http://www.huffingtonpost.com/derek-shearer/sex-race-and-presidentia_b_84730.html
In this article, they talk about the difficulty of woman running for president. This has alot to do with what we are discussing in class right now. With the patriarchal society we have today, will a woman ever be president?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
DEBATES SCHEDULE
Each debate starts at 9PM EST
September 26, 2008
Presidential debate with foreign policy focus
University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
October 2, 2008
Vice Presidential debate
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
October 7, 2008
Presidential debate in a town hall format
Belmont University, Nashville, TN
October 15, 2008
Presidential debate with domestic policy focus
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
September 26, 2008
Presidential debate with foreign policy focus
University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
October 2, 2008
Vice Presidential debate
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
October 7, 2008
Presidential debate in a town hall format
Belmont University, Nashville, TN
October 15, 2008
Presidential debate with domestic policy focus
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
FREE SARAH PALIN
In relation to our class discussions about gender, politics, and the media, you may find interesting CNN's Campbell Brown on what she calls the McCain campaign's sexist treatment of Gov. Sarah Palin:
PALIN, POLITICS, AND GENDER
Sexism Debate Front And Center With Palin Pick:
Experts Weigh In On How The Sex Card May Or May Not Be Played In The Election
Monday, Sept. 29, 2008
Will Englund
Sarah Palin's nomination as the Republican vice presidential candidate has put sexism front and center as an issue, and it is stirring deep and sometimes fierce emotions.
A quintet of top Republican women lambasted Palin's critics on Wednesday. One, Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a McCain adviser, came close to suggesting that almost any criticism of the Alaska governor is out of bounds. "Many people have demeaned and belittled her experience," Fiorina said. "Women are sensitized and outraged."
Ellen Malcolm, head of EMILY's List, the liberal fundraising group, countered that Palin's selection was a transparent ploy that shows little respect for women. A poll that her group sponsored showed it wasn't working, she said. "It's a cynical miscalculation of women voters."
Palin clearly had the benefit of the doubt from the adoring convention crowd when she gave her acceptance speech on Wednesday night. She wowed them with her thoroughly upbeat demeanor.
Her supporters are focusing most of their pushback on those who question whether she can balance family responsibilities with the rigors of a campaign, though this question has not gotten much of an airing outside the blogosphere, and on what they called the "smears" and speculation about the pregnancy of her daughter Bristol. But, having detected sexism, some are now seeing it in almost every attack on her. (Not all, to be sure: Meg Whitman, a McCain adviser and the former chief of eBay, told Fox News that she thought the press was pursuing legitimate questions about Palin.)
If Palin takes on the traditional role of No. 2 candidate as attack dog -- and she flirted with that role in her speech -- it might seem as though she was trying to provoke sexist attacks in a culture that is still uncertain how to assess aggressive women.
It is a highly charged topic. Geraldine Ferraro, the only other woman ever to join a national ticket, ran into storms of vituperation and scorn. After her 1984 debate with George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush was asked what she thought of her husband's opponent. "I can't say it, but it rhymes with rich," she replied.
Hillary Rodham Clinton complained of sexism in this year's Democratic primary campaign, and Republicans have been vocal in proclaiming their newfound solidarity with her.
An inescapable question is whether the Republicans are playing the sex card the way they sometimes accuse black Democratic politicians of playing the race card. The answer is no more straightforward with gender than it is with black-white relations. Some measure of outrage at what Palin is facing is clearly genuine; some measure of political calculation is just as real. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive. And an emotional charge like an accusation of sexism can be a powerful distraction in a campaign.
Deborah Tannen, a Georgetown professor whose book, "You Just Don't Understand," was a best-seller, said yesterday that on some level women can't escape their gender identity. Male politicians can be "neutral," but female politicians will always be "marked" as women in people's minds. The consequence of that, she said, is that "anything you say [as a woman or about a woman] is going to have extra meaning in it, and is going to get someone's back up."
Because the world is the way it is, there are no clear lines to guide political discourse. "Is it sexist to talk about women's clothing? Yes. But it tells us something about them. And the same with their hair."
"Obviously," said Charlotte Allen, a contributing editor at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, "there's a double standard. Conservative women are given no quarter. They're considered an outrage to their sex."
What Allen sees as "beyond the pale" sexist attacks on Palin have ironically served to overshadow legitimate issues, she said, such as the governor's controversial efforts to get her former brother-in-law fired from the state police.
As for the argument that Palin has put her family on the public stage, making them "fair game," Allen replied, "I don't understand that one bit."
