Category: DB4

There is some reading. I will try to speak about everything. ,,Redstockings Manifesto” express women position in society. Women fighting to get respect from men. They try to take a equal position in the community. They are oppressed class. Women are denied. They are vulnerable. Men are dominated; they control political, economical and political structures. Women do not want to change own-self. They just want to change dependence of men. Women demand regards. They think that they have ability and potential. Women are capable, but men do not think so. Women have every kind of able to be in politic.

There was speaking about housework. According to the article, ,, The politics of housework”, women are oppressed. Their main function is to clean and work at home. They do not have other function. They are not success and do not have own job. They are not happy. There are some rules in our society for girls. For example if you are a girl, you must clean home, play with dulls. In this case if your sex is female you must be sophisticate and pleasant. In the reading is speaking that revolution is coming.

In the article, ,, I want a wife” is speaking about thoughts of men. Their dependence toward women. There is important points. Inasmuch as I guess, the man needs the ,,nurse” or ,,robot” woman. I think that just robot can do his demands. He needs person who does not have own wishes and requests. The woman must work, take care of his children. She must make appointment with doctor and dentist. She must wash children’s clothes. The women must take care of his physical needs and keep house clean. I believe that the man does not have a healthy mind, otherwise she will not think so. The women must not be bother and she must do every sexual demands of the man. I think that there is a terrible situation. The man needs woman in order to make comfort.

I feel that through 1960-1970s women had a serious problems in society. They are vulnerable. They need help, because they are oppressed by men.

In this weeks text there were a few common themes in each text. While analyzing the text I came across two themes which are: the conditioning of women and the liberation of women. The main problem I see in this time period (mid 1960s to early 1970) is that women were conditioned to be a certain type of way in order to be deemed acceptable and weren’t allowed to live outside the world of women without being seen as threat to the dominated patriarchal oppression placed on them. The main concern is collectively liberating women from the shackles of a sexist society while raising women awareness to the systematic and politic oppression they face. It isn’t only a women’s rights violation, it’s a human rights violation.

The the article, “I Want a Wife” the author, Judy Brandy, speaks of wanting a wife after having a conversation with a friend. The author then processed to list social roles, or expectations set for people occupying a given or born role in society. Women are expected to perform certain task due to their status in society and the belief of western society. Judy does a good job at listing these role in a theoretical life scenario. She expects her wife to cook, clean, take care of the kids, take care of home, listen to conversation and basically be a therapist in one shape or form. She exemplified what is expected of a “good wife”. Then there was, “Women Liberation: Aims to free men too” by Gloria Steinem. In this article the author begin with a brief explanation of the women’s liberation movement and ways in which men can ally themselves with women. She also speaks of her own ignorance of the women liberation movement, comparing it to that of home economics. Next, the author get into some necessary but short conversation. Exposing the parallels of the struggles of the Women’s Liberation Movement and that of the Civil Rights Movement. Steinem speaks on the mistreatment of women and Afro Americans within the United States society. One line that stood out to me was, “The truth is that a woman with a college degree working full time makes less than a black man with a high school degree working full time. And black women make least of all.” The is a clear disparity in all of this. In my opinion, especially during these times black women had it worst than any group whether in the women liberation movement or the civil rights movement. In both groups they were essentially pushed to the back and barely got, if any, recognition. Many black women, before the women’s liberation movement, spoke against the disparities they face simply trying to be human. One women in particular named Fannie Lou Hamer gave a speech at Washington D.C, on Mississippi and Civil Right on June 8th 1964. During this speech she addressed that she was a sharecropper and was being evicted from her home of several years because she went down to the court to register to become a first class citizen in order to vote. All this women wanted to do was vote, a simple human right, and they tried denying her of that right by giving an ultimatum; either withdraw your voting registration or leave the premisses (plantation). While reading Gloria Steinem’s article it reminded me of the extra pain black women had to endure due to the intersectionality that they faced. We must all evaluate the privilege we may have in this society so that we can identify the best way to serve women and be their allies.

