The End

I have now completed the research project and I feel very relieved. As I reflect on all the work I did for this paper, I am very impressed with myself and how much I accomplished. I don’t think I have ever written an essay that is longer than six pages before and this one ended up being 10. It was really cool that I got to write about something I really cared about because I think that really helped me form my arguments. I also got to watch a documentary that I had never heard of that is very powerful and even made me cry. The only limitation of this paper was centering it around this documentary, which was useful and helped control my arguments, but it also limited some of the things I want to say about sexual violence as a whole. I think that because of the society we live in where masculinity and dominance is prioritized over emotion and support, we have created an environment where sexual violence can fester. This is not an issue that has just gone away. In 2019 people will still refuse to believe women brave enough to take action when they have been harassed or assaulted. And while true there are instances of false reporting, it is a very low percentage compared to the amount of women telling the truth. It is a similar percentage to false reporting with any other crime, but it is the only one consistently dragged into the spotlight because society as a whole isn’t willing to believe in the voices of women because they are dramatic and emotional. Though we have made progress and there are great showcases of support for women, the major influencers on policy haven’t changed the environment we live in. Where it is dangerous for a woman to walk home alone at night, where what a woman wears indicates if she wants to have sex or not, where women who have been raped confide in people and no one believes them. We shouldn’t have to live like this, shouldn’t have to live in fear. I made a lot of other important points in my paper that I am glad I got to argue and prove. There is just so much more to this issue than one paper can cover. But maybe it can help.   

After all the stress and frustration that came from this paper I am genuinely glad I got to write something like that. Even after all the weeks we spent preparing and working on it, I am happy it is finally over. I really didn’t think I was capable of writing that much but it happened and I think I did well. I know at least I put a lot of effort in and wrote about what I believe is true. Even documenting what I did was helpful. It showed me which weeks I worked hard and which weeks I didn’t do that much. This paper made me realize I am much more capable of creating complex arguments and being able to argue them well.

Looking back on this school year as a whole and my journey through humanities core, I can honestly say I have learned so much and not just material but also about myself. In the fall I was more familiar with the material than the next two quarters. I expected to really not enjoy this class because of the amount of work. But I was able to handle it, even if I did get behind on the readings occasionally. During winter quarter when we learned about the Incas and Andeans I had very minimal knowledge on the topic but after we were done I was able to write a whole essay on them. Shakespeare was somewhat familiar territory except I had never read The Tempest before or looked for the existence of empire in his plays. And as for India and Gandhi, I had really never learned anything about them before. I knew who Gandhi was but the Gandhi I knew of was very different from the Gandhi I learned to know. I always just thought he was just a cool, peaceful dude, but I had no idea he had very limited ideas of women and wanted to put them in a box and that he was against diversity. In the spring all of the concepts were kind of new. Or at least from a new perspective. I have heard all of these histories but through the voice of the United States. I had very little exposure to what the stories of the other side was. So it was very eye opening experience. I got to hear the perspectives of everyone else who deserves to have a voice and a place in history. I appreciate all the lessons I have learned from this class and even though it was so much work it was worth it.

Also a special shout out to all the professors that lectured and that I learned from. But I would like to give a special thanks to my seminar leader Dr. Giovanna Fogli. Thank you so much for everything and all the help and support you gave me. I couldn’t of made it through this year without you and your counsel. You’re the best.

Until Next Time,

KO

For my readers if they want to read my paper:

Research Paper on Sexual ViolenceDownload

The Prospectus

The following presentation will serve as my prospectus–a statement of proposed aims or objectives— for my research paper. It will include an introduction to my paper, a description of my artifact, a series of investigative questions to be addressed in my paper, a summary of my research, and a hypothesis based on the documentary. The topic I am working with is Sexual Violence Against Young Women. In order to explore this topic I will use The Hunting Ground, directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering, as my artifact. It was released in 2015 and is centered around the issue of sexual violence on college campuses and the fight against universities to encourage them to take action against sexual assailants. The release of this documentary helped expedite the revision process of the Title IX amendment.