She praised Barack Obama's declaration on Monday that family matters are off-limits, and his reminder to his supporters that his own mother was 18 when he was born. "Obama really showed class when he said this has got to stop," she said.
Will woman voters respond to Palin because she's a woman, or because of the attacks on her as a woman? Page Gardner, founder of Women's Voices, Women Vote, an advocacy group for unmarried women, said that people are naturally drawn to candidates who seem to have "walked in their shoes." In the end, however, issues will trump gender, she said; the fact that Palin is a woman will be interesting but not determinative.
The EMILY's List poll, conducted by Democratic pollster Geoff Garin, found that by 59 percent to 20 percent, female respondents believe that Palin was picked out of political considerations rather than because John McCain thought her qualified. Allen's response was that running mates are always chosen out of political considerations and that there's nothing cynical about that; to hold Palin to a higher standard is in itself a form of sexism.
National Journal
Experts Weigh In On How The Sex Card May Or May Not Be Played In The Election
Monday, Sept. 29, 2008
Will Englund
Sarah Palin's nomination as the Republican vice presidential candidate has put sexism front and center as an issue, and it is stirring deep and sometimes fierce emotions.
A quintet of top Republican women lambasted Palin's critics on Wednesday. One, Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a McCain adviser, came close to suggesting that almost any criticism of the Alaska governor is out of bounds. "Many people have demeaned and belittled her experience," Fiorina said. "Women are sensitized and outraged."
Ellen Malcolm, head of EMILY's List, the liberal fundraising group, countered that Palin's selection was a transparent ploy that shows little respect for women. A poll that her group sponsored showed it wasn't working, she said. "It's a cynical miscalculation of women voters."
Palin clearly had the benefit of the doubt from the adoring convention crowd when she gave her acceptance speech on Wednesday night. She wowed them with her thoroughly upbeat demeanor.
Her supporters are focusing most of their pushback on those who question whether she can balance family responsibilities with the rigors of a campaign, though this question has not gotten much of an airing outside the blogosphere, and on what they called the "smears" and speculation about the pregnancy of her daughter Bristol. But, having detected sexism, some are now seeing it in almost every attack on her. (Not all, to be sure: Meg Whitman, a McCain adviser and the former chief of eBay, told Fox News that she thought the press was pursuing legitimate questions about Palin.)
If Palin takes on the traditional role of No. 2 candidate as attack dog -- and she flirted with that role in her speech -- it might seem as though she was trying to provoke sexist attacks in a culture that is still uncertain how to assess aggressive women.
It is a highly charged topic. Geraldine Ferraro, the only other woman ever to join a national ticket, ran into storms of vituperation and scorn. After her 1984 debate with George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush was asked what she thought of her husband's opponent. "I can't say it, but it rhymes with rich," she replied.
Hillary Rodham Clinton complained of sexism in this year's Democratic primary campaign, and Republicans have been vocal in proclaiming their newfound solidarity with her.
An inescapable question is whether the Republicans are playing the sex card the way they sometimes accuse black Democratic politicians of playing the race card. The answer is no more straightforward with gender than it is with black-white relations. Some measure of outrage at what Palin is facing is clearly genuine; some measure of political calculation is just as real. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive. And an emotional charge like an accusation of sexism can be a powerful distraction in a campaign.
Deborah Tannen, a Georgetown professor whose book, "You Just Don't Understand," was a best-seller, said yesterday that on some level women can't escape their gender identity. Male politicians can be "neutral," but female politicians will always be "marked" as women in people's minds. The consequence of that, she said, is that "anything you say [as a woman or about a woman] is going to have extra meaning in it, and is going to get someone's back up."
Because the world is the way it is, there are no clear lines to guide political discourse. "Is it sexist to talk about women's clothing? Yes. But it tells us something about them. And the same with their hair."
"Obviously," said Charlotte Allen, a contributing editor at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, "there's a double standard. Conservative women are given no quarter. They're considered an outrage to their sex."
What Allen sees as "beyond the pale" sexist attacks on Palin have ironically served to overshadow legitimate issues, she said, such as the governor's controversial efforts to get her former brother-in-law fired from the state police.
As for the argument that Palin has put her family on the public stage, making them "fair game," Allen replied, "I don't understand that one bit."
She praised Barack Obama's declaration on Monday that family matters are off-limits, and his reminder to his supporters that his own mother was 18 when he was born. "Obama really showed class when he said this has got to stop," she said.
