Sarah P - Final Blog

So this week I was shopping in Toys R Us when I noticed something very interesting. There is a video game line for Nintendo DS that is targeted for little girls-its called Imagine That or Imagine Me. Girls get to play having a life of certain professions- and which ones do you think they had for girls?? School teacher, baby sitter, FASHION DESIGNER, and family doctor. Ok I'll give the doctor one kudos but I'm sure it's not the top seller. Lets instead encourage little girls to be caregivers or to use their talents designing clothes. Forget the millions of other professions women have-corporate CEO, government representatives, labor worker, etc etc. Those ones are no fun so we shouldn't design a video game to encourage those kinds of professions. This really ticked me off and I think it's sad how we limit little girls in every possible way. I hope someone out there has seen other professions offered by this game so I can sleep at night!

Illia - Eureka Moment 6

I had my eureka moment this week while reading the epilogue of our text. I found it interesting how it reflects back on all that we've learned while reading the text but also looks forward and makes it a point that what we've learned can be used in the future. I have learned a lot in taking this course and I have a new outlook on the term gender and the different areas I can learn about in. Like the text says "What gender and culture will mean in the future is up to you." (pg. 317). We can all take what we have learned and grow from that and educate others or we can ignore what we have learned and let others dictate what norms are when it comes to genders and cultures. Our text has a section labeled Taking A Voice and I think it is relevant because if we can all find a way to set aside our differences then maybe we can change the future we are heading towards. I think we need to be more open minded and accepting of the genders and cultures that surround us even if we do not understand them or agree with their ways.

Chris P - Week 6

My Eureka moment of the week happened today while at work go figure! Ha Well we were having a department party for a girl who is going to be getting married on Friday and today was her last day until July 6th. Well I offered to make a cake and bring it in, so I did that. Well boy did that get a lot of attention. Comments ranged from my girlfriend had to have made it or my mom made it. Everyone was so shocked I had made a cake. I couldn’t understand why it was such a big deal. But then I looked back at this class and see that people always perceive women do the baking and men can’t cook. I actually was kind of aggravated that is was such a big deal. One women from another department said men are usually the ones who bring in the chips or pretzels because when you see them you no a man must of brought them in. That comment is what struck to me to think I just had my Eureka moment. Everyone loved my cake I made and still some doubted I had made it. I don’t understand why can’t a 21-year-old guy make a cake? It’s not that hard!!! This perception seems to still linger today and more men cook and bake then people realize. It’s not just a womens job and it’s something guys are stereotyped all the time as not being able to cook or bake! Well I think this is a issue that needs to be changed!

Ashley Eureka Moment

I work on a staff of 8 men and 8 women. For the most part we all work really well together. I just don't think we all do an equal amount of work. With the exception of a few, it's always the males doing the manual labor like moving furniture or lifting heavy boxes and the females are usually doing office work at the computer or at the desk. It kind of bothers me that we don't switch roles. I feel that it is expected for the men to do the manual labor and for the women to sit at the desk. I try my best to do both, I just wish everyone else on the staff would. I think that if we switched roles or we did half and half we would all learn something. We learn new things everyday, and by working together and doing new things, we are gaurenteed to learn new things.

Final Eureka Moment - Gendered Lives

I completed the final reading in our text and then happened to read the "About the Author" section in the beginning of the book. Once I realized that Julia T. Wood was a professor at UNC where my daughter goes to school, I decided to email her last night and she already responded. My Eureka moment this week is a culmination of all of the Eureka moments I had throughout this class and I decided to share that with the author of our text. Thank you Prof M.

