I found Dr. Syrett’s talk very interesting. I really liked that his talk was on the history of women’s rights. I found it very very interesting that the women who were originally involved in the suffrage movement did not want anything to do with the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment). Sarah brings up a very good point about the idea that all women would vote the same. I guess I hadn’t thought about it either before, of course not all women would vote the same but in some ways I understand why back then the men would believe this. Women are one sex and since they all did the same things they would feel the same way. Of course this is not at all true, but it was something I had not really thought about.
I found it very interesting talking about what women really wanted and what they want today. The Mommy Wars really spiked my interest. It seems like today it seems like women have to choose whether to be a stay at home mother or have to work. Yes if she is lucky she does not have to work when she has children but most of the time that does not happen. For me I would rather be a mother then have a career but maybe I am old fashioned. I also found it interesting when Dr. Syretty said that for women the wedding day is the most memorable day and men don’t agree. I find that to be wrong. Most of the married men I know so their wedding day was their most memorable event. But many of them are older so maybe they see it differently. I will not lie; I cannot wait to get married. Getting my M.R.S. degree for me is just about as important as getting my BA. I know, it is an old way of thinking but it is true for me. Working is very important and I look forward to it, but I can’t wait until I get married and can start a family of my own.
Over all I thought Dr. Syrett gave a very good talk. I have kind of a pet peeve though about teachers’ blatantly telling students what political party they are part of. I guess that is just me…but when he made a comment about not understanding how people can be swayed to change their position I found it almost insulting. As a first time voter I have some believes that I will never be swayed on but others that I don’t know much about and can be swayed either way. I am sure as I become a more experienced voter this will change and maybe my opinion of telling college students how I vote will change but until then…I was under the understanding that a good teacher you have no idea what party they are part of. Again I guess this situation is a bit different, but STILL it just really bothered me that he was ‘so far left’ that he could never change his mind.
I guess for me I got more caught up in what he was saying politically then the message and lesson he was trying to teach us.
1 comment:
I think it's fine to bristle a bit when a speaker shares his or her political views, but I wonder, how was Dr. Syrett's disclosures different from Lynn Paltrow's? Also, I wonder if there's a difference between a professor who teaches the course you are in who states his or her politics too explicitly and a guest speaker who does so as a part of his Q&A or who presents them as ideas for you to think about and respond to?
That being said, I'm glad you're pushing back a bit on his talk. And the issue of the Mommy Wars is very interesting. I think what I found most interesting about that part of his presentation was not so much the intricasies of the internal debate between women, but how this debate (and its intense popularity in the media) ends up distracting us in some ways from the larger questions of equality and women's rights. Even though it can be hard to identify issues and stands on these issues that appeal to all women, it seems important to still try.
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