These past few last weeks have been so informal and very interesting in this class. Personally, I learned a lot about feminism, activism, oppression, and women’s history. The subjects that I used to find very sensitive to read or talk about, now I feel more educated and excited about knowing more and more. This week’s reading was very important as we get to see the behind scenes of the pornography industry and look at all the pain our young girls have been through. In such a male domination society where males are objectifying women’s bodies, these women have nothing but a body to play with. Women have been used as sex objects to build a billion-dollar industry. Not only that but men are also forced to act aggressively towards women which impacts their behavior towards women in public. We don’t see enough women in colleges, work places, or even hospitals because how people think that women don’t belong to such industries and they are too weak and stupid to have nice jobs. I think after all these readings of this week and the past weeks, I am more concerned and worried about my image as a woman, and I will definitely speak up for myself or any other woman If I have to. 

I want to discuss. The term patriarchy refers to male dominance, which results in women being inferior to men. Throughout history, men and women have played different roles in society, leading to controversy over whether we still live in a patriarchal system today. Men have traditionally been viewed as the alpha males and breadwinners of the family, while women have been relegated to the role of housewives responsible for caring for the family. Being a woman in America has raised awareness of oppression and how women have been oppressed by men for many years. Black women have been oppressed by white supremacy and subjected to stereotypes. Women do not receive the same benefits or treatment as men, and were considered irrelevant in the workplace and politics until the 1940s. Men were often ignorant and arrogant, failing to acknowledge women’s needs and feelings as they were overshadowed by men. Feminists advocate for women’s rights and gender equality. Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique challenged the idealized image of what women were supposed to be, inspiring women in the 1960s to pursue education and jobs traditionally reserved for men. The mindset of women changed dramatically as they became more determined to break into male-dominated fields such as manual labor.

A topic I would like to discuss is the dehumanization of women in a new age of technology. Social media and the porn industry directly correlate with outdated and disturbing views on women that have a lasting psychological impact on men and women (especially younger men). Common tropes seen in this type of media are underaged women and normalized violence. While I won’t delve into specific categories and searches, it is quite shocking how much interaction these videos and posts get. For instance, when people view women getting beaten while simultaneously “enjoying” intercourse it is then believed that this is what all women must want and it desensitizes the viewer which puts women at risk. To speak again on the underage/teen content, especially seen on Instagram, I find it disgusting and egregious. Normalizing this justifies behavior such as pedophilia and exploits people who may or may not have given consent to have their bodies shown on a public platform. The porn industry is corrupt, and just like many industries they are able to hide it well. A piece that will forever stick with me is the documentary “Money Shot” which follows different sex workers as they tell their stories and the disturbing reality of the industry. 

One thing I want to talk about is how women are treated in society, we have always been reminded of our role as women, and whatever we do is never enough, it’s so tiring to be controlled and watched by everyone that we should be doing this or shouldn’t be doing this, especially when you come from a cultural and religious family which make things harder especially in my country, Women in my country l are often confined to unpaid care and household work, but often have little decision-making power in the traditional household dynamic. Strict gender norms – particularly in the religious city leave women with limited resources to pursue new business opportunities. In addition to traditional norms that are being kept, the lack of education and illiteracy prevents women from advancing. Many families instead send boys to school. Many girls that still go to school tend to drop out early, often due to drivers like marriage or early pregnancy. But I am glad that this generation is doing their best to make a change even though it’s hard and we get criticized a lot. 

Since we have a free assignment this week, I want to briefly share that I had the pleasure to read about the A.I.R. gallery, which is the first all-female artist’s gallery in the United States, opened in 1972 in New York In DUMBO. It is still open, exciting, and it’s a place to go to see what is happening. Searching on their website, I saw someone I kind of knew. Judith Bernstein, born in 1942, is an American feminist artist whose large charcoal drawings of phallic-looking screws in the 1970s represented women’s anger and oppression. Her “penis-screw” signature became a metaphor for women’s degradation and a wide array of social injustices and opposition to the Vietnam War. Ana Mendieta (1948 – 1985) was a Cuban-American artist who came to the United. States in 1961 at the age of 13 and came to prominence in 1973 while studying French and art at Iowa University, where in a performance piece Mendieta restaged a rape scene and spread chicken’s blood on her body to represent violence and Ana Mendieta (1948 – 1985) a Cuban-American artist who came to the United States in 1961 at the age of 13. She made a performance piece where Mendieta restaged a rape scene and spread chicken’s blood on her body to represent violence!!!She used feminine symbols and symbols and spiritual conceptualization to reflect personal experiences. In 1978, Ana Mendieta joined the Artists In Residence at A.I.R. Gallery in New York.Mendieta called herself an “Earth body artist” who expressed her ideas using various organic materials like flowers, moss, blood, soil, gunpowder, water, and fire. She died in a fall from a window in her New York apartment. She was 36. I found this gallery very interesting, and I plan to go there and suggest everyone go too! 

Ivan De Los Santos

Prof. Hollis Glaser

GWS 100-1300

Discussion 7

Today I will speak about how women are being objectified more today because of the internet. For example, Instagram plays a big part because it creates a facade of how a person is supposed to look when you are looking through the Explorer page. Because of this, men have begun to model what a perfect woman is based on what they see on the Explorer page. I disagree with this because of what I see on my explore page, but that’s different from what I go for. With most of those women, men see them as a nightstand and only see them for their looks and not their personality or how they carry themselves, so I feel like the best way to stop men from objectifying women on the internet is for people that work at Instagram not to overload the feed was the same type of woman add some natural in there add some curves some stretch marks promote the normal not the facade.

Being born and raised in America, I and many other Americans have been taught that we live in a country of freedom. Every human being has rights, and you have the freedom to move at will and without restrictions. Women have come a long way in our country, gaining rights ever since the dawn of patriarchy and proving that they are just as good as men with the ability to think, speak, and act for themselves. However, discrimination against women still exists in America and many other countries. Gender discrimination is so big in Saudi Arabia because there are strict sets of moral guidelines and ideologies that Saudi Arabian culture implements on its people. Although Saudi Arabian men impose restrictions on women for the sake of upholding their cultural beliefs and family honor. Women are limited to dress code, they aren’t able to express themselves within clothing. The law to wear the abaya was picked from a few verses of the Koran – ones that were appealing to the king. The point of the abaya is to protect women from unacceptable male attention and sexual harassment. Saudi Arabian culture is male-dominated and holds misogynistic views on women, but progress is being made. A woman’s role on the other hand does not consist of such significance and does not have the power that the male role does. The female role consists of women acting modestly and submissively; women are expected to be confined to being in their homes, caring for their families, and depending on their spouses’ or males relatives for income. They are trying to make improvements for women rights in In May 2017, King Salman ordered that women be allowed access to government services, such as education and healthcare, without needing consent from a male guardian. In September 2017, King Salman issued a decree allowing women to drive, lifting the decades-old ban on female drivers.