Trailer for The Hunting Ground:

Prospectus

The Beginning

These next three posts are going to be an account of progress with my research paper and how I get through it and complete it. This is the start of that story.

At the beginning of the week I felt very lost and I didn’t have any ideas that I thought would work for either the oral history project or the research paper. I was really stressed and confused about what I was supposed to be doing and how I was going to complete all of it. These projects initially really intimidated and scared me. All of my worries prompted me to attend office hours to discuss some ideas with Dr. Fogli with hopes that she could help me get a strong idea down for both projects. After figuring out my oral history project, I told her that for the research paper I wanted to talk about the feminist movement. She told me that was a good idea and I said that I was worried about choosing what kind of source to use for it. She reassured me that I had time to figure out and choose between many primary sources that would help me with my paper. She also told me I should focus on the time period of the 1950s-1960s. The next couple days I started to brainstorm some ideas of sources I could use. So maybe I could use a memoir or a diary from a woman in that time period, a woman that was fighting for equality maybe in the workforce. Or one of the ideas I had that I am still unsure about that would be a modern day example is using the film Captain Marvel and talking about how that movie is the first female superhero movie they have released and how the marvel community of fans didn’t have very many good things to say about it, I’ve even read how people think that the main actress didn’t show enough emotion. However I am not sure if this would work as a primary source for an argument on feminism. I could also possibly write about a feminist artist or a feminist musician because I think those would be interesting sources and kind of unique. I haven’t researched them so I am not sure if there is any music or art that will be a good source for my paper. Overall I feel like I have some ideas to go off of and a direction to go in. I am still stressed about the paper, however I think that if I stay on top of it that it will go well. I do need to get into my research but I think I am capable of doing really well on this assignment, though I am still nervous for it.

Until Next Time,

KO

The Origins of the Fight for Gender Equality in America

Throughout history in America, women have been fighting for the rights they deserve. Since the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848–the first convention for women’s rights–women have been struggling to gain rights from a patriarchal society. Their struggle has included many forms of resistance. Mostly conventions, protests, walk outs, marches, etc. All things that are nonviolent forms of resistance. Well known Indian activist, Mahatma Gandhi, believed in passive resistance as a way to counter mistreatment and subjugation. He believed that there are many benefits to resisting in a nonviolent way including, the moral regeneration of the oppressor. In this matter he believed that the oppressors would change their ways, if only people pitied them. However that is not completely true. If it were we wouldn’t be having to fight for complete equality today. There are still people, predominantly male, who are firm in their beliefs that the role of women in society is to have children and take care of them and the home. Gandhi also agrees with those people in this case, referring to women as “queens of the household,” (Hind Swaraj p.36). Women are capable of so much more than sitting at home cleaning, cooking and caring for children. And we have proven that over and over again.

The suffragette movement began after the Civil War during reconstruction. The women “saw reconstruction as the golden opportunity to claim for women their own emancipation.” This was the time for them to start fighting for themselves after seeing the abolitionist movement through to the end of slavery. These women continued to fight for their right to vote and inspired future generations to do the same. Until finally in 1920 the 19th amendment to the constitution was ratified and stated that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” This was a huge milestone for the suffragette movement and set a precedent for future women’s rights movements. It proved to all women that with enough resistance and pressure, equality can be achieved.

What the women throughout history, starting with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, demonstrated is, the fight for equality is an important one and people should not give up on it. Their actions continue to inspire people today and reflect the actions made by women now. Events such as the Women’s March would never have been possible without the stepping stones made by the women of the past. They have shown us how to fight back and use our voices and the power we have to make a difference in the world.

Until Next Time,

KO

A Modern Tempest

The Tempest is the last play written by William Shakespeare and there have been many adaptations of the play created. Many of these adaptations focus on the importance of Caliban and his role. I think that those adaptations bring a lot of social issues to light and are important to reflect upon. However, characters like Miranda and Ariel also change in these adaptations and are important to the interpretations that come from their adaptations.

