CRJ #9

CRJ #9

I have always been disgusted by the idea that women were property and Miranda Kennedy’s essay, “Cheaper than a Cow”, develops many of the key arguments against the idea of owning women. History, traditions, and even our constitution are plagued with examples of women being treated as property. In a wedding, the father gives away his daughter, a symbolic gesture of a prized possession behind handed from one owner to the next. At the end of a wedding s the couple are pronounced “man and wife”, the woman being now a possession of her husband. In Kennedy’s essay, young Indian girls are sold at auctions to men seeking wives, slaves, or someone to dominate. These poor families are willing to lose their daughters for less than the price of a cow. While this seems unbelievable from an American viewpoint; females are not seen in the same light in India. Kennedy reports that there is a dramatic decrease in the Indian women population due to female fetus abortions and female infanticide. Females are seen as a burden to the underprivileged families due to the custom of dowrys. The custom of dowrys itself is an insult to women and their role as a member of the family. These young ladies are treated as not humans, not loved ones, but as properties, as a chore that must be properly dealt with before the men of the family can proceed with more important business. The irony in this is that women are vital to the continuation of the family, but for some reason this fact is overlooked. The only time women seem to be of emotional and family value is when producing sons. While India is trying to fight this through limiting ultrasounds to be performed only for medical reason, not to determine the sex of the fetus, and technically outlawing the trade of women for slavery, the culture is finding loopholes. The only way to stop these destructive and discriminating practices would be to get the culture to become more accepting of women.

Judith Warner discusses the twisted image of women and motherhood in a western culture in her essay, “The Myth of the Perfect Mother”. As technology, education, and general lifestyles progress through time life is supposed to become seemingly easier. This is not the case in motherhood. Mothers today are suffering from a strain of trying to provide a stable, healthy environment for their children, balancing a full time job, and saving enough alone/couple time to not have their relationships crumble and prevent the onset of insanity. There is the notion in modern society that it us up to the woman in a relationship to do all the nurturing, teaching, developing, and every other task related to the general upbringing of the children in the family. It is up to the mother to make sure that her children are ready for the world. This task becomes more challenging every year; it is now becoming critical that mothers find the right preschool, the right music instructors, the right childcare, all in the hopes of placing their child higher on the development curve. Why is this task left to mothers? Because of the proclaimed gender oriented family roles. Men are responsible for the economic stability. Women are in charge of the home. While these may have been an even split in some family scenarios it is becoming more drastically unfair towards women every day. As the cost of living rises, more women are required to work full time jobs, which can cause strains in the home life. Warner reports that on average fathers work fifty-one hours a week and mothers work forty-one. Also with school systems in shambles across the United States, parents need to take a more dominate hand in their children’s education in order to insure that it is a good one. It is society that creates the myth of a perfect mother that can magically handle all the pressures. It is also society and government that holds the key to the solutions. Corporations need to have family friendly policies, government should mandate increased child care standards at preschools and daycares, and there needs to be affordable day care available to all families. There are some programs already in place through welfare, WIC, and other local organizations but they are not enough. My sister is currently raising three children on a single salary of less than twenty-five thousand dollars a year, but she is seen as too wealthy for any financial assistance. And it’s not even just the poor that need help; child care is extremely hard to find and unaffordable to the middle class as well. Society needs to start helping everyone in this field before there is an epidemic of insanity among mothers.

Charlene Gornes tackles the challenges homosexual couples face when trying to establish a family in her essay, “Partners as Parents”. Obviously their first struggle is in the pathways to parenthood. Naturally it is impossible between the pair; therefore they must reach out to alternatives including surrogate mothers and sperm donors. These pathways do not lead to guaranteed results, which have many parents facing adoption. The adoption system in most states is designed against homosexual couples. By not having a form of binding contract between them, homosexual face even harder legal battles when it comes to raising children. Often times in custody trials courts rule against homosexual parents due to the notion that a child raised by a gay parent will grow up tormented or become gay themselves. Also since there are no legal binds between the couple in cases of death and separation it is hard to decide who should get custody of the children or how the children should receive inheritance. There are no statistics or evidence to show that children brought up in a homosexual household will be more likely to become homosexual than those brought up in heterosexual households, yet there is still a lingering rumor that this is the case. Also there is no evidence that sexual orientation will alter how one parents a child. Society needs to learn to be more accepting of individuals and stand by the values that everyone has equal rights.

