This lecture was about gender as a social construct and covered concepts of what it is to be a lady. I went to a ladies college where i learnt, french, needlepoint, home economics and etiquette and deportment, (this involved walking with books on our head like in "my fair lady") i know how to correctly set a table and fold a napkin into a swan and I only know basic maths. I don't have much interest in being a lady unless I get to go to high tea and I am more interested in learning about it as a social construct.
It was great to learn that sex is now considered a social construct, my earlier studies in feminism had only made it evident that gender was a construct. it was easy to see that biology had little to do with gender roles and there is a compelling case that biology shouldn't define 'sex' in the sense of gender identity and that past construct are too restrictive. The modern term relating to gender is non-binary some people are gender fluid where they don't ascribe to just one gender. In a modern world it makes sense to be accepting of ideas on gender that are outside the norm. There is a recent case in Canada that highlights some of the difficulties of acceptance of gender neutrality.
Kori Doty is a parent in Canada who was born female but identifies as non-binary trans and uses the pronoun they. they have a child Searly and refused to provide a gender when registering the birth. the gender is listed as U. This is a test case but it could have strong implications for others in the future, rather than every child having to ascribe to being male or female at birth. http://www.refinery29.com/2017/04/150470/what-is-gender-fluid
There was a recent article on refinery29 that said 12% percent of millennials ascribe to being transgender or gender fluid which is not having a fixed gender identity. Ruby Rose is a celebrity who publicy identifies as gender fluid. I think Ruby is a great role model for young people and gender identity. I hope the future will be a place where people are free to define themselves without having to be labelled as male and female.
Week 3. Women in Popular Culture, Advertising, and the Media - implications for social inequalities and Women's Health
The 1950's housewife resonated with me. I grew up in a very gendered household, girls were taught to cook and clean and boys were meant to only do manual labour around the house (which in actuality meant contributing nothing, if you have seen "Muriel's wedding" where the mother sets fire to the lawn after months of asking a son to mow it, that's depicting my brothers). I just wish my Mum set fire to the lawn, even if only metaphorically.
In relation to advertising , negative gender stereotypes are as prevalent now as they were in the 50's. Ads for cleaning products, dishwasher tablets and meals still all feature the nuclear family where the mum handles all the tasks and xyz product is meant to be a miracle timesaver for her while the rest of the family loll around in the background, usually being waited upon. You can see a gendered difference in toy ads too, there are still soft sounding pink coloured ads with dolls and horses for girls, and loud music with an aggressive voiceover for monsters, toy trucks and action figures for boys.
The other issue that is most problematic in advertising and the media is the objectification of women and also promoting thin bodies as the ideal.
The above ads are for the surf label Billabong from August 2017, An article on the Mamamia blog alerted me to it. I think it exemplifies things pretty well. Both are supposed to be about surfing but only the man the gets to actively surf. Also his image is just a tiny dot as what he looks like is inconsequential. The women's ad is just about being looked at having a desirable body, even most of her head is obscured which adds to a sense of objectification and it is only a distant shoreline that hints the ad might be to do with surfing. I also watched Australian Story on 'plus size' model Robyn Lawley recently, at least some companies have started using more realistic models. I am cynical however as i think the more inclusive representation of diverse bodies shapes is just about demographics and selling products as the average women is bigger than in the past, it hasn't really shifted the concept of thin bodies as the ideal.
Week 4.The 'Right' time to have a child: changes in reproductive trends and outcomes for women
This was a week of mixed reactions. The section on the introduction of the pill is inspiring. It made such an impact on society by allowing women to control their fertility and have greater choice about when they wanted to have children or not. This is huge. I think it is one of the main factors that has allowed women to participate more in the workforce too.
It saddens me that there are women who die because they can't access safe or legal termination of pregnancy such as in Brazil. It is a weighted political issue but I believe in the right to choose as a human rights issue. Excessive Banning or restricting terminations does not stop people from terminating pregnancy is just jeopardises women's safety and in some countries the options that women are left with are a black market and unregulated practices. Abortion is legal in all states of Australia except Queensland. I hope this is addressed at some stage and wonder how it affects women here, especially teenagers.
The aspect of today's lecture that affected me on a personal level is that I am a Generation X woman. I have no children myself (43 yrs old) and it is a trend that people in my age group chose to have children later in life. I find it hard not to have a personal reaction to this my mother had me at 40 (it was freakish at the time and very scary for her) aside from that it means i grew up without grandparents and my parents died when i was in my early 30's. I wonder how this kind of thing will affect the generation of babies born to older mothers, I guess a comforting thought is that life expectancy has gone up too and at least society has shifted to allow greater choices around reproduction.
Week 5 - Changing gender roles in Families: paid work, house-work & child raising
My Mum and Dad married in 1954, Mum was a teacher and at this stage you had to give up work if you had children. Things may have changed in terms of gender and the law but socially constructed ideas haven't moved very far. Unpaid work at home, particularly raising children and housework are still largely a woman's responsibility, regardless of whether they do paid work outside the home as well as home duties. There is still a gendered aspect to careers as well with greater numbers of women in caring roles such as nursing and teaching and male dominance in finance and executive management.
