In my last post I spoke of feminism and the Vagina Monologues; now that we've had some time in class to talk about penises I'll try to tie this up into a neat little package (that's funny!).
I'm attacking this with the consideration that we came into this anatomical discussion with the mindset that men were far more comfortable talking about their bits than their lady-counterparts were. For the purpose of there being no misunderstanding my stance on this: I disagree!
The "Private Dicks" video we watched clarified something for me: people will talk if they're asked. Shoot, Kinsey clarified that! It's really just a comfort thing. No, if you are out for lunch on the patio of a busy bistro you are not likely to hear men or women heartily discussing their genitals (but that doesn't mean you won't), this is true. Again we are at the mercy of the individual and their comfort levels regarding any disclosure of their sexuality. We might be surprised at how much how many people would tell us if we started a discussion of sexuality in a comfortable situation (as they perceive it).
I personally bring a voice to the table which proclaims this generality: forget about the large scale numbers, stats, and the direction that society seems to point; every individual represents an individual viewpoint.
And so with that I do away with the notion that either men or women speak more or less freely about genitals, sex, or anything in the vast arena of topics containing them. It's up to each man and each woman, and a whole slew of factors which brought them to where they are today. Perhaps any reservations about publicly speaking of these issues is primarily rooted in an effort to respect the values of the less liberal people around he who is speaking, similar in regard to he who does not swear not because he is uncomfortable with it but because he recognizes that others around him are?
Eureka.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
4 Waves of Feminism and We Have...
The Vagina Monologues!
I (like to think that I) understand where feminism comes from: the want of an existence of gender equality between men and women. This is completely reasonable to me. In fact, it's always been completely reasonable to me. You must understand that I have one brother and two sisters that gender inequality was never very apparent in my house. My mom cooked. My dad cooked. I baked. My sister played lacrosse, and her and I each played hockey as well. I could go on. The point is that whenever we had interests in anything, those interests were nurtured and we were given opportunities to pursue them regardless of our sex.
Let's jump around a little bit. Maybe I'll organize all of this in editing, or maybe I'll leave my thoughts raw. I'll coin the term 'Sushi Blogging.' After all, doesn't this blog exist so that it's NOT an essay??
So as I am told repeatedly, there exists a great gender inequality in our society and furthermore the world. In comes the feminist movement which stems from many different desires of women I am sure, such as the right to vote, the right to work, etc. Very reasonable!
This brings us to the 60's where the ladies are wishing not to be objectified quite so blatantly in the media. Also very reasonable! AH, but perhaps being objectified in the media is in fact the beginning of 3rd wave feminism where women begin to feel more comfortable with using their sexuality for whatever their purpose may be. Any woman who is objectified in the media made the choice to be seen in that light, and so does any man for that matter.
Where am I going with all of this? (In circles, I digress). Feminism, as I see it, always seems to maintain a similar purpose: gender equality in society. Yet it is overlooked that the world's population is made up of nearly 7 billion different males and females, and never will we see the day that every single one of them is happy about the way things are.
My world, as I see it, is one where men and women are equal in the sense that we are each free to make our own decisions. We choose where we go, what we do, how we do it, how much or how little we are willing to be paid for our efforts of labour, who we emulate, our degree of regard for popular culture, and the extent of which we are agitated by political riff raff.
The Vagina Monologues
Now we can have a quick thought about the aforementioned 'Vagina Monologues' which was written on the basis of testimonials from 200 women (and Kinsey was criticized for misrepresenting the population...?) regarding sex, gender and genitals.
I saw this play a few years ago, and I felt a little ruffled afterward. I felt like I had been completely ambushed by complaints about wrongdoings against women; I felt like the problems were all completely out of my hands, and I felt that it had been suggested that men (me!) were responsible. I don't think that was the purpose of that play though. The play itself is such a huge cultural phenomenon that I cannot believe it would actually have been created to slap the male species in the face. Perhaps it was written to clarify that it's ok for women to talk openly about their sexuality, and that's great because I'm sure there were (and surely still are) many females who needed to hear that.
Prior to the play, I was aware that it was quite alright for anyone to talk about their sexuality in whatever manner they wished, be it privately with whomever they choose or from a soapbox on a busy street corner - it comes down to individual choice. This made me look at the play differently and still I feel that I do not understand. Sometimes, when dealing with such hot-button topics, especially something so incredibly broad as gender (in)equality, its ok to not understand. Thank goodness!
