Gender and The Military

Personally, I do not know anyone that has been part of the military. However, I do see mutual friends posting on social media about military soldiers and their duties. Also, two of my female friends who are 22 and 23 years old are already married to a male in the armed forces. Soldiers tend to marry young because there are significant financial benefits and social supports that come from marriage. These military wives have very difficult times when their husbands are overseas in combat. Military wives need substantial amounts of emotional support and a strong support system in order to stay calm and get through the times being without their significant other. On the other hand, I do not know any military husbands. I would assume that these men would need a strong support system as well, but I do believe that women struggle emotionally a little bit more than men do. Because of the female biological make up of hormones, we are more emotional and sensitive than men. 

Women have been involved in the US military since 1775, but more in the civilian roles of nursing, cooking, and sewing uniforms. However, it was not until 1948 that women were made a permanent part of the military. To this day, women have not yet been allowed to join the US Army's Special Operations community. This may be due to the "real physical differences between men and women, in terms of upper-body strength and the like" according to the article Sexuality, Gender, and The US Military. I believe that men and women soldiers should be allowed to fight in combat in whatever area that they please as long as they both pass the same physical training and mental health tests. These soldiers wear the same uniform, eat the same food, experience the same physical tasks no matter what their sex is. Therefore, I believe that men and women are treated equally in the military. They are stripped of their personal characteristics and preferences and resocialized into members of a cohesive unit.

The media and pop culture present male and female soldiers in opposing ways. The media always tends to portray females as sexual objects and males as tough, serious, and muscular men. The military ads are no different. Male soldiers are serious and saluting the country in ads while female soldiers are posing in a sexual way with make up and hair done. This is definitely not how the females are in service, but that is how the advertising community displays them. Moreover, the military ads show way more males than females because the social stereotype does not agree with having females acting in serious and combative ways.

Fighting Fire With Fabulous

The article, Fighting Fire With Fabulous, describes how Dave and Scott Dambacher are going to take on the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). This church is led by Fred Phelps who leads the members of his church in protests against homosexual people, Jewish institutions, Catholicism, and other religions and beliefs. This church even promotes picketing at funerals of gay victims of murder or people who have died from AIDS. This church is headquartered in Topeka, Kansas, and the Dambacher brothers are headed to this town. The brothers are going to film a new rock musical show in Topeka to counter the WBC influence on people. This show is going to act as a revolution through art in order to change people's viewpoints. The brothers hope the WBC protest the show or maybe even change their mind on some of their hateful views. The show will include characters that are targeted by the WBC and be known as "The Freaka in Topeka" which has the tagline "fight fire with fabulous." The brothers also hope that the community gets involved with the show by giving their own personal input on online threads to act as a collective medium.

I believe this idea is a great way for people in the Topeka community to share their ideas and beliefs on the WBC. However, I do not believe this show will change the WBC's viewpoints on things. The members of this church come primarily from the extended family of Phelps, and they are brainwashed into these beliefs. It is disgusting that these people are allowed to run a church based off of hatred towards innocent people. Their actions against the gay community are cruel and utterly ridiculous. I believe these WBC members need to be punished for the pain that they have caused to many innocent people. Moreover, I appreciate that the Dambacher brothers are taking the first big step to counter the WBC by getting the entire community involved. The alliteration used in the tagline of the show is also very clever and powerful. I would be interested in watching an episode of this rock musical show to see how the WBC responds. I am positive that they will have many picketers at the filming of this show.

Pornography and Pop Culture: Backlash and a Feminism that is Contrary to Feminism

Pornography and Pop Culture: Backlash and a Feminism that is Contrary to Feminism by Rebecca Whisnant describes different models, tenets of radical feminism, and suggestions. During the mid to late 1970s an idea emerged that pornography conveyed the ideology of male dominance. This time period was part of Whisnant's second wave model. Whisnant's wave model is divided into three parts. The first wave is during the late 19th century when women were fighting for rights in marriage and the right to vote. The second wave describes the feminists of the late 1960s and 1970s. The third wave is feminism from the 1990s and later. Throughout the three waves, the differences between liberal and radical feminism remained the same, but the generational differences were contrasting.

Whisnant also explained three central tenets of radical feminism. The first idea was that women share common conditions, and they must undertake actions not only to benefit themselves but that benefit women's position as a class. The second idea was that personal is the political. In other words, many women believe their experiences are unique however, these experiences are very common among many women. The third idea was that sex is an arena of politics-- a place where power hierarchies are enacted and reinforced. Radical feminism supports the idea that power hierarchies need to be challenged and transformed.

A "third wave" view on pornography is that women should make their own form of feminist pornography. However, this pornography does not differ in many ways from modern day porn. One difference is that the women involved may have tattoos and piercings. This "feminist porn" can have men calling a girl a slut and spitting on her as long as everyone is in control of their actions. Whisnant suggests people to "remove themselves from the pornification around and its cynical and hateful messages, in order to start thinking our own thoughts and drawing our own experiences of love and sex..." She also suggests for people to discover what sexual freedom is and to not be brainwashed by the pornification market that objectifies others' sexuality. I am very surprised by this idea of "third wave feminist pornography." It is very disgusting and alarming that women can still be spit on and called a slut and still be in control. The pornography marketplace is one that is larger than one can even imagine, and I believe it will be very difficult for some individuals to remove themselves from it.  Pornography is used daily by many people and the idea of discovering sexual freedom may be close to impossible to reach.

Intelligence vs. Icon

            After reading the article, “Not Just a Dumb Blonde” by Neil Norman, one will understand that Marilyn Monroe was actually a smart individual and not a dumb blonde. Most of the American society thinks of Monroe as a blonde bombshell sex figure. However, this woman has an intelligent brain although she did not receive a college degree. She was constantly trying to improve her intelligence by associating with intelligent people, reading books such as Ulysses, and writing poems. Moreover, she has an IQ of 163, a production company, and a successful business career.  It is a shame that her followers confused her dumb blonde characters onto her actual self. Many people overlook women who are gorgeous and also intelligent. This goes to show how our society would rather admire a woman’s appearance rather than her internal beauty and brains. 

Another woman that comes to mind when thinking of a celebrity that plays dumb but is actually extremely intelligent is Lisa Kudrow. Kudrow is an American actress, comedian, and producer who plays Phoebe on the television show Friends. Although her characters tend to portray a dumb blonde, she is actually a very intelligent woman. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Vassar College because she initially wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps to become a headache specialist and physician. She researched and studied headaches for eight years while earning a research credit on the study. One analyst from the article, "Lisa Kudrow: One smart Kookie," comments on Kudrow saying, “She was the ditzy friend, but the real-life Lisa Kudrow is a powerhouse.” After the research, she started her acting career. I believe Monroe and Kudrow may have hid their intellect in order to consume the role of their characters.  By fully engulfing into their acting careers, they do not let their audiences see their true personalities and qualities. I believe people should not jump to conclusions on individuals who play roles as dumb blondes or other unintelligent figures. Many actors and actresses have pursued college and started their own businesses or nonprofit organizations. I believe women should be vocal about their accomplishments and successes in order to give the media something positive to focus on. 

http://www.zimbio.com/10+Secretly+Smart+Celebrities/articles/ZZzQx_HZebp/Lisa+Kudrow

http://www.more.com/lisa-kudrow-one-smart-kookie