Author Archives: Karen Zheng

Personal Reflection – Karen Zheng

To be completely honest, I walked into this class with no knowledge at all in the field of equality and human rights, which I guess was also what brought me here in the first place. Being a science major, discussions of gender and stereotypes seemed so far away from my dwelling amongst microscopes, specimens, and Erlenmeyer flasks. It was outside of my comfort zone and I felt clueless on the subject, which made it all the more unappealing. However, I quickly came to realize that I was wrong. Gender expectations were not so far away as I had originally perceived and had all the more effect on my life, precisely because I was a female and in the STEM field. 

I really enjoyed our class discussions and the works we read that provided an insight into the injustice many faced in history and continue to face in modern times. Time seemed to fly during those discussions and before I knew it, class was already over. My favorite read by far was definitely “Women, Race, & Class” by Angela Davis because it really connected with me on a personal level. My entire life, I’ve been told by others what I needed to do as a female, and what I heard the most was being able to perform domestic duties so that someone would be willing to take me as their wife one day. Having an older brother with the same outdated thinking really didn’t help the situation. When you are told something continuously over and over again by everyone around you, even if you try to fight back, eventually you’ll still be overwhelmed by the voices. So I’m really thankful for this class, not only for the valuable knowledge that I gained but also for the voices that I heard. For knowing that I’m not the crazy one for fighting back. For knowing that I’m not wrong.

In terms of public writing and blog posts, this was my first “official” experience. I wrote blog posts for classes in the past but they were usually limited to 150 words, meaning it ended before we even started to delve into our main argument. They were also written and posted on Blackboard so it didn’t feel like a real blog, just another assignment. Writing blogs in this class was a wonderful experience; we got enough time to explore the topics we wanted to expand on, enough word count to actually write something, and freedom to choose our own prompts. I was beyond excited. I knew from my previous experiences of writing Blackboard posts that I was going to love it because blog posts not only give me the opportunity to express my opinions on a specific topic but also provide a safe space for sharing ideas and peer-reviewing. As for the topic of my post, I chose to write about Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” and Davis’s “Women, Race & Class”. Since all the voices I’ve heard in my life so far were along the lines of housework, I really wanted to write my own thoughts on the subject, even if it was just a small excerpt, as a way to fight back.

Honestly, I was dreading the final project, mostly because I really dislike public speaking. Despite my dread, what’s to come will eventually come so there’s no use stressing over it, until maybe the last ten minutes before it actually comes. My group quickly came to the conclusion that we wanted to do gender stereotypes, but it was such a large category that we had to narrow it down to gender stereotypes in professions of our choice. My pick was childcare workers because every time I go to a place involving child care, the staff there were mostly, if not all, women. And on a personal note, I was just really curious about the origins of daycare systems, like how did everything transition from mothers caring for their children to, well, other women taking care of children of other women. Wow, looking at it now and actually writing it out just makes it sound all the more messed up, which it is! Point is, the men seem pretty content with being out of the picture and that’s not how things should work. So I embarked on the journey of researching to find out exactly why women are always associated with the caregiver role. I had assumed that they would at least have a valid excuse along the lines of women being better caregivers and are backed up by science and experiments. Not quite. From what I found, the gender of childcare workers doesn’t really matter, which is good to know. On a side note, my group members were all really amazing and super knowledgeable, to the point where I was scared that I was gonna mess up and ruin everything. But, overall, I’m really happy with the way our presentation turned out.

Lastly, I’m really glad that I ended up registering for this class. It was a destresser for me amongst my other heavy-loaded courses with quizzes and homework every other day of the week. The class was so much fun and super empowering, and I no longer feel as clueless as I came in feeling. Thank you for the wonderful semester!

