Petite Etoile, Cixious

So Cixious says, "every woman has known the torture of beginning to speak aloud ... because for women speaking - even just opening her mouth - in public is something rash, a transgression.” Now I have to agree, I have begun to speak and felt awkward or stupid, it would be difficult to find anyone who never has. But I can’t remember a time when it was because I was a female. I’ve spoken in classes before and faltered halfway through because the sudden thought that I sound like an idiot would smack me in the face. Or I’ve begun to speak and realized I said something that might upset someone. Such as a couple weeks ago when I was at a conference at UCF to help train activists and I compared guaranteeing freshman housing to guaranteeing women and children and life vests because they are weaker. The words no sooner came out of my mouth that I cringed and closed my eyes before the feminists in the back of the room started to shout. My friend backed me up and said that I had not obviously meant anything by the statement, we were talking about solutions to a housing problem on campus as an example for problem solving. And I think this is a good example of how sometimes people really just look too far into things. Yes some people will discriminate against women. But I think it is more on a personal level than a national conspiracy against women. I think the way an individual is raised, how his father treats his mother, how his mother treats him and other things like that, will affect the way they see women. Just in the same way with racism and other types of discrimination. I think the media does portray women poorly, as sexy play things or stupid or housewives, but I don’t think that it has such a huge affect that it might curb my salary someday. If that does occur, I think it would be because my boss personally thinks less of women. And I think the only way to fix that is some form of education or counseling for him. I also think the main problem here is that if men do have the upper hand, why would they want to change that? They have the upper hand… it is in their best interest to keep it that way.