Gender Studies

In terms of intersexed individuals I think that even though i am open-minded and sympathetic to difficult decisions made by parents and doctors, I am not honestly able to decisively put myself in either their positions. What do you do? If a baby is born with some sort of genitalia "deformity," which Anne Fausto-Sterling claims occurs quite often, do you 'fix' it according to social 'sexpectations'? If only Laquer were correct, then the surgery would in fact be a sort of fixing. in reality, male and female organs are different and therefore this becomes more that a simple internal or external dichotomy. It can be argued that there is no "correct" way of dealing with an intersexed individual but to remain open minded and understanding of any imposed gender expectations or any ambiguity that can that surrounds them. Would Herculine Barbin's life be better if other choices were made, or just different?

This weeks TIME magazine has a cover page special report called "The State of the American Woman." The tagline reads "A new poll shows why they are more powerfu - but less happy." Interesting... The article is a sort of conversation between stats from 1972 and now; rises in professionals, university students, higher percentages of births to unwed mothers, etc. An interesting comparison for the most part but back to the tag line... The article claims, "amoung the most confounding changes of all the is the evidence tracked by numerous survetys, that as women have gained more freedom, more education and more economic power, they have become less happy." they go on to say that there is no reason for this, maybe its the fact that they are working and maintaining households or that they are just more honest now than they were in the 70's. either way, the tag line and information about happiness is an interesting if not offensive method to gain readership.

Just a few comments about class yesterday...

After reading Sexton, I can't help but wonder why it is that we are still telling stories of damsels in destress. The happily ever after that is seen at the end of Cinderella is not necessarily the ending we want to have anymore. pent up in a castle is not for everyone and I certainly would not want mice and doves as friends. So why is this classic still being read? Sexton addresses the confliction of a beloved classic and modern times by inflicting the fairytale with modernizing similies as well as modern commentaries on the subservient role that women tend to play in the texts. IN my opinion, Sexton doesn't discourage readership of the classic tales, rather, she encourages a critical language with the fairytale that enables one to see the prejudice within the text and use it to tackle broader gender issues.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

During Obama's candidacy, he claimed that he would end the US law governing Army service based on a "Don't ask, Don't tell," DADT, policy. The law, which prohibits homosexuals from openly joining the army. has not yet been tackled by the president. DADT is in fact a law which in order to change must be amended by congress. The absurdity of the law and the fact that it has not been amended as of yet in Obama's presidency was addressed by the pointed Jon Stewart addressed the issue last night on the Daily Show. The administration is claiming that Obama's plate is too full at the moment and that the sensitive issue needs to be addressed at a proper time. Stewart reminds President Obama that the best way to clear one's plate is to start eating, or to get a bigger plate, in Stewart's words, "It's f@!#% chow time!"

http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/#clip220773