Share your reflections about the texts from this week. What themes do you see across the different texts for this week? Based on these readings, what do you see as the primary issues that concern feminists in the late 1960s and early 1970s? Where in the texts do you see different priorities or concerns come up — and, what do you notice about these differences?

The themes that I see constantly across these different texts were they all were stating how women were oppressed. The woman suffrage, civil right movements , these were how they fought oppression. In “I want a wife” it express the men desire to having a women that can serve them. It says things like “I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs” who will clean the house and take care of kids, so on. These things were what women were expected to do, because these are consider “housework”. In “The Politics of Housework” it showed the excuses that men use to tell women in order to continue doing housework. A phrase that the men would say then would be translated to what they actually meant. “Meaning: Unfortunately I’m no good at things like washing dishes or cooking. What I do best is a little light
carpentry, changing light bulbs, moving furniture. (How often do you move furniture).
Also meaning: Historically the lower classes (Blacks and women) have had hundreds of years doing menial
jobs. It would be a waste of manpower to train someone else to do them now.
Also meaning: I don’t like the dull stupid boring jobs, so you should do them.
“I don’t mind sharing the work, but you’ll have to show me how to”. It is sad that men mentality was like this or some men mentality from now are still thinking like this. Unfortunately for women we can stand up for ourselves but because of the limited power we have its hard to stand up for yourself.

To simply state it: Woman have a say in what role they want to play.

In “The Politics of Housework” and “I Want a Wife,” I found that the two focused on how we have been conditioned to think, act, and in the end, where we saw ourselves “fitting in” when it comes to, what society saw as the ideal relationship.

I believe that “I Want a Wife” leads with an ironic and incongruous theme, simply with how it is a list of what the “perfect Wife” does; I experienced a wanting to challenge that common thought. I understand the irony but is there we can disassociate being a Wife and having the sole responsibility of tasks limited to family and home? Here we read about wanting a “Wife” rather than a partner who would support equally and lessen any burdens for the chance to achieve personal, spiritual, and career goals. These thoughts throughout my experience led me to think about relationships that I have seen that challenge numerous systemic, cultural, and societal expectations. My grandfather, a Vietnam Vet and a true “Man,” do the laundry for the household without fail or complaint. While I don’t believe in commending what is right or fair, I find that seeing this simple balance in their partnership is something to appreciate even as an older generational and Hispanic couple.

In “The Politics of Housework,” I contemplated moreover the manipulation that comes with “keeping your man happy” or “fine I’ll do it myself.” Many of the comments proposed the narrative that men will play this incapable role to squirm out of simple house chores. Do I sense a “Damsel in Distress”? “Look at me! I’m trying my best, but I just can’t do it like you.” Convincing with flattery to get the Women to play their “rightful role.”

LESLIE FEINBERG INTERVIEWS SYLVIA RIVERA:

Reading this filled me with many emotions but ultimately left me feeling inspired. To read about Riveras experience growing up in the 60s-70s, a Drag Queen and treated with such degradation from such a young age. I think how we have been able to get to the present day’s progress with revolutionaries overcoming incredible oppression such as Sylvia and Marsha P. Johnson.

“They were actually afraid of us at the time…a lot of people forget that for 45 minutes we had them trapped in there.”

Share your reflections about the texts from this week. What themes do you see across the different texts for this week? Based on these readings, what do you see as the primary issues that concern feminists in the late 1960s and early 1970s? Where in the texts do you see different priorities or concerns come up — and, what do you notice about these differences?

