Interesting Internet Information

I would just like to take a moment to point out some articles, videos, and news links I found on the web that may be of interest to this class, and merit discussion. If you didn't notice them before, I have these links listed in the left column under the headline "Stuff to Share with Class". I have quite a collection going, and I thought I'd take a moment to share them with class and explain why I find them so interesting.

The first is a video from CollegeHumor.com, which I have very helpfully embedded here for your convenience. This video, Internet Commenter Business Meeting, basically summarizes the experience of just about any popular internet forum. Pay close attention to the blatant sexism that is freely expressed at the meeting, as well as the way new members, or "n00bs", and serious commentators are treated.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

The reason this video is so funny is because it's so true. This is what it is like on the internet. It also demonstrates why women are sometimes very selective about when they reveal their gender. It is often easier to pretend to be a guy than to deal with the kind of sexual harassment you WILL get if you reveal that you are a girl. On one internet forum that I am a member of, the phrase "TITS OR GTFO" usually means the death of my post, and that no one will take the discussion remotely seriously from that point out. Because of the harassment, the girls of the site have created a private board only female members can access. No one would ever behave in this fashion in person, but on the internet where your comments are largely anonymous and you can make and remake your internet identity as often as you please. This isn't limited to sexual harassment either. While the video did show how you will also get harassed for being new to the forum or certain tasks, you may also be harassed for being any kind of minority. "Nigger" is not a word people are afraid to say, and racism, sometimes faux rascism, is a very common thing to encounter. If you belong to any other sexual minority -- gay, transvestite, furry -- you are likely to be the target of quite a lot of harassment.

By pointing this out I'm not advocating to have forums strictly monitored for sexism/racism or anything like that. It is more important to remind anyone who experiences this harassment on the internet to NOT let them get rise out of you. When navigating the wild, intellectual wasteland that is the internet, the best advice to follow is this: "Do NOT feed the trolls."

Here is an article my boyfriend pointed out to me: Bayonetta: empowering or exploitative? If you are not an avid gamer and not familiar with some of the newest releases, Bayonetta is a video game that just recently came out, in which you play a woman who pretty much fights naked. Honestly, even after reading the article, I don't get it, and I'm not really interested in playing the game. I prefer sandboxes, RPGs, and MMOs myself. It looks really boring to me, I just don't get all the hype. Frankly, Sarah Lyons of the Lyon's Pride, from Fallout 3, is all the female empowerment I need in my video games.

Sarah Lyons: Hero of the Capital Wasteland


Last up is an NPR news report, Modern Marriages: The Rise Of The Sugar Mama. Of course, the article still remembers to remind us that women only make 77 cents to the dollar of what men make, but it does point out some of the changing dynamics of marriage and money when the woman makes more than the man, which is becoming more and more a common occurence. I just found this news report so haven't had much time to think on it or mull it over, but there is one interesting point it brought up: who stays home to take care of the kids, and how do you decide that? In one interview they did with a couple, they decided that the man would stay home because he made less money than she did. Personally, no matter how much money I make, I'm going to have to be the one staying home with the kids when I get married and have children. I can't imagine coping with my jealousy otherwise.

Letter of Introduction

My real name is Heidi Hosmer, but please, call me Gryphyn. I am currently a senior here at the University of Central Florida seeking two degrees -- a Psychology B.A. and a Political Science B.S. -- and as such will probably be spending another semester here and graduating in Fall 2010. I am also a Creative Writing minor, so I'm probably going to have quite a bit of fun with these blog assignments. If I can get into CRW 3211, I might even integrate my service learning in this class into my nonfiction assignments. I recently stepped down as president of Heavy Metal Knights, and am currently advising the newest batch of young officers. I am also an active member of Campus Freethought Alliance. I probably would have been more involved in student groups and such if it hadn't been for my job as a decorator at Publix; I recently quit, so I'm looking forward to getting involved in a lot of new activities as I finish up my college career.