Will woman voters respond to Palin because she's a woman, or because of the attacks on her as a woman? Page Gardner, founder of Women's Voices, Women Vote, an advocacy group for unmarried women, said that people are naturally drawn to candidates who seem to have "walked in their shoes." In the end, however, issues will trump gender, she said; the fact that Palin is a woman will be interesting but not determinative.
The EMILY's List poll, conducted by Democratic pollster Geoff Garin, found that by 59 percent to 20 percent, female respondents believe that Palin was picked out of political considerations rather than because John McCain thought her qualified. Allen's response was that running mates are always chosen out of political considerations and that there's nothing cynical about that; to hold Palin to a higher standard is in itself a form of sexism.
National Journal
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
gender Issues
the site lauras play ground is an itresting site that suppots transgender, transsexuals and other forms of gender variations. It deals with the issues that people deal with transition issues.
www.lauras-playground.com
www.lauras-playground.com
Blog 1
http://e-articles.info/e/a/title/The-problem-with-gender-discrimination-in-the-corporate-world/
This site talks about gender inequality in the corporate world. It also compares gender discrimination to height.
This site talks about gender inequality in the corporate world. It also compares gender discrimination to height.
Gender Issues
http://scholar.library.miami.edu/sixties/gender.php
This website talks about gender issues with women and how they didnt have the same rights as men. Also it talks a little about gays and lesbians.
This website talks about gender issues with women and how they didnt have the same rights as men. Also it talks a little about gays and lesbians.
Aaron Nahas- Blog 1
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_n126_v32/ai_19619406/print?tag=artBody;col1
The article talks about how parents enforce certain gender norms on their children. Through things like toys, clothes, and accepted behaviors they slowly encourage their children to act a certain way.
The article talks about how parents enforce certain gender norms on their children. Through things like toys, clothes, and accepted behaviors they slowly encourage their children to act a certain way.
gender in television
http://library.thinkquest.org/17067/you/nfgender.html
this website is helpful because it talks about how women are still not represented enough in our modern society, in areas such as roles on television shows, while men are more accurately depicted.
this website is helpful because it talks about how women are still not represented enough in our modern society, in areas such as roles on television shows, while men are more accurately depicted.
Joanna Lam - Blog1
http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/soc/courses/stpp4C03/ClassEssay/gender.htm#9
This site talks about the growing use of the internet among women, what women had to overcome, and what they need to do to maintain their place in society. It also talks about how what is expected of women has changed.
- Joanna Lam (051)
This site talks about the growing use of the internet among women, what women had to overcome, and what they need to do to maintain their place in society. It also talks about how what is expected of women has changed.
- Joanna Lam (051)
Monday, September 15, 2008
Blog 1 Assignment
http://www.stopvaw.org/Global_Gender_Issues.html
This website talks about the gender-based acts of violence against women and how different kinds of women are affected by them world wide. The website also explains the violations of human rights that women of different cultures, races, ages, and backgrounds are continuously faced by but are yet viewed o.k by society. This website would be useful to our class due to its globalized range of understanding and explanation of this problem.
This website talks about the gender-based acts of violence against women and how different kinds of women are affected by them world wide. The website also explains the violations of human rights that women of different cultures, races, ages, and backgrounds are continuously faced by but are yet viewed o.k by society. This website would be useful to our class due to its globalized range of understanding and explanation of this problem.
Blog 1
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/science/09tier.html?scp=6&sq=recent%20articles%20women%20rights&st=cse
This article relates to what we have been reading. It discusses how the gender gap between men and women is growing due to the fact that both genders can now have the same jobs and opportunities.
Blog One: Assignment One
http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/8/Gender-roles.html
Gender Roles
Gender roles are varied depending on cultures. Different areas expect different expectations from people in society. Over time gender difference in the workplace have evolved drastically. Twenty years ago men and women were treated differently whereas now men and women are more aware and policies are made so they benefit both--men and women. Similar to what was read in class, gender roles are derived from childhood. Most of how children are brought up are imposed in their life. Parents allow boys to be fearless and try new things and activities; whereas parents tend to keep the women more protected and fear more for their safety. Peer pressure is also is a means of reinforcing a culture's traditional gender roles. In the article they define what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. Gender roles have shifted over the past 30 years and men and women are more open to learning about sharing and learning about one another roles. By changing as people, new expectations in the workplace, school, relationships, schools and lives will occur.