Regarding this week’s reading, I noticed that many of the problems women face in the 1960s and the 1970s are closely related to what they are expected to do. Women during these times are still considered inferior to men which is honestly mindblowing. In the “REDSTOCKINGS MANIFESTO”, the narrator brings up an interesting point stating, “We are considered inferior beings, whose only purpose is to enhance men’s lives.” This directly ties in with what women were expected to do during this time, which was to clean the house and watch after children while serving their husbands. Similarly, in “I Want a Wife”, many men express their desire for women who can act as a servant to them. “I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs. I want a wife
who will keep my house clean. A wife who will pick up after my children,
a wife who will pick up after me.” Many men also express their desire for a partner who can satisfy their sexual desires, which is honestly degrading; makes it seem like women are only objects to serve them.

Aside from the inferior viewpoint on women, many women during this time also expressed their displease about not being able to voice their annoyances. In “The Politics of Housework” the narrator gives us an interesting perspective on the excuses that men use to have women continue doing housework. She gives us the phrase that men say and the “meaning” behind their words. This is interesting because we can see that the “meaning” is what most women truly hear from those excuses. It is sad because even though women during this time despise the system that oppress them, it is hard for them to even stand up for themselves because of the little power that they have.

The texts from this week opened my eyes more and gave me a more thorough/ visual representation of what it was like to be a woman in the 1960s-1970s whether that was your assigned sex or not. Throughout the different texts for this week, the common issue shared was the oppression of women and what was required of women and their role in society.

Something that caught my eyes throughout the text is the statement “Women are inferior to men.”  Women make up half of humanity, nurture, work around the clock as mothers, do the house chores, work 9-5 jobs, do all these things like wonder women and are still not given the respect, equality or credit.

Also, something that stood out to me in “women’s liberation aims to free men too” is that some believe women have small brains which sounded completely absurd. Women are not always given the opportunity to show their true and full potential for such rude and ignorant remarks.

In “Redstockings Manifesto,” “I Want a Wife,” and “The Politics of Housework” these articles shared feminist views and the oppression occurring. The women’s “role” in society/everyday life. The difference between “I’m Glad I was in the Stonewall Riot” is that Sylvia Rivera was into drag, brought down, treated as less for being gay and was able to participate in the “Stonewall Riot” that included many people whom were also in women and peace movements. 

Feminism Second Wave​​

Feminism Second-Wave

The 1960s saw the emergence of second-wave feminism,which to a great extent focused on equality and discrimination. It identified the cultural and political inequalities that women were facing. The main issue was inequality towards women, which came on the run of the civil rights movement that worked to fight oppression. The feminist wave, with their slogan “The Personal is Political,” encouraged the women to see how their personal lives reflected how power structures were sexist. In Redstockings Manifesto by the Redstockings of the Women’s Liberation Movement, it supported the women’s movement andemancipation. Among the writings that were prominent in advancing the ideas of the feminists included Redstockings Manifesto and The Politics of Housework which looked at the oppression of women. They wanted to eliminate any prejudice that was against women. They tried to achieve internal difference and called on women to unite and achieve liberation from men’s oppressors. The main objective was to emancipate women and make them liberal. The people were criticizing gender inequality and wanted women to be liberalized. One similarity is that they all focused on the inequality that women faced and wanted women to fight the oppression as one. Through this, the wave of the 1960s and 1970s was meant to address the inequalities that were there.

Reference

Willis, E. (1984). Radical feminism and feministic radicalism. Social text, (9/10), 91-118

Human’s are bound to be prejudice about everything and anything when they do not fit the shoes of others. We as people tend to have opinions on a certain person and/topic without reason. Everyone has been in a situation where you first meet a person and without even talking to them, you have already decided in your head that you do not like them. In a similar way, many groups and communities are being targeted and fall into the hands of prejudice because they are different or it contradicts the norms and threatens usual and standard societal rules and expectations. Women and the LGBTQ+ community are examples of groups that are affected by this prejudice system. In the articles and essays “I Want A Wife” by Judy Brady, “The Politics of Housework” by Pat Mainardi and “I’m Glad I was in the Stonewall Riot” by Sylvia Rivera both touch on topics of prejudice and stereotypes that women and transvestites face during that 1960s and 1970s.

