Women in Football

TV Show/Sport

collected on: 4/19/09

Can be found at: watch any professional or college football game or,

NFL football: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi2gIWDhg00
NFL Cheerleaders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdHw5HqTDTM

Football on television is a huge discriminator between women and men. It has very strict and very different roles for women and men. This relates to gender socialization because it basically says if you don't exemplify masculinity as a man or femininity as a woman, than there is no place for you. Only men play football, where they are strong and tough and scary (masculine traits). Only women cheer lead where they are literally on the sideline being supportive (a feminine trait) of the men doing the "real work" on the field. There are some male cheerleaders but they are dressed differently and they do the "masculine" tasks which require physical strength such as lifting the women. As cheerleaders women are expected to exemplify femininity, their most important trait is their appearance, they need to be thin and wear clothes that bear it all. They need to be walking models of beauty ideals. No wonder football is so popular, it reinforces gender socialization and exemplifies gender roles for both men and women in our society.

Relevant topics are masculinity and femininity, gender roles, gender socialization and education, beauty ideals, and women in popular culture, all for the above reasons. A relevant reading is "Short Skirts and Breast Juts" which focuses on cheer leading and its effect on women and society. It talks about every one of the above topics and how they are related to cheer leading and football. Another related reading is the body politic because it talks about anorexia and the trend in society today to desire women that "don't take up much space". Cheer leaders, like models support this trend because they are all thin and all looked up to.

Football as it is represents a step back overall for women and men but it also incorporates small scale steps forward for women and men. It is a step back because it reinforces many harmful ideas about men and women and masculinity and femininity. It shows little steps forward when it does things like allowing male cheerleaders, though that was only a step back to where we were because originally all cheerleaders were male. It wouldn't be a big deal at all if people didn't learn gender roles by watching things like football which portray men as women differently than they naturally and regularly are.

What "She Said" in the collegiate times about "deal breakers"

Newspaper Column

collected on: 4/19/09
article can be found at: http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/13578/p2

This article relates to women's studies because it is an example of a woman's perspective about what women wants and how women should be. It is not expressly about that but the author portrays herself as the "normal" college woman and talks about what she wants and makes generalizations about women such as "we are not afraid of passive-aggressiving our way into your schedule" which implies that women have no power and that they are conniving and proud to be. She supports that by saying: "We will pout and whimper in such a passive aggressive way you'd almost think we were in extreme need of Prozac or a cathartic ice cream fest with the girlfriends. We will guilt you into spending a lot of time with us" This is very effective gender socialization because it comes from a woman. It subordinates women and encourages them to be submissive and feminine and defend themselves, or get what they want by pouting and whimpering (Feminine qualities). It implies that women are worthless and furthers gender socialization by teaching women not to display any qualities assigned to men.

This article relates to femininity and the reading "your life as a girl". Your life as a girl talks about the things society says about how girls should be, what they should like, and what they should say and do. Basically it talks about gender socialization and femininity. This definition of femininity is exemplified by the author of the "she said" column, and she is passing it on to multitudes by presenting femininity as the only way to be in her article. It also relates to gender education because the author is a prime example of someone who has accepted unquestioningly her gender education. She has taken to heart everything society teaches women to do and talks highly about being the way she is.

Clearly this article is harmful and a setback for both women and men. It makes both think that women are and should be submissive whiners and that all are conniving. It makes women feel like they are supposed to whine to get their way instead of taking a stand. It will even go as far as to lessen the chances of women being given positions of power or getting equal pay for equal work; because of its portrayal of women as conniving whiners. This false notion is given more support by the fact that it is written by a woman. This is a perfect example of women being fooled by society into thinking less of themselves, the author has clearly been convinced that she deserves to be nothing more than a whiner and her opinion of herself is contagious.

Women as Sex Offenders

Online Information Pamphlet

Collected on: 4/18/09
Article can be found at: http://www.dadi.org/sexofndr.htm

This article demystifies and deglorifies female sex offenders. Our society seems to have a fantasy view of predatory women because it fails to see the harsh reality and the lasting effects of sexual assault by women against men. This is heavily related to sexuality because in contemporary times society views the man as always looking for sex so if he gets raped "it is his lucky day". Boys who are taken advantage of by their teachers are looked down upon if they complain that they didn't like it. They are expected to fantasize about being sexually assaulted and are viewed as sexual deviants if they don't comply. The root of this view of sexuality is also related to the article; masculinity and femininity. They are part of the reason for brushing off female sexual assaults as harmless. By this relation it also relates to "Your Life as a Girl" which talks about the limiting box society puts girls and women into that says they can only be and act a certain way and this box is the reason that many female sex crimes are dismissed as harmless. It also relates to Thelma and Louise because both shatter the idea of women as gentle, harmless, and incapable of violence. It also relates to power and intimacy by challenging traditional beliefs about female and male power and its role in intimate relationships. Because of this relationship to power and intimacy it relates to "Bloodlust" because Bloodlust is a paper which also discusses issues of power and intimacy.

