I Am Not My Body

This set of readings all talked about the effects of expectations of outward “beauty” and expectations to look perfect. I was interested by how the world sees perfect, which was most usually achieving whiteness. “Facial features have long been considered in much the same way skin color has: the whiter, the better...Anglo facial features provide a similar kind of social capital that can be used esteem in employment, education, community and the marriage market,”( 54 Hunter). Being white means being normal for these people, thus they feel the have to do everything to change themselves. Having a base point seems to be essential for the world, and that way we are able to make comparison. Thus, any one that falls outside of those normal bounds, is marked and stands out. “People who inhabit 'dissimilar' bodies are read as both inferior and threatening: inferior in terms of beauty and threatening in terms of downward mobility,” (Lebesco 54). The objective has become to falls inside the normal bounds as close as possible. I was very intrigued when the other referred to cosmetic surgery as 'choice of conformity' rather then an individual decision. Many doctors try to advertise these types of surgeries as a freedom of choice, but in reality, the patients are being told what to do by society. So not only are people being pressure by the media to change, now doctors, a profession the population holds to great esteem and respect, are telling us how to change ourselves as well. As a result, people trust the doctor's words more highly and there is more pressure and obligation placed upon us to fit the mold.
As always, using intersectionality when looking at gender to study body image is important. Using a one sided view or using it as your only perspective in life seems to be dangerous. “We have to be careful not to fall into the trap of only of having our bodies and our images speak for who we are-what we think, what we feel, what we do,” (199 Richards). If a person is consumed with how they are perceived outwardly, they allow themselves only to be defined by that. In reality, people are complexities that deserve to define themselves in multiple ways simultaneously. I, and other women in college, struggled with the transition of becoming comfortable without my family right behind me. I was very confused how to handle this change in my life, but I found that what made me the happiest was when I could tell myself that I was healthy, happy student that had everything going for her. Sometimes it helps for me to remind myself to see the bigger picture, rather then looking at the minute details that often lead to criticism of ones self. This correlates to the importance for using intersectionality to look at your life.

Final Project Ideas

This will be a research paper, and my audience is all women.

I sought to answer the question, how can women seek to take control of their own health and the power of education? Availiablity of information is one important aspect that needs to be addressed.

The specific example that prompted me to think about all of this was the article about Norplant. I can use Norplant as an example of how restriction of access to personal health information can have a negative impact on women. First, I should talk about a general background on birth control and The Pill, making light of the major changes it brought for women. Norplant was used as contraceptive that which women didn’t have to remember to take everyday. The main problem with Norplant was that its implantation would be paid for by Medicaid, however, not to remove them except for ‘medical reasons’. “They were told that they would have to pay $300, and reimburse the state the cost of insertion if they had implants removed before the end of two years,” (284 Petchesky). Norplant is referred to by some “as a means to curb the fertility of poor women, particularly those on welfare…and to reduce the underclass and urged incentives for inner city black women on welfare,” (138 May). This brings up the point that women must have the right to question medical treatment and to seek a second opinion if they so wish. However, many women still have trouble exerting their power. While is it certainly not the women’s fault for being purposefully mislead in the transactions of implanting this birth control in their arm, it is that there did not push the doctors to give them the information. In a way, they allowed the drug companies policies to take place. Eventually Norplant fell out of favor due to all of the lawsuits filed against it. “Out of one million women using the drug, 25,000 signed on to a lawsuit against it,” (140 May).

Nadia Farah wrote an article “The Eqyptian Women’s Health Book Collective” about how health education around the world is redefining itself. For example, she says it is important for health education to be taught “from the perspective of women,” (133 IWS) and also should go into more detail about all the different aspects that affect health, such as work, nutrition, social pressures etc. The goal is to cover more topics and information.

Other things I might touch on:

-What does this mean as a result of learning about our bodies, the health care alternatives and availabilities? There are obviously positive aspects, but are there negative consequences?

-Another thing I want to explore is about how mainstream media addresses the stigma of gaining information. Mass media has a big effect on what products are used regularly by women, as well as tells us what women should do to stay healthy. They do this by advertising products from drugs to face wash.

I already have a bunch of things I am thinking about and researching, but is there anything big I am overlooking?

