Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

of, equality, the, is, strong, and, get, engendering, think, we, need, to, much, angrier, sisterhood, boys, girls, part, whole, miss, representation, zero, sum, game, contemplating, what, role, gender, roles, beautiful, or, maybe, just, that, okay, few, thoughts, on, weddings, wedding, related, reality, tv, updated, tags, posts, advancing, towards, women, men, archives, welcome, pages, email, subscription, meta,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (372), and (293), that (156), women (120), this (70), men (66), for (64), was (59), #equality (52), they (50), with (49), are (46), about (39), but (35), have (34), you (33), their (31), all (30), her (30), from (29), our (28), how (28), when (28), one (28), what (28), #gender (26), she (26), other (25), not (25), had (25), just (23), which (23), social (23), can (23), would (23), 2011 (22), has (22), more (21), think (21), boys (21), towards (20), who (20), these (20), female (19), there (19), work (17), been (17), girls (17), people (17), like (16), media (16), because (16), working (15), part (15), into (15), way (15), should (15), some (15), very (14), were (14), get (13), now (13), advancing (13), between (13), will (13), much (13), time (13), new (12), society (12), home (12), engenderingequality (12), than (12), them (12), why (12), understanding (12), young (12), sense (12), blog (11), also (11), beauty (11), sisterhood (11), being (11), where (11), many (11), little (11), role (11), same (11), end (11), don (11), engendering (10), issues (10), conversation (10), family (10), well (10), both (10), even (10), posted (10), uncategorized (10), really (10), need (10), idea (10), world (10), moms (10), your (9), within (9), human (9), wedding (9), friends (9), yet (9), own (9), reality (9), its (9), around (9), pops (9), comments (8), education (8), tags (8), only (8), out (8), those (8), thought (8), through (8), look (8), strong (8), love (8), said (8), woman (8), his (8), community (8), bring (8), any (8), always (8), com (7), email (7), space (7), game (7), weddings (7), peace (7), experience (7), then (7), made (7), certain (7), want (7), less (7), often (7), here (7), promote (7), advancement (7), brought (7), change (7), anger (7), process (6), true (6), nobel (6), prize (6), lil (6), justice (6), stereotypes (6), last (6), promoting (6), post (6), going (6), most (6), beautiful (6), members (6), help (6), say (6), explains (6), aren (6), article (6), makes (6), ways (6), rather (6), issue (6), value (6), explained (6), back (6), interesting (6), years (6), each (6), oppressed (6), actually (6), better (6), recognize (6), fact (6), thinking (6), might (6), behavior (6), create (5), document (5), order (5), 2010 (5), zero (5), sum (5), standards (5), power (5), steinem (5), roles (5), competition (5), together (5), over (5), married (5), relationship (5), before (5), began (5), greater (5), found (5), life (5), messages (5), looking (5), point (5), come (5), without (5), two (5), comment (5), regarding (5), become (5), success (5), current (5), having (5), everyone (5), type (5), take (5), boy (5), sis (5), sexual (5), things (5), upon (5), acting (5), institutions (5), something (5), impacts (5), whole (5), themselves (5), interacting (5), angry (5), wordpress (4), view (4), sign (4), subscribe (4), already (4), account (4), address (4), posts (4), contribute (4), prosperity (4), may (4), identity (4), tawakkul (4), constructions (4), masculinity (4), gbowee (4), lady (4), gloria (4), sirleaf (4), write (4), left (4), food (4), wanted (4), equal (4), thing (4), example (4), summer (4), important (4), set (4), faith (4), comes (4), accept (4), culture (4), related (4), could (4), never (4), few (4), maybe (4), sports (4), athletes (4), see (4), attention (4), across (4), inside (4), outside (4), norms (4), stand (4), reflect (4), ask (4), did (4), uganda (4), making (4), staff (4), three (4), came (4), topic (4), does (4), doesn (4), lot (4), first (4), place (4), right (4), understand (4), beings (4), war (4), sort (4), achieve (4), negative (4), trailer (4), bit (4), long (4), forces (4), representation (4), liberia (4), wonder (4), let (4), log (3), join (3), 144 (3), subscribers (3), receive (3), core (3), however (3), actions (3), shared (3), individuals (3), sport (3), purpose (3), karman (3), sexism (3), husband (3), nature (3), girl (3), ellen (3), johnson (3), division (3), attraction (3), interested (3), sharing (3), won (3), dress (3), group (3), games (3), joyful (3), marriage (3), lives (3), form (3), personal (3), anything (3), getting (3), matter (3), valuable (3), responsibility (3), highlight (3), inequality (3), advertising (3), somewhat (3), couple (3), tales (3), until (3), today (3), trying (3), engender (3), sunday (3), thoughts (3), along (3), play (3), capacity (3), best (3), magazine (3), powerful (3), emphasis (3), above (3), clearly (3), lack (3), cup (3), every (3), day (3), eat (3), reason (3), articles (3), achieving (3), continue (3), active (3), limited (3), clear (3), actively (3), dinner (3), organization (3), meeting (3), focuses (3), discussing (3), creating (3), enough (3), studying (3), still (3), opportunity (3), sep (3), questions (3), mean (3), man (3), treat (3), individual (3), seeing (3), seemed (3), make (3), good (3), wouldn (3), such (3), fall (3), influence (3), positive (3), teachings (3), based (3), distance (3), move (3), household (3), grew (3), valued (3), act (3), feel (3), pattern (3), turn (3), formed (3), term (3), mirror (3), building (3), winners (3), exist (3), rosin (3), behind (3), impact (3), days (3), relationships (3), focus (3), opportunities (3), sat (3), pretty (3), miss (3), monday (3), goal (3), ensure (3), tough (3), yemen (3), president (3), ali (3), civilization (3), support (3), flight (3), others (3), nov (3), groups (3), catty (3), oneness (3), injustice (3), inevitably (3), started (2), site (2), subscribed (2), feed (2), enter (2), notifications (2), institute (2), studies (2), global (2), inspiration (2), promotion (2), search (2), september (2), october (2), november (2), definition (2), racism (2), leywah (2), music (2), wars (2), femininity (2), violence (2), against (2), empowerment (2), disempowerment (2), contributions (2), names (2), adversiting (2), send (2), gmail (2), store (2), details (2), dear (2), gathered (2), went (2), played (2), moderate (2), brief (2), lovely (2), walked (2), bombarded (2), color (2), plan (2), strike (2), emphasize (2), examples (2), humble (2), driven (2), particular (2), baha (2), since (2), read (2), bahá (2), seek (2), speak (2), shows (2), manipulative (2), either (2), poor (2), somehow (2), entertainment (2), amounts (2), money (2), invite (2), extended (2), live (2), heard (2), places (2), fear (2), hearts (2), future (2), athletic (2), associations (2), somewhere (2), decide (2), systems (2), habits (2), normal (2), market (2), hand (2), realize (2), missing (2), reminded (2), images (2), similar (2), several (2), players (2), overall (2), athletics (2), tied (2), public (2), essentially (2), simply (2), off (2), tennis (2), mentioned (2), featured (2), explain (2), coverage (2), attempt (2), news (2), reading (2), whatever (2), spend (2), minutes (2), wednesday (2), link (2), find (2), responsibilities (2), perpetuate (2), natural (2), ourselves (2), challenge (2), taking (2), recently (2), times (2), reflecting (2), participate (2), material (2), gain (2), problems (2), situation (2), discuss (2), homes (2), chores (2), neighbors (2), strange (2), security (2), conversations (2), old (2), ones (2), talking (2), communities (2), require (2), profound (2), during (2), firstly (2), later (2), arguments (2), socialized (2), subservience (2), hyper (2), held (2), traditionally (2), pressure (2), prove (2), pregnant (2), child (2), oppression (2), peers (2), informed (2), know (2), refer (2), respect (2), mothers (2), source (2), question (2), parents (2), saw (2), teach (2), anyone (2), learned (2), trap (2), major (2), growing (2), felt (2), ridicule (2), interest (2), males (2), instead (2), knowledge (2), response (2), beyond (2), light (2), school (2), spain (2), path (2), mother (2), oak (2), contemplating (2), person (2), internalized (2), didn (2), faded (2), away (2), dancing (2), partying (2), initial (2), became (2), seriously (2), determined (2), physical (2), children (2), positions (2), areas (2), develop (2), consider (2), experiences (2), developed (2), highly (2), shortcomings (2), wasn (2), thus (2), partner (2), describing (2), behave (2), experienced (2), myself (2), hurt (2), spaces (2), itself (2), inherent (2), welfare (2), broken (2), struggle (2), interactions (2), losers (2), necessarily (2), expense (2), inherently (2), interaction (2), number (2), whether (2), bad (2), author (2), talked (2), caused (2), falling (2), guys (2), likely (2), portrayal (2), pressures (2), ago (2), unrealistic (2), expectations (2), honestly (2), reaction (2), disappointed (2), magazines (2), superficial (2), standard (2), detrimental (2), friend (2), guy (2), seen (2), documentary (2), oct (2), democracy (2), after (2), rights (2), considered (2), separate (2), category (2), majority (2), though (2), country (2), leymah (2), africa (2), hold (2), try (2), reflection (2), beliefs (2), oppressing (2), lie (2), statements (2), constantly (2), generally (2), crazy (2), attendant (2), causing (2), focused (2), guests (2), too (2), easy (2), basically (2), goes (2), perpetuated (2), lets (2), dramatic (2), humanity (2), brotherhood (2), probably (2), notion (2), step (2), characteristics (2), use (2), accepted (2), situations (2), speaking (2), interview (2), observer (2), hours (2), tired (2), loving (2), fed (2), disillusioned (2), righteous (2), indignation (2), action (2), darkness (2), happiness (2), fellow (2), betterment (2), sustainable (2), state (2), reacting (2), design, collapse, bar, manage, subscriptions, reader, report, content, privacy, free, website, entries, meta, subscription, pages, prepared, catchy, name, engaged, give, tries, reflections, welcome, august, december, january, february, march, april, june, july, archives, viii, vii, iii, toward, twofold, stephen, lewis, environments, parenting, doubt, directions, misogyny, meaningful, wayne, gaga, junior, youth, wife, hip, hop, genderless, science, fundamental, truth, exploitation, ending, double, labor, definitions, construction, changing, atewm, updated, older, bore, wore, reasonably, priced, blue, select, immediate, weekend, tobogganing, ate, vegetarian, board, ceremony, business, participants, balanced, keep, rest, contend, extravagant, climate, bridal, shop, immediately, overbearing, busy, bee, aggressively, insisted, fill, information, date, theme, etc, peruse, merchandise, afterward, sharply, instructed, quickly, shoes, presumably, sully, gowns, 1000, ranged, white, eggshell, ivory, efforts, balance, humility, hospitality, host, generous, event, reverent, took, heart, figures, religious, history, modest, abdu, shoghi, effendi, priceless, pearl, principles, attitudes, planning, suppose, ground, touching, upheld, bride, groom, contributors, institution, small, scale, asserted, paint, brides, controlling, shallow, self, obsessed, grooms, painted, impotent, slobs, indifferent, chumps, widening, gap, rich, permissive, turned, materialism, selfishness, sarah, haskins, sums, insight, humor, target, videos, satirize, employs, observed, apprehension, becoming, increasingly, lavish, cost, incredible, otherwise, used, establish, secure, involve, great, complexity, terms, clothing, gifts, decoration, families, circles, acquaintances, north, america, enormous, bank, breaking, india, china, cared, fantasizing, nor, believe, western, myth, fully, realized, madness, chloë, jun, guess, desperate, funding, got, naturalize, propogate, begin, appear, inevitable, features, norm, enjoy, enjoying, watching, fullest, helping, doing, approach, taken, german, national, soccer, team, deciding, pose, playboy, underwear, explaining, disprove, cliché, footballers, butch, message, advertisements, focusing, seem, context, comfortable, curbed, capable, putting, likes, association, launched, campaign, video, segments, obviously, drawn, criticism, ads, tends, hyperfeminize, competence, stars, shown, hitting, ball, slow, motion, voiceover, paying, recent, study, showed, print, counteract, increase, viewership, seeking, drive, publicity, aggressive, haven, watched, single, catch, results, happens, headlines, websites, evening, watch, fail, rush, sunflower, seeds, next, yelling, jul, okay, letting, http, www, nytimes, roomfordebate, total, parity, isn, benchmark, mobility, indicative, acts, perform, inequalities, assume, subject, discussed, york, united, states, europe, while, easier, slower, house, series, attempts, explore, although, stuck, narrow, written, perspective, employment, structure, involved, system, contributed, stark, ngo, begun, sons, cooking, normally, regarded, male, member, agreed, contributor, including, fetching, water, confusion, specifically, villages, agricultural, youthful, energetic, rarely, among, benefitting, importance, village, participating, production, restructuring, changes, minds, travels, useful, non, governmental, apologize, prolonged, absence, traveling, assumed, worked, weeks, office, tuesday, baggage, traveled, explored, occupied, various, flow, head, defend, inadequacy, covert, overt, empowered, asks, surface, traditional, model, suppress, committed, sacrifice, takes, runs, counter, unique, station, naturally, table, equally, strive, favor, risk, answers, remains, unclear, multitudinous, contradictions, presents, publicly, audience, practiced, private, kids, call, bitch, heartbeat, utmost, cases, untoward, sisters, invariably, violent, altercation, offense, dissonance, socializing, element, mix, charged, protect, bullies, herself, ultimately, paved, calling, noble, unacceptable, sister, patronizing, protectors, ego, fraught, false, devoid, regret, providing, sexuality, manliness, boasting, prowess, implications, truthful, utter, females, allusions, condemnations, possible, brain, streamed, usual, ridiculous, web, occasion, compounded, influences, exposed, experimenting, losing, virginity, followed, recount, instilled, lesson, truly, influenced, grown, far, bonds, thankful, earlier, blunders, decided, start, medical, valencia, pursue, father, entered, chiropractic, soon, womb, spirituality, relate, jehovah, witnesses, abrupt, receptivity, exciting, fabric, strained, born, moved, caribbean, open, practice, infidelity, strain, location, culprit, reprieve, challenges, faced, mention, preschool, trained, extent, servitude, heads, practical, puzzling, preposterous, african, american, arts, raised, teacher, succeed, prominent, dance, singing, lessons, artistic, appreciation, creation, younger, brother, inclined