Women Activists

/http://womensmediacenter.com/blog/2012/01/exclusive-occupying-the-occupy-movement/

In a world where capitalism is dominated by men, women are left to suffer as victims of the many inequalities created by globalization and defective economic systems. Women perform 60% of work worldwide, they earn 10% of income, and own 10% of the land (Eitzen and Bacca Zinn, 243). Do these statistics exaggerate reality or merely emphasize it? We, as a society, are aware that gender is an important factor in determining one’s employment position and income. For this reason, women have and are coming together to make their voices be heard and to bring change through women’s movements. Numerous studies have been conducted to prove and support the fact that there is a substantial difference in the earnings and wages of men and women.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/wage_gap_numbers.html

http://www.womensmedia.com/new/Lips-Hilary-gender-wage-gap.shtml

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1984/06/art3full.pdf

          Sociological concepts such as the “glass ceiling” help us understand and recognize the barriers that prevent women from progressing and rising to top levels at work. Those of which include, but are not limited to,  “sex-segregated training and educational programs, restrictive eligibility requirements, seniority rights, the lack of training and career development opportunities, excessive time commitments, as well as the lack of family-sensitive employee benefits that constrain women's promotional opportunities" (Harlan, Berheide 4). Moreover, the patriarchy that prevails in Occupy movements further progresses the oppression of women in the job market and the work force. As the article argues, women, not only men, should protest against the high unemployment rates, corruption, and the social and economic disparities that exist among the 99% and the 1%. 

        Women need not be afraid to step up and “respond to the top-down challenges posed by a world economy reshaping the world system” (Ferree 292). Therefore, the Occupy movement has turned into a women’s movement.  However, women activists have quickly realized that they are not supported by nor are they  safe from fellow male occupiers.  Many of these women are protesting and speaking out for more specific purposes and rights, women’s rights.  These rights consist of: nonviolence, safe space to occupy, equal pay, and most importantly economic equality.  These movements have not been local but exist worldwide.  Women’s rights have been repressed but now immerse throughout the world due to globalization.  Women from Slovenia, Italy, Australia, and many other places, have made public objections by protesting on the streets and  fighting for their rights and desires.  These women’s movements were and are a large positive ramification of this century’s globalized world.  Women now know that they are not alone and can connect or relate to women from all over the world, to stand united, and fight for equality.  This movement is quite similar to a snowball barreling down a large mountain. With each and every yard, more and more people will come together until its overwhelming size trounces the oppressions that it once faced. Women's message for true equality will be carried out to every corner of the globe, slowly but surely.  The Occupy movement has brought new light to women’s movements and has given it the push needed to establish a strong force.  With this being said, we should recognize this movement, not a feminist movement, but as a women's movement.  This movement is not advocating gender equality and many other aspects that feminists are associated with.  It is a women’s movement advocating social, but predominantly economic, equality for women so they no longer have to tolerate male hegemony.

Do you agree with the article's recommendations for changing the direction of the occupy movements? The writer clearly states the need of change from public occupation to more repetetive demonstrations, and a shift of leadership to a largely female front. Or do you only agree with one (either the leadership change or the demonstration change)? 


Do you believe, maybe, that the occupy movement should entirely be a women's movement? Not just the men taking a step down, but completely leaving the protest's identity? Do you think there is a more effective way to have these women's movements gain more ground?

Welcome to Women's Studies 205: Gender and Globalization!

So, this is the first time I'm using blogger.com in a class - let's see how it works out! I would love to hear from those of you who have used it in other courses. My hope is that this will be a much more dynamic forum than the forum setting in Titanium. Let's give it a try:

You'll notice that Week 2 starts off with a music video, "International Love," by Pitbull, featuring Chris Brown. "An odd choice for a Women's Studies class," you may be thinking to yourself (particularly if you've seen the video or are familiar with Pitbull's... ahem... work). But wait! It is completely relevant, I promise. From the very first shot of the earth hurdling through space, to the flashes of the American and Puerto Rican flags emblazoned on its computer generated terrain, to - finally - Pitbull on stage surrounded by a bevy of lovely, scantily clad anonymous ladies, it is all a fantasy of globalization.

It is a very specific kind of diasporic, male, capitalist fantasy in which heterosexual male bodies emerge triumphant from inside fast cars in order to (literally) dance in victory on the earth's terrain and on top of its technological vistas, their recognizable likenesses projected onto skyscrapers. Where are the women? Certainly, they are in the video as well, but it would behoove us to take a moment to ask how, where, and ultimately why they are being represented. 

As we will see this semester, since at least the fifteenth century (the beginning of the age of colonialism), men came to be associated with travel, mobility, progress, and power, while women came to be associated with land, nature, nation, and earth.

Theodor Galle after Jan van der Straet (c. 1571-1633), The Discovery of America, from New Discoveries, detail, c. 1580 / 1590, Engraving, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection.

Man was an active agent, while woman was passive, inert, a symbol waiting to be made meaningful. To what extent does this type of symbolic language still hold meaning in our current popular cultural representations of globalization? What, if any, "real-life" consequences does this have?

We'll start off each week with a video. I would suggest watching the video first and just thinking about what relationship it might have to the week's reading and topics. This aspect of the course works best when you send in musical suggestions, so please do! You can either send me suggestions by email, or - better yet - write up a post on this blog that includes your own analysis of the cultural text. It doesn't have to be very long, but it should get all of us thinking!