The Manifestation of Injustice

What is a housewife? By definition, a housewife is a woman whose main job is caring for her family and managing household affairs while her partner goes out to work. This modern occupation is a modified version of the “traditional” responsibilities of women — cooking, cleaning, and nurturing for the family — that have persevered throughout history, though the duties involved have changed little. If anything, women are now expected to not only take on the role of a housewife but to also work to earn their keep. This diverges from the traditional belief that women ought to stay at home, thus many have proposed a modern solution for this modern problem. They affirmed that since women are increasingly becoming active members of the economic class, they should perform both duties expected of them — responsibilities pertaining to the family and economy. Such propositions generate unfair treatment of working women and give rise to a phenomenon called the “third shift”. Ultimately, in present-day society, women are subjected to the roles of being both their family’s primary care provider and active breadwinner. 

According to “The Feminine Mystique” written by Betty Friedan, in the past, a woman’s biggest ambition in life was to be the perfect wife to their husband and mother to their children. They gloried in their role as a housewife and longed to live life like the American suburban housewives depicted in pretty pictures. However, the feminine perspective has changed with time and fighting for their husbands was no longer a top priority. In stark comparison with the past, women now desire independence, and they have the means to do so. Throughout history, women have been shunned from the streets, and a working woman meant her husband was incapable, hence bringing shame to the family. Now, things are different. Unfortunately, despite the advancements in women’s rights, society doesn’t view things quite the same way. As noted by Davis, “Having stepped outside their ‘natural’ sphere, women were not to be treated as full-fledged wage workers. […] Their exploitation was even more intense than the exploitation suffered by their male counterparts” (p. 229). Someone has to cook the food, clean the house, and take care of the children. Capitalists ponder, why should it be the men who have always worked when we have women whose original jobs were to do these things anyway. If they want to work so badly, then they can just enact their “roles as women” and do work on the side if they must. This dangerous chain of thoughts works to exploit women; society would have the means to gain free housemakers while simultaneously increasing the working population. Women are on the losing side no matter how you look at it. 

The term “third shift” refers to the domestic chores women are held accountable for in addition to their daily work shift(s). They work during the day just like their male counterpart, but once home, women have to manage domestic affairs while men get to relax. Sadly, this vicious cycle of unfair treatment is not only reinforced by male members of society but also by fellow females, in the form of internalized misogyny. Through years of oppression, they have come to accept the sexist stereotypes and are in turn demeaning other women as a result. Distorted thinking is a tell-tale sign of this where they may think — “I’ve been through this too. If I can make it through then so can you”. Oftentimes, this sort of behavior is demonstrated by older members of society, by mothers or grandmothers, who are usually guiding figures in the eyes of children. This, inevitably, leads to a deformed self-image and sense of self at a young age for girls and faulty thinking in boys. 

To stop this trend of unjust between genders, some have suggested shifting the gender role so that men can become househusbands. At first glance, this may seem like a plausible solution, however, it has little effect on the issue in the long run. Having men become househusbands only changes the victim of the “domestic burden”. With the men in charge of the chores and childcare, and the women earning the wages, one might be dissatisfied with the type of responsibilities the other has. In the words of Davis, “Since housework does not generate profit, domestic labor [is] naturally defined as an inferior form of work as compared to capitalist wage labor” (p. 228). Put simply, there’s no way to compare the work of cleaning the house and the work of filing papers, and this can lead to bickerings over who did more work.   

More feasible solutions in combatting the issue at hand would be to compromise the workload between both parties and to eliminate internalized misogyny overall. First, labeling chores as a responsibility of both parties will significantly reduce thoughts regarding gender roles. Then, the work should be split to accommodate individual schedules and become a shared duty. This method involves a lot of compromises and acceptances since it won’t work if one side starts arguing over the amount of work done. Secondly, sexist stereotypes should not be reinforced by individuals deemed as model figures by children, such as parents and teachers. Just because you have been through the hardship brought about by male dominance and female misogyny does not mean you can assert dominance over another to ensure they suffer just as much as you did. 