, artistically, given, preference, stories, subservient, care, codependency, acquiescence, carried, rigid, atmosphere, port, prince, haiti, son, priest, environment, blend, god, guilt, grandfather, monster, specific, training, according, biblical, interpretation, mixed, passed, maids, branches, values, exploits, pleasure, club, perceived, compatibility, supposed, eventually, introduced, contact, nineteen, absorbed, hype, done, favorable, behaviors, postures, front, ignored, avoided, nagging, subconscious, struggling, universe, traverses, converse, him, gander, learn, incomplete, interconnectedness, inescapable, continually, frameworks, espousing, allow, advance, shaped, allowed, perpetuation, classism, engaging, hoping, premised, top, bottom, sector, gotten, competitive, trapped, tells, slightly, simplistic, presentation, ideas, specifics, underlying, assumptions, framework, looks, able, case, dominance, economic, controversy, released, year, lately, debate, month, remind, job, failed, adapt, stereotypically, feminine, skill, postindustrial, economy, skills, communication, empathy, intelligence, consensus, shift, dominant, slate, propagation, happening, directly, friday, leaders, different, forms, course, reinforcing, starts, age, follows, throughout, aspects, hypes, imposes, fostering, bullying, succumb, negatively, impacted, skews, unsympathetic, models, boo, hoo, addition, condescending, aspect, forsaking, friendships, real, development, sound, told, fits, neatly, conventional, weren, attracted, feeling, sorry, missed, knowingly, explores, talks, sex, objects, possessions, effects, shaping, perceive, placed, eight, includes, points, facebook, share, handing, committee, cannot, lasting, unless, obtain, developments, levels, further, exactly, alongside, demanding, practices, undercutting, status, quo, downplay, accomplished, field, courage, push, countries, dedicated, wins, lamenting, highlighted, defined, funny, special, population, turning, cynicism, sometimes, cynical, worth, mentioning, remember, vacuum, promotes, mandatory, primary, liberians, recognizes, interests, standalone, promoter, mobilized, liberian, fight, knew, protests, streets, knowing, intrinsically, yemenites, ladies, week, definitely, nicknamed, iron, shares, award, compatriot, founder, executive, director, network, fought, civil, finally, kamran, youngest, currently, leading, activists, fighting, arrested, received, numerous, death, threats, pray, devil, hell, impressed, sweet, qualities, mind, undermine, societal, conform, subversion, rebellion, asked, contributing, room, aware, influencing, contribution, requires, honest, realization, perfectly, synced, commitment, coherence, confrontation, depressed, chance, crucial, misconceptions, studied, talk, stop, deal, task, overlooking, recognizing, someone, callous, careless, isgp, yashar, portrayed, emotional, sensitive, depiction, under, assumption, bought, describes, encounter, mainly, wrote, respond, published, huffington, listening, amazing, raise, terrific, couldn, readily, agreeing, mass, generalization, oversimplification, lends, serious, figured, perhaps, sweetly, commenting, cute, cooing, dressed, guest, side, caught, drama, overheard, nodded, spoke, agreement, interjecting, preferable, high, maintenance, confession, habit, eyes, ears, opened, relevant, forum, past, passing, unnoticed, yourself, warned, underestimating, insulting, endemic, structures, gossips, endowed, acquire, serve, stereotypical, tropes, supported, subjugation, cultural, instances, oppressor, manner, understandings, manhood, admit, camaraderie, opposition, granted, ill, conceived, understood, lead, leads, assigned, tradition, outlook, seems, prejudicial, ingratiated, possessing, created, emerges, conflict, contention, coming, complain, compete, favors, yes, spent, 000, competing, subordinated, once, possibilities, becomes, travel, walking, airport, plane, four, late, cleaner, collected, sleep, closet, attendants, floating, variations, ideology, apparently, witches, combat, negativity, needs, solidarity, sticking, supporting, refusing, previous, leave, clarify, unjust, happen, patterns, motivation, greatly, limiting, debilitating, motivations, establishment, means, curb, intensity, thorough, persevere, following, quote, encapsulates, obtained, loud, demands, behalf, cushioned, comforts, privileged, circumstances, promoted, patience, suffering, consistent, endures, guides, disunity, pervasive, connects, another, allows, mankind, fulfillment, lies, interconnection, exists, undeterred, unshakable, reach, desired, underestimated, underemphasized, deemed, inappropriate, sphere, misplaced, misrepresented, misconception, manifestations, trust, builder, looked, damaging, mental, health, flairs, dies, down, basis, incident, pursuing, sake, perpetrated, protagonist, works, trigger, emotion, movements, outrage, regard, rampant, characterize, processes, sheer, suffer, result, begins, bubble, sadness, general, loss, nobility, referenced, title, flexible, childcare, feminist, movement, angrier,

