Syndromes and Handmaid's Tale

We've mentioned several psychological syndromes and experiments that are relevant to our study of Handmaid's Tale. In case any of you want to follow up, I thought I'd include some links here.

FBI website about understanding Stockholm Syndrome (where a captive or prisoner begins to empathize with the captor)

The Stanford Prison Experiment, which we discussed in class, a troubling reflection on the effect of being a prisoner or a guard on one's behavior.

The Kitty Genovese Syndrome, more commonly known as the "Bystander effect," named (well, the first name is named) after the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964. An article questioning it is worth a look as well.

Fair Pay Isn't Always Equal Pay... Right?

The Senate is considering on a bill that would make it easier for women to sue their employers for wage discrimination on the basis of sex. While the bill has received support from women’s organizations and President Obama, who referred to it as “a common-sense bill,” the author of this article (a woman) was not so sure that the bill was a good idea. Essentially, the author argued that though women currently earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn, this statistic ignores other factors determining salary. Historically speaking, men are likely to have had stronger educational experiences than their female counterparts if they were educated more than about 30 or 40 years ago. Similarly, they might have more experience and tenure simply because their field has been open to them longer than it has been open to women. Interestingly, “young, childless, single urban women earn up to 8% more than their male counterparts,” according to a recent survey. The gap, the author says, is shrinking to the point of disappearing.

Meanwhile, the bill would “hold employers liable for the ‘lingering effects of past discrimination’ – ‘pay disparities’ that have been ‘spread and perpetuated through commerce.’” Therefore, employers would not only have to ensure that it was not intentionally discriminating against women, but also to monitor potentially sexist suppositions behind the way the market drives wages, which may or may not be sexist. Employers, faced with millions of dollars of damages and bad publicity, would be likely to settle even if they were entirely innocent. The article concluded with the following two sentences:

“The Paycheck Fairness bill would set women against men, empower trial lawyers and activists, perpetuate falsehoods about the status of women in the workplace and create havoc in a precarious job market. It is 1970s-style gender-war feminism for a society that should be celebrating its success in substantially, if not yet completely, overcoming sex-based workplace discrimination.”

Now, I don’t buy that wage discrimination has disappeared. I think that by the time I’m in a position to hire other people, it may have been effectively eliminated because my generation has grown up in a climate where discrimination is seen as a great moral wrong (which, in many ways, it is). I am also aware that, at least in the U.S., most college campuses have more women than men, suggesting that the education factor may slide the other way. In 50 years, could we be looking at a market that discriminates against men?

Again, I doubt it, but debate on the subject of what, if any, wage discrimination is occurring is crucial. As a female, I would like to be paid on the basis of my credentials and my relative productivity, not on the basis of my sex. But the line is blurrier than it at first might seem. No one would argue that discrimination isn’t occurring when two individuals whose only difference is their sex are paid two different salaries. Of course, since no two individuals are identical, the situation is never this clear-cut.

The question I pose, then, is at what point do we do as the author of this article suggests and move on? At what point have we succeeded in “overcoming sex-based workplace discrimination,” and when do we stop legislating against it? What does it even mean to have succeeded in overcoming it?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/opinion/22Sommers.html

The Meaning of "Man Up"

