8

While the “Black and Brown Bodies Under The Knife” article really resonated with me, I had a hard time with “Citizen Profane.” I am in absolutely no way a proponent of the thin obsession – please note that point. However, obesity is a different story. I understand that I should be questioning what gives me faith in a “normal” body, but I think a “normal” body can exist in different shapes and sizes. Actually, “normal” is not a good word at all. I would use “healthy,” but who tells me who is healthy and who is not? Is anti-obesity culture really a hegemonic ideology, or is it just a push away from something that is really, truly unhealthy? I just don’t think the human body was meant to carry around more than 300 lbs or so. Did society tell me this? Or is this my observation of obese people trying and struggling to walk, or watching my friend’s parents gorge themselves to type 2 diabetes?

In the end, fatness doesn’t really matter, because we all die anyway. Right? Or no?

Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about was how these readings relate to my project, which they totally do. My project is not really centered around race, simply because I don’t have the time to make it as full as it could be, so I’m keeping it centered on definitions and expectations of femininity and how they are played out at Miami – therefore, the readings that I found most applicable to my project were “Black and Brown Bodies Under the Knife” and “Body Image: Third Wave Feminism’s Issue?” Although I did just say that I won’t be doing much on race in my project, the Black and Brown article was a wonderful critique on cosmetic surgery in general, and I will definitely be using excerpts to explore what it means to be beautiful. On page 65 of the article, describes the “ideology of beauty” as one “which commodifies women for an external gaze.” This is absolutely applicable to my project. For my graphic novel, I am going to have a section that asks, “Who teaches us about beauty?” and I have a post up on Facebook for anyone to respond to the question “Who teaches young women about beauty?/Where do young women (or all women) learn about what is beautiful?” I have many magazine pictures cut out to make into collages for these pages and people’s answers to the question. I also plan on using excerpts of Kilborne’s “Killing Us Softly” to support this section, and I will relate this information as it impacts being a woman at Miami, surrounded by what my peers and what others on urban dictionary have classified as “beautiful women” and “rich snobby white kids.”

As for the “Body Image” article, my favorite quotes include, “…we are a pop culture-driven generation. Mention teen magazines, for example, and many young women react viscerally, offering stories of how fat/ugly/ethnic/misfitting/self-hating the magazines made them feel. Even young women who don’t identify as feminists offer heartfelt and complex emotions on the topic” (198). Another one I want to include is, “In the visual world of the late twentieth century, however, the outside counts as well as the inside. We use our appearances – bodies, clothing, style – to express our inner convictions, our pride, our affiliations, our identities, our insecurities and our weaknesses” (p. 198). I think these quotes, along with my own reflections and the reflections of my peers that are responding to my prompts on Facebook, will help me to explore the topics I want to explore, especially pertaining to stereotypical beauty at Miami.

My Project Idea: I Live Here, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA.

For my project, I want to do a graphic novel in the style of I Live Here. I will be writing from my own perspective on issues of gender (expectations of women, roles), race (information that doesn’t reach “white girls”), expectations of college-age students, and socioeconomic status as they pertain to being a student at Miami and growing up in Oxford, Ohio, USA. We have been reading a lot about the importance of drawing upon our/their own experiences as women, so what I want for this project is to use my own experiences, observed experiences of others, and information and experiences from others to paint a picture of Miami’s college-age woman culture, student culture, expectations for women in America (especially of a particular SES associated with Miami in Oxford – examples include what women should aspire to look like, what kind of men they should want to be with, the idea that they’re expected to find a male partner), and the struggles young women face, either when they “fit” into the expectations or when they “don’t fit” into them.

I hope to use the I Live Here graphic novels as inspiration for how my project will look, and I plan on drawing from other course documents, such as the International Declaration of Human Rights, Kilbourne’s “Killing Us Softly,” Katz’s “Tough Guise,” the idea of “the single story” from Chimamanda Adichie, and any other class readings from which I can draw ideas to support my project.