Text of the page (random words):
ompeting it competition is true of any subordinated group but once you get a sense of possibilities and shared experience it becomes the most powerful community i see a form of it when i travel i ll be walking through an airport say and my plane will be four hours late and a woman cleaner will say here take these magazines i ve collected or when i m tired i sleep in the closet over there would you like to use it it s the same with the flight attendants it s a floating community so it seems that women just as other oppressed groups often perpetuate the same prejudicial thoughts or behavior that they ve experienced in a way to separate themselves from the oppressed group and be accepted as part of the positive majority competition is formed in order to be ingratiated to those in positions of power or those seen as possessing positive characteristics and yet steinem explains when an opportunity is created for the sharing of experiences a sense of community emerges a sense of sisterhood if you will i admit i ve had my own problems with the notion of sisterhood it always seemed like this sense of camaraderie between women was based upon some opposition to men granted that was probably a very ill conceived notion of sisterhood but it s the one i understood but in thinking about it now this sense of sisterhood is important in that it should lead us to a greater sense of community which in turn leads us to a better understanding of the oneness of humanity as a whole it might just be a first step if women can see other women as more than just these characteristics assigned to them by culture and tradition then we can use this same outlook towards men and why sisterhood and not brotherhood well brotherhood is probably also important but i think it goes back to the idea of an oppressed community in instances of oppression it s true that both the oppressed as well as the oppressor need time and space in which to reflect on the forces that are acting on them and causing them to behave in such a manner i think men also need space to reflect on where they are getting understandings of manhood from but in response to this pattern of behavior of underestimating and insulting women so endemic to our culture and perpetuated by both men and women and by social structures and institutions lets promote this idea of sisterhood men can promote it too let s promote this idea that groups of women as well as individual women aren t dramatic catty manipulative gossips they are human beings endowed with the capacity to love reason understand acquire knowledge and serve their community let s move beyond stereotypical tropes that have been perpetuated and supported by years of subjugation lets question cultural norms of thought and behavior and let s support each other in the process as we move towards an understanding of the oneness of humanity boys girls 07 monday nov 2011 posted by engenderingequality in uncategorized 7 comments tags social constructions society s definition of female women confession i ve developed a bad habit since i started this blog my eyes and ears are always opened to any and all issues that i think might be relevant to bring up in this forum so basically and i think i ve mentioned this here in the past no conversation or passing comment related to women and men goes unnoticed when i m around it may very well end up on this blog names and places will always be left off but you might recognize yourself you ve been warned i was at a dinner the other day and for a time much of the attention was focused around this young child who was sweetly interacting with one of the other dinner guests some of the other guests were commenting to each other about how cute this young boy was and he really was and cooing about the way he was dressed and the way he was interacting with the other guest then a comment from one of the side conversations caught my attention i really want to have all boys girls are just too much drama i overheard one of my friends say the others around her nodded and spoke up in agreement interjecting their own brief statements of why boys were preferable to girls boys were easy to dress girls wouldn t let their moms dress them boys are more easy going girls are high maintenance basically boys girls as i sat there listening to some people i consider to be pretty amazing women who would raise terrific women themselves i couldn t help but wonder where were they getting these idea from and why was everyone so readily agreeing did no one think this mass generalization of boys and girls was a bit of an oversimplification of reality not every social situation lends itself to serious conversation about the forces that are acting upon us and causing us to accept certain beliefs as fact so i figured this was perhaps not the time in which to bring up the questions above this conversation actually reminded me of an