Well better late than never!! I had a crazy week last week and never got the time to talk about the White House Project. I was not sure what to expect what Mrs. Winters talked to us. I had never heard of the White House Project before I had read about it a few days before class and was very interested about what she had to say. I was rather shocked when she was more interested into pushing women to get involved then she was being grateful for the women who already were, like herself.
I know for a fact that I never want to be in a political position at all. Even if someone comes up to me and tells me to, I really have no interest in it at all. I agree 100% about what Sarah Hyde wrote, when she said Faith spent a lot of time talking about why it is important to have women in politics, these claims were based on stereotypes and generalizations about how women think and operate. She said that women, unlike men, "work across lines of authority." Meaning that women don't care about receiving credit for their work, they just make sure the job gets done.” I think that the way Mrs. Winters talked, almost put women back a step again in my mind.
There is no way that men will be women and women will be men, so we have to come up with a way to make equal ground and get all the issues covered. I am almost embarrassed to use this as my analogy but it is a very true one, take Legally Blond. Witherspoon defies the odds, gets into law school and works on Capital Hill basically as a Barbie doll. I think that movie was the best example for young girls and women to be involved in politics. That movie proved that all types of girls can follow their dreams, and even though they have most of the world working against them they still can be unique and get to the top if they try hard enough.
I am sure when this movie came out feminists when ballistic because this Barbie stereo type is continuing and that Witherspoon is a beautiful, skinny, blond. Well sadly there is no way getting around this but she was able to overcome obstacles that were put in her path by people who did not believe in her. Those are the ideas that young girls aspiring to be lawyers or do anything in politics should remember. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. Even be a pink Barbie doll among a world of black business suits.
1 comment:
I consider myself a feminist, and I actually happen to love Legally Blonde (the first one, anyhow). Even though she looked and acted like a stereotype of hyper-femininity in the beginning, she did have a brain underneath, and she managed to push past her own perceived limitations to achieve great success.
I like your 'pink Barbie' commentary, Ayres. I think it's important that we take women seriously regardless of where they fall on the gender spectrum. Appearance should not dictate our opinions of female politicians and other public figures to the extent that they do (if at all). Elle Woods was a perfect example of a woman who was limited by perceptions of who she was supposed to be--that she could only be 'a dumb blonde,' as the stereotype goes. But even in it's own comedic, silly way, Legally Blonde proved that perception can be very deceiving. Even a woman who has made herself a model of hyper-feminity may have the potential to be more, without necessarily losing that femininity that she might also feel is integral to who she is.
Although we shouldn't force women into a 'feminine' mold, nor expect that that makes them less of a woman, I have to ask if there's really anything wrong with being feminine? Yes, a lot of it is likely learned from social scripts, but sometimes it appears to people have predilections toward gender at various points on the spectrum. And, if that gender identity forms a part of who a woman (or man) is, why should she (or he) be forced to give that up, or be judged entirely on that, in order to be part of a profession like politics?
Post a Comment