CRJ #8

CRJ #8

Kahn’s article “What College Women Do and Do Not Experience as Rape” was especially interesting to read, since I am currently a college student. I thought it was extremely strange that 73% of the women questioned that showed clues to having been raped, did not admit that they were (pg. 593). Kahn goes on to explain that the likely reasoning for this is rape has a stereotype of its own. Rape is seen as a sexual assault performed by a stranger, and be extremely brutal and forceful. While this image is true, rape also can be submitting to a boyfriend or lover, being tricked into sex while asleep, intoxicated, or drugged, or even when a someone is taken advantage of while emotionally needy. I think that some of the reasons rapes are underreported among college females is a balance between confusion, isolation, and embarrassment. Often, alcohol is involved and the woman can feel like it was her fault she was raped because she allowed herself to become too intoxicated to stop the attack. Also, when at college, women are separated from their families and typical doctors, so it is harder to find the proper support. While many college campuses try to offer services that would allow women a safe place to seek help, testing, and aide after a rape attack, many women are too embarrassed to seek this help. They would rather talk to a family member and their own personal doctor than the police and local hospital. Embarrassment is a key role for all rape victims. Many people contain a superhuman mentality; they are aware of the evils and misfortunes in the world but they do not perceive any of them every happening to themselves. With one in four college women experiencing sexual assault (pg. 563), this can be an extremely harmful thought process. In order to protect the students, colleges should offer education programs on sexual assault, self defense lessons, and general campus security. Outreach programs and hotlines should also be available so that both men and women who find themselves sexually assaulted can seek the proper aide.

Debra Anne Davis presents a good point about gender roles and taught mannerisms in story, “Betrayed by the Angel”. Growing up she was taught the ideal feminine gender role, and it is due to this role, she was victimized. Girls are often expected to be polite, quite, and submissive. When a strange man showed up at Davis’ door, she could not be rude and shut the door in his face even though she knew something was fishy about the situation. Because she did do the “rude thing”, the strange man forced himself into her apartment and raped her. Now she realizes that if she hadn’t been raised to be so submissive the attack would never have been able to happen. Parents that do not want their children to be victimized should teach them not only manners and kindness, but the ability to stand for themselves and defend themselves when necessary. I would rather have a slightly rude child that ran away or fought when attacked then have a victimized one. Davis goes on to explain that even after the court process she still did not feel like her attacker deserved his punishment; that there was something inside her that blamed herself and not him. Ever since she was little she remembers images on television, (Bewitched, I Dream of Genie, and Leave it to Beaver for examples) where the females were casted in submissive roles. It is this expected submission that causes women to accept their attacks. Men seeking power can easily dominate women that are trained to be controlled by men. The media has a powerful role on gender ideals, and it should actively try to enforce that the sexes are equal. Also the media has a powerful influence on the news that is brought to the attention of the general public. The news should focus more on the severity and extent that sexual crimes are plaguing our country. Hardly does anyone see a rape on the national news level; it is usually just stuck in as a five minute filler on the local station. More media coverage and education, would promote more action from the government, agencies, and public. Changing apathy to action is the only way to prevent these crimes from happening.

Activity #8

The first statistic I started my interviews with was, “Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted”. The general consensus to this statement was that I was exaggerating. Sexual assault, battery, and other crimes against women were not unheard of occurrences to the people I interviewed, but the frequency of these crimes was overwhelming. The other statistic I used was “one out of every six American women have been the victims of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime”. This fact also proved to have a bit of a shocking impact. It became apparent that while the population is being educated on abuse towards women, they are not being informed about the severity of the situation.