article that i think has been going around from yashar ali published on the huffington post a few days ago in it ali explains how women have been constantly portrayed as emotional hyper sensitive and generally crazy that it impacts not only how men view and treat women but also how women view themselves his depiction of men interacting with women under this assumption was interesting but more interesting to me was how he was describing women who bought into this idea he describes an encounter he had with a flight attendant in which he explained that he mainly wrote about women which caused the flight attendant to respond oh about how crazy we are much like ali her reaction makes me rather depressed there is very little chance of achieving gender equality so crucial for the advancement of civilization as a whole if women themselves hold misconceptions about women when i was studying isgp s document on the equality of women and men in uganda one of the women we studied the document with said that before we want to talk about how we can stop men from oppressing women we have to deal with women oppressing women she was right the task of overlooking stereotypes and recognizing someone s true identity doesn t lie just with men interacting with women but also with women interaction with women and men interacting with men for that matter essentially you teach people how to treat you and if women can t even support other women why would men support women somehow when women can make callous and careless statements about other women it makes you realize we still have a long way to go i ve asked people to contribute to this blog and write about how they try and engender equality in their own lives and a lot have said that they don t really think they are actively contributing so they don t have much to write about honestly though if one person in that room would ve said something not in a confrontation way but in a way to invite reflection that would ve been engendering equality we should all take time to reflect and thus become more aware of what is influencing our understanding of gender and relationships between men and women i think any contribution to equality between women and men requires honest reflection and the realization that our actions and our beliefs are not always perfectly synced as well as the commitment to achieve that coherence between the two a part of the whole 09 sunday oct 2011 posted by engenderingequality in uncategorized 2 comments tags ellen johnson sirleaf leywah gbowee nobel peace prize social constructions tawakkul karman women s issues i m always impressed by tough women and sweet men when i come across individuals who hold those qualities they always stand out in my mind i think it has something to do with the fact that they go against gender norms and undermine societal pressures to conform to a certain standard of behavior that s the type of subversion and rebellion i can really get behind the three ladies who won the nobel peace prize at the end of last week definitely fall into that tough lady category firstly there is ellen johnson sirleaf current president of liberia first female president in all of africa nicknamed the iron lady she shares the award with her compatriot leymah gbowee founder and executive director of women peace and security network africa who fought to bring an end to the civil war in liberia which is the focus of the documentary pray the devil back to hell and finally tawakkul kamran the youngest of the three currently one of the leading activists fighting to bring peace and democracy to yemen has been arrested several times and received numerous death threats in one of the articles i was reading about these nobel prize winners the author was lamenting the fact that women s issues are still considered separate issues to be highlighted and defined as its own category it is funny that women s issues are considered a special interest when women are actually the majority of the population but i find myself turning to cynicism sometimes when i read the news so i don t want to be cynical about this at the same time though it s a point worth mentioning because it should help us remember that women s issues don t exist in a vacuum when president sirleaf promotes mandatory primary education for all liberians she does it to help ensure that young girls get to receive an education but she also recognizes that promoting the interests of young girls is not a standalone issue that she has to be a promoter of education so that these girls and boys can help create a better future for themselves and for their country when leymah gbowee mobilized liberian women to fight to bring about the end of the war in her country she knew that the end of war would ensure peace for of all of liberia s people when tawakkul karman protests on the streets of yemen she does so knowing that her rights are intrinsically tied to that of all yemenites i don t mean to downplay what these women have accomplished