I like this picture of 'the glass ceiling'
One change that has happened recently is that more women are tertiary educated which is great. However this is not reflected in the fact that there is still a pay gap between men and women. At 2011 women still earned 17% less. I guess for this to change there would have to be many cultural shifts. Some things that impact on this are still about parenting roles limiting participation in paid work. The cost of childcare is one thing that limits a mother's earning capacity. The other thing that contributes to gender roles is the way that parenting leave in Australia is still largely 'maternity leave' with women being the one's to take time out of the paid workforce and men's parenting leave is only 2 weeks. It is interesting to contrast to Norway where of 46 weeks parenting leave that is available men must use 11 weeks of it and it has impacted on the role of father's in being more hands on with parenting. Week 6 - Domestic Violence
This was a confronting week, partly as I have my own family story that i won't share in detail on here, but also because it is emotionally confronting to think that any person experiences family and domestic violence. I think learning about and talking about the issue is very important to break down taboos that survivors experience and encourage people to reach out for help and tell their stories and also for us as future health professionals to understand the issue. The main take home message for me was addressing societal misconceptions about women who remain in abusive relationships. Women stay because leaving is more frightening and dangerous than staying, because of the reaction it sparks in the violent partner. Also a characteristic of abuse is that the abuser isolates the victim from their support networks such as family and friends so that it is difficult to have anyone to turn to for help.
The TED talk from Lesley Morgan Steiner was a powerful story about breaking the silence. There is still a general culture of taboo and stigma around Domestic Violence so her story might inspire others. She also challenges misconceptions around SES status and domestic violence. I think people have and 'us' and 'them' kind of mentality about DV, or violence generally there is an archetype of the monster, and the regular mild mannered guy at church couldn't possible be a perpetrator at home. Her story challenges some of the stereotypes. She is a middle class tertiary educated woman who was in an abusive relationship with a outwardly appearing 'nice guy' for several years.
Week 7. Women who love other women: The social treatment of lesbians and the consequences for health
This week is topical in the media with the upcoming postal plebiscite on Gay Marriage. Same sex marriage was legalised in the Netherlands as long ago as 2001. in the 2000's Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, parts of the UK amongst other countries and even recently in 2015 Ireland and US recognised marriage equality. It's about time Australia did. Whilst other countries were progressing forward in 2004 John Howard changed The Marriage Act to specifically excluded same sex unions by adding a clause that stated marriage is a 'union of a man and a woman to exclusion of all others'. I think it is a human rights issue and hope that the law is changed to be inclusive. Conservatives often use children in the argument against marriage equality but it was interesting to hear in the counter argument that an AIFS longitudinal study showed that children raised in same sex partnerships fared well in life and that there was not one case of a child being removed from their care because of abuse of neglect. That doesn't surprise me supportive parenting is not defined by the traditional nuclear family in current society.
Historically lesbians have been ignored as a group, Ancient societies and social anthropology focused on culture surrounding men. Although in greek times there was the poet Sappho who wrote love poems about women. In the 1920's ahead of their time, there were Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas who were public figures who lived in an openly gay relationship (but it Paris where life was more permissive and bohemian)
It was rumoured that Queen Victoria disputed that lesbians even existed and left them out of laws criminalising homosexuality. Gertrude Stein by Picasso
Exclusion is also an issue relevant to Lesbian women in contemporary society with regard to healthcare. The healthcare sector runs on a heteronormative model so unless a woman discloses their sexuality the doctor will assume they are straight and base their care on this. Lack of representation means that lesbians don't often choose to access health services are screening services. Statistically there are health problems associated with being a lesbian. The main is social exclusion and subsequent low self-esteem, stress and anxiety that comes from being a minority based on sexual orientation and pressure to hide sexuality from fear of discrimination. Lesbians also have higher risks of endometrial and breast cancers. Lung cancer is also a problem as a high percentage of lesbians smoke.
Week 8 Mental health and drug & alcohol use in women across the ages
The historical perspective highlighted some of the myths around gender that we still hear of in contemporary society. In the middle ages and biblical times menstruation was thought of as unclean or poisonous and largely misunderstood. These days i think there is still some shame and taboo around the topic. I grew up with advertising for 'hygiene products' that showed girls having fun with their friends on the beach or swimming or riding horses with a product placement at the end. The period was just something vaguely alluded to and the ads were to suggest that tampons made it less of a hassle and allowed you to get on with everyday life, If only that was the case and it is interesting that reproduction and fertility issues are always targeted at the young when in reality it will continue into middle age until you go through menopause.
Anyway anything to do with reproduction historically had negative connotations. It was interesting to learn that libido in women was seen as a kind of madness called hysteria We still hear the term used in a derogatory way to suggest that women are irrational and ruled by their emotions. Another 19th century myth was that reproduction also affected women's brains and made them weak and of lesser intellectual capacity. I have heard another myth that women have smaller brains. I think tony abbott said something like this in the 2010's.