The numbers are seemingly proven correct when I discover that one of the very people I interview has been affected by sexual assault. I found an available hall-mate for this activity and found that she was very open to discussing the subject matter. To make her summarize her story for her own personal sake, while on vacation one summer she and two of her best friends were invited by a group of older teenagers to a party. Being only fourteen, she was eager to attend and experience the nightlife that must be customary to the popular older crowd. This party was not a fun, social event, but rather an scheme to get the girls drunk, first experience with alcohol for all three, and then to sexually assault them. During the incident none of the girls questioned the actions of the boys; all were at least nineteen according to my hall-mate’s memory, because they assumed that this was deemed a normal event. It wasn’t until the next day that my hall-mate realized that not only had she been raped, but that the boy had stolen something from her that no lawsuit or amount of money could justify. It took her months to realize what truly had happened and to confine in her mother. By this time it was too late to do any significant legal action; she didn’t even remember his name. I was shocked to find out that this has happened to those that I am acquaintances with. I think that a very common misconception is that these types of assaults only happen to women who place themselves in certain situations. There was nothing about my hall-mates outward appearance or expressions that would have ever led me to suspect that she had been a rape victim. It really hit home that anyone can be a victim; we all need to be aware of our safety and take proper action to secure it.

The males I interviewed admitted that assaults were likely to occur on women, but there was a disconnection between the problem and their actions. While neither actively engage in assaults on women, there are some actions and ideas everyone does that contributes to the entire problem. There are certain beliefs in culture that promote domestic and physical violence towards women. The basic of these beliefs is that simple males are dominant. Also the typical feminine role as a submissive and weak person has a part in while women are targeted. The only real way to stop violence is through education. Without proper education through the schools and media, society remains ignorant to the problems that occur all around them. Just the simple decrease of apathy through education and understand would start to bring about a change. There also need to be more support groups for women so that they feel they are safe in proclaiming the violence that has occurred to them. It is absurd that society has created a community in which people feel like it would be better to hide something as horrific as rape, instead of seeking help from the police or a local women’s shelter.

CRJ #7

I found a quote from Eleanor Cooney’s “The Way it Was” to really sum up one of the main reasons for legalized abortions and feminism in general; “When a woman does not want to be pregnant, the drive to become unpregnant can turn into the force equal to the nature that wants her to stay pregnant” (370). Whether or not it seen as part of religious beliefs, morals, or a sense of protection for the fetus, outlawing abortions and other sexual health care for women have been continuously one way for the male population to control women. Even though in today’s society it thought that women have an equal voice and opportunity in the government system there still a greatly disproportion of men legislators to female legislators. The picture Cooney describes of Bush signing the Partial Birth Abortion Ban bill is of all men legislators smiling as the President chips away a corner of Roe v. Wade. By limiting a women’s right to abortions and the right to sexual health care does not stop the risky behavior some women take, it only increases it. Without proper education and health facilities women are more likely to have risky sexual practices. The risky sex leads to unwanted pregnancies and with abortions being limited to time frames then a lot of women are forced to carry a child to term or go through a risky, illegal, and secretive procedure that is likely to end up hurting the women as well as killing the baby. Like Cooney says, laws and restrictions are not going to restrain women, especially women with the sort of determination as pregnant women desperate to be rid of their pregnancy. It is more morally wrong to try to manipulate a woman and her “rights” in order to prevent her from having an abortion than the abortion itself. This manipulation can lead to many deathly procedures for the mothers instead of protecting the fetus.

CRJ #6

Critical Response Journal #6

Disciplinary beauty practices are those done to correct flaws in the female body. Bras were designed to lift the breasts because it was viewed medically that breasts did not have the proper ligaments to hold themselves up to their proper position. Other disciplinary practices include diets. There are numerous consequences these practices can have on a women’s psyche. There reality shows airing today display plastic surgery and body augmentation to be normal. Girls who are not born with the ideal image can be “fixed” for the right price. This phenomenon is spreading across the globe as more and more women decide to change their bodies. In China, according to “China’s Cosmetic Surgery Craze”, it is popular for women to have their legs extended in order to reach a “normal” height. There is also facial surgery to change the more classical Chinese features to be more Caucasian styled.

