Alexa Campagna- Response to Presentations/Semester

All of the presentations, though succinct, were extremely informative and interesting. I was really intrigued by Gracie’s topic on the medicalization and capitalization of the birthing process and was completely unaware of the high mother and infant mortality rates in the United States.  Our society holds the false belief that alternative methods of birth, like home birth or water birth, pose a greater threat to the safety of the women and child and are less likely to be sought out by pregnant women. As Gracie pointed out, these alternative birthing options receive limited publicity and deprive women of safer birthing options. I also enjoyed Carly’s presentation on the depiction of women in sitcom television shows across different generations. I found it interesting the way in which progress was defined throughout the generations, almost as if the previous time periods were used as a point of reference. The depiction of Lucy in “I Love Lucy” as a traditional housewife dominated by her husband and lacking a true sense of independence bolstered the rigid gender-role stereotypes of the 1950s. Although Mary Tyler Moore, a single, independent woman, was seen as a progressive female sitcom character, she was still struggling to break through the glass ceiling of the workplace. Had Mary been a character in a sitcom that had been competing with shows like Roseanne, she probably would not have been viewed as having such a progressive female role on television. I also applaud Keith for choosing a topic that is so stigmatized, yet needs so desperately to be addressed, amongst professional athletes, the media, and people who hold the false belief that male homosexuality is completely disconnected from the notion of masculinity. If this topic is not discussed openly amongst the general public, the stigma of homosexual athletes will be perpetuated and these athletes will feel forced to conceal their true identities.

            As I reflect on the semester in this class, I am realizing how my perception of many aspects of society has been relatively distorted throughout my life. Our society’s gender-role stereotypes and ideals of masculinity and femininity are so deeply engrained within each of us since birth that, at times, it is difficult to remember that our “realities” are social constructions centered around different cultures’ values and beliefs. When most people enter a preschool class, they typically do not consciously take note of the different types of clothing worn, behaviors exhibited and managed, and treatment given by teachers to boys and girls in the classroom (Martin, 1998). Girls wear pink. Boys play rough. That’s it. These are givens in our society and very few people question them. I have, since beginning this course, become skeptical about anything that seems to uphold the traditional notions of what it means and is to be a girl/boy, woman/man. When I went to buy a birthday card for my female cousin’s 1st birthday it had taken me ten minutes to find a card that was not completely doused in sparkles, not completely covered in different shades of pink, or did not have a picture of a tiara-sporting Disney princess on the front. Buying one of these cards was not an option, as it typically would have been in the past. I also enjoyed learning how one’s race, class, and gender identifications can effect the extent to which one’s body, behavior, and style of dress is monitored by teachers in schools (Morris, 2005). Educators do not seem to take into account the diversity in values and beliefs amongst individuals of different sub-cultures that enrich our society and lead to these different behaviors and style of dress.