The other aspects of history we looked at were drug use and mental illness. Valium was frequently prescribed in the 1950's as a calmative
There were also other calmatives and stimulants available over the counter allowing women to self-medicate. The reasons for this were stress created by caring roles and domestic labour that had no pay and no social status compared to men's work. the concept applies to contemporary society where people use substances to deal with emotional pain and mental illness.
My mum had valium, she was morally against alcohol and never drank, but always trusted things from a doctor. It and it's still readily prescribed in Brisbane. In Melbourne all clinics have a sign up that they "do not prescribe drugs of addiction", especially as there was a time when people crushed and injected benzodiazpines which causes nasty gaping wounds at the site of entry.
A recent societal change is that women are drinking to excess more than they had in the past, partly because of social norms that normalise drinking, men still surpass women with alcohol problems but the trend is increasing in women. Interesting it is women of my generation (35-59) that are the new group of risky drinkers. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-11/baby-boomer-women-turning-to-booze-at-problem-levels/6086378
some of the factors are juggling work, teenage children and ageing parents and not having other support or coping mechanisms. I don't have children and my parents are gone, even though i am not overjoyed about these circumstances, it gives me the freedom to focus on a career change and leisure time to focus on wellbeing, and look to exercise and a healthy lifestyle to deal with problems, i haven't won the genetic lottery with diabetes, stroke and CKD running in my family. My brother died at 52 from a stroke and since then i have looked at health differently. However, i can see that gen X women and baby boomers have pressure coming at them from all angles and alcohol is highly socially acceptable coping tool.
Mental illness as a concept has only been around since the 1920's. Females are more likely to experience and report mental health problems. 18% of women have anxiety and 7% have affective disorders (which includes depression) and eating disorders are more common in women than men. Another statistic was that people with a mental illness are ore likely to smoke with 32% of this group reporting that they smoke, once again it it probably an aspect of self-medication to deal with their illness. Week 9 - Fashion, Body Image and Women's Health
This week our reflection stemmed from tutorial discussion but we had lecture slides from a speaker who wasn't able to attend.
Firstly we watched a humorous video called the ugly duckling. It parodied the parable of the ugly duckling with the underlying moral that women are advantaged or disadvantaged in life and work based on their looks. The ugly duckling had career success after having a boob job. There is definitely a message in the media that for women youth and looks are valued over other achievements and attributes, but men don't have the same scrutiny placed on looks. Apart from a few famous actors and musicians like Helen Mirren and Judy Dench and Madonna women are supposed to retire from the public eye somewhere around 40. But older men are popular as newsreaders where they have an archetype of authority and still get to play romantic lead (Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson) and are usually cast with women more than 20 years their junior. But there is furore if the age gap is the other way around. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/21/same-old-story-women-paired-younger-men-cinematic-rarity
i recently read a story about the film 'The dressmaker' where it was a big deal that Kate Winslet at 40 was playing a romantic lead to Chris Hemsworth who was only 25. According to the guardian article he nearly turned the role down because of the age difference. I also remember the media storm over Renee zelweger's changed appearance. She had been out of the limelight and came back to play a sequel to bridget jones' diary after about 20 years since the first film. She is now 47 and was demonised just for the fact she looked different from her former self and perhaps that she dared to look her somewhere near her age and still be in a mainstream movie. I know this week is about body image and i have focused on image and ageing as that is relevant to me. I seem to be stuck in a generation that either doesn't want to age or isn't allowed to according to social mores. There is a new term for it "perennials", It's not just a celebrity phenomenon but a sociological observation. The picture below of the mother and daughter dressed the same was about 'generational blurring'. I don't believe that age should dictate your lifestyle or interests but some of the trend just about image and pressure to appear younger and the "wellness" and cosmetic surgery and fashion industries realising they can capture an older and wealthy demographic with 'ageless' marketing. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/how-generational-blurring-is-changing-the-lifestyle-of-women-over-40-20170921-gylwzd.html
We also talked in class about the things that influence our perception of body image and body image in general. The first thing is the idealisation of thin bodies in the media. i was young in the 90's when fashion models were very thin and these days there are thinspiration bloggers and pro ana sites that have unhealthy messages around eating disorders
I guess for me body image is something different to when i was younger, partly as peer pressure is less (apart from the perennial trend! There is a new concept of body positivity is in the media too. The other factor for me personally is that i am more interested in avoiding illness than looking a certain way. I have reached an age where i have lost parents, friends and a sibling to illness which gives me a different perspective about having a body and keeping it alive, rather than viewing via a lens of how it might appear to other people. I am still susceptible to self-doubt and criticism about looks but my motivations and values have changed so I am overall a bit kinder on myself. When i was younger i was incidentally slim, but now I am older and not slim, i eat healthier food and exercise 4-5 times a week to prevent illness, body image comes from within and now i am more concerned about wellness than looks. My biggest fear is losing mobility as my mum had amputations and dad had a zimmer frame. i don't want that to be me in 20 years so i walk, dance, bootcamp and lift weights. Week 10 I missed this lecture and there was no recording so my reflection has come from the slides. I agree with the first slide that looks at sexualisation in culture. My first thoughts are on the use of sexualised images of women in advertising and music videos. Women's bodies are used to sell things and as accessories for men. The recent debate over the 'Blurred lines' video comes to mind. As well as the lyric content being questionable, the men (who are fully clothed) are given perceived status by a bevy of naked women who just dance around with the sole purpose of being looked at. The "male gaze" form of sexualisation of women was around in a lot of rap videos in the 90's and it still seems to be the norm in music videos and appears a lot in alcohol advertising.