Men and women both face body norms. Men’s norms are to be athletic, trim, and muscular. The women’s norms are much more demanding. Women should be thin, delicate, beautiful, and sensual. There is a typical power divide when it comes to the ideal body. Men are muscular because they are considered strong, while women are deemed naturally weaker and thus given the “delicate” feature.

The sexualization of women’s bodies has changed over times and in between cultures. According to Brumberg in “Breast Buds and the Training Bra”, it isn’t until the inventions of the corset and the bra that society becomes obsessive with the idea of busty women and hourglass figures. The media sends out a strong image of what beauty is: thin, toned, small facial features, and typically white, and blonde. While many white girls grow up under the pressure of obtaining the ideal beauty in ads, it is only a single curse. While white girls still have a slim chance of ever obtaining the ideal image, for other races it is nearly impossible. From the reading, “Body Ethics and Aesthetics among African American and Latina Women”, there are a lack of images in popular media of their races. The images that were present were of women that had many “white” qualities and lighter skin pigments. I think that every race has another image to fight, the stereotypical image that correlates with their ethnicity. According to the reading the women polled were prefer not to consider that there is a mythical body ideal but rather a set of body ethics every woman should try to maintain. These ethics include style, body acceptance, and respect. The important part of one’s appearance is that you are comfortable with yourself, that you respect your body, and dress appropriately. I think that all women have an image of ideal beauty. I don’t think it necessarily correlates with the media’s image.

Activity #7 - Killing Us Softly

“Killing Us Softly”

In “Killing Us Softly 3”, Jane Kilbourne discusses the affects of media on society. The average American sees 3,000 advertisements a day. With this kind of statistics it is impossible for anyone not to be affected by media. Advertisements sell much more than products; they sell values, standards, normalcy, images of ideal love, and sexuality. According to these images women’s main aspects are their physical appearances. Women should spend time, energy, and enormous amounts of money to succeed at obtaining the ideal look. It’s an impossible task however because the ideal image of women is to be flawless. This image can cause terrible repercussions on women. Advertising can be linked to the increases in eating disorders, teen pregnancies, and women battering. With the way that advertising can modify the human perspective it has the ability to take away our chance at an authentic, free life.

With the “onslaught” video, Dove shows clips of popular advertisements that either promote women’s beauty products or use women in provocative ways in order to sell other objects. It then jumps to images of plastic surgery, and then lastly to a small, elementary student. The ad ends with the message “take your daughter before the beauty industry does”. The media starts to distort our images of beauty as soon as children are able to absorb the images. It’s important to recognize the issues that advertising can play in women’s lives and to address it by saving out youth from falling into the beauty traps. It’s important to not let little girls’ self-esteem be destroyed by the media nor to let them start idolizing the ideal women images. “Evolution” displayed the steps to creating a beauty add. The original girl was transformed through makeup, hair styling, and finally computer graphics in order to make the “model”. Basically it is no wonder why the image of an ideal woman is so distorted in the mindset of society. The advertising agents don’t even have a picture of an actually woman by the end of the process.

This ad is using a seductively dressed woman on a bed to sell a video game. The caption reads “Keep on dreaming of a better world”. While this statement first addresses the notion that the image of the woman is ideal and fake, it also expresses the notion that women of reality are below par in comparison to these advertisement fantasy women. Even in the video game world women should be perfect and fit the ideal description of thin, toned bodies, with beautiful faces and flawless makeup. Basically femininity is beauty and sexuality.

