Blog #2

As a woman in today's society it is very interesting to me to see what women in our past have done to gain us the rights we now have. The different waves of rights also caught my attention. It is crazy for me to think that at one point in time women could not even speak up for what they believed in. It is because of the waves of women's rights that have happened in our past that bring women to what they are today. I could not even imagine a time where women could not speak publically and be able to get their point across. In today’s society most women speak publically for their profession and there are many women who are also in the public eye.

After the past few lectures and all of the readings there is one book that always seems to pop into my mind, which is The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynn, the main character in the book is exiled from society and has to walk around with a scarlet "A" pinned to her chest. I feel it is always the woman who gets criticized for making a mistake with a man rather than a man making a mistake with a woman. A Woman is usually the one to lose their friends while men are cheered on by theirs and their mistake is easily put in the past. This story follows closely to the stereotypes that are given to men and women in our society. In this scenario women can be seen as the oppressed citizen in society.

One reading from this week that truly caught my attention was “Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan. This reading talked about what it was like for women to be considered feminine in society. Women who were feminine were housewives and did not aspire to have a career. It amazes me that women did not live for themselves back then, they lived to get married at a very young age and were taught how to be the perfect housewife. Women then could not do anything for themselves. When I was younger my mom was a stay at home mom and was always there to be the typical “house mom” but now in the bad economy I am grateful that she was able to get a great education and be able to go back to work to help provide more for my family than she was already providing. Why is it that there is this stereotype that women are meant for the house and not to be out in the work force? Women are completely capable of doing the same jobs as men and men should also be able to take care of their families and help with the house hold chores. Another aspect of the article that I found interesting was that women refused to do things that were unfeminine to them. If women then were worrying about what made them appear unfeminine then the actions taken by women today are to an entire new level.