Thursday, April 24, 2008

elizabeth byrne -april 24

I thought todays class was really able to show alot about how men and women interact not just in a classroom setting, but also in American Society. Through out history women haven't had much of a voice, but at the same time I think it is up to an individual to make her voice heard. I don't think Hillary Clinton is a good example of a women getting into power because she has prior history and knowledge that helped her get to where she is now. Not just any women could make it to where she has gotten her self. But at the same time, Hillary Clinton (regardless of her political beliefs) is showing women and girls around the country that it is possible. It is a movement that women are continuously getting higher positions in the corporate world and regardless if men like or not- it is happening every where right in front of our eyes. After class, elyse and i were talking about confidence in men and how secure they are with themselves in regards to the wife/ woman making more money.  Because of ideologies and society men feel that they have to hold more power or be a more dominant figure and now that women are going that extra step men have to step back and realize that yes this is the 21st century and they are going to have to actually work for a top position rather then getting it just because he is a man. In my brothers case, he has finally realized that it is not about Wallstreet and so what if his wife makes more than him or if he isnt making the amount of money he is making each year. Why sacrifice happiness for money when happiness is what matters? 


As I said earlier I think it is a sign of security for men to be happy with women as top figures and ceo's of companies , I also think that it is a sign of insecurity when women are afraid to have their voices heard or to act dumber around boys/ men. Just as men follow some ideologies i also think that women let themselves fall into the women roles (household chores, lower jobs, less income etc.) just because it is the easy way out. 


1 comment:

CMC300 said...

kaymac 4.24.08

I totally agree with this post, especially the last part about women having to act dumb around men because a "smart" woman is an "ugly" women, as Margaret said in class.

Also, I think Danny's reaction (sorry to be picking on you, Danny) illustrated exactly what Dr. Rog was trying to prove. After class, Danny mentioned that he thought the exercise was pointless and stupid. But was it really? If that small exercise--taking away a minority's voice (which I might add is a very common occurance in our world)--received that much of a reaction from just one person, then it must have had a point and it must have worked.

I would like to point out a few things from the class though. For one, Rachel at first refused to read what Max had to say because he called her his secretary; however, the next time he had something to say she read it. Then Danny actually hit her, either accidentially or not, and she refused to read what he had to say. However, after refusing that one time, she continued to read what the boys had to say. Also, the way that Shannon jokingly refused to read what Dr. Rog had to say is another example. She still read it. In fact, I think that was all she did for the day, read what Dr. Rog had to say. I think this perfectly illustrates what any type of minority group in our society does. We make a small protest but in the end give in, because we always want to hear what the majority have to say.

Also, although the guys were not speaking, I was still very aware of their presence in the room. In fact, I think I noticed them more because of their silence. Wouldn't you notice a lack of government more than you would notice one? This is the same idea.

Good class. Although I did enjoy the exercise, I also enjoyed being able to discuss these ideas as a class in the open-forum type of situation that we had.