I find the way that media controls the image of women to be quite frightening. The amounts of eating disorders and psychological problems caused by these ideal images are astounding. It doesn’t seem logical that this sort of media mind warp would be able to survive this long. Hopefully with the help of the Dove campaign to advertise realistic women, the image and definition of beauty will start to change. Beauty is about being healthy and happy with one’s body not necessarily skinny and drenched in cosmetics.

Assignment #6 - Tough Guise

Activity #6 - Due Friday October 5th @ midnight

Understanding masculinity to be socially constructed allows for the ability to change. It is better than having biology in charge, because for those who feel that masculinity has faults or errs there is hope for a better system through individual and collective change. Masculinity is dominated by men’s approval for each other. All the aspects of manhood including; athleticism, bravery, courage, and strength all revolve around the need of men to fit in among other men. According to Kimmel homophobia is generated not through a few of homosexuals, but more so through the fear that the individual male will be unmasked as a “sissy”. Homosexuality is seen as a key loss of manhood. I agree that homophobia can arise from the fear of being seen as not masculine. The culture that most men are raised in teaches them to fear showing any signs of feminism. Young boys are told not to play with dolls, but to play with trucks instead. Boys can’t wear pink, boys can’t cry, the lists of restrictions are endless. To me it seems natural that the children who assume the proper gender role as males will eventually develop homophobia as adults. Now some people could say this is a natural progression and therefore homophobia is a natural fear, but I see homophobia as a reason why we as a culture should try to change the gender norms. If we can recognize that we are attributing to the growth of hate by the ways we raise our children, why don’t we change?

The “tough guise” is the front that men are forced to put up in order to survive among their peers. It includes acting tough, unemotional, athletic and other dominate masculine traits. It can also include violence, criminality, and risky behavior. Through media and pop culture, men are learning that this guise is the only way to control their sense of masculinity. Masculinity is defined through the images seen on television sets and movie screens. Boys try to imitate the images produced in order to seem popular and cool in their community. In order to change men need to look at their actions and the motivations behind them. If media, popularity, and pressure are the motivating factors then it probably isn’t the right decision. Being a good person starts with the individual. Women can help in this change as well. Women can help break down the “tough guise” but supporting those who reject the system. Men would be less likely to want to keep up the pretext if they knew that women were not into it. Institutions especially the media could change the images that they project to the public. I think that the tough guise video will provide necessary insight to the world of masculinity. I almost felt that in the Kimmel article homophobia was given an excuse to exist because it was generated through masculinity. This notion was very disturbing to me.

CRj #5

CRJ #5

The dominating theme I have noticed over the past readings is that society and culture have ways of overpowering biology and nature in almost every aspect of life. While science tells us that DNA and genes determine our appearance and sex, society has the means to suppress the natural indicators genetics presents and morph them into acceptable gender roles and sexual scripts. Cultural ties have become so strong that I don’t believe it’s possible to know to what forms of human sexuality would occur outside a societal zone.

There is no dominate proof that genetics control human psychology; there is proof that genetics are a minuscule influence. Identical twins have equivalent DNA, but identical twins never have the same personality. From birth, the twins grow as two separate human beings, each experiencing the world and society in their own way. This is a common fact, yet still science searches for ways to link biology and genetics to psychology and human behavior. Research is currently being down to find a “homosexual” gene, but is it really possible that one exists? Can science control who is homosexual or not? If such a hypothetical gene existed would society then urge science to find a “cure”? Bell Hooks mentions in her article, “Romance: Sweet Love”, that generally everyone wants to “fall in love” (188), but that encompass many of the fears instilled in especially women from childhood. These fears include; not finding a soul mate, not being pretty enough to be loved, and that they are unlovable. I know that these fears do exist, and I can say that I myself have thought about the from time to time, what I wonder about is if these fears exist, why do people continue to judge others’ love? The idea of falling in love and love in of itself is scary, so why should society judge with whom someone falls in love? Both the articles “Biphobia” by Deilhl and Ochs and “La Guera” by Moraga showed the amount of hate and fear towards those who chose to love a bit differently from the societal norm. I found it disgusting how people could be judged as unfit parents, intellectuals, and human beings based on their lovers. I found the “Biphobia” to be especially interesting since the fear and negativity was not generated from heterosexuals alone, but from the homosexual community as well. It’s strange to for me to think that those who would be very used to having the societal pressures upon them would then in turn place them on another group. There needs to be a balance where we can all coexist.

