Presentations Day Two

This week, the second half of the class presented the topics of their final papers.

Rachel’s topic is the portrayal of schizophrenia in the media.  One study she read surveyed the main characters or secondary characters with mental illness in films throughout the past five decades. All of the characters acted in accordance with the norms of the time.  As the films were made closer to present day, the depictions of mental illness more accurately reflected the symptoms of the diseases.  Rachel noted that movies are able to influence the stigma of mental illness through accurate education.  Another study, entitled “Visualizing Madness,” argued that television has a social responsibility to accurately portray the mentally ill, and that depictions of people with schizophrenia as dangerous is a failure to accept this responsibility.  Rachel connected this to a movie she watched called, “Clean Shaven,” in which a man with mental illness murdered several young girls with no explanation other than his disease.

Katie Ann is writing her paper about sexual identities on dating sites. She notes that many websites have different questionnaires, and connects the questions asked with the target audience of the site.  EHarmony and Compatible Partners, owned by the same company, ask mostly the same questions except for a few.  On EHarmony, there is no option for atheism or agnosticism in the religion question, and it is aimed toward heterosexual people, however these are options on Compatible Partners.  On EHarmony, potential daters are asked if they want marriage or children, but this is not asked on Compatible Partners, which is targeted to homosexuals.  On both sites, you are only able to pick one gender of partners, assuming strict homosexuality or heterosexuality, and ignoring bisexuality.

David is using the gay dating site, Manhunt.com, to illustrate how porn affects offline realities in homosexual relationships.  The website is a mainstream site for the gay community in that you must pay to join, however it is extremely influenced by porn, in profiles and in advertisement, which is extremely different from mainstream heterosexual dating sites.  He is using the Queering Race in Cyberspace essay to understand how we develop preference both offline, and on our online profiles.  He is also using William’s essay to show that fetishism in the gay community has become a commodity.  The rhetoric on the site is extremely pornographic, and the two most relevant facts about its users are age and cock size.

Kelsey is examining cyberbullying, and how technology has changed bullying for schoolchildren.  She has found that cyberbullying uses friendship status as a tool for social harm, regardless of race or gender.  The population most likely to use technology to bully each other are middle school aged children, and girls are more likely to be bullied.  Where gender does change bullying however, is the method used to cause each other harm.  Girls are more likely to spread rumors, while boys are more likely to post pictures or videos to harm classmates.  She also found that in school enforcement is the most useful tool to prevent bullying, because going home is no longer a separate place from the people, and tormenting that takes place at school.   Her project is critical, because understanding bullying may allow us to understand how to prevent it.  Bullying has an extremely detrimental impact on children, and can contribute to adolescent suicide.

Leah is examining the place and experiences of women in the military.  She feels that the portrayal of women who serve in the armed forces in the media is extremely different from the experiences of women who actually serve.  There have been many advances in gender equality.  However, I felt the most interesting part of her project is examining the way in which military recruiters target women.  She has found that they emphasize that masculinity is not a necessary quality for servicemen and women, and explain to prospective recruits that there are more feminine roles for women to serve in.  The media portrayal of the “real men” in the Army, and traditional male hero characters need not apply to female service members.  This is particularly interesting to me in light of the discussion of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, although I understand why this is not the focus of Leah’s paper.  If there is a place for women in the military, and we are not to be repressed into this hero archetype but exploited for our valuable characteristics, is there not such a place for homosexuals in the military?

 Kenlyne is doing her research on the effects of cybercheating on offline romantic relationships.  She argues that the internet has provided a new playing field for cheaters, which destroys relationships.  Technology is inherently self centered, and can compromise our ability to consider the effect that our actions online can affect those we care about.  She mentions that physical distance from the other individual, the other woman or man, revokes the cheated’s ability to confront that person and gain closure.  This forces that person to deal with the hurt internally, further compounding the damage done by a loved one.  However, I don’t know if I agree that aggression should be focused on “the other woman,” but rather should focused on the person who cheated.  Not only does it allow the person who betrayed trust to abdicate responsibility, I don’t think it provides solace for a hurt person.  However, if you are in a long distance relationship with a cheater, this argument is stronger for me, because it would be impossible to confront your partner for their wrongdoing.

