Heterosexuality

Personal political occurs in my relationships. Politics implies issues associated with the distribution of power in sexual relationships; therefore, it’s in my relationships because the man is typically the higher power in a relationship, whether it being work or your own personal lives. Some men believe that they can do no wrong, but if a woman was to do the same thing they would be considered as a horrible wife or girlfriend. Men also seem to think that they can go out with their friends but they try to prevent you from going out with yours. Some girls lose their friends because of the way their husband or boyfriends are. I see my relationships as compulsory heterosexuality, meaning heterosexuality is the expected and desirable sexual identity. Socialization into gender affects intimacy in relationships because we are socially constructed into our gender by society at an early age. You cannot help who you are attracted to but society tries to choose for you based on their own beliefs. Growing up I played with dolls, barbies, and many other feminine toys. Therefore, it has made me a feminine woman attracted to men. Intimacy may be changed drastically if a woman is attracted to another woman. Homophobia discourages intimacy because homophobia is hatred towards homosexuals. People who are homosexuals may feel that they should not have intimacy because they might be afraid of harassment, which is common along LGB students. To this today, there has not yet been an instance in my life when homophobia has prevented me from developing intimacy with someone.

White Privilege

White enters into usage as a legal term in laws, statutes, and court decisions in the United States all the time. Whether it’s in school or at work. Most of the time it’s whites that are considered to be discriminating against other people but that’s not always true. “White” was first used as a racial category many years ago, around the time slavery began. Everyone started to believe that African Americans were meant to be the white’s slaves. I don’t believe that there is any such thing called “white” culture but some people do. Some people believe that certain places are for whites only. Especially years ago, there were many places that had signs outside their door that said, “whites only” or on trains. African Americans were made to sit at the separate spot on the train that whites. Some whites believe that they are of higher standing that African Americans. I believe whites can be used as a group name without invoking connotations of white supremacy because not all whites have the same beliefs. Some whites may not believe that they are more superior to other racial groups. That being said, there is always going to be a racial thought that goes through your mind. For example, if a murder is committed and it’s by a different racial group you are going to think, most of the time, that that happened because of their race. I also believe that in some ways whiteness and white supremacy are fundamentally linked. Since there is such a large number of people that believe that they are superior, then it would be safe to say they whiteness and white supremacy are linked fundamentally.

Theorizing Privilege

Different forms of prejudice affect our lives because we are always prejudging someone for multiple reasons, even if sometimes we do not agree with them. We are a society in which we agree with other people to fit in. Ideologies are sets of beliefs. They show up in the institutions that affect our lives the most because at home when are taught different beliefs by our parents. When going to school you are taught something, sometimes, completely different. Work places also affect our beliefs. I’ve experienced gender inequality at work. The men are always asked to do the more difficult work because they are considered to be stronger than a woman. We are automatically considered “weaker” than a man, although, there are women stronger than a lot of men. Hate crimes maintain systems of inequality because most serious crimes are committed by men, so we think. When a woman commits a crime it is not considered as serious as if a man were to commit the exact same crime. For example, murder. If a woman is to kill her husband it is usually considered self-defense. If a man is to kill his wife he is considered to be a dangerous and extremely violent person. These images have major effects on me as well as the majority of our society. These images cause us to be cautious of men than women, when in reality; we need to be cautious about both. Women are just as capable of committing a crime as man.