I guess the main claim of my project will be that expectations for women at Miami University are stifling and cause for insecurity (I chose Miami specifically because I wanted to keep my topic narrow), and the expectations are dictated by something other than ourselves as young women. I will explore advertisements, media (reality shows, music videos, song lyrics), other people’s ideas of what a “Miami girl” is, and first-hand interactions with young women at Miami. What I hope to end up with is an illustration of Miami as the way I and many of my friends feel that it is: if you’re not skinny, tan, rich, and a binge drinker, then you’re not the typical Miami girl. I’m not trying to stereotype Miami or the young women here; I want to ask questions about why young women at Miami who don’t fit this mold feel like there is a mold to fit in the first place. What makes this kind of girl the “typical” Miami girl? Whose expectations does this girl live up to? Does this girl really exist? Why is it that whenever someone asks a Miami student what a “Miami girl” is, everyone knows exactly what they’re talking about?

My unique perspective: I stopped watching TV regularly at the age of 8, and I don’t listen to the radio; while I acknowledge that I am still bombarded with advertisements and messages about women/etc, I truly am somewhat naïve about it all. When I heard Rihanna’s song “Rude Boy” or whatever, I had to change the radio because I felt sick. When I flip through a US Weekly magazine (which I did for this project), I can recognize less than ten of the hundreds of celebrities in the magazine. I come from a low-income family (my famiy is about ~153% of the poverty line, where 200% is officially considered “low income”) and I go to Miami for free because my mom works in the library system. My parents are both highly educated; my father has two PhDs but does not work because he uses a wheelchair and doesn’t feel like he can really do anything. This is not a sob story – it’s a perspective that I think, or at least I have been lead to believe (and why??? what led me to believe this??) that is different from most Miami students in Oxford.

I hope to be able to use my perspective and draw on the experiences of others, as well as reliable statistics and class readings, to explore Miami culture and what it means to be a young woman on Oxford’s campus.

What Miami looks like to other people...

Issues: Capitalism > Feminism, Humans, Justice...

Many people see globalization as this great force sweeping the world, the new Industrial Revolution, the next logical step in the advancement of humanity. In school, we’re taught to believe this, and that information has never been more readily available throughout the world, and the people can communicate with each other all over the world. We’re told that it’s beneficial to all societies, that it offers jobs that stimulate the economies of poor countries, and brings them “opportunity.” But, as Woodhull points out in the very beginning of her essay, “[most of these feminist websites] mistakenly assume that their sincere appeal to feminist action, self-help, and solidarity really addresses a worldwide audience” (IWS 255).

I’d like to ponder the following quote from Woodhull’s essay: “A transnational public sphere is important because it is rooted in civil society, that is, a social space that is controlled neither by the market nor by national government…” (IWS 256). I hate to be so skeptical, because I’m usually so optimistic, but does this kind of transnational public sphere really exist? How can it, unless globalization is redirected into a more collectivistic endeavor?

The individualistic focus of the “American Dream” scares me enough when it’s contained inside of the U.S., but the more I think about globalization, the more I feel like the US is in a constant war against US domination, and their (our?) only goal is to spread “democracy” and capitalism, because those two in conjunction seem to be just [sarcasm font] so effective [/sarcasm font]. But what do they achieve? And how do women fit into the picture – not just American women, but women of the third world, as mentioned in the readings? How is it beneficial that while major US corporations benefit from outsourcing, the factories discriminate against women in numerous ways, such as pregnancy tests and unlivable wages (Sex Discrimination in the Maquiladoras, IWS 467)? How can American feminists, the middle-class women with the time and skills to program a website directed at a world-wide audience, be so blind to the truth that women in the third world aren’t checking their emails for their feminist listserv updates?

I had to look up Juarez on Wikipedia before I read the graphic novel, and I’m glad I did, because it set up a good context in which to read the graphic novel. The examples of police reactions were horrifying, such as the one police officer telling the people searching for Claudia to “mind their own business” (I Live Here 3). Over 400 women have been victims of “sexual homicides” in Juarez. How can officials not do more to help? How can this mentality be perpetuated? Is it because stopping, intervening, giving women a voice, would have too many other expensive implications? If women were given a voice with which they could defend themselves against these kinds of acts, wouldn’t they then stand up to the Maquiladoras, and cost the multinational corporations incredible amounts of money because of the loss of cheap labor, the gain of justice?