Last month after being accused of pummeling his father in law Carlos Pena, major league baseball player Francisco Rodriguez of the New York Mets also known as K-Rod was arrested and charged with third degree assault charges. While he was placed on the restricted list for two games, he later rejoined the team after issuing a public apology. After continuing to play Rodriguez later reported pain in his thumb which happened to be the result of a torn ligament. Considering the reasons behind Rodriquez's injury and his previous record of explosive behavior the Mets decided to make his contract for the year 2012 non-guranteed while also not playing him for the remainder of the season while his thumb was in recovery.
So what does all this have to do with the phrase 'man up'? Some say the Mets lost K-Rod to a season ending surgery but others say they lost him to this phrase 'man up' which is said to be the sprak in the altercation between K-Rod and Carlos Pena. While 'man up" may have served as the spark to a fight this phrase has taken on many meanings throughout American culture today. The media is spreading the manly message to young male consumers. Things like the web site for 'The No Fear Energy Drink' smacks 'Man Up' right across the screen while other advertisements such as the commercial for Miller Lite features a voice over saying, 'Man up, beacuse if you're drinking a light beer without great pilsner taste, you're missing the point of drinking beer'. It is said that light beer ads such as Miller Lite often amp up the masculinity possibly to compensate for their watered down product.
While 'Man Up' may be used as a means of advertisements is also comes with that spectrum of meaning as I stated before. It could mean 'Don't be a sissy, toughen up' or 'Do the right thing, be a man'. While these may be considered negative ways of using the phrase they aren't all negative. The Man Up Campaign for example, is a new global initiative that engages youth to stop gender based violence. Their mission statement reads, "Our call to action challenges each of us to 'Man Up' and declare that violence against women and girls must end".
Brian Zimmer, the author of this article states that long ago 'man up' was simply an alternative to the verb 'man' meaning to supply with adequate manpower. He also talks of how the phrase rooted from sports to begin with. In football 'man up' simply meant man to man defense or in rodeo terms it just meant get tough. All in all 'man up' was the idea of resilience in the face of adversity. Have we taken the phrase 'man up' to far? Do you think this phrase has had more of a positive or negative impact on our society if any impact at all? Why?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=1&ref=francisco_rodriguez

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/francisco_rodriguez/index.html?scp=10&sq=masculinity&st=cse

Hasbro's Rose Petal Cottage

Gotta love teaching little girls to be housewives beginning at age 4.

Editorial note from JAG: I took the liberty of embedding the video instead of just including the link, as Lindsay originally did.

Target Women: Birth Control

As you slave away studying for your math tests, take a break at some point and watch this Sarah Haskins video from the "Target: Women" series, about birth control. I promise, it's funny.



If you like it, check out some of the rest of the Target: Women series here. I can't resist posting the Yogurt video here as well, which I also love.

Enjoy! Go back to studying now!

Girls Kissing Girls: Explaining the Trend

Jeffrey Kluger
September 15, 2010

http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/15/girls-kissing-girls-whats-up-with-that/

The article I chose from Time Magazine discusses the growing trend in sexual activity between girls. Jeffrey Kluger writes about how although girl-girl kissing has never been terribly uncommon, girls today are much more open about sexual experimentation with each other. This is not referring to an increase in homosexuality as much as it's pinpointing the increased need for sexual attention. A female student interviewed by a professor commented: "It's usually brought on by, I don't know, like shots or drinking or people kind of saying something to like cheer it on or whatever...And it's usually done in order to turn guys on or to seek male attention in some way." This student's reasoning seems to be the main instigator behind the experimentation, which is mainly to impress those of the opposite sex.

With this rationale, professor Verta Taylor (University of California) and her colleague, Leila J. Rupp, mention how this experimentation can further the imbalance in power between genders; because females are emphasizing their role as "the observed," they allow men to remain in the "socially dominant position." Girls tend to perform the action due to peer pressure and male request, often in the form of threesomes. Yet there are instances in which girls use this upward tend in same-sex physical activity as a method for revealing their sexual orientation: "For other girls -- those on their way to coming out as lesbians, or just discovering their orientation themselves -- girl-girl kissing... provides a safe and comfortable glide path in what can often by a rocky transition." Because girl-girl kissing is becoming more socially acceptable, homosexuality seems to be less of a taboo.

Many students and researchers are calling this "heteroflexibility" a social improvement; they belive toleration for homosexual activity makes it easier and more comforting for individuals to reveal their sexual orientation. But does this tolerance actually make it easier for those individuals? Because this experimentation is increasing, it can downplay the meaning because the intentions are askew. When many girls are participating in "girl-girl kissing" to attract attention from males, it can make it difficult for homosexuals to reveal their orientation when the other participant has a different objective. It can even portray homosexuality as a joke because many girls don't take the act seriously. Are we really facing an improvement in toleration for homosexual activity, or is society beginning to consider it an act of ridicule?

Sara Huser

Is Masculinity, Um, Dead?

The media seem fascinated this week by the question of whether Masculinity. Is. Dead. My beloved Neal Conan on NPR's Talk of the Nation held a discussion the other day about the recent Newsweek cover that proclaimed, "Man Up! The Traditional Male is an Endangered Species."

(Sorry this is so blurry - I captured it on my phone camera at an airport newsstand.)

Check out the transcript or listen to the interview aloud (hey, why not) here.

You may also wish to consider this critique from Mediaite.