Finally, Dani is examining the role of video blogging, or vlogging, as a tool for self reflection.  She uses the idea of the looking glass self to understand the way in which technology facilitates self revelation.  She wonders whether using online reflection ruins offline relationships, because it prioritizes global interaction over intimate relationships.  She believes Youtube and the like does not ruin community, but rather broadens the definition of community.  However, it is not clear whether vlogging allows true self reflection, as most users will change their output based on responses for viewers.  Is it possible to create truly self-reflective material if you get feedback on it?

Blog Holiday

See you next week!!

Annotated Bibliography

Harkless, Gene Elizabeth. "Do I really need to have that test? Understanding risk and making medical decisions in the age of TMI." 2010.  University Dialogues, The University of New Hampshire.  Durham, NH. Pg. 17-19.

This essay deals with the motivation of clinicians responsible for patient care, and the counterintuitive way in which women are dealt with in the United States healthcare industry.  First Harkless asks, why do clinicians make the decisions that they do? Are they motivated by evidence, market pressure, ritual or ignorance? In her essay, she makes it clear that she believes they are not motivated by the first option. 

Harkless uses the care of young females to further illustrate her point.  Doctors have pressured women to perform breast self-examination for decades for early detection of breast cancer, a practice that has very little supporting evidence.  Women see doctors four times as often as men for preventative reasons, half for Pap smears.  Beginning at age 21, it is recommended that young women get tested for signs of early cervical cancer every three years.  Between two and three million abnormal Paps are found each year, however only half of one percent of those result in a precancer diagnosis.  Most healthcare providers perform the tests much more frequently.  In addition, many doctors require that young women have a Pap smear before they will prescribe contraceptives, although pregnancy prevention and cervical cancer have almost nothing to do with each other.  I found Harkless' essay refreshing, because healthcare providers are protected by the assumption that they know better than their patients, while relevant information is routinely kept from patients.  Doctors do have the information from studies that have been conducted to improve patient care by administering effective tests abd doing away with unnecessary and wasteful screening, however many are ignoring this knowledge and enforcing the status quo of young women being treated as if they are not responsible enough to use accepted evidence to make their own medical choices.

To be continued...

Virtual Togetherness and Planned Parenthood

I recently visited the website of Planned Parenthood (www.plannedparenthood.org) to evaluate the community that may be found there.  Frankly, this is a website for the infosumer, rather than someone interested in developing a sense of camaraderie or togetherness.  The website is extremely informative about reproductive options, talking to kids about sex, finding a healthcare provider and politicians' stances on women's health issues.  I do not find this surprising, as it is an organization focused on providing accurate, complete information about women's health.  If there is a lot of input from users, such as would be the case in a more "instrumental relations" focused site, there could be a lot of conflicting information or misinformation.

However, for those seeking to learn about the personal experiences of others who have used Planned Parenthood, the website directs them to their Facebook page, where the atmosphere is more instrumental relations focused.  This week, the wall is inundated with information about pro-choice candidates and laments about the reality that many states had no pro-choice candidate to vote for this year.  However, further back in the comments there is information about Planned Parenthood, as well as opportunities to get involved with feminist rallies and organizations.  The Facebook page seems to be more focused on getting women to come out of the woodwork and get involved, whereas the website is more focused on providing accurate reproductive health information.

Although Planned Parenthood does portray itself as a safe space, this is much more focused on the type of information you will find there, as well as the atmosphere in one of their locations.  This is not a communitarian website, with no forums, comments or profiles.  However, for their purpose, I feel this is best.  It shows that they are an informative authority, not an opinionated organization with an agenda, which can be perceived negatively.  The Facebook page is more opinionated however, but it is not a social networking area (although one could develop a friendship with a fellow commenter, it does not seem to foster that type of interaction.)

This website does fall into the "mobile privatization" category in some ways.  One is able to gain access to information on their own, without leaving the house, speaking to a health professional or going to a clinic.  Planned Parenthood allows people of different social status to gain equal information and services, by providing a sliding payment scale according to income, and accepting Medicaid and many insurance providers, as well as private payment. There is no social exclusion on the website, and it is made clear that all are welcome at the open locations.