We shouldn’t start struggling only when we see the light at the end of the tunnel, but struggle so we can see the light before it’s too late. Giving in is not shameful; sometimes both sides need to take a step back and see the whole picture for a better future.

References:

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. 2006.

Davis, Angela Y. Women, Race & Class. Vintage Books, 1983.

The Manifestation of Injustice

What is a housewife? By definition, a housewife is a woman whose main job is caring for her family and managing household affairs while her partner goes out to work. This modern occupation is a modified version of the “traditional” responsibilities of women that have persevered throughout history, though the duties involved have changed little. If anything, women are now expected to not only take on the role of a housewife but to also work to earn their keep. This diverges from the traditional belief that women ought to stay at home, thus many have proposed a modern solution for this modern problem. They affirmed that since women are increasingly becoming active members of the economic class, they should perform both duties expected of them — responsibilities pertaining to the family and economy. Such propositions generate unfair treatment of working women and give rise to a phenomenon called the “third shift”. Ultimately, in present-day society, women are subjected to the roles of being both their family’s primary care provider and active breadwinner. 

According to “The Feminine Mystique” written by Betty Friedan, in the past, a woman’s biggest ambition in life was to be the perfect wife to their husbands and mothers to their children. They gloried in their role as a housewife and longed to live life like the American suburban housewives depicted in pretty pictures. However, the feminine perspective has changed with time and fighting for their husbands was no longer a top priority. In stark comparison with the past, women now desire independence, and they have the means to do so. Throughout history, women have been shunned from the streets, and a working woman meant her husband was incapable, hence bringing shame to the family. Now, things are different. Unfortunately, despite the advancements made in women’s rights, society doesn’t view things quite the same way. Someone has to cook the food, clean the house, and take care of the baby. They ponder, why should it be the men who have always worked when we have women whose original jobs were to do these things anyway. If they want to work so badly, then they can just enact their “roles as women” and do work on the side if they must. This dangerous chain of thoughts works to exploit women; society would have the means to gain free housemakers while simultaneously increasing the working population. Women are on the losing side no matter how you look at it. 

The term “third shift” refers to the domestic chores women are held accountable for in addition to their daily work shift(s). They work during the day just like their male counterpart, but once home, women have to manage domestic affairs while men get to relax. Sadly, this vicious cycle of unfair treatment is not only reinforced by male members of society but also by fellow females, in the form of internalized misogyny. Through years of oppression, they have come to accept the sexist stereotypes and are in turn demeaning other women as a result. Distorted thinking is a tell-tale sign of this where they may think — “I’ve been through this too. If I can make it through then so can you”. Oftentimes, this sort of behavior is demonstrated by older members of society, by mothers or grandmothers, who are usually guiding figures in the eyes of children. This, inevitably, leads to a deformed self-image and sense of self at a young age for girls and faulty thinking in boys. 

To stop this trend of unjust, some have suggested shifting the gender role so that men can become househusbands. At first glance, this may seem like a plausible solution, however, it has little effect on the issue in the long run. Having men become househusbands only changes the victim of the “domestic burden”. With the men in charge of the chores and childcare, and the women earning the wages, one might be dissatisfied with the number of responsibilities the other has. There’s no way to compare the work of cleaning the house and the work of filing papers, and this can lead to bickerings over who did more work.   

More feasible solutions in combatting the issue at hand would be to compromise the workload between both parties and to eliminate internalized misogyny overall. First, labeling chores as a responsibility of both parties will significantly reduce thoughts regarding gender roles. Then, the work should be split to accommodate individual schedules and become a shared duty. This method involves a lot of compromises and acceptances since it won’t work if one side starts arguing over the amount of work done. Secondly, sexist stereotypes should not be reinforced by individuals deemed as model figures by children, such as parents and teachers. Just because you have been through the hardship brought about by male dominance and female misogyny does not mean you can assert dominance over another to ensure they suffer just as much as you did.

References:

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. 2006