Intersectionality Works Again

After reading about the Maquiladora's in Mexico, it is clear that there is a real problem present. Most appalling statistic for me was the although the businesses possibly contribute billions of dollars the local economy, a worker makes on average 1 dollar an hour. “The maquiladora worker is among the least expensive in the world,” (466 IWS). However devastating the information presented is, there are even worse things happening behind that statistic, which brings up the term intersectionality. We first were introduced to intersectionality by Crenshaw, who defines it as the idea that many aspects make up a person’s entire identity. Essentially, every person belongs to multiple groups simultaneously, and these groups have the ability to overlap. After reading these articles and Ciudad Jaurez, we can see how the concept overlaps. These reading specifically focused on the “Systemati[matic] violat[tion of] women's fundamental rights,” (468 IWS). Although the focus in these reading tends to be on the fact that the majority of workers are women, its it also found that these women have many other identities. These identities include: mother, daughter, wife, friend and many more. These multiple identities make them important contributors to society in other ways, and important to many other people. For example, many of the women who work in the factories are also mothers, and the long work time seriously compromises their ability to be a good mother for their children. “Mothers who work on the assembly lines often have no choice by to leave their children at home to look after themselves, and they often turn to drugs or gang violence as the grow older(464 IWS). Not only does their work hours and low pay effect the people depending on them, as does the horrible conditions that can be toxic, hot and dangerous. There is a real problem with defining women in one way, and this is also seen in prejudice against pregnant women. “...she had to take a pregnancy test...[and] were tested when they were hired,” (467 IWS). The women who were tested positive were turned down for being hired. Furthermore, for the women who were already hired and get pregnant, the companies are very unaccommodating. These women should not have been discriminated against just because they undertook a new identity. It is imperative that women, whether they are pregnant, a mother or anything else, are treated accordingly and specifically. Lastly, in Ciudad, Juares the girl Claudia is a girl just coming into a woman who was working at a Maquiladora then murdered. When reading the entire story, we see that she is a girl of many layers. “Put on a white blouse with a lace overlay, even if the uniform will cover it, its nice to know you've got something nice underneath, even if no one will see it.” I think this is a summation of how while she was a women working in factory in Mexico, she was also a lot of other things. The book pointed out that it is important to approach her murder with importance and care for this reason.

Context, Context, Context

Horace Miner's story of the “Nacirema“ is a distinguish and valued article by many. As one reads it for the first time, they are likely confused at the story and perhaps even fascinated with the intricacies of this culture. However, when looking back very carefully, we see that this anthropological study is one based on American (Nacirema backwards) culture and practices. Miner uses this writing to above all show how bizarre our cultural practice can be from an outsiders perspective. When we look at any culture's practices, we must look within the context of their culture, meaning their location, resources available, religious beliefs etc. When we are able to look at these things, we are more understanding of what they do. For example, Miner describes a cultural practice about the mouth. “Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them,” (Miner). Of course what Miner is referring to is that many American's brush and floss their teeth everyday to keep them from rotting, falling out and to also keep them white. From an outsiders perspective, as Miner as written, this ritual could seem as going overboard and “depend upon the pervasive aversion to the natural body and its functions,” (Miner). On the other hand, looking contextually at all these practices we can see that we do these things to be clean, healthy and to look healthy, because those are things that are important in our culture.

Another example of this type of cultural context being used in a real anthropological study is in assisted suicide and death hastening practices around the world. To American's, we see assisted suicide as very complicated because of the ethical dilemma present. We usually see this type of behavior as cruel or unnecessary. However, we can look at any nonindustrial culture, and see that these types of practices are normal and seen as necessary. Anthony Glascock looks at the context of killing or abused people in these cultures. He finds that these are in :areas of harsh climates...[and]lack systems of social stratification,” are usually non-sedentary and do not have health technology that we have to sustain life (67 Glascock). In this context, their practices are acceptable.

Furthermore, by looking at the context, it helps to see the similarities and differences in comparing our cultures. Miner says, “If all of the logically possible combinations of behavior have not been found somewhere in the world, he is apt to suspect that they must be present in some yet undescribed tribe,” (Miner). It is important that besides looking at a culture holistically, anthropologist's main goal is to look for the exotic in the familiar, as well as, the familiar in the exotic.

Glascock, Anthony P. (1997). When Killing is Acceptable: The Moral Dilemma surrounding Assisted Suicide in America and Other Soceities. The Cultural Context of Aging (Second ed., pp. 56 -70). Westport: Bergin and Garvey.

Questions for Demere Woolway

First of all, this might be a simple question, but I wanted someone to clear up what the difference between being queer and gay? I hear these terms being uses interchangeable, so I always thought they were the same thing.

Leslie Feinberg talks about transgender people in her piece “We are All Works in Progress”. She talks briefly about transgender people being subjected to abuse, verbally and physically. Do you know more about this? I had never heard about this type of abuse, and for that reason I don’t think it is typically broadcasted. Why do you think this is?