The website of Planned Parenthood does not foster virtual togetherness, however it does offer a wealth of valuable information for the infosumer interested in controller her reproductive destiny.

Research Proposal

I would like to write a research paper about the impact of reproductive technologies on women.  We have come a long way in terms of availability and information, but many women are still uninformed about their reproductive options.  I recently had an IUD inserted, and was met with almost uniformly negative responses from my friends, who either had never heard of it, thought it was only for women with children or thought that it was dangerous.  However, a quick Internet search gave me the complete patient information pack, as well as testimonials from hundreds of women who said otherwise.  My doctor was pleased that I asked for it, calling it her favorite form of birth control, so I was surprised she had never mentioned it to me before.  If our doctors are not informing us about all of our options, are we expected to find out on our own?  The availability of the Internet  certainly makes this possible for many women who may not be informed by their doctors.  Many women may be able to make informed decisions about their reproductive health, where our doctors were making the decisions before through withholding relevant information.  I am also interested in assessing the misinformation available about reproductive technologies on the Internet, as I certainly encountered some absurd claims while researching.  I was thinking of including abortion in my research about reproductive technology, but that might be a research paper in its own.  Nonetheless, birth control and abortion have changed the lives of many women, including mine, so I would love to explore availability and impact on American women.

Blog Review

Reviewing the blog this far in the semester, I'm kind of surprised by the theme of my writing.  Most of my responses to the readings for class and topics given are pretty skeptical.  I would not say that I necessarily don't agree with most of the readings, but I also have a hard time just agreeing flat out with the authors.  I suppose that is the basis of scholarship, but it was still surprising to me! I don't think of myself as a contrarian! However, I guess I am a skeptic.

It Gets Better

Joelle Ryan's blog, Transmeditations, features a post responding to Dan Savage's project called "It Gets Better." The basis of the project is to make short videos targeting LGBT teens who are considering suicide, essentially telling them to tough out high school because the rest of their life will be worth it.  Dr Ryan's response is that this is a false message of hope to be sending to teens, and that instead we should be honest with them about the hardships their lives may entail.  From her perspective, her life has not improved since high school, as she faces transphobia, fatphobia and classism daily.

To be honest, I think much of her contempt with the project comes from contempt of Dan Savage.  His advice column certainly has offensive portions to it, including one gem in which he wrote that it would be acceptable for one partner to leave the other if he or she gained weight.  His husband must be counting the calories, lest he be kicked to the curb over his slowing metabolism.  However, I disagree with her assessment of this particular project, the "It Gets Better" campaign.  How could it possibly be wrong to discourage teen suicide?  That is the heart of the project.  It was started as a response to the recent rash of suicides by gay teens, who as a group are much more likely to commit suicide than straight teens are.  The instructions for making a video, are for LGBT adults to share with teenagers their story of how their lives improved after high school.  No, not everyone's life will actually improve.  But I would argue that a majority of people's will.  Even if only one person who watched the videos and decided against ending his or her life were happy to be alive in 5, 10 or 20 years, I think it would be worth it.  High school is an awful experience for most teenagers, regardless of sexual orientation, and a personal hell for many teens who do not fit the straight, white, cisgender affluent mold.  However, who of us doesn't have a friend in the LGBT community who was not tormented in high school? I do.  What if she had decided to kill herself, and never had the chance to meet the woman she loves, mend her relationship with her mother, and generally find happiness?  How would it have been a good idea to have told her at 15, in her lowest low, that it might be like this forever.  She may never fit in, people might always reject her, her life may be a miserable experience.  What exactly does that accomplish: being well informed? I personally do not know anyone whose life turned out the way they thought it would in high school, so I'm not sure why anyone would think that a teenager is well informed about the future to know whether or not their life is worth living.  Furthermore, the people who have made videos, including people who are trans, have acknowledged that their lives are still not easy.  Its not perfect, but life is not perfect.  Especially if you are different.  I do not think the project is trying to tell kids that life will be sunshine and acceptance and love from everyone you see walking down the street as soon as you get that high school diploma.  None of us have a crystal ball, or are able to tell any LGBT teen what their life will look like.  But I do believe that its worth finding out for yourself.