Pooja Sampathi
Gender Roles
Gender roles are varied depending on cultures. Different areas expect different expectations from people in society. Over time gender difference in the workplace have evolved drastically. Twenty years ago men and women were treated differently whereas now men and women are more aware and policies are made so they benefit both--men and women. Similar to what was read in class, gender roles are derived from childhood. Most of how children are brought up are imposed in their life. Parents allow boys to be fearless and try new things and activities; whereas parents tend to keep the women more protected and fear more for their safety. Peer pressure is also is a means of reinforcing a culture's traditional gender roles. In the article they define what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. Gender roles have shifted over the past 30 years and men and women are more open to learning about sharing and learning about one another roles. By changing as people, new expectations in the workplace, school, relationships, schools and lives will occur.
Pooja Sampathi
blog 1
http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2008/03/17/Sexism-in-the-Workplace
This article discusses how despite the fact that many women have high-paying, senior positions in companies, sexism still exists in the United States. It states that women on average get paid less than men and it also explains how they feel that Hilary Clinton lost the Democrat nomination because men still do not like to see women with more power.
This article discusses how despite the fact that many women have high-paying, senior positions in companies, sexism still exists in the United States. It states that women on average get paid less than men and it also explains how they feel that Hilary Clinton lost the Democrat nomination because men still do not like to see women with more power.
BLOG assignment 1
http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/gender.html
This site explains how the idea of gender role has changed a lot. However, it is not finished. Women are doing more and more things that once thought as a guy's job, and vise versa. It proves its points by using many demographics.
This site explains how the idea of gender role has changed a lot. However, it is not finished. Women are doing more and more things that once thought as a guy's job, and vise versa. It proves its points by using many demographics.
Blog 1
The website that I found deals with the gap in wages between men and women and how it became so unequal starting after WWII and how even up to today there is still a differance. It talks about the Equal Pay Act that that was made in 1963, which made it illegal to pay women less just based on their sex, and how it has helped lower the wage gap.
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/equalpayact1.html
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/equalpayact1.html
Blog 1 Assignment
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0843/is_1_31/ai_n10016760
This is an article called "The changing face of gender issues in the 21st century workplace". It talks about how the work world has changed since more women started working post WWII. It focuses on how sex and gender are not the same and explains why gender issues exist in the workplace.
This is an article called "The changing face of gender issues in the 21st century workplace". It talks about how the work world has changed since more women started working post WWII. It focuses on how sex and gender are not the same and explains why gender issues exist in the workplace.
Blog assignment 1
http://www.andrology.com/transsexualism.htm
This website reinforces what we have been reading. It also goes further to describe diagnosis and treatment options for the individuals.
This website reinforces what we have been reading. It also goes further to describe diagnosis and treatment options for the individuals.
blog 1 Matt Zevin
http://www.gendertalk.com/info/resource/index.shtml
Blog 1 Assignment
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-01/afps-isa012407.php
This article goes into detail on why women are less likely to follow a career based in math due to the stereotypes some women have ingrained in their heads. It makes it clear that these stereotypes really have a profound effect on some women while for others it has no effect.
This article goes into detail on why women are less likely to follow a career based in math due to the stereotypes some women have ingrained in their heads. It makes it clear that these stereotypes really have a profound effect on some women while for others it has no effect.
Blog 1 Assignment
http://womensrights.suite101.com/article.cfm/effects_of_antisexism_training_in_schools
Blog Assignment 1
This article describes how ones gender role is taught to them by the way the people
around them acted towards them and the expectations placed on them. It describes how boys are complimented more on their accomplishments, while girls are complimented more on their appearance. Also, this article describes how gender roles, especially in the workplace are changing significantly, with equal opportunities and skills on both sides.
www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1822/18220040.htm
This website talks about gender related issues in other parts of the world.
This website talks about gender related issues in other parts of the world.
Blog Assignment 1
This article talks about transgender. It explains how they are divided on whether their culture is natural or not.
http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1993/07/newitz.html
http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1993/07/newitz.html
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Blog Assignment One
http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/
This website deals with poverty and economic issues for women. This website will help to explain that these economic issues for women are due to gender inequality.
This website deals with poverty and economic issues for women. This website will help to explain that these economic issues for women are due to gender inequality.