I (like to think that I) understand where feminism comes from: the want of an existence of gender equality between men and women. This is completely reasonable to me. In fact, it's always been completely reasonable to me. You must understand that I have one brother and two sisters that gender inequality was never very apparent in my house. My mom cooked. My dad cooked. I baked. My sister played lacrosse, and her and I each played hockey as well. I could go on. The point is that whenever we had interests in anything, those interests were nurtured and we were given opportunities to pursue them regardless of our sex.
Let's jump around a little bit. Maybe I'll organize all of this in editing, or maybe I'll leave my thoughts raw. I'll coin the term 'Sushi Blogging.' After all, doesn't this blog exist so that it's NOT an essay??
So as I am told repeatedly, there exists a great gender inequality in our society and furthermore the world. In comes the feminist movement which stems from many different desires of women I am sure, such as the right to vote, the right to work, etc. Very reasonable!
This brings us to the 60's where the ladies are wishing not to be objectified quite so blatantly in the media. Also very reasonable! AH, but perhaps being objectified in the media is in fact the beginning of 3rd wave feminism where women begin to feel more comfortable with using their sexuality for whatever their purpose may be. Any woman who is objectified in the media made the choice to be seen in that light, and so does any man for that matter.
Where am I going with all of this? (In circles, I digress). Feminism, as I see it, always seems to maintain a similar purpose: gender equality in society. Yet it is overlooked that the world's population is made up of nearly 7 billion different males and females, and never will we see the day that every single one of them is happy about the way things are.
My world, as I see it, is one where men and women are equal in the sense that we are each free to make our own decisions. We choose where we go, what we do, how we do it, how much or how little we are willing to be paid for our efforts of labour, who we emulate, our degree of regard for popular culture, and the extent of which we are agitated by political riff raff.
The Vagina Monologues
Now we can have a quick thought about the aforementioned 'Vagina Monologues' which was written on the basis of testimonials from 200 women (and Kinsey was criticized for misrepresenting the population...?) regarding sex, gender and genitals.
I saw this play a few years ago, and I felt a little ruffled afterward. I felt like I had been completely ambushed by complaints about wrongdoings against women; I felt like the problems were all completely out of my hands, and I felt that it had been suggested that men (me!) were responsible. I don't think that was the purpose of that play though. The play itself is such a huge cultural phenomenon that I cannot believe it would actually have been created to slap the male species in the face. Perhaps it was written to clarify that it's ok for women to talk openly about their sexuality, and that's great because I'm sure there were (and surely still are) many females who needed to hear that.
Prior to the play, I was aware that it was quite alright for anyone to talk about their sexuality in whatever manner they wished, be it privately with whomever they choose or from a soapbox on a busy street corner - it comes down to individual choice. This made me look at the play differently and still I feel that I do not understand. Sometimes, when dealing with such hot-button topics, especially something so incredibly broad as gender (in)equality, its ok to not understand. Thank goodness!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A Critical Issue
Hot on the tail of Habermas' Paradigms are the principles of critical thinking; 8 of them to be exact. When broken down into 8 distinct considerations the task is clear enough: I am to dig a little deeper than (the information) which has been brought to my attention.
Let's cruise through the 8 principles of critical thinking (as described by the textbook) with the aid of "15 Fun Facts About Women" ( http://www.tastyhuman.com/15-fun-facts-about-women/ ).
Fact: Women can have partners that are years younger without being called dirty old perverts.
Principle: Be skeptical; accept no opinion as fact.
This is already like shooting fish in a barrel, because there is simply no way that anyone can make a claim as broad as this one with any certainty that it is true.
Fact: According to Playboy, more women talk dirty during sex than men.
Principle: Examine definition of terms.
For what is it to 'talk dirty,' anyway? How can this be a fact when no context is given to the very topic we are discussing?
Fact: Sex is more physical for men and more emotional for women.
Principle: Examine the assumptions or premises of arguments.
Here we are not considering that there may exist an emotional element of sex which appeals to men and likewise a physical element which exists for women. Someone was not thinking critically when they wrote this fluffy article!
Fact: The two highest IQ’s ever recorded (on a standard test) both belong to women
Principle: Be cautious in drawing conclusions from evidence.
In our age of information we could easily check to see if this is true. When we look at the list of which this fact is a part of, we can see that it would be wisest to do so. To have evidence is not enough anymore; we need to look at where the evidence is coming from.
Fact: The first naked man women see is ‘Ken’
Principle: Consider alternative interpretations of research evidence.
This reads like a made up fact. I must doubt that this is based on the polling of 1287 women on cosmopolitan.com. In fact, if we re-visit our principle regarding definition of terms we will realize that 'Ken' is not even a man. He is a plastic figure. With no penis. Does that really stand up in the world of 'seeing a naked man?'