Blog Response 5: Aladdin

Many films rely on stereotypes to build their characters, and I think that most of us can recognize racial stereotyping when we see it in a movie.  The non-white characters die first in a horror movie, the villain is a black male while the victim is a white female, etcetera.  However, in my opinion the most appalling cases are racist movies that pander to children.  Parents expect a Disney movie to send a pretty good message to their children, about being true to oneself, loyalty and honesty, along with finding true love.

Not the case at all.  Disney movies have heavily racist undertones, relying on stereotypes to create a characature, which is the preferred method of character development in these cartoons.  There was such a big fuss about The Princess and the Frog, the first movie to feature a black princess in their almost century long history.  The worst offender, in my opinion, is Aladdin though.  This movie features villains with Middle Eastern characteristics, while the princess and her father look very European.  While the evil characters have the strong features associated with Arab descent, Jasmine has been treated to the "exotic" look.  The introductory songs lyrics describe torture as part of the culture.

This particular movie strikes a chord because of the pervasiveness of anti-Arab sentiment in the United States.  Portraying the entire society as a bunch of blood thirsty, power hungry savages is extremely dangerous territory, and certainly not something I would want my children to grow up believing.

Blog 4: Free for all

I wasn't sure what to write about this week, but from reading everyone else's, it just seems like everyone is writing about what they hate about the internet.  I'm not sure why the internet inspires such polarized reactions from people, unlike other mediums of creative expression.  Yes, there are people who use the internet for less than noble causes.  However, there are many books written by authors whose opinions I do not agree with, yet I do not dismiss literature as dangerous, hurtful, sexist, racist etc.  I think what people are missing is that people who create online material, just the same as people who create published writing or art, have opinions that you may not respect or agree with.  The internet as a medium is not to blame.

I also think there is some sort of mass hysteria going on about privacy on the internet.  Like if you have a Facebook page or a blog you are inviting sexual predators into your life.  I definitely do not mean that there is no possibility of a person with bad intentions finding you online and causing you harm, but there is so so much you can do to prevent that.  You can make yourself unsearchable of Facebook, so no one you aren't friends with even knows you exist or have a page.  You can have an anonymous blog, and be careful not to include details that would give away what you might feel would be too much information.  In fact, if you are so concerned about it, throw away your router and don't use the internet.  Or just use it for research, never publish anything.  You can even encrypt your IP address.  There are an infinite number of ways you can protect yourself online.

It seems like people are extremely afraid of what is going on behind the computer screen, since they cannot see the millions of other users sitting behind their own computers.  However, if you want to be a part of this technological world, where your livelihood may revolve around the internet, you are able to take responsibility for your own safety online.

Response 3: On Porn in the Library

So, on Tuesday we all went to University Day and asked strangers whether or not the Dimond Library should have a porn policy.  To my surprise, none of the people we asked were aware that a registered sex offender was caught viewing child pornography in the library over the summer.  Most people were surprised to hear about it, and disgusted.  After hearing the news, four out of five people said that there should be a porn policy in the library.  The main reason seemed like it would be to ensure child porn was not being viewed, because most people did not seem too worried about someone watching legal porn in the library, although it would make them uncomfortable.  Only one person surveyed said she would report it.  One person, admittedly playing devil's advocate, asked what if someone was doing research on pornography.  She had done a research paper on prostitution and wondered if a policy against explicit materials would have negatively impacted her research.  However, it seemed that of the people we surveyed, they would all be receptive to a discussion about implementing a policy against pornography in the library.

My opinion on this was similar to those of the students I spoke with.  I am pretty neutral about pornography (obviously excepting child porn- illegal activities should not be sanctioned in the public library!) but I believe there is a time, and particularly-A PLACE for such activities.  That place is not a library that is open to the public, and should be an environment in which everyone can read, research and learn comfortably.  Just like you wouldn't have sex in the library, you shouldn't watch sex in the library.  Nobody wants to see that!  From what I learned through the survey, I would predict a positive reaction to the discussion of a porn policy in the school's library.