in the field of the advancement of women by discussing the impact their courage has had on more than just women but the point is that working on women s issues is working on everyone s issues these nobel prize winners know that in their push for women s rights they are working for the advancement of whole communities whole countries that s the reason why they dedicated their wins to all their people both men and women of liberia and yemen upon handing out the prize to these three women the nobel committee explained we cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society actually i d go a little further because i don t just think achieving the same opportunities as men is exactly the end goal these women are working towards they aren t working towards creating spaces alongside men in broken institutions they re demanding new institutions and social practices that ensure the prosperity of all that s why they are undercutting the status quo and that s what being a tough lady is all about after all miss representation 03 monday oct 2011 posted by engenderingequality in uncategorized 2 comments tags attraction to beauty disempowerment femininity gender stereotypes masculinity media sexism this link for the trailer of the documentary miss representation has been going around my facebook for a little bit some of you might have even already seen it but i thought i d share it here miss representation explores the media s portrayal of women it talks about how the media s representation of woman as sex objects and possessions of men has detrimental effects on both young girls and boys it focuses on the role media has in shaping the way we perceive ourselves and the expectations that are placed upon us the trailer is eight minutes and includes some interesting points the trailer made me think of a conversation i had with two friends a few days ago one of my friends was discussing how men are negatively impacted by the media because it skews their standards of beauty they develop unrealistic expectations of beauty and this impacts how they seek relationships honestly i had never really thought about that before and my initial reaction was a bit unsympathetic as in oh no poor boys are disappointed because they only want girls who look like models they see in magazines and they don t actually exist boo hoo but in addition to being a bit condescending this understanding of how media impacts boys is highly superficial even if you just focus on this aspect of beauty standards having an unrealistic standard of beauty is detrimental boys can end up forsaking certain friendships and missing opportunities for real long term relationships because of this which in turn impacts their development this might sound like a little thing but as my friend sat across from me and explained how guys have told her this clearly beautiful human being both inside and out seriously she fits neatly into conventional standards of beauty that they just weren t attracted to her that she wasn t pretty enough i sat there feeling sorry for any guy who missed out on the opportunity to spend time with this woman any guy who knowingly walked away from her clearly had some negative forces acting on his understanding of beauty there are other aspects of the media s portrayal of gender norms that can have negative impacts on boys media hypes up a certain idea of masculinity and imposes it on these young boys fostering a culture of ridicule and bullying for any boy who doesn t succumb to these pressures and of course there is the impact had on young girls they are bombarded with images of what they should look like how they should act what their value is all reinforcing the idea that they aren t good enough it starts from a young age and follows women throughout their lives likely just as the trailer makes clear we need more female leaders and more women in media but we also need a better understanding of what our true value and nature because without that we re likely to continue to promote some of the same media messages just in different forms a zero sum game 16 friday sep 2011 posted by engenderingequality in uncategorized 2 comments tags gender roles gender wars social constructions zero sum game i m going to need you guys to explain something for me we ve talked about this topic before on the blog the propagation of the idea that the advancement of women comes at the expense of men and that there is some sort of power struggle happening in our society and any success or promotion of issues that impact women more directly is negative for men i just don t understand the value of promoting this type of thinking the author of the article the end of men which we ve talked about here and caused a lot of controversy when it was released last year was featured in slate magazine lately in order to discuss this issue and promote a debate that she will be having on this topic later this month to remind us rosin explains that men are falling behind is ...