*Interesting side note: today in Honors Biology we learned about pseudohermaphrodite: women that are genetically male (XY chromosomes), but due to a missing enzyme that processes testosterone, these males actually mature as females with complete outward female sex organs. While there is only a 1 in 20,000 chance of a woman being as pseudohermaphrodite, 80% of runway models actually have the disorder. Funny how men continually find ways to dominate the image of an ideal woman?

Midterm Essays

WS- Midterm Essay #1

Sex and gender are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they are not alternatives for each other. Sex in of itself has two definitions. One of these definitions is biological; male, female, hermaphroditic…these are sexes. Sex is a biological classification system to sort members of a species based on their reproductive organs. Sex is also the physical use of those reproductive organs. Gender is harder to define. Gender is the combination of societal norms based of one’s sex and psychology.

Essentialism is the belief that human behavior is determined only by biology and genetics. Carole S. Vance in her article, Social Construction Theory: Problems in the History of Sexuality, provides many counter examples to essentialism and shows that gender and human behavior is much more socially and culturally developed than influenced by biology. According to Vance sex is a biological sort of humans into males and females based on sexual reproductive organs, while gender is the expected behavior and societal roles associated with the sexes. If gender is the defined as appropriate behavior of sex, then it is easy to see how it is built through society by examining certain social acts from the viewpoints of different cultures. A kiss in public between an unmarried couple in the United States is viewed as commonplace, ordinary, and expected. This same kiss in Saudi Arabia could be seen as shocking and atrocious. If gender was determined by biology then both countries should view the kiss the same. Therefore since similar acts are viewed differently based on culture, religion, and timeframe, gender is socially constructed and not biological.

In slight contrast from Vance, Karen Bornstein also divides sex and gender into two separate but overlapping realms. Vance saw gender as socially constructed into two categories, male and female based on sex. To Bornstein, sex is just the physical act associated with reproductive organs, while gender is a spectrum of psychological feelings and societal roles. Regardless of biology, people can fluctuate on the gender spectrum from extremely masculine, to extremely feminine, to anywhere in the middle. Gender is based off of four characteristics; assignment, role, identity, and attribution (Bornstein, 1998). Gender assignment is the category you are placed in from birth, male or female. Gender role is the cultural expectations and behaviors of one’s assignment. Attributions are the key characteristics that help people inside the society associate who is female and who is male. Gender identity is the personal level of gender that everyone has to decide for themselves. There are many influences in society that help one shape their gender identity; education, religion, and culture are just a few. Gender is not one’s sex but a way to classify expected societal behaviors.

Gender is a classifying system that passes down through the generations. From birth children are classified into the two biological sexes; male and female. Those who do not fit perfectly into one of those sexes are given surgical procedures to correct the error. Everything inside culture is divided between the two realms, feminine and masculine. The realms do not intermingle well; it is alright for a female to have a masculine name, but for a male to a feminine name is considered weak and pathetic. Children are geared towards their appropriate gender through the clothing they are allowed to wear and toys that are purchased for them. Girls play with dollhouses while boys play with trucks. While many people may pretend that they do not usher their children into their appropriate gender roles, some of these same parents were shocked when BLO, an activist women’s organization, switched the voice boxes in hundreds of Barbie dolls with the voice boxes or J.I. Joes and vice versa. If gender wasn’t taught, then why would it matter what toys a child possessed? The toys were considered defective because they did not correspond with the typical gender roles laid out by society. Therefore gender is a societal based system that is taught from birth. This education teaches people the appropriate behaviors in life that correspond to one’s sex.