This picture is from "Summernats 2017" which seems to be a event where sexism and cars converge, fueled by the consumption and promotion of a lot of alcohol, (from a outsiders perspective) I don't judge the girls, just the culture that puts them on the sidelines to be ogled.
i agree with the lecturers position of being 'pro-sex' in allowing women control over their bodies and sexuality, whilst being anti-sexism, as i believe that sexualisation
doesn't equate with liberation and freedom.
Conversely this picture is from a slutwalks protest in Britain, This movement stemmed in retaliation of a judge's decision in Canada where the way a woman was dressed was brought into question in 2011. The police in Toronto also made the statement that to avoid sexual assault women should "avoid dressing like sluts" The protest made a statement that any aspect of a woman's appearance doesn't excuse or condone rape. The movement took off worldwide.
I agree with the sentiment of the protest but I am probably too old and scared to join in.
I am in the Spencer Tunick picture on the right though, from 2001, along with 4,500 other people, it doesn't make a statement about sex or sexism per se it's just an esoteric art piece.(I'm not sure what he is trying to say but i was young enough to think just think it was cool) it was 5am and freezing and not as cool as i thought it would be. I guess what i gained from the experience is that once you strip away all constraints, bodies are just bodies, they all function in pretty much the same way (illness and some anatomy aside) and everything else about them is socially constructed.
Back to feminist activism. I plan to go to reclaim the night (physical event) but getting involved in activism online is entering a scary place for me.The world is already an unsafe place for women, ironically, online activism to promote women's safety/rights can make you less safe by the backlash from trolls and the 'Blackshirts' out there. I don't know if the movement made it to Brisbane, but in melbourne there were a group of men (Blackshirts) who protested outside the family courts (and sometimes women's houses) claiming that the courts were bias towards women and that divorce is a process designed in the interests of "immoral" women. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/19/1040174344351.html. There is a man with a truck outside his gold coast house painted with a similar vendetta against the courts and women, i don't know if he is a solo crusader, maybe he takes the truck out with some cronies sometimes..
I also think of the rape and death threats that are par for the course of outspoken feminists in the online world. I have followed Clementine Ford online for a few years and have her book but i don't know how she withstands the abuse and threats. I don't agree with everything she says or does but i am glad she is out there presenting a feminist voice for a lot of people who are too scared to do so publicly, online where people can make anonymous threats and the police ignore it.
one a similar note I am sick of the #not all men that we see all the time, in debate, as it ignores the point that feminism works against systemic inequality, feminists hate patriarchy and violence and sometimes capitalism but not "men" per se. We all know that they are good men out there too and most of us will know quite a few of them and some of them might even support the concept of feminism too. Week 11 - International Women's Health. Access to education is a privilege that some women don't have, especially those who don't have other basic needs like food and shelter..This week we looked at 4 short videos including some from the "half the sky" series. It really conceptualised the social determinants of health, that without the basics that most of us in Western society take for granted it is not possible to succeed in life. intergenerational poverty and suffering are commonplace. Vietnam The first video was about girls in Vietnam, their families are very poor and the girls ride up to 17 miles to get to school and live in unstable environments where there is a threat of disease and flooding. Above all else the girls valued the opportunity to go to school and that education was a chance to get ahead in life. Compared to western attitudes where lots of children see school as a chore. Somaliland The next documentary looked at Edna Adan who set up a training hospital for midwives in Somaliland to help with maternal mortality.
1 in 5 chance of dying in childbirth in Somaliland. Women die of causes such as eclampsia or anaemia that is treatable in other countries
There is no prenatal care. Women have stoicism where going to hospital is seen as week. Hygiene and cleanliness and a lack of professional care are problems outside of hospitals.
Edna Adan - I picked her for my image from this weeks stories, she was particularly inspiring as an older woman, leading an organisation to help other women. Sierra Leone
The next video was on Sierra Leone. The civil war ended there in 2002 but sexual violence is prevalent.
Rainbo centres have been set up for victims of sexual violence where they can receive medical treatment and counselling
Going to the police shameful, especially if it is a family member. Police don’t go to crime scenes, or prosecute even though they have had but about 10,0000 reports
80-90% of women have been through genital mutilation. Sexual assault ruins girls lives because of a culture of shame, they often get kicked out of home and lose the opportunity for education. Nairobi
the next video looked at Jamii Bora an organisation in Nairobi that offers microfinance for women to fund enterprise. One example was a women who set up a restaurant through the loan. The main thing the video highlighted was the mother's determination to struggle and do anything to make a better life for their children. they used their income for children's education.