Blog Response Two

Eve Shapiro's comment about women's bodies and medical technologies was really interesting.  She says on page 50 that women's bodies are seen as unnatural, a deviation from the normal male baseline in the medical community.  As supporting evidence she names the non-existence of a birth control pill for men.

In one respect, I totally agree with her.  I find it extremely disturbing that birth control pills are handed out to everyone, usually without a full discussion of the risks involved in flooding your body with synthetic sex hormones.  A large part of the reason why the risks are not discussed is because no one fully understands the risks, including the doctors prescribing them.  Birth control was approved by the FDA in 1957.  It was not used widely until the 1970's.  Women who began taking the pill in 1970 are only now reaching old age, when many medical problems set in.  Personally, I do not believe there has been enough testing to confirm that ingesting sex hormones daily will have no negative effects on women in the long term.  The fact that women are given these hormones without full understanding of the possible effects does lead me to believe that Shapiro is right, that women's bodies are considered valid sites for medical experimentation.

However, there is another part of me that wonders whether or not it matters if women's bodies are perceived in this way if the result is improved lives for millions of women everywhere.  Would it be better if they had not approved the Pill? Absolutely not, according to the 12 million American women who take it.  Without effective pregnancy prevention options, many women would find themselves trapped in unwanted pregnancies and possibly dangerous relationships.  A similar situation, although more immediately life threatening, is the advent of HIV/AIDS medication.  This medication, though surely untested over an adequate time period (in my opinion) had saved and improved the lives of many people.  On a personal note, my sister works in a clinic for women and children at risk for the disease in New Orleans, and met a man who was given a week to live in the eighties, the same week that a new AIDS drug was approved.  His doctors gave it to him, just for the heck of it, and he has an undetectable viral load over 20 years later.  Would he rather they have fully tested this drug, until the people in the studies reached old age? I bet not.

Eve Shapiro's argument is very compelling, but also must be taken with a grain of salt.  I really believe these issues must be evaluated on a case by case basis, by an ethics panel with the best interests of all people, regardless of gender in mind.  In a perfect world...

Blog Response One

Emory University English professor and author Mark Bauerlein contends that ours is the “dumbest generation” in his new book.  He blames our seeming decline in intelligence as well as interest on the ubiquitous technology of this digital age.  It might be possible that many of us have not read Moby Dick, since his evidence of our increasing stupidity is that we don’t read enough, however our generation is savvy in ways that are applicable to the changing world, and already possess useful and necessary job skills. 

 My cousin, a recent graduate with a finance degree, has been having trouble finding work in his field.  He had an internship while in school, and the company recently offered him a position teaching others in the company how to use new kinds of software- software that he had never used before.  He does not have a degree in computer science, just an interest in new technology and is a bit nerdy.  He and many others in our generation do not need to be taught to use new programs, we can pick it up easily.  Computers and other forms of technology come to us as a second nature, we know how to navigate the digital world.  This is a function of being a “digital native,” as Bauerlein would say, but in my opinion, this is an important skill that we have and “digital immigrants” do not.

Increasingly, life takes place on the internet, on the computer, cell phone or other form of technology.  Whether this is good or bad almost doesn’t matter, its just a fact.  However, the fact that our generation is well equipped to engage in the job force because we picked up skills editing our photos for Facebook, or learning the shortcuts in Excel may be more beneficial to us, and the greater community, than whether or not we have read all of the novels on the Classics syllabus.  Bauerlein may be correct that we are getting worse at some things, but are we better at the more relevant things?

Meet Me

Welcome to my blog! I'm Rebecca, I am a marine biology major in my super senior year!! Even though I don't study sociology or psychology or whatever, women's issues are a personal interest of mine.

I'm a transfer student to UNH, I spent my first two years of school at Wake Forest in North Carolina.  After that, I moved to Madagascar for a few months before coming to New Hampshire.  I get antsy if I'm in one place too long, so I am ready to move on ASAP if I could graduate already!