Brady touches on the topic of a women/female’s role in life. Although she herself is a wife and women, she goes back to a repeated phrase throughout the whole section: “I Want a Wife” because anyone would “want a wife who will take care of my physical needs… who will keep my house clean. A wife who will pick up after my children, a wife who will pick up after me.” (Brady). Who wouldn’t want an individual being who does literally everything and anything for you, who dedicates their time to things you don’t want/bother to do. Brady strongly suggests that she her would prefer a wife because in society, we automatically assume that women are beneath men and will therefore take care of duties in the house. Due to this stereotype the term for house duties has become and correlated so anyone can understand that wife duties and housework go hand in hand together. In Mainardi’s article, she complements Brady’s points by going into further detail of the duties and roles women play when it comes to housework. Mainardi worded point by ensuing

“a dialogue that’s been going on for several years. Here are some the high points.
‘I don’t mind sharing the house work, but I don’t do it very well. We should each do the things we’re best at.
Meaning: Unfortunately I’m no good at things like washing dishes or cooking. What I do best is a little light
carpentry, changing light bulbs, moving furniture” (Mainardi).

By doing this Mainardi shows how men continue to promote the stereotypes of women being in the kitchen. Together, Brady and Mainardi inform their readers on how women tend to face prejudice because of what we were taught and what we know of.

Sylvia Rivera on the other hand speaks on prejudice as well but with a different community. We all know how movements are made and civil wars are brought up and constructed when there has been an unjust/unfair mistreatment of a group/community of individuals. In Rivera’s interview, right off the bat he begins to speak on the mistreatment of transvestites individuals like himself: “We expected nothing better than to be treated like we were animals-and we were. We were stuck in a bullpen like a bunch of freaks. We were disrespected. A lot of us were beaten up and raped” (Rivera). In those sentence alone, I can feel how hurt and tired he himself felt and many other individuals like him. In Rivera’s interview he promotes the power and resilience we and others shared due to the prejudice and stereotypes he faced due to his appearance and sexual orientation. Although he has faced many obstacles, he is proud to be a part of a rising movement that is the Stonewall Riot.

This week’s reading shared themes that focused on women’s labor, and the ways in which men typically undervalue and evade this important work.

They examine some men’s reactions, those who go so far as to logically recognize it is unfair not to share their burden of the “women’s” work, and how when these men are faced with the true division of this labor, they display mental gymnastics and manipulative snippets like the ones so well documented by Pat Mainardi in The Politics of Housework.

In my own experience, often well intended men who like to claim the title of feminist start to find themselves experiencing difficulty when faced with the realities of what sharing household burdens actually looks like, and we are about 40 years from when these pieces were written.

Minimizing the unrewarded labor of women aids in viewing women as accessories in men’s life, putting women in the position of playing a supporting role at best to a man’s personal narrative. And still with this support, a man admitting he only reached great heights because he has been standing on the backs of others is painful, and too inconvenient. As Brady brilliantly puts it, who wouldn’t want a wife?! Sounds like a dream right now, while I’m in school.  

 But it’s a pre-packaged patriarchal lie for men too, this idea of “the wife” as a caretaker, as Steinem explains. Gloria Steinem speaks to the harm this does to men and boys this week in her Washington Post piece, exemplifying the ways that these norms are also harmful to them. She also speaks to more privileged feminism, that is might be easier to claim we are equals from a place of privilege, “The chains may be made of mink and wall-to-wall carpeting, but they are still chains.”. This made me think of a larger desire in many humans to abdicate their will entirely and embrace their role while refusing to admit they are in an oppressed role.  

I felt this overarching theme that the Redstocking Manifesto raises, that these issues of the patriarchy are made to seem like “a matter of interplay between two unique personalities, but, in reality, each relationship is a class relationship, and the conflicts between individual men and women are political conflicts that can only be solved collectively” This goes back to these concepts of defining womanhood as an oppressed class, and recognizing the systemic nature of these problems. It is like the birdcage analogy Frye used in previous week’s writings.