India – The next video was about intergenerational prostitution in India. There are more sex slaves there than other countries and they are at the bottom of the ladder in a society with a caste system. New light foundation helps prostitutes and especially their children to provide a safe space for them to be while their mothers are working.
seeing some of the realities for women as second class citizens and the inevitable disadvantage that results from this highlights the need for feminism and also counterarguments to feminism that imply women have free will to be equal to men, but there is no denying that there is determinism in the disadvantage and inequality experienced by women in third world situations unless there is something that can change the circumstances people are born into..
Week 2. Amazing bodies
This lecture was about gender as a social construct and covered concepts of what it is to be a lady. I went to a ladies college where i learnt, french, needlepoint, home economics and etiquette and deportment, (this involved walking with books on our head like in "my fair lady") i know how to correctly set a table and fold a napkin into a swan and I only know basic maths. I don't have much interest in being a lady unless I get to go to high tea and I am more interested in learning about it as a social construct.It was great to learn that sex is now considered a social construct, my earlier studies in feminism had only made it evident that gender was a construct. it was easy to see that biology had little to do with gender roles and there is a compelling case that biology shouldn't define 'sex' in the sense of gender identity and that past construct are too restrictive. The modern term relating to gender is non-binary some people are gender fluid where they don't ascribe to just one gender. In a modern world it makes sense to be accepting of ideas on gender that are outside the norm. There is a recent case in Canada that highlights some of the difficulties of acceptance of gender neutrality.
Kori Doty is a parent in Canada who was born female but identifies as non-binary trans and uses the pronoun they. they have a child Searly and refused to provide a gender when registering the birth. the gender is listed as U. This is a test case but it could have strong implications for others in the future, rather than every child having to ascribe to being male or female at birth.
http://www.refinery29.com/2017/04/150470/what-is-gender-fluid
There was a recent article on refinery29 that said 12% percent of millennials ascribe to being transgender or gender fluid which is not having a fixed gender identity. Ruby Rose is a celebrity who publicy identifies as gender fluid. I think Ruby is a great role model for young people and gender identity. I hope the future will be a place where people are free to define themselves without having to be labelled as male and female.
Week 3. Women in Popular Culture, Advertising, and the Media - implications for social inequalities and Women's Health
The 1950's housewife resonated with me. I grew up in a very gendered household, girls were taught to cook and clean and boys were meant to only do manual labour around the house (which in actuality meant contributing nothing, if you have seen "Muriel's wedding" where the mother sets fire to the lawn after months of asking a son to mow it, that's depicting my brothers). I just wish my Mum set fire to the lawn, even if only metaphorically.
In relation to advertising , negative gender stereotypes are as prevalent now as they were in the 50's. Ads for cleaning products, dishwasher tablets and meals still all feature the nuclear family where the mum handles all the tasks and xyz product is meant to be a miracle timesaver for her while the rest of the family loll around in the background, usually being waited upon. You can see a gendered difference in toy ads too, there are still soft sounding pink coloured ads with dolls and horses for girls, and loud music with an aggressive voiceover for monsters, toy trucks and action figures for boys.
The other issue that is most problematic in advertising and the media is the objectification of women and also promoting thin bodies as the ideal.
The above ads are for the surf label Billabong from August 2017, An article on the Mamamia blog alerted me to it. I think it exemplifies things pretty well. Both are supposed to be about surfing but only the man the gets to actively surf. Also his image is just a tiny dot as what he looks like is inconsequential. The women's ad is just about being looked at having a desirable body, even most of her head is obscured which adds to a sense of objectification and it is only a distant shoreline that hints the ad might be to do with surfing. I also watched Australian Story on 'plus size' model Robyn Lawley recently, at least some companies have started using more realistic models. I am cynical however as i think the more inclusive representation of diverse bodies shapes is just about demographics and selling products as the average women is bigger than in the past, it hasn't really shifted the concept of thin bodies as the ideal.
Week 4.The 'Right' time to have a child: changes in reproductive trends and outcomes for women
This was a week of mixed reactions. The section on the introduction of the pill is inspiring. It made such an impact on society by allowing women to control their fertility and have greater choice about when they wanted to have children or not. This is huge. I think it is one of the main factors that has allowed women to participate more in the workforce too.
It saddens me that there are women who die because they can't access safe or legal termination of pregnancy such as in Brazil. It is a weighted political issue but I believe in the right to choose as a human rights issue. Excessive Banning or restricting terminations does not stop people from terminating pregnancy is just jeopardises women's safety and in some countries the options that women are left with are a black market and unregulated practices. Abortion is legal in all states of Australia except Queensland. I hope this is addressed at some stage and wonder how it affects women here, especially teenagers.
The aspect of today's lecture that affected me on a personal level is that I am a Generation X woman. I have no children myself (43 yrs old) and it is a trend that people in my age group chose to have children later in life. I find it hard not to have a personal reaction to this my mother had me at 40 (it was freakish at the time and very scary for her) aside from that it means i grew up without grandparents and my parents died when i was in my early 30's. I wonder how this kind of thing will affect the generation of babies born to older mothers, I guess a comforting thought is that life expectancy has gone up too and at least society has shifted to allow greater choices around reproduction.