Gender is a classification system that incorporates individual psychologies with societal standards. Education, culture, and religion play major roles and shaping individuals genders. The individuals themselves can alter their own gender according to Bornstein, but many don’t because of the pressures society places on those who are different. Gender is not sex. Sex is the biological system that classifies people based on anatomy. Gender has to do with behavior and psychology.

WS – Midterm Essay #2

Throughout time the realms of science and technology have had an astounding, unbalanced relationship with the genders. Science and technology have developed into exceedingly masculine fields where women play a small, minority role. This gender gap is widened by gender’s influences on technology. This division has limited women in many aspects of life, and the distressing truth is that it is more often accepted than questioned. The gender gap in science and technology is illogical on the basis of equality.

Starting from its definition and connotation, technology is influenced by gender. Typically technology is a term applied to cars, lasers, rockets, and other masculine objects. There is also a feminine side to technology that is often ignored. This side encompasses the more household electronics such as microwaves, washing machines, and curling irons. Gender divides technology into equipment for the two sexes. More domestic electronics are considered feminine, even though males use them in their daily lives as well. More empowering equipment such as weapons and motorcycles are seen as masculine, even though thousands of women drive Harleys around the country. Gender divides technology into uneven and inequitable categories that have potential to further divide and classify the sexes.

Science is also shaped by gender and what should theoretically be the norm. Darwin’s Theory of Heterosexuality is a prime example of this. Darwin concluded that all animals are scientifically and biologically inclined to be heterosexual and engage in courtship based on two species. The conscious species was the peacock; the subconscious was humans according to gender norms. Darwin proclaimed that since peacocks possess certain traits, such as the decorative tail feathers on males, the genetic reasoning behind this was for procreation and thus heterosexuality. This was an easy conclusion for Darwin to hypothesis because subconsciously the notion of heterosexuality has been instilled inside of Darwin from childhood. It is a part of the gender norms that children learn early on that people are typically heterosexual. Darwin was using gender norms when he made his theory, a theory that has not withheld its validity among a large percentage of species of vertebrates. Homosexuality has been discovered the norm for many species including sheep. One has to question the power of gender to influence the sciences if Darwin’s theory is still thriving even though it has been proven false by over four hundred species.

Science also has the power to shape gender. In modern culture there are two sexes, male and female, but biologically there are up to five sexes. The three often unheard of sexes include hermaphrodites, fermaphrodites, and mermaphrodites. The reason why these sexes are such an anomaly is directly related to science. After birth, when an infant is discovered to be neither male nor female, the parents and doctors make a decision on which sex the child should be. Based on the anatomy present the child will be placed into surgery to correct the biological error. Science through medical procedures has the power to maintain a two sex society.

Technology also has the ability to influence the genders especially through video games and computers. Even in elementary school video games are designed to the masculine mentality. This builds a barrier between females and technology. Little girls quickly learn that video games are boy toys, separating the girls from certain skills that little boys adapt to quickly. As the children age the gap grows because as skill levels increase in the video gaming industry so does the violence and masculinity of the games offered. Since girls are practically shut out from the video game environment they rapidly fall behind boys in computer skills and comprehension. This is most likely one of the leading causes to the minority of women majoring in computer engineering and other technological fields across the globe. Technology has become a male reign that provides unfair opportunities for females when it comes to education and occupations inside the technological and scientific societies.

The gender gap present around science and technology is shocking. The overwhelming aspect is how it has become an acceptable aspect of modern society. Parents teach their children at an early age to follow the gender guidelines of science and technology through the types of toys they buy them and other forms of play. It’s important though to take a step back and critically think about these societal norms and how they affect our lives. Educating people on the gender inequality inside science is a crucial part of any Women’s Studies curriculum because it is a field that is often overlooked. People tend to think that technology is just naturally more appealing to the males, but upon critical thinking one can see that it is much more of a societal generated connection between males and technology that separates females. Education, critical thinking, and perpetual action are the only ways to ever try to close the gender gap in the world of science and technology.