Fact: A Saudi Arabian woman can get a divorce if her husband doesn’t give her coffee
Principle: Consider the kinds of evidence upon which conclusions are based
Oddly enough, this fact seems to check out. We now see that critical thinking is not used exclusively to falsify claims (not that I ever suggested such was the case) but that by looking more thoroughly at a (fact) by principles of critical thinking we can clarify truth.
Fact: When a woman answers, “I’m fine, ” after a few seconds, she is not fine.
Principle: Do not oversimplify.
This is a swimming example of oversimplification. Surely there have been instances in which a woman spoke of being fine when she indeed was (fine)!? In any case such as this one I would suggest reading more deeply into the tone in which the words "I'm fine" was spoken. To regard the above fact as true in every instance is an error of miscommunication waiting to happen.
Fact: It’s cool to be a daddy’s girl. It’s sad to be a mommy’s boy.
Principle: Do not overgeneralize.
But aren't there daddy's girls who cannot look after themselves by virtue of having been overprotected by their fathers? That's not cool! And aren't there mommy's boys who are quite successful by the standards of both themselves and others? Overgeneralizing is synonymous with stereotyping, an act most detrimental to one who is learning to develop and employ his or her own critical thinking skills.
And so we see any point can be more closely examined by using our newly learned principles of critical thinking. These principles give us very pointed guidance when looking at issues of human sexuality. The underlying idea here is to be willing to listen to many different viewpoints and to think carefully about (anything under discussion) . These principles provide a framework for how we can do that, and if we know that we are confidently using these methods of critical thinking while examining issues, we will know that we have explored material in this course in a thoughtful, mature and thorough manner.
Let's cruise through the 8 principles of critical thinking (as described by the textbook) with the aid of "15 Fun Facts About Women" ( http://www.tastyhuman.com/15-fun-facts-about-women/ ).
Fact: Women can have partners that are years younger without being called dirty old perverts.
Principle: Be skeptical; accept no opinion as fact.
This is already like shooting fish in a barrel, because there is simply no way that anyone can make a claim as broad as this one with any certainty that it is true.
Fact: According to Playboy, more women talk dirty during sex than men.
Principle: Examine definition of terms.
For what is it to 'talk dirty,' anyway? How can this be a fact when no context is given to the very topic we are discussing?
Fact: Sex is more physical for men and more emotional for women.
Principle: Examine the assumptions or premises of arguments.
Here we are not considering that there may exist an emotional element of sex which appeals to men and likewise a physical element which exists for women. Someone was not thinking critically when they wrote this fluffy article!
Fact: The two highest IQ’s ever recorded (on a standard test) both belong to women
Principle: Be cautious in drawing conclusions from evidence.
In our age of information we could easily check to see if this is true. When we look at the list of which this fact is a part of, we can see that it would be wisest to do so. To have evidence is not enough anymore; we need to look at where the evidence is coming from.
Fact: The first naked man women see is ‘Ken’
Principle: Consider alternative interpretations of research evidence.
This reads like a made up fact. I must doubt that this is based on the polling of 1287 women on cosmopolitan.com. In fact, if we re-visit our principle regarding definition of terms we will realize that 'Ken' is not even a man. He is a plastic figure. With no penis. Does that really stand up in the world of 'seeing a naked man?'
Fact: A Saudi Arabian woman can get a divorce if her husband doesn’t give her coffee
Principle: Consider the kinds of evidence upon which conclusions are based
Oddly enough, this fact seems to check out. We now see that critical thinking is not used exclusively to falsify claims (not that I ever suggested such was the case) but that by looking more thoroughly at a (fact) by principles of critical thinking we can clarify truth.
Fact: When a woman answers, “I’m fine, ” after a few seconds, she is not fine.
Principle: Do not oversimplify.
This is a swimming example of oversimplification. Surely there have been instances in which a woman spoke of being fine when she indeed was (fine)!? In any case such as this one I would suggest reading more deeply into the tone in which the words "I'm fine" was spoken. To regard the above fact as true in every instance is an error of miscommunication waiting to happen.
Fact: It’s cool to be a daddy’s girl. It’s sad to be a mommy’s boy.
Principle: Do not overgeneralize.
But aren't there daddy's girls who cannot look after themselves by virtue of having been overprotected by their fathers? That's not cool! And aren't there mommy's boys who are quite successful by the standards of both themselves and others? Overgeneralizing is synonymous with stereotyping, an act most detrimental to one who is learning to develop and employ his or her own critical thinking skills.