Here was the email I sent Julia Wood:
In a message dated 6/23/2009 11:07:28 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, duckett@rider.edu writes:

Dr. Wood,I am continuing studies student at Rider University in New Jersey, and I am taking my last two courses in pursuit of a degree that had alluded me for over 30 years (after a 25 year break). At the tender age of 47, I have had the great fortune to take courses that have stimulated my intellect, peaked my interests, and at times flipped my world upside down. The course that most exemplified this was called Gender and Communications, and on-line class taught by Professor Susan J. McManimon, where your book Gendered Lives was the text book used. I am a father of 3 young women (22, 19, & 18) and you would think I would be one of the world's great feminists looking out for the interests of my daughters. However your book and the format in which it was presented to us not only opened my eyes to old ideas and behaviors, but as I shared with my class, gave me the courage to change my ways and proudly become an activist. Professor McManimon was able to use your book where the class incorporated many ways of discussing the topics using today's technology including Blackboard Discussion Boards, Blogs and even building our own Wiki page for a final research project. It was amazing to see many students in our class transform (both female and male) in regards to the way we had held on to old perceptions and beliefs handed down by our families and reinforced by society. I think you would be impressed if you were able to look at some of these projects. I decided to build my final project on a Historical look at Gendered Advertising after reading Chapter 11 in your book.

The book was so engaging, that I never felt like I was reading a text book, but rather gaining an insight to life, which is probably why I found it so hard to put it down. Reading the epilogue tonight, was a real call to action for me personally. There are moments in one's life that are truly transformative and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for writing this book and sharing your (and your students') experiences, which have changed me forever.

Right before I put down the book (which I will keep and not sell), I decided to read the "About the Author" section and then I was to thrilled to see our connection. My second daughter Elisa is a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill with an a major in international business! I hope she has the ability to take a course taught by you - I know I wish I could!

Sincerely,
Mario Duckett

Julia T. Wood responded this morning with:

Dear Mario,

Your email made my day; no, it made my summer! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know that my book was valuable to you. I wish I could have visited your class as it sounds as if Dr. McManimom is a fabulous and creative teacher. I share her enthusiasm for teaching gender and communication--it is my favorite course to teach at Carolina. Perhaps I will have the good fortune to meet your daughter, Elisa, while she is studying on our campus. I certainly hope so.

All the best,

Julia

Julia T. Wood
Lineberger Distinguished Professor
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill NC

Sarah P - Week 5

So in my other class, War and Peace in Vietnam, we got to watch Born on the 4th of July for a little added insight. One theme that was very strong in the film was this idea that-at the time-in order to become a man, one must fight in a war. It was instilled in boys so much that play time usually included war play. And as high-schoolers the film portrays a drill sergeant type coach who calls the boys "ladies" to get them to work harder. Their entire manliness depended on them enlisting and it made we wonder something along with this weeks theme of a men's movement-are men in our generation "lost" so to speak because they don't have that one monumental event that passes them into manhood? Without wars to fight and prove your self worth with, what else do they have? I mean granted we have a war now for people to enlist in, but this isn't a Ra!Ra! war like World War II or Vietnam. Most people don't even care let alone agree with this war. But our grandfathers and some of our fathers faught for our country and became men-usually at the ripe age of 18 or 19-in doing so. Now adays you've got 30 years old men living at home with mommy and daddy. Why has this happened? What has society done to cause men to loose sight of that passage into manhood? What can even be done about it? I think the lack of answers explains why men feel a need for a "movement." They blend into society now. They have no major responsibility to society as a whole. There is no sense of community. It actually makes me glad I am not a man! Wow...

Rhiannon week #5 eureka moment

My Eureka moment actually came to me while reading Christopher's post to this weeks discussion board topic. In his response, he mentioned the topic of child custody. He discussed how in the majority of situation's, the court will favor the mother, rather than the father in a custody battle. In the text, Woods states that to be feminine, is to be physically attractive, deferential, emotionally expressive, nurturing, and concerned with people and relationships (Wood 24). The key word in this sentence for purpose of my eureka moment, being nurturing. As I explained in my response to Christopher's post, I have realized that the term nurturing does not necessarily always apply. The point I am trying to make is that I agree that men are just as capable of taking care of children. The reason I have chosen this as my eureka moment is that recently my uncle divorced his wife, and took custody of all four of his kids. My aunt, was never a good mother for her kids. She doesn't have that sense of nurturing that all women are supposedly supposed to have. My uncle is a far better provider and parent for my cousins than she could ever be.