If I were to create my own adaptation of The Tempest, I would have the gender roles reversed and on top of that, make it a musical. I would want to swap the genders in the play because then there would only be one male role, while the rest are female, besides Sycorax whose character is only talked about–she would be talked about as a male instead. I think that by doing this it would highlight the mistreatment of Miranda as a character as well as the treatment of women as a whole at that time and the inequality that still exists today. If men went to see this adaptation hopefully it would make them think about the injustice and inequalities women have lived with for centuries. And maybe they will reflect on their own lives and how they view and treat the women around them.

A Female Prospero

The other way I would adapt The Tempest is by making it into a musical. There is already singing from Ariel in the play, so why not make the entire play into the form of song. I think that songs have a more intense effect on people than just speech. The songs would fit to each character and their ideals. For example, since Prospero is older and more traditional he would sing songs in the style of jazz or blues, music that is less popular now. While Caliban would sing songs from a more modern genre like rap. Rap being known for standing up against authority and power, which is what Caliban does. Furthermore, musicals have gained a lot of popularity in recent years, due to musicals like Hamilton. So a musical version would make The Tempest more relevant.

The adaptation of The Tempest as a gender swapped musical would focus on the themes of resistance to authority and fighting against a patriarchal society. With the women dominating the roles and the addition of song to the play would make the play more relevant to present day issues, such as the feminist movement and the black lives matter movement.

The hope of creating a relevant, modern adaptation of The Tempest is to make people reflect on the decisions they make in their lives in regards to how they view and treat others, specifically women.

Until Next Time,

KO

What does it Mean to be a Feminist?

In today’s society the true meaning of being a feminist is often clouded by misconceptions and the actions of people that take things to the extreme in the name of “feminism.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines a feminist as, “an advocate or supporter of the rights and equality of women.” Due to the fact that people like to exaggerate things they see and people believe everything they read online, feminists are women that want to be to be recognized as better than men and will go through great lengths to achieve dominance over the male population. Typically men like to believe this is the case because they don’t want to give into the fact that women are actually their equals. It’s easier to read something and just believe it when it doesn’t challenge what we already believe in. It takes more time to research and find more information on a topic. However, it seems like a very simple search to find the definition of a feminist and what they actually stand for, which is equality. This is similar to how the Muslim community is viewed, by Americans especially. Terrorists engage in horrible and violent actions in the name of Islam. These actions have tainted the perceptions of Muslims everywhere, and though now there is less hatred towards those people, some still believe that if one Muslim is a terrorist then all of them must be. This concept applies to feminism as well. Some people believe that if one feminist is radical then all of them must be. But how can we let the extremes of a certain group of people define the group as a whole? There’s no way to control the thoughts of everyone, but if enough people speak up about it, the general public could be influenced.

One misconception about feminism is that feminists are all women and that’s not true, a feminist is any person–no matter their gender–that believes in equality for everyone. Women are just trying to create distance from the inequality of the past. There are examples of inequality since time began. For instance, during the mid-1400s to the mid-1500s when the Incan Empire controlled the Andes, the Coya–the Inca queen–wore clothing that was less detailed and less extravagant than the king or the nobles. As well as in 1870 when African-American men were given the right to vote 50 years before any woman would have the right to vote. Even in 2018, since issues like abortion and domestic violence still haven’t been resolved by the federal government.

There are people that think women don’t really want equality because they don’t really want to be treated the same as men. A friend of mine once asked me if I wanted to be on the draft and I said no, and he was said that I didn’t really want equality. However I explained that I don’t want to be on the draft, but really no one does and that I believe that women should have to sign up for the draft when they turn 18, the same way men do. He then said he didn’t want to be on the draft either. The point is that there are many women out there that want true equality and respect.