And so we see any point can be more closely examined by using our newly learned principles of critical thinking. These principles give us very pointed guidance when looking at issues of human sexuality. The underlying idea here is to be willing to listen to many different viewpoints and to think carefully about (anything under discussion) . These principles provide a framework for how we can do that, and if we know that we are confidently using these methods of critical thinking while examining issues, we will know that we have explored material in this course in a thoughtful, mature and thorough manner.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Exploring Habermas' Paradigms
So much more than $0.20, har dee har har!
The learning takes an intensive swing on Monday, 13 September as we delve into some different perspectives through which we may explore human sexuality: Habermas' Paradigms. This begs the question: what is a paradigm? I will treat a paradigm as an encompassment of factors influencing a viewpoint on the given subject in question. That is to say: there are different ways of considering any given issue; a paradigm, as I understand it, categorizes these sentiments. Please do not worry if you are confused, for I may be as well. Time will tell...
Habermas' Paradigms consist of 3 (paradigms): Empirical-Analytic, Critical Theoretic and Situational Interpretive.
Since we talked about them in such detail in class, I think I'll focus on what direction we're going in now that we have them. These 3 distinctive approaches can be considered when discussing matters of human sexuality not in recognition that there is or is not a correct paradigm to be used, but rather as an acknowledgement that there are other factors and standpoints to be considered. This is best cemented with an example; let's talk about pornography!
Pornography a la Empirical - Analytic
Whilst exploring a topic such as pornography, the empirical-analytic approach will likely dive into numbers and statistics. How many people out of 50 have watched some porn? When was the last time? How old were you the first time? How many people are employed in the United States as a result of the pornography industry? How does pornography contribute to the economy? If the issue at hand were "is pornography right or wrong?" the empirical-analytic approach might quickly justify that indeed it is as we turn out some numbers that might shock a fair lot of us.
Pornography a la Critical Theoretic
This paradigm more thoroughly explores political and societal factors surrounding pornography, such as the objectification of women (and men as well), socio-economic conditions of those sharing any involvement in the industry, and generally how pornography affects and influences a given society.
Pornography a la Situational - Interpretive
This one is my favorite paradigm because it focuses on individual experience. A fellow could be knee deep in his pornography collection and be responsible himself for skewing the numbers in the empirical paradigm and objectifying women in the critical theoretic, but here, in the situational, he is afforded the opportunity to tell us why. Sometimes instead of presenting numbers or macro-social ramifications, a phenomenon is best understood when told from the viewpoint of someone who has actually lived it. We're talking case-study here.
Something we are taught in our earliest human sexuality classes in school is to wrap it up.
Heh heh.
The learning takes an intensive swing on Monday, 13 September as we delve into some different perspectives through which we may explore human sexuality: Habermas' Paradigms. This begs the question: what is a paradigm? I will treat a paradigm as an encompassment of factors influencing a viewpoint on the given subject in question. That is to say: there are different ways of considering any given issue; a paradigm, as I understand it, categorizes these sentiments. Please do not worry if you are confused, for I may be as well. Time will tell...
Habermas' Paradigms consist of 3 (paradigms): Empirical-Analytic, Critical Theoretic and Situational Interpretive.
Since we talked about them in such detail in class, I think I'll focus on what direction we're going in now that we have them. These 3 distinctive approaches can be considered when discussing matters of human sexuality not in recognition that there is or is not a correct paradigm to be used, but rather as an acknowledgement that there are other factors and standpoints to be considered. This is best cemented with an example; let's talk about pornography!
Pornography a la Empirical - Analytic
Whilst exploring a topic such as pornography, the empirical-analytic approach will likely dive into numbers and statistics. How many people out of 50 have watched some porn? When was the last time? How old were you the first time? How many people are employed in the United States as a result of the pornography industry? How does pornography contribute to the economy? If the issue at hand were "is pornography right or wrong?" the empirical-analytic approach might quickly justify that indeed it is as we turn out some numbers that might shock a fair lot of us.
Pornography a la Critical Theoretic
This paradigm more thoroughly explores political and societal factors surrounding pornography, such as the objectification of women (and men as well), socio-economic conditions of those sharing any involvement in the industry, and generally how pornography affects and influences a given society.
Pornography a la Situational - Interpretive
This one is my favorite paradigm because it focuses on individual experience. A fellow could be knee deep in his pornography collection and be responsible himself for skewing the numbers in the empirical paradigm and objectifying women in the critical theoretic, but here, in the situational, he is afforded the opportunity to tell us why. Sometimes instead of presenting numbers or macro-social ramifications, a phenomenon is best understood when told from the viewpoint of someone who has actually lived it. We're talking case-study here.
Something we are taught in our earliest human sexuality classes in school is to wrap it up.
Heh heh.
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