Throughout this course, I learned a great deal of invaluable information. Feminism, or shall I say, women’s studies, can be applicable to all majors, careers, personal lives, etc. It also intertwines with domains such as race, gender, religion, class, and sexuality. Feminism can be referenced through common stereotypes or misrepresentations, but overall, there have been several movements to challenge the notion of “anti-male” to “anti-sexism.” I hoped, in the beginning, to leave this course having explored a broad variety of issues and how feminism plays a crucial role in each of them. Fortunately, based on class discussion, the books we’ve read, and individual research I have done on my own, I feel as though I have succeeded in learning about the relevance of feminism with regard to several different and controversial topics. From writing my blogs and applying my knowledge, I feel as though I have challenged some of my own stereotypes and have become a more open-minded person.

Controversial topics have many foundations in science, religion, politics, etc. This is especially relevant in the pro-life vs. pro-choice argument. Feminists would argue that people are entitled to make their own choices, not only in this domain, but others as well. However, the media plays a huge role in promoting certain conceptualizations. Think about it: if weddings are not a viable and perfect option for everyone, then why are they still glamorized and praised in the media? If women’s sports are more common nowadays, why is there lack of coverage in the media for these sports? The media tends to hold on to traditional stereotypes and with relevance to the second question, assign less praise to women for their achievements. Another example is pornography, which may not typically be viewed for any other reason than sexual pleasure, but subtleties about degradation of women are evident in these films. Overall, people and viewers tend to internalize certain messages and this further exacerbates the male domination problem.

Condescension of women happens also on reality shows such as the Jersey Shore. Such TV shows update beauty standards and increase anxiety about ideals of beauty. In one of my blogs, I wrote, “Either consciously, or unconsciously, we internalize certain ideas about objects, people, places, or conversations that we find unique or meaningful. We then find ourselves applying these concepts to the outside world.” This is a common problem in popular media and in our culture. We retrieve memories that are readily available and try to live up to other people’s standards. And if we don’t fit the norm, we are exploited on the media, and called things such as a “grenade.” Society appears to have a high tolerance for insensitivity and abuse, but in reality, each individual person dwells on criticism, isolation, and defeat especially when he or she is seen as a “victim.”

Along the same lines, I realized throughout this course that men are viewed as more capable of influencing women into becoming perfectionists, especially when they verbally or emotionally abuse women about their body image. This leads to a vicious cycle of eating disorders among other psychological illnesses. Men may belittle their partners to feel a sense of empowerment or control, and unfortunately, women may struggle with creating their own definitions of beauty. On a side note, however, most people tend to overlook the probability of eating disorders and domestic violence that occur and can negatively impact men and even children. Females are not the only victims these days. Bell Hooks taught me an important lesson: we need to change stereotypes that men are always the violent physical and emotional abusers and condemn female perpetrators as well.

Little education also contributes to the problem. Some people do not even see a clear division between men and women in the workforce today, mainly because this divide was more salient in the past. In addition, people of all genders neglect the idea that men and women still abide by appropriate social constructions that guide everyday life. For instance, some women believe that men are smarter than them in certain fields, and therefore, get discouraged early in life from entering into STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields. Or, they are inflicted by stereotype threat which causes anxiety about a negative stereotype (such as women being less intelligent or capable in STEM fields) that ultimately impacts their performance on a task.

Efforts to reduce these stereotypes, however, have been pronounced. For instance, cyberfeminism is a movement that tried to break these stereotypes while exploring female oppression in cyberspace. Feminists attempted to draw links between gender identity, culture, the body, and technology. They focused on the issue of women morphing into socially acceptable objects rather than maintaining their individualism. Feminist theorists, such as Virginia Woolf, also aimed to advocate for women in their respective career fields. She touched on how women writers have been impacted by prejudices and patriarchy. In this field and other fields, women tend to be seen as inferior even though they share the same brain structures as men. If our brains are all structured the same way, why can’t we eliminate gender biases and become more “androgynous”? In a perfect world, maybe this could happen, but I have learned that we can’t always eliminate societal values that have been shaped and constructed over time. We can only change them.