Feminism has certainly inspired changed and influenced our society. There is evidence of that specifically in the congress of 2019. “127 (106D, 21R) women hold seats in the United States Congress, comprising 23.7% of the 535 members; 25 women (25%) serve in the U.S. Senate, and 102 women (23.4%) serve in the U.S. House of Representatives ” (CAWP). Additionally, these women come from many different ethnic backgrounds. This is a record number of women in congress and exemplifies changes that result from the feminist movement.

Even though we have progressed a lot, women are still behind. The world has been dominated by males for so long that a lot of people don’t want change. However equality is something that everyone deserves. We are all human and we all can contribute to society in our own way. There shouldn’t be limitations set on anyone based on gender, race, sexuality, etc. All people deserve a truly equal chance to live their lives how they want to live them.

 

Nike Advertisement, explains the struggles for equality and recognition for female athletes.

Until Next Time,

KO

Confined Expectations

Women have always been expected to fit into a certain kind of mold, have always been told to follow specific, limiting, expectations. Whether in ancient Rome where the women were expected to be devout to their family, the gods and their nation above all else, which is the trait called pietas. Or in any other period of time, women were just expected to be handed from her father to a husband and have children and then take care of the children. It was just a cycle, never being allowed her own freedom or choice. A lot of the time they didn’t give women educational opportunities. People expected women to always look presentable and ‘ladylike’ and if they looked different they were ostracized. Often times, they had it ingrained into their minds that being a woman and things that made them women, like their menstrual period, were things to be ashamed of. Since men believe “a woman’s flux is bad,” and that makes women “not question [their] exclusion” (Coetzee 68), this just encourages the idea that women have a set place in society and that it is below men. So women were just seen as the beautiful objects that created more men.

Although we have come very far from that, women are still expected to follow societal norms placed upon them. For example most models are very skinny, almost to the point of being unhealthy, they have symmetrical features, no blemishes on their skin, not a single hair out of place, makeup done with no mistakes, larger breasts and the list goes on. Growing up I used to see these women in magazines and commercials, and I would find myself comparing myself to them and thinking “How could I ever look that pretty?” I never thought I would get there even into my teenage years especially after puberty began. I thought that I could never be truly beautiful because I had an image of what beauty was supposed to look like, when I should’ve been exposed to things that made me feel like beauty isn’t defined by what a few people look like, that it in fact comes in many forms. I also grew up playing with Barbie dolls–which in fact if Barbie was a real woman she would fall over due to her disproportionately sized breasts–and I wanted to be just like Barbie. Women go through surgery to alter their bodies so they can somehow fit into this tight mold of beauty. They will “cut off [their] nose and [their] legs” (Barbie Doll Marge Piercy), because their nose is too big and their legs are too fat. It is sad that we still live in a society where women can’t feel comfortable in their own skin. Out of habit they have learned to always try and look prettier than the women next to them. Making them enemies of one another, instead of embracing every woman’s unique beautiful qualities. I do think there has been progress, shown in different ways. One incredible example that is beginning to redefine beauty for all women is the campaign started by the lingerie company Aerie that is sub-brand owned by American Eagle known as the #AerieReal campaign. This campaign shows new models that have visible diseases, illnesses, and disabilities. In the photos released, “women model clothing from a wheelchair, with an ostomy, and wearing an insulin pump” (Messer), there are now so many more young girls that can identify with these beautiful, diverse models who represent change for the definition of beauty.

 

Left to right models w/: an ostomy, crutches, wheelchair,

vitigilo, and down syndrome

A woman’s appearance, job, lifestyle, role in society, should not be defined by anyone but herself. In the end it is her choice what to wear, how to act, what she wants her career to be, how big of a family she wants, who she marries, etc. And those things should certainly not be dictated by men in power. Women should be accepted for who they are and should be taught to be unafraid to show themselves to the world.