Week 5 - Changing gender roles in Families: paid work, house-work & child raising
My Mum and Dad married in 1954, Mum was a teacher and at this stage you had to give up work if you had children. Things may have changed in terms of gender and the law but socially constructed ideas haven't moved very far. Unpaid work at home, particularly raising children and housework are still largely a woman's responsibility, regardless of whether they do paid work outside the home as well as home duties. There is still a gendered aspect to careers as well with greater numbers of women in caring roles such as nursing and teaching and male dominance in finance and executive management.
I like this picture of 'the glass ceiling'
One change that has happened recently is that more women are tertiary educated which is great. However this is not reflected in the fact that there is still a pay gap between men and women. At 2011 women still earned 17% less. I guess for this to change there would have to be many cultural shifts. Some things that impact on this are still about parenting roles limiting participation in paid work. The cost of childcare is one thing that limits a mother's earning capacity. The other thing that contributes to gender roles is the way that parenting leave in Australia is still largely 'maternity leave' with women being the one's to take time out of the paid workforce and men's parenting leave is only 2 weeks. It is interesting to contrast to Norway where of 46 weeks parenting leave that is available men must use 11 weeks of it and it has impacted on the role of father's in being more hands on with parenting.
Week 6 - Domestic Violence
This was a confronting week, partly as I have my own family story that i won't share in detail on here, but also because it is emotionally confronting to think that any person experiences family and domestic violence. I think learning about and talking about the issue is very important to break down taboos that survivors experience and encourage people to reach out for help and tell their stories and also for us as future health professionals to understand the issue. The main take home message for me was addressing societal misconceptions about women who remain in abusive relationships. Women stay because leaving is more frightening and dangerous than staying, because of the reaction it sparks in the violent partner. Also a characteristic of abuse is that the abuser isolates the victim from their support networks such as family and friends so that it is difficult to have anyone to turn to for help.
The TED talk from Lesley Morgan Steiner was a powerful story about breaking the silence. There is still a general culture of taboo and stigma around Domestic Violence so her story might inspire others. She also challenges misconceptions around SES status and domestic violence. I think people have and 'us' and 'them' kind of mentality about DV, or violence generally there is an archetype of the monster, and the regular mild mannered guy at church couldn't possible be a perpetrator at home. Her story challenges some of the stereotypes. She is a middle class tertiary educated woman who was in an abusive relationship with a outwardly appearing 'nice guy' for several years.
Week 7. Women who love other women: The social treatment of lesbians and the consequences for health
This week is topical in the media with the upcoming postal plebiscite on Gay Marriage. Same sex marriage was legalised in the Netherlands as long ago as 2001. in the 2000's Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, parts of the UK amongst other countries and even recently in 2015 Ireland and US recognised marriage equality. It's about time Australia did. Whilst other countries were progressing forward in 2004 John Howard changed The Marriage Act to specifically excluded same sex unions by adding a clause that stated marriage is a 'union of a man and a woman to exclusion of all others'.
I think it is a human rights issue and hope that the law is changed to be inclusive. Conservatives often use children in the argument against marriage equality but it was interesting to hear in the counter argument that an AIFS longitudinal study showed that children raised in same sex partnerships fared well in life and that there was not one case of a child being removed from their care because of abuse of neglect. That doesn't surprise me supportive parenting is not defined by the traditional nuclear family in current society.
Historically lesbians have been ignored as a group, Ancient societies and social anthropology focused on culture surrounding men. Although in greek times there was the poet Sappho who wrote love poems about women. In the 1920's ahead of their time, there were Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas who were public figures who lived in an openly gay relationship (but it Paris where life was more permissive and bohemian)
It was rumoured that Queen Victoria disputed that lesbians even existed and left them out of laws criminalising homosexuality. Gertrude Stein by Picasso
Exclusion is also an issue relevant to Lesbian women in contemporary society with regard to healthcare. The healthcare sector runs on a heteronormative model so unless a woman discloses their sexuality the doctor will assume they are straight and base their care on this. Lack of representation means that lesbians don't often choose to access health services are screening services. Statistically there are health problems associated with being a lesbian. The main is social exclusion and subsequent low self-esteem, stress and anxiety that comes from being a minority based on sexual orientation and pressure to hide sexuality from fear of discrimination. Lesbians also have higher risks of endometrial and breast cancers. Lung cancer is also a problem as a high percentage of lesbians smoke.Week 8 Mental health and drug & alcohol use in women across the ages
The historical perspective highlighted some of the myths around gender that we still hear of in contemporary society. In the middle ages and biblical times menstruation was thought of as unclean or poisonous and largely misunderstood. These days i think there is still some shame and taboo around the topic. I grew up with advertising for 'hygiene products' that showed girls having fun with their friends on the beach or swimming or riding horses with a product placement at the end. The period was just something vaguely alluded to and the ads were to suggest that tampons made it less of a hassle and allowed you to get on with everyday life, If only that was the case and it is interesting that reproduction and fertility issues are always targeted at the young when in reality it will continue into middle age until you go through menopause.