All in all, more education and awareness about inequality needs to be implemented in many parts of this world. We need to better advocate for a joint effort across all genders when raising children and trying to balance work as well. With parents or caregivers representing this shared balance in both public and private spheres, children can learn more feminist values at an early age. In the future, I still wish to become a licensed clinical psychologist after earning my Ph.D. in clinical psychology. I have studied in depth cognitive, behavioral, and emotional domains within people. This course allowed me to use what I have previously learned while also integrating much information derived from a more social and feminist perspective. Intertwining all of these areas has caused me to look at different issues from a more critical and multidimensional lens. I hope to continue to understand individual issues from this viewpoint and help others become more aware of present-day issues in comparison to the way I did in this course.

Pro-life vs. Pro-choice

So what is pro-life? All human life must be preserved across all circumstances and situations. Speaking in terms of abortion, undeveloped, small fetuses are sacred. Abortion is not an option.

So what is pro-choice? People have self-directed freedom to make their own choices. The government does not have any right to govern choices around whether or not to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

What about science? What does science tell us? Science does not provide any evidence for a soul’s existence. The only evidence that may come into play is the idea that emotion and cognition does not develop in neocortical areas until the late second or early third trimester of pregnancy. But those who identify as pro-life state that it is the presence of DNA or presence of life itself that defines a person.

According to a study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, which is cited in Reasons Why Women Have Induced Abortions: Evidence from 27 Countries by Akinrinola Bankole, Susheela Singh and Taylor Haas…
*68% of women who have abortions in the United States say that they cannot afford to have children and 27% cite this as their primary reason for terminating the pregnancy.
*20% cite health reasons.
*8% are young women either hiding pregnancies from their parents, or ordered by their parents to terminate their pregnancies.

Why can’t people who are pro-life take individual stories and circumstances into careful consideration then? What is going on here? The reason they can’t is because they believe life begins at conception. Abortion, therefore, is murdering a helpless life full of sanctity. “Thou shall not kill,” according to the Ten Commandments in Christianity. Adoption is seen as an alternative to abortion. Even in cases of rape, the unborn child would not be punished and shouldn’t be because it is the perpetrator who committed the crime. Abortion can result in medical complications as well and 95% of women according to the pregnancy care center in the movie regret their abortion. Moreover, they carry the burden of killing an innocent life emotionally and psychologically for their rest of their lives.

But what does the other side argue for? A fetus is not a separate being because its health depends on the health of the mother when in the womb. Adoption is not a common alternative unless it is a woman’s choice. It is very difficult for women to give up their babies after they see them or hold them for the first time and after overcoming the whole pregnancy process. They also believe that abortion is safe and there are many cases where women’s abilities to give birth in the future have not been affected by deciding to abort previously. In cases of rape, the women would only suffer from greater psychological harm as well as her baby when he/she grows up. Most importantly, women have a right to have control over their bodies and overall reproductive systems. Abortion is also one of the medical services that is supported by taxpayer dollars.

Here are three arguments that I found on http://wholeworldinhishands.com/world/pro_life_vs_pro-choice_arguments.html that further emphasize the different arguments:

“Pro Choice:
The preborn child doesn’t have enough size, ability to feel pain, viability, self-awareness, etc. to be granted rights of personhood.
Pro-Life:
Such qualities develop over time. A newborn is smaller, less developed, less aware, and more dependent than a young adult, but that doesn’t make him less of a person.

Pro Choice:
Even if the preborn has an inherent right to life, this right is superceded by the mother’s right to autonomy.
Pro Life:
Nobody has an unconstrained right to autonomy. We require parents to use their bodies to care for their children. This responsibility lasts for 18 years.

Pro Choice:
If we end abortion, we’ll go back to thousands of women dying from back-alley abortions.
Pro Life:
In 1960, Planned Parenthood reported that 84% to 87% of all illegal abortions were performed by licensed physicians. In 1972, the year before Roe vs. Wade, 39 women died from illegal abortions. Each of those deaths was a tragedy, but every abortion is a tragedy, because it kills a living human being.”

I do not wish to advocate for any side, however, I am just writing this entry to further educate myself and others about the arguments after watching 12th and Delaware. This movie really inspired me to challenge my own thoughts and take careful consideration of both sides of the spectrum. Unfortunately, this issue is presented as very black and white. I really struggled with trying to take a neutral stance on this topic because there are so many foundations in science, religion, evolution, politics, etc. that further complicate the matter. However, I hope that I was able to offer some overall insight, and that you are able to critically think and evaluate your stance. What I do believe, is that you are entitled to choose how you feel about each side according to your thoughts, morals, and emotions. So I guess you can say I am “pro-choice” in this aspect.