I live off-campus with my boyfriend of five years, and a roommate of five weeks. My boyfriend and I have a baby together; a Bombay/Siamese mutt of a cat named Zarathustra. Our roommate has a tabby named Apples, but so far our babies do not yet get along with each other. When I finish school I would like to move up north, to New Hampshire, Massachusettes, or maybe even New York or Rhode Island. But, since my boyfriend just started school at Valencia East Campus last semester, I will probably be stuck in Florida until he finishes. I want to work with at-risk youth and juveniles either through counseling at a runaway shelter or though the Department of Juvenile Justice as a social worker. Once I get settled down somewhere with a real career, I hope to take my first well-earned vacation to either the fjords of Norway, Iceland, or maybe even Scotland.

And now, to the important questions: why take Women's Studies? You want the truth? Because I care even less about other minorities. Because that's what I have to study to fulfill my "diversity requirements" for my psychology degree. I was going to try to get into "Gender Issues in Communication" instead because it at least seemed a little more practical, but after I came to the first class for this class, I thought I might come to like it. The professor seems likable, the peer group seems energetic, and now that I'm not working a part-time job, I would really like to participate in a class with Service Learning. I am open minded about the material, but I have a feeling I'm going to be somewhat of a devil's advocate during discussions.

Now when we talk about "gender" here, I'm assuming we mean gender and not sex. The differences between the sexes can be summed up pretty quickly and simply: vagina vs. penis, menstrual cramps vs. blue balls, breasts vs. pecks, and verbal skills vs. visio-spatial skills. There are a few other petty differences between the sexes, but it's generally very, very simple. But when we talk about differences between genders, everything gets a little more complicated. Gender is more like an idea, a concept, nothing so concrete and easy to determine as sex. In humans, there are two genders, male and female, but a lot of people have characteristics that can be described as somewhere in-between. Sometimes someone's gender and sex doesn't match up, so that their sex is male, but their gender is female, or visa-versa. There are certain behaviors and attitudes we generally associate with each gender. Psychologically, gender can be a very complex and fascinating subject.

But beyond psychology, to the more political, I find a little less interesting. I know feminism doesn't mean what I probably think it means, but when I think of feminism, I can't help but think of crazy lesbians burning their bras and trying to tear down the established power structure. I know that feminism is about gender equality, not matriarchy, but then why call it feminism? Why not call it "genderism" or maybe "androgenism"? Even "sexism" would make more sense to refer to gender equality if it wasn't already taken to describe, well, gender inequality. Personally, I like androgenism. I might use that again later. Feminism seems even more like biased language to me than the word "mankind".

While on the subject of biased language, I would like to announce my unwillingness to use the word "humankind"; it just sounds stupid to me outside of the context of a science fiction novel. The Germans use the word "mann" to refer to the whole human race with an unbiased connotation, so I don't see why us English-speaking women should get so offended over the word "mankind". Woman is a type of man anyway, it's not like we're not meant to be included in that phrase. I'd also rather not use the phrase "he or she" because it's just too damn cumbersome; I'll probably use "they" instead. Though it is considered gramatically incorrect to use "they" rather than "he or she", it is slowly becoming an accepted use of the word.

Women's Studies seems a bit biased too, don't you think? I mean with all these diversity requirements, no one ever thought to open a class on Men's Studies? What about White Studies, don't we get to explore what white people exclusively have done? Don't they count when it comes to diversity? With all the emphasis in today's world on "diversity" and "cultural sensitivity", no one stops to think how this is affecting the white males of today's society. Now I know what you're thinking; "Well they've been the ones with all the power for centuries! They still have plenty of advantages, they'll be fine!" But seriously, how is that attitude supposed to promote "gender equality"? I'll give you a clue: it doesn't. Diversity certainly benefits minorities, both of race and gender, but because of this emphasis on diversity and minorities, it is somehow taboo to celebrate the accomplishments of the majorities. The majorities should be as free and enabled to celebrate their achievements and explore their own unique experiences as minorities now are. I think now is an especially critical time to start exploring the unique experiences of men, how they have been affected by growing up in increasingly single-parent woman-dominated families, and how their loss of sex-based power and status in society has changed them overall. For anyone who truly believes in gender equality, these are the real questions they should be asking themselves.

I could probably go on and on answering these suggested questions, but I think I've fulfilled the assignment prompt amply. Oh, I also read and understand the syllabus and agree to all its terms, except where I specified earlier in this letter that I plan to continue using some of the so-called "biased" language.