Anyway anything to do with reproduction historically had negative connotations. It was interesting to learn that libido in women was seen as a kind of madness called hysteria
We still hear the term used in a derogatory way to suggest that women are irrational and ruled by their emotions. Another 19th century myth was that reproduction also affected women's brains and made them weak and of lesser intellectual capacity. I have heard another myth that women have smaller brains. I think tony abbott said something like this in the 2010's.
The other aspects of history we looked at were drug use and mental illness. Valium was frequently prescribed in the 1950's as a calmative
There were also other calmatives and stimulants available over the counter allowing women to self-medicate. The reasons for this were stress created by caring roles and domestic labour that had no pay and no social status compared to men's work. the concept applies to contemporary society where people use substances to deal with emotional pain and mental illness.
My mum had valium, she was morally against alcohol and never drank, but always trusted things from a doctor. It and it's still readily prescribed in Brisbane. In Melbourne all clinics have a sign up that they "do not prescribe drugs of addiction", especially as there was a time when people crushed and injected benzodiazpines which causes nasty gaping wounds at the site of entry.
A recent societal change is that women are drinking to excess more than they had in the past, partly because of social norms that normalise drinking, men still surpass women with alcohol problems but the trend is increasing in women. Interesting it is women of my generation (35-59) that are the new group of risky drinkers.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-11/baby-boomer-women-turning-to-booze-at-problem-levels/6086378
some of the factors are juggling work, teenage children and ageing parents and not having other support or coping mechanisms. I don't have children and my parents are gone, even though i am not overjoyed about these circumstances, it gives me the freedom to focus on a career change and leisure time to focus on wellbeing, and look to exercise and a healthy lifestyle to deal with problems, i haven't won the genetic lottery with diabetes, stroke and CKD running in my family. My brother died at 52 from a stroke and since then i have looked at health differently. However, i can see that gen X women and baby boomers have pressure coming at them from all angles and alcohol is highly socially acceptable coping tool.
Mental illness as a concept has only been around since the 1920's. Females are more likely to experience and report mental health problems. 18% of women have anxiety and 7% have affective disorders (which includes depression) and eating disorders are more common in women than men. Another statistic was that people with a mental illness are ore likely to smoke with 32% of this group reporting that they smoke, once again it it probably an aspect of self-medication to deal with their illness.
Week 9 - Fashion, Body Image and Women's Health
This week our reflection stemmed from tutorial discussion but we had lecture slides from a speaker who wasn't able to attend.
Firstly we watched a humorous video called the ugly duckling. It parodied the parable of the ugly duckling with the underlying moral that women are advantaged or disadvantaged in life and work based on their looks. The ugly duckling had career success after having a boob job. There is definitely a message in the media that for women youth and looks are valued over other achievements and attributes, but men don't have the same scrutiny placed on looks. Apart from a few famous actors and musicians like Helen Mirren and Judy Dench and Madonna women are supposed to retire from the public eye somewhere around 40. But older men are popular as newsreaders where they have an archetype of authority and still get to play romantic lead (Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson) and are usually cast with women more than 20 years their junior. But there is furore if the age gap is the other way around.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/21/same-old-story-women-paired-younger-men-cinematic-rarity
i recently read a story about the film 'The dressmaker' where it was a big deal that Kate Winslet at 40 was playing a romantic lead to Chris Hemsworth who was only 25. According to the guardian article he nearly turned the role down because of the age difference.
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/how-generational-blurring-is-changing-the-lifestyle-of-women-over-40-20170921-gylwzd.html
We also talked in class about the things that influence our perception of body image and body image in general. The first thing is the idealisation of thin bodies in the media. i was young in the 90's when fashion models were very thin and these days there are thinspiration bloggers and pro ana sites that have unhealthy messages around eating disorders
I guess for me body image is something different to when i was younger, partly as peer pressure is less (apart from the perennial trend! There is a new concept of body positivity is in the media too. The other factor for me personally is that i am more interested in avoiding illness than looking a certain way. I have reached an age where i have lost parents, friends and a sibling to illness which gives me a different perspective about having a body and keeping it alive, rather than viewing via a lens of how it might appear to other people. I am still susceptible to self-doubt and criticism about looks but my motivations and values have changed so I am overall a bit kinder on myself. When i was younger i was incidentally slim, but now I am older and not slim, i eat healthier food and exercise 4-5 times a week to prevent illness, body image comes from within and now i am more concerned about wellness than looks. My biggest fear is losing mobility as my mum had amputations and dad had a zimmer frame. i don't want that to be me in 20 years so i walk, dance, bootcamp and lift weights.
Week 10
I missed this lecture and there was no recording so my reflection has come from the slides. I agree with the first slide that looks at sexualisation in culture. My first thoughts are on the use of sexualised images of women in advertising and music videos. Women's bodies are used to sell things and as accessories for men. The recent debate over the 'Blurred lines' video comes to mind. As well as the lyric content being questionable, the men (who are fully clothed) are given perceived status by a bevy of naked women who just dance around with the sole purpose of being looked at. The "male gaze" form of sexualisation of women was around in a lot of rap videos in the 90's and it still seems to be the norm in music videos and appears a lot in alcohol advertising.
http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/emily-ratajkowski-speaks-out-on-feminism - Interestingly Emily Ratajkowski one of the women in the video has outspoken feminist views and describes the video as the bane of her existence!