Blog Assignment One
In this article Janet Shibley Hyde, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, goes over the results of her multiple tests concluding that men and women today share cognitive skills. Throughout all the tests, men and women equally tested, for the most part, in math, science, communication, reasoning, and how they move. I think this article is a good recommendation for our class discussions because it states clear research showing that men and women are equally balanced in today’s society. Even though there are many variables that come into play, I think it is a great article to look at if you are interested in the scientific side of gender differences.
http://www.psychologymatters.org/thinkagain.html
- Cory Goulet
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Assignment 1
The womans study database holds a multitude of documents and links to documents discussing gender issuses primarily from a female perspective. the site covers issues from employment to woman in art, and even womans health issues.
http://www.mith2.umd.edu/WomensStudies/GenderIssues/
http://www.mith2.umd.edu/WomensStudies/GenderIssues/
Blog Assignment 1 - Gender Issues
This website deals with gender discrimination and also gives you some facts on gender discrimination. This website would be useful for people who would want some facts on gender discrimination.
-Li-ken Fung
http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/press/gender.php
-Li-ken Fung
http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/press/gender.php
Communication
http://ohioline.osu.edu/flm02/FS04.html
This site talks about communication. Men and women have very different ways of communicating and understanding each other. This site will explain all the different characteristics that each gender has when trying to communicate to others.
This site talks about communication. Men and women have very different ways of communicating and understanding each other. This site will explain all the different characteristics that each gender has when trying to communicate to others.
Blog Assignment One: Gender Issue
http://www.ptc.nsw.edu.au/scansw/gender.html
This site gives a couple of examples, where gender is an issue in society. These topics are education, and pay. Boys and girls receive different marks than each other in school. Even though women are joining the "male jobs" they are still small in numbers in all those jobs. Women also have part time, lower paid jobs then most men. In the work force and education it seems as if men have the upper edge.
-Shane Varughese
This site gives a couple of examples, where gender is an issue in society. These topics are education, and pay. Boys and girls receive different marks than each other in school. Even though women are joining the "male jobs" they are still small in numbers in all those jobs. Women also have part time, lower paid jobs then most men. In the work force and education it seems as if men have the upper edge.
-Shane Varughese
Friday, September 12, 2008
Blog assignment1
This website is about gender issues in children literature.
Gender issues in books are very important because books is one of the many ways children learn about society. Through books children can learn how certain genders function and how they are suppose to act according to their gender.
http://www.kidsource.com/education/gender.issues.L.A.html
Gender issues in books are very important because books is one of the many ways children learn about society. Through books children can learn how certain genders function and how they are suppose to act according to their gender.
http://www.kidsource.com/education/gender.issues.L.A.html
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Men's Pro-feminist movement
I found a very informative article thats topics refer to some of the subjects we've briefed and discussed in class. It describes Men against Male supremacy-guys for equal rights and treatment. In doing so it covers some of the movement's progress, different organizations involved, allies & enemies, and so on. Though I must forewarn you that it is miserably long and drawn out. But there are many important points mentioned therein so it'll surely be worth your time just to look over it.
http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/ohBROTHER/retrogeov1.html
http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/ohBROTHER/retrogeov1.html
Peace!!!!!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Blog 1 Assignment
This site focuses on women in the workforce. ICEM is a trade union that, altough is still largely dominated by males, contains an increasing number of women participants. The union produces monthly e-mail bulletins discussing current gender disputes that its followers can access.
http://www.icem.org/en/71-Gender-Issues
Blog Assignment 1
This website is the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues. It mainly talks about and supports women and gender equality.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/
gender issues in technology
There is a big disparity between males and females when it comes to the use of technology. Some studies have shown that people that use computers often are more likely to be male than female. This link goes into great detail about the gender disparity in technology.
http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/access/gender.html
http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/access/gender.html
There are gender issues all around us that we do not even recognize. We watch television without even thinking about the gender stereotypes we are watching. The website bellow shows different studies, facts and stats about the gender issue going on in the television business. I think this can help us with our studies about gender since we are exposed to T.V. programs almost everyday.
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/TF33120/gendertv.html
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/TF33120/gendertv.html
Gender reading habits
It appears that men and women have different reading habbits from a young age. Males tend to read more comic/superhero type books and females read more "girl-friendly" romantic readings.
Guys are usually more likely to collect the comics. Also, girls are liking comics increasingly.
Here are 2 links to boys and girls readings:
http://www.comixology.com/articles/41/Gender-and-Reading-Habits-Part-One-Lets-Hear-it-for-the-Boys
http://www.comixology.com/articles/43/Gender-and-Reading-Habits-Part-Two-Lets-Hear-it-for-the-Girls
Guys are usually more likely to collect the comics. Also, girls are liking comics increasingly.
Here are 2 links to boys and girls readings:
http://www.comixology.com/articles/41/Gender-and-Reading-Habits-Part-One-Lets-Hear-it-for-the-Boys