I feel like my thoughts are all over the place, and I think it’s honestly because I’m distressed. Basically, my thoughts come down to this: globalization should really be called, “a war on US domination, and the relentless spread of capitalism, at any cost, in order to make sure that the US is the supreme world power.”

☹ I need a hug.

@GeorgesCuvier...

To: Mother Cuvier, mamacuvier@gmail.com
From: Laura Foley, foleyle@miamielementaryschool.net
Cc: Principal Hodge, principal@miamielementaryschool.net
Subject: Georges’s Dismissal On Grounds of Verbal Assault
Date: 2 November, 2009

Dear Mrs. Cuvier,

I regret to inform you that this is the last time I will be in contact with you concerning Georges’s misbehavior, although since I have not received a response from you yet, I will assume that you have not gotten any of my messages.

Starting in the beginning of the school year, Georges has been harassing one of the students in our class, Sarah Baartman. Sarah is from South Africa and she is of Khoisan descent, giving her characteristics that differ from many children here, but all of the children in our class and, indeed, in our school, have been very accepting of Sarah as a person. Georges, on the other hand, has not, at all.

On the first day of school, Georges announced to the class at recess that he had a “scientific” interest in Sarah. I asked him what he meant by that, unsure of what constituted a scientific interest for a fifth grader, and he told me that he wanted to examine her without her clothes on. I intervened immediately, and Georges had appointments with the school counselor to talk about sexual harassment, but that helped little. A few weeks later, Georges made some very disturbing remarks to other students about his plans to take plaster molds of her body and pickle other of her body parts after she dies (Sarah Baartman, Course Docs). These remarks caused Sarah much grief. When I learned of these remarks, I went straight to the principal, unsure of what I should do, since I had received no response from you after the voicemails I left on your home answering machine. The principal and I both agreed that Georges’s comments were very serious, and could not be ignored.

Georges recently informed our school counselor that his family saw “white people,” particularly people of European descent, as genetically superior to people who have darker skin or are from different areas of the world, and that wanting to gawk at an inferior person was normal. He also explained to me very calmly that he couldn’t help it if he was part of a genetically superior race than Sarah, and it was his duty to gather information on her to share with other people of his race. When I asked him where he learned these things, he said, “Why, everyone knows these things – it’s just the way they are!”

I am extremely disturbed by what seems to be an overtly racist atmosphere that you have provided for Georges’s growth at home. It is common knowledge today that “race” has no basis in genetics; in fact, there is more racial variation among members of the same “race” than between members of different “races.” Racial biologization is almost completely rejected by science now (Lopez, IWS, 53), so I am saddened that Georges is being provided with faulty information.

All in all, it is with regret that the administration must expel Georges from Miami Elementary School on the basis of harassment. I hope that this prompts growth for you, Georges, and all of your family, and I hope that you and Georges search for more accurate information. I also hope that Georges is one day able to reconcile with Sarah.

Sincerely,

Ms. Laura Foley
5th Grade
Miami Elementary School

Questions for Demere

The DSM-IV lists gender identity disorder as a pathology, assuming that it can be treated or dealt with in some way. The DSM says, "To make the diagnosis, there must be evidence of clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (Criteria D)," criterion D being "D. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning" (DSM-IV). This criterion is present in many diagnostic criteria for pathologies listed in the DSM, not just GID. So here are my questions:

Is GID in the DSM because it causes distress, or does it cause distress because it's in the DSM?

We can look at this through a historical lens and view homosexuality as it existed before it was taken out of the DSM; it was much more unacceptable back then than it is now. Could that be why homosexuality caused distress at the time? Did the distress lessen once it was out of the DSM?

If we remove GID from the DSM, will that de-stigmatize the trans community and make transgenderism and transsexuality more acceptable?

I'm asking this because when we talked about GID being in the DSM, at first I thought, “Well maybe it’s in the DSM because it causes distress, like many other listings in the DSM.” But once I started to really think on it, I realized that it could in fact be the other way around! Something that Feinberg said in hir essay comes to mind as I think on these questions: "As long as people try to bring me into focus using only those two lenses, I will always appear to be an enigma" (Feinberg, 7). As long as we try to bring all people into focus using only the lenses we’ve been taught over and over again are right – healthy or sick, man or woman, normal or abnormal, like us or not like us – people will continue to be devalued and marginalized.