This picture is from "Summernats 2017" which seems to be a event where sexism and cars converge, fueled by the consumption and promotion of a lot of alcohol, (from a outsiders perspective) I don't judge the girls, just the culture that puts them on the sidelines to be ogled.
i agree with the lecturers position of being 'pro-sex' in allowing women control over their bodies and sexuality, whilst being anti-sexism, as i believe that sexualisation
doesn't equate with liberation and freedom.
Conversely this picture is from a slutwalks protest in Britain, This movement stemmed in retaliation of a judge's decision in Canada where the way a woman was dressed was brought into question in 2011. The police in Toronto also made the statement that to avoid sexual assault women should "avoid dressing like sluts" The protest made a statement that any aspect of a woman's appearance doesn't excuse or condone rape. The movement took off worldwide.
I agree with the sentiment of the protest but I am probably too old and scared to join in.
I am in the Spencer Tunick picture on the right though, from 2001, along with 4,500 other people, it doesn't make a statement about sex or sexism per se it's just an esoteric art piece.(I'm not sure what he is trying to say but i was young enough to think just think it was cool) it was 5am and freezing and not as cool as i thought it would be. I guess what i gained from the experience is that once you strip away all constraints, bodies are just bodies, they all function in pretty much the same way (illness and some anatomy aside) and everything else about them is socially constructed.
Back to feminist activism. I plan to go to reclaim the night (physical event) but getting involved in activism online is entering a scary place for me.The world is already an unsafe place for women, ironically, online activism to promote women's safety/rights can make you less safe by the backlash from trolls and the 'Blackshirts' out there. I don't know if the movement made it to Brisbane, but in melbourne there were a group of men (Blackshirts) who protested outside the family courts (and sometimes women's houses) claiming that the courts were bias towards women and that divorce is a process designed in the interests of "immoral" women. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/19/1040174344351.html. There is a man with a truck outside his gold coast house painted with a similar vendetta against the courts and women, i don't know if he is a solo crusader, maybe he takes the truck out with some cronies sometimes..
I also think of the rape and death threats that are par for the course of outspoken feminists in the online world. I have followed Clementine Ford online for a few years and have her book but i don't know how she withstands the abuse and threats. I don't agree with everything she says or does but i am glad she is out there presenting a feminist voice for a lot of people who are too scared to do so publicly, online where people can make anonymous threats and the police ignore it.
one a similar note I am sick of the #not all men that we see all the time, in debate, as it ignores the point that feminism works against systemic inequality, feminists hate patriarchy and violence and sometimes capitalism but not "men" per se. We all know that they are good men out there too and most of us will know quite a few of them and some of them might even support the concept of feminism too.
Week 11 - International Women's Health.
Vietnam
The first video was about girls in Vietnam, their families are very poor and the girls ride up to 17 miles to get to school and live in unstable environments where there is a threat of disease and flooding. Above all else the girls valued the opportunity to go to school and that education was a chance to get ahead in life. Compared to western attitudes where lots of children see school as a chore.
Somaliland
The next documentary looked at Edna Adan who set up a training hospital for midwives in Somaliland to help with maternal mortality.
1 in 5 chance of dying in childbirth in Somaliland. Women die of causes such as eclampsia or anaemia that is treatable in other countries
There is no prenatal care. Women have stoicism where going to hospital is seen as week. Hygiene and cleanliness and a lack of professional care are problems outside of hospitals.
Edna Adan - I picked her for my image from this weeks stories, she was particularly inspiring as an older woman, leading an organisation to help other women.
Sierra Leone
The next video was on Sierra Leone. The civil war ended there in 2002 but sexual violence is prevalent.
Rainbo centres have been set up for victims of sexual violence where they can receive medical treatment and counselling
Going to the police shameful, especially if it is a family member. Police don’t go to crime scenes, or prosecute even though they have had but about 10,0000 reports
80-90% of women have been through genital mutilation. Sexual assault ruins girls lives because of a culture of shame, they often get kicked out of home and lose the opportunity for education.
Nairobi
the next video looked at Jamii Bora an organisation in Nairobi that offers microfinance for women to fund enterprise. One example was a women who set up a restaurant through the loan. The main thing the video highlighted was the mother's determination to struggle and do anything to make a better life for their children. they used their income for children's education.
India – The next video was about intergenerational prostitution in India. There are more sex slaves there than other countries and they are at the bottom of the ladder in a society with a caste system. New light foundation helps prostitutes and especially their children to provide a safe space for them to be while their mothers are working.
seeing some of the realities for women as second class citizens and the inevitable disadvantage that results from this highlights the need for feminism and also counterarguments to feminism that imply women have free will to be equal to men, but there is no denying that there is determinism in the disadvantage and inequality experienced by women in third world situations unless there is something that can change the circumstances people are born into..