Romance and Relationships

My family reflects the normative U.S. family because my mother and father both work, yet my father is expected to provide financially more to the family. Social institutions reinforce power relations in the family because typically, the man is to provide for the family. If the mother provides more for the family then it is looked at in a different way. People do not see it as being normal. Dating and romance scripts I believe are taught through people. People usually do what others do. They look for the same relationship that someone else has if it looks to be successful. Scripts teach us about the normative U.S. family because they reflect our social norms, practices, and workings of power. Scripts provide us with frameworks and guidelines for sexual feelings and behaviors. Dating scripts uphold gender norms because typically, a man and a woman date. It isn’t “normal” for two women or two men to date. When I was younger my mother was a stay at home mom and my father worked fulltime and supported the family. My mother would clean, do laundry, and cook sometimes. My father would cook a majority of the time because he enjoyed it, but typically he was the breadwinner. Once my sister and I got into grade school my mother went back to work. She did not make as much as my father but she enjoyed working. As of today, both my parents work, while my father is the main household support. These tasks reflect typical social norms because it is typical for the man to provide more for the family, while the mother, either a stay at home mom or working herself, will not provide as much to the family, financially. Women and men communicate very differently. Women typically talk in a softer, more proper speech, while men are typically loud and curse much more. Usually, if a woman was to curse she would be looked down upon. Women and men’s different ways of communicating affect relationships because is it normal for the woman to have a quiet, polite voice and for the man to have a much deeper, stern voice. If a man was to have a soft voice he would probably be considered gay. Women tend to lean towards more of a man with a deep, stern voice, rather than a man with a soft, quiet voice.

Gender on the Body

Power relations are reflected and reinforced in beauty norms because the men are still considered to be the more “powerful” between them and women. Women will always have a higher standard than a man to look good. Beauty norms affect women and men differently because women have more of an acceptance to be beautiful than men. Some men like to be “fit” but most women feel that they to extremely thin and beautiful and have no faults. Men tend to be more attractive to thin, pretty women with clear skin, especially if the men are fit themselves. Women typically judge men by their looks, not on what their body looks like. If women were to wear baggy clothes they would be stared at, but men wearing baggy clothes is normal. Beauty norms have affected me because I’ve never been able to get the “hottest” guy in school because there are definitely prettier and skinnier women in the world than me. I’ve always had the bigger thighs out of all of my friends, whom seem to be more “popular” because they wear a size zero. The media plays an extremely important role because everyone on television is pretty, thin, and clear skin. Beauty norms start at a young age. There is a huge amount of teen role models who are beautiful and thin and seem to be perfect, which makes teenagers today want to be just like them. Women can resist the beauty ideal by having more confidence in themselves. Phallocentrism works to control men’s bodies because everything about them is considered central and normal.

Second Wave Feminism

I believe that consciousness raising groups is a great thing. Everyone should be aware women oppression and know the effects it has on the entire society, not just one individual. If consciousness raising groups became popular again today, I believe they would be extremely effective in addressing social inequality. Social inequality is primary based towards women and although many people realize that there is social inequality, they might not understand how in depth it is and how much it is still going on today. If there was a consciousness raising group I believe most people would be shocked to realize how much is actually going on. Radical feminists in the Second Wave were unable to sustain their momentum because the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and in 1973 the decision for Roe v. Wade was decided. Although these were passed and decided, many people still did not want to accept the fact that it was put into action. If I were to write a gender-based manifesto, it would be about how women are classified as not being “strong” enough because they are more feminine than a man. Essentialism is only based on a single-axis identity. They also focus on generalizations about a group. Identity Politics signifies a wide range of political activity and theorizing founded in shared experiences of injustice of members of certain social groups. These issues should not be based on one specific identity. Diversity issues may be lost due to identity-based approaches because there are many different types of social groups in our society. Homosexuals are discriminated against just like many women.

First Wave

In 1863, Stanton and Anthony organize the Women’s Loyal National League and gather 300,000 signatures on a petition demanding that the Senate abolish slavery by the constitutional amendment. I do not believe that such a strategy would be very effective for feminist activists today because it takes more than 300,000 signatures on a petition to change or abolish a law. And it is primarily thought and changed by the higher-level people. However, I do believe that racism and classism still divide feminist movements today. Feminist movements are primarily based on the race or class of the person or group. The First Wave was about letting black people have the same freedom as the white. Suffragists may have dealt with the issue of Black suffrage by understanding it more and being more patient for a change. To be a good activist you needed many decent personal characteristics. You needed to be confident, well-educated, and make sure you got your point across in a strong and positive way. You must agree with everything you say and every decision you make. Suffrage is not “on the radar” by many young people today for many reasons. There is a mixed-race in schools, you can not vote until you are eighteen years old, and certain sports are commonly known to be masculine or feminine with no questions asked. There is also a larger percentage of race for one sport rather than another. For example, more African Americans play basketball and football, while more whites play tennis and soccer.