Until Next Time,

KO

Gender in Society

In our society even in 2018 there continue to be gender stereotypes and gender roles that stem from the molds made for men and women in the past. One example of this is young boys are taught how to ‘be a man.’ If they start to cry they are told to stop because men don’t show weakness. If they are hit by another kid they are told to hit them back because men finish fights. If they want to play with a Barbie it is taken away from them because men play with cars and action figures not dolls. They are literally conditioned into thinking that emotions make you weak and that they have a mold to fit into and if they don’t fit they are somehow less of a man. This mold includes being taught that they are responsible for earning money to provide for a family all on their own and pressures them to worry more about a high-paying job than what they actually dream of doing.

Displays how men typically earn more than women, since it drilled into them as young boys that they must provide for a family.

This teaches boys that violence is okay, that emotions make people weak and that they are required to like certain things and not others. When they are older this leads to them internalizing all of their emotions and never having a healthy release. Additionally it makes them believe that women are weaker because women will cry or talk about how they feel more often than men. The idea that women are inferior to men because they give into their passions and emotions dates back as far as Roman literature. In the Aeneid by Virgil, translated by Fagles, the female characters, such as the goddess Juno, all act based on their emotions. Juno while angry at the Trojans convinces Aeolus to release his winds on Aeneas’ fleet in order to destroy the Trojans. Dido stops building her kingdom and kills herself in response to Aeneas leaving her. Queen Amata throws a fit when she learns her daughter is going to be married to Aeneas. All three of these women represent chaos while the men in the epic represent order. This idea still exists in the modern era. Somehow women are still seen as weaker than men and though not to the same extent as in the past, women are still viewed by many as lesser. Which is why the feminist movement is so important. It helps women fight for the equal treatment they deserve. A way to reach that starts with how we raise children, teach them it’s okay to cry and show how they feel, teach them that violence doesn’t have to end with violence, teach them that they have the freedom to wear, and play with whatever they choose, and teach them how to treat everyone with respect. It’s important to emphasize that one gender is not better than the other, or superior to the other. If we live in a society that is more accepting of everyone, that just allows people to be themselves, we would be closer to peace. There will always be those that fight against equality because of their religion, their beliefs, how they were raised, but the important thing is that even with opposition we continue to fight for what’s right. All people no matter race, gender, religion, sexuality, economic status are all equals. Because when it comes down to it, the bottom line is we are all human, we all have the same basic needs, we all fight for what we believe in and we will all die someday. It’s important to make the most of life and to build a better future for those to follow.

Until Next Time,

KO

This is a really cool video about masculinity and relates to the first point I made:

Ruins Everywhere

If you think about it there are ruins all around us in society. And I’m not talking about the kind of ruins like those left behind by the Roman Empire. I am talking about ruins that are more metaphorical but still ruins left by people and created by people. Specifically, I am going to discuss the ruination of women and others through sex trafficking. This is a major issue in today’s world, since unfortunately sex trafficking happens all over the world. For the United States specifically, there have been 34,700 sex trafficking cases since 2007 (Polaris). Those are just the cases that have been reported. The victims of these cases, if they are ever found and saved, are left with lasting major psychological effects. Which is why I claimed that these people were left in ruins. One sex trafficking victim claimed that “‘the strongest feeling was that of wanting to die’” (Zimmerman 2013). This woman now lives with extreme pain and had an overwhelming feeling that she would rather take her own life instead of living as someone else’s prisoner. Other psychological effects include post traumatic stress and depression. And many women are afraid to take action against their traffickers, because they fear they will take them again. In the past some have claimed that progress is regress (Rousseau), and in relation to sex trafficking, I believe that is true. Technological advancements and creations that have stemmed from technology have made sex trafficking easier. With the presence of social media, it is easier for assailants to target victims. Someone that posts “Headed to the mall to get new shoes!” has now notified any people in the surrounding area that they are going to a public place, where people wouldn’t notice if they went missing. It could be argued that technology helps prevent more of these things from happening, which can be true for those that pay attention to the news or what goes on. But for young children and teenagers trying to fit in with those around them social media can be a very dangerous place. For example, a young girl has downloaded snapchat and she just wants as many friends as possible. So she will add random people she doesn’t know, or allow her account to be viewed by the public, and not realize her location is visible on the apps ‘snapmaps.’ She can now be contacted by total strangers and they can possibly view where she is. In this way technology has helped horrible things like sex trafficking occur with less resistance.