I was also very interested in the piece by Carole Vance about Social Constructionism. I would like to better understand how this works at the global level, and talk about how it works even at a much smaller lever, such as at this University. Do you think this theory applies or us used in the same way by every person? I’m curious, being that I am a scientist myself, do you think this theory disregards science? I am concerned that people who use this theory as their only view point are just as hopeless as those who take a Essentialist point of view solely

Esstenialism, Social Constructionism and Division

Social constructionist theory contrasts essentialism, which states that sexuality and “human behavior is natural predetermined by genetic, biological or physiological mechanism and thus not subject to change,” (29 Vance). Essentialism is a likely to be a more widely accepted view of human beings around the world. On the other hand, Social Constructionism seeks to change our meaning of how sexuality is derived. “Culture and society construct seemingly stable reality and experiences,” (30 Vance). Our culture has a large effect on how we act, and thus has a great impact on gender, gender roles and sexuality. This leads to the question, does this theory leave room for choice of who we are? Or, does this mean that instead of biology determining our sexuality, does our culture choose for us?

Leslie Feinberg writes in Transliberation that every person should have the innate right to choose their gender and begin life as “gender neutral”. “I am very grateful to have this chance to open up a conversation with you to why it is so vital to also defend the right of individuals to express and define their sex and gender, and to control their own bodies,” (3 Feinberg). Feinberg proceeds to complicate this notion by suggesting a new movement, transliberation which she says will expand on the different ways to be a human being. She asserts that a person, like herself, can be neither man nor women. “This either-or leaves no room for intersexual people, born between the poles of male and female,” (7 Feinberg). Instead of letting these people living in purgatory, we should use their situations as a new opportunity to create something new. It is true that not only these “transgender” labeled people feel this way, but every person can feel like this, no matter if they feel masculine or feminine. “…I see individuals express their gender in exquisitely complex and ever-changing ways, despite the laws of [science],” (10 Feinberg). Every person has the opportunity to be different, and there really is no person that can fit a cookie-cutter definition of man or women. Feinberg does a wonderful job of not pointing the finger at women/men, and not dividing people into groups. She is able to include everyone, and helps point out our similarities rather then our differences. This leads to why looking at the ethics of research on the genetic component of sexuality has great importance. “Genetics can tell us what is normal and that the content of what is normal tells us what ought to be...” which would most definitely lead to people being categorized and seems differently (48 Schuklenk). Feinberg would disagree with this type of testing because of its unconcealed result for the entire population. Not only does everyone would feel the pressure to confine to what is normal, but the people whose genes are dissimilar would find that it is impossible for them to change, but they shouldn’t have to.

Violence Against Women

Crenshaw introduces intersectionality, which is the idea that many aspects make up a person’s entire identity. She acknowledges the complexity of belonging simultaneously to several groups. Specifically, Crenshaw, as well as Dorothy Allison and Helene Clarkson, look at how intersectionality affects women that are abused and sexually assaulted. All three authors imply, but Crenshaw states, “The violence that many women experience is often shaped by other dimensions of their identities such as race and class” (200 IWS). Looking these aspects, race and class can help fill in the gaps between feminism and racism for women that are abused. Another thing that affects violence against women could be their location. Clarkson’s “War Crimes” refers to a city in Africa called Baraka which is “at the cross roads of armed groups—from Congo, Rawanda, Burundi,” (613 Clarkson). Being in such a dangerous, hostile place increases the chance of these women being hurt. However, that doesn’t mean a women in America won’t experience violence, rather the violence is experienced in a different way. When looking at Dorothy Allison’s story, we see that abuse in a small town in North Carolina can change a women’s perspective of herself. For example, often times Allison refers to herself as “unbeautiful” and speaks of how typically women see themselves as less significant as people in their society (Allison 32).

Location also has a great effect on how these women can receive help. Clarkson shows that African women are often times too scared to tell anyone about rape. This is due to a multitude of factors. The women are at risk of having contracted HIV or other diseases. There is also “social consequences…The stigma of rape leads some men to abandon their wives (613 Clarkson). Abandonment by a husband can typically leave a woman without any resources. These are important factors to consider when explaining why receiving help would be difficult or nonexistent. The women are too embarrassed to receive help and no one feels they deserve help. In the United States, Crenshaw shows the limited services for black women as well as immigrants. “Despite this woman’s desperate need, she was unable to receive the protection afforded English speaking women,” (204 IWS). Even in the United States, she shows that there are many things that can stand in the way of a woman getting help after they have been hurt. Interestingly, she also states that the help given in the United States typically is below average because of its inability to give specific help for someone who is both colored and a woman. “When the practices expound identity as woman or person of color as an either or proposition, they relegate the identity of women of color to a location that resists telling,” (200 IWS). The services are not representative of their experience, so these women feel they are unable to come forward to receive help. Women cannot be expected to receive the same care around the world, for their experience, identity and locations are all very different.

I thought this was a cool link, and the organization made me want to join!