This article's topic is the fact that there is in increase in female sex offenders and exponential one. That sad fact is a setback for both men and women. The article itself however is a step forward for men and women because it discredits harmful misconceptions about what a man and a woman can be and how they have to act.

Mom spills the truth about motherhood

Magazine Article

can be found at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/04/17/o.truth.about.motherhood/index.html

collected on: 4/18/09

This article has to do with women's studies because it is about a woman's role as a mother and the unreal expectations for mothers set by society and themselves. It also discusses contributing factors and causes of these unreal expectations for mothers. It backs the argument that mothers need help with their task and the job of a mother as it is viewed today is impossible. It talks about how mothers are divided between working mothers and stay at home moms and that they need to unite and support each other. It asserts that women are made to feel bad about complaining about being a mother and this is a typical method of oppression imposed on women by paternalistic societal views. It makes the problem invisible because no one talks about it. This article is fully a women's study article which focuses on the women's study issue of the unreal expectations for a mother.

This article is related to family/parenting. Its very topic ensures their relation, it is an article about motherhood which is the foundation of family and parenting. The second shift also relates, more specifically the mother hood aspect of the second shift. In turn it is related to Hochschild's "The Second Shift" because Hochschild discusses the entire second shift and this article discusses the motherhood aspect of the second shift.

This article reflects an advance for women and men. Women because it publicizes the ideas about the second shift which can only result in a mother's load being lightened. Also, it suggests solutions to the second shift both big and small. It reflects an advance for men because they will be made aware of how hard their wives are working and expected to work and this awareness will help them be better husbands, and men being better husbands will make both men and women happier.

The Abominable Wrongs of Anti-Abortion

Political cartoon

collected on: 4/5/09
from: Google Images search- "Abortion Ad"

This is an ad which is related to women's studies because it is making an argument about reproductive rights. It is an anti-abortion ad which vilifies women. It is making women who have an abortion look like bad people. It being an advocate of the opinion that women should not be able to have an abortion which utterly and directly violates their reproductive rights. It is clearly related to the topic of reproductive rights and in turn to the movie "If These Walls Could Talk". Both it and the movie are related to reproductive issues. The ad relates because it advocates the opinion of pro-life. The movie relates because it defends the pro choice side. The movie says that if women don't control their reproductive rights they don't control themselves and that means they aren't free to live a happy healthy life. If they can't have an abortion they are subordinate to men who have total control of their reproductive rights and thus this ad is also related to the subordination of women to men in society. The ad is just an ignorant message made by ignorant people who have no compassion for women and have clearly never taken a women's studies course.

This Ad represents an ignorant perspective about abortion and in that sense it is a big obstacle in the fight for women's rights. But in another light, viewing the ad allows one to make an argument against it and prove the opinion the ad advocates utterly wrong so if the ad is publicly shot down then it could be part of a step forward for women's rights and i hope someone before me has publicly and thoroughly thrashed and refuted this ad.

Spousal Abuse

Magazine Article

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/04/02/o.why.men.abuse.women/index.html

collected on: 4/2/09

This article is related to women's studies because it talks about violence against women, and focuses on men who abuse their spouses. Oprah interviewed men who abused their partner's and tried to figure out what was going on in their heads and get to the root of the problem. This relates to the reading Reclaiming Our Mojo by Jane Fonda. She writes about rape and violence against women and children. Even violence against children is related to violence against women because both are violence against a subordinate group. Fonda and Oprah relate because they both address the causes and realities of violence against women and subordinate minorities. The article by Oprah relates to violence against women because talks about the effects of violence against women, possible reasons for violence against women and how it can be stopped. It interviews men who abuse their wives as well as women who have suffered abuse. It asks them key questions about possible solutions to the problem. Questions such as "Do you think if you would have left right away he would have gotten the message and never beat another woman?" and "why do you think you beat your wife Christi?".

The fact that violence against women is rampant enough to warrant an Oprah talk on it is a setback for men and women. However, this article is a step forward for men and women because asking these questions publicly on a forum like Oprah will bring the problem to center stage. Hopefully by raising awareness, it will get everyday people to question the problem and reduce it or solve it.