Child being held with mouth covered by male hand.

On top of that, “the International Labor Organization estimates that there are 4.8 million trapped in forced sexual exploitation globally” (Polaris). This is an extremely large number. All of those people have lives that are in ruins. And so what’s the solution? I don’t have the answer, I don’t think any one person does. I think it’s up to everyone to get the word out there that this is an issue we should focus on. Something has to change, we can’t let this many lives be ruined by the terrible, abusive acts of the few. If there is enough support behind the movement against sex trafficking, hopefully those in power will choose to come together and do more to stop these events from occurring.

These numbers are very high and may surprise many people. This is why there should be more awareness around this issue.

Until Next Time,

KO

The Truth about Empires

Whenever the word ’empire’ is brought up, people tend to think of the negative connotation tied with empires. Destruction, oppression, tyranny, domination, greed, etc. However I believe that an empire is much more complex. Empires brought technological advances and education to places that were less civilized. Empires like the Roman empire also showed kindness to those they conquered, by integrating them into the political system, including allowing them to join the senate. Empire is defined as “An extensive territory under the control of a supreme ruler (typically an emperor) or an oligarchy, often consisting of an aggregate of many separate states or territories”(Oxford English Dictionary). However I would define it as a large group or country that intends to dominate over others or over a certain industry. That being said, the concept of empire is not just one of the past. I think there are still forms of empires out there today, not the ones that use force to uproot the lives of others, but the ones that dominate others, and are viewed as better than others. An example of this is the empire of male sports. Due to the fact that women were not allowed to play sports or create sports teams of their own many years ago, the only form of entertainment when it came to sports was that of male sports. That translates into why today men’s sports are more popular than women’s.

Still a national basketball association, just like the men’s. However does not earn the same respect.

Even in the titles of the associations there is bias. For instance, the NBA is the National Basketball Association but only males can play in it, now there is the WNBA which is the Women’s National Basketball Association. This league specifically states women so why isn’t the NBA the MNBA? National implies that it is for anyone and everyone in the country, but not women?

Another issue that stems from the empire of male sports is the amount of money female athletes make versus male athletes. In 2016 the US Women’s soccer team complained to the federal government about the gap between their payment and that of the US Men’s soccer team. The “‘women earned four times less than the men”’ in 2015. On top of that they won the World Cup for the third time and the men haven’t even come close since 1930. In addition to that they made more money for the U.S. Soccer Federation than the men did that year (Santhanam 2016). One last major problem with the empire of male sports that I am going to talk about is the differences between how male and female athletes are portrayed in the media. For the most part in media, when commenting on female athletes people focus on how ‘weak’ they are mentally and physically, as well as the actions they don’t do as well. Where as in men’s sports people typically comment on their amazing athletic ability and highlight all of the things they do well. Furthermore, the media focuses on things that have nothing to do with the athletes ability, when reporting on female athletes. In this way people become more focused on the female athletes physical appearance, what they wear and who they are dating. The focus should be on the sport, since that involves “physical skills and capacities”(Yip 2016), rather than an athletes wardrobe. That doesn’t give them any credit for all of the work they put into the sport they love. They are brought down to what they are wearing rather and who their partner is instead of how they are performing. In the empire of male sports, men are dominant over the women, even though they put in just as much work and time. The men get most of the recognition and the fame, and though it isn’t about the glory–or shouldn’t be about that–it is because the fans follow glory and more fans and viewers means higher salaries. I am not saying male athletes are the reason the empire is the way it is, that is what the industry has made it to be. Though more recently women’s sports are getting more attention. That attention doesn’t compare to the attention given to male sports.

Until next time,

KO