. I found this intriguing so I looked up modern opinions on homosexuality within Hinduism and found the section 'Modern trends and views' at http://www.galva108.org/hinduism.html
ReplyDeleteI liked Jiddu Krishnamurti's, a Hindu intellectual of the early 20th century, comment "that homosexuality, like heterosexuality, has been a fact for thousands of years and becomes a problem only because humans over-focus on sex." I think he brings up a similar point to those in the pro-homosexuality section of Prerna's article; that there is support for same sex marriage within Hindu religious texts.
I found an interesting article about Malaysias first openly gay pastor who got married. The pastor chose a special day, independence day, to “honor my country and people in Malaysia”. He said the date was chosen to remind others that "we need to keep fighting for our rights and be independent from all kinds of oppression." In Malaysia homosexuality falls under Penal Code 377. This means offenders face imprisonment of up to 20 years and a whipping. This article says that many people trap themselves in a heterosexual relationship to avoid discrimination. Ngeo, the pastor followed his heart and is now an author and editor of 25 books. Also, he teaches a course in women and gender's studies at CUNY as well as "Introduction to Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Studies" at Saint Peter's College. I think this article will show a lot of people that they need to stand up and fight for what they believe in. (http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/31/malaysian.pastor.gay.wedding/index.html?iref=allsearch)
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the ideas in the article, Who Has the Power in School Social Life?, I wonder if this "slutty" role that some women conform to on college campuses also holds true for other cultures.
ReplyDelete- Merry Chin
I found this very interesting article about how scientists fear male pregnancy to be a reality, for my week 4's blogging assignment.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2005-07/male-pregnancy-dangerous-proposition
I'm thinking the cause of being gay or lesbian; is this phenomenon innate or acquired? Since it is possible that a "lurking" impulse to be gay or lesbian is implanted the moment one is born or that the environment shapes the individual's sex tendency little by little? Or even both environment and innate conditions can be the element to determine or shape one's sex tendency.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, is it possible that being gay or lesbian for a number of people is just a way to make them noticed and different?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDP/is_2002_May_27/ai_86464924/
ReplyDeleteThis is an article about men signing up for a male pregnancy project in China. Do you think the Chinese authorities should approve this project? Is it unethical to put men at risk for this procedure?
Here is an article I found to be very interesting. It is called, "Prejudice Linked to Women's Menstrual Cycle, Study Suggests". The main thesis is that "women's bias against male strangers increases when women are fertile, suggesting prejudice may be partly fueled by genetics." This might be a controversial topic as the research is trying to say that certain negative behavior is associated with one's biological sex. This sounds similar to the ancient works that indicate how female's insanity and diseases are related to biological reasons.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110622102857.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/fashion/new-challenge-for-parents-childrens-gender-roles.html?pagewanted=all
ReplyDeleteThis is an article about children’s gender roles and whether or not parents should interfere with what their children are naturally interested in. One of the parents interviewed asks, “Is my four year old gay?” After thinking about this, I wondered what is the best parenting tactic if my son or daughter is picking up tendencies typically reserved for the opposite sex…
I found this Chinese cultural cartoon and I think its representation of the different spheres of men and women is interesting. As the caption said, “in the workplace, the man is superior, telling the wife what to do. But at home, the wife is superior, ordering the man around”. It describes where a particular gender has and can exercise power. Do you think these two spheres are equal?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tacomacc.edu/HOME/yli/images/cartoons/cartoon18.png
The Chinese cultural cartoon is an image that you see often across cultures, it is interesting that it is a reoccuring theme around the world. I do feel that men often act more "masculine" in a public setting in order to show which gender has the power, women in the workplace are often seen as inferior and it might be due to the self prophesizing bias, in which we are told we cannot be superior to men in the workplace and we follow that idea. However, in the home, the women is in charge because it is supposed to be their area of expertise. Even that idea has changed over time because the man was usually in power at work and the "man" of the household. Now we are even seeing more women in authority in workplaces as well.
ReplyDeleteHere's this interesting article I read about Fetal rights
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/01/18/the-prenatal-problem.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/10/03/what-prospective-employers-hope-to-see-in-your-facebook-account-creativity-well-roundedness-chastity/
ReplyDeleteThis article talks about what employers look for on Facebook for their potential candidates. It doesn't mention gender identity at all. Is this because it does not affect the hiring process? Or are employers unable to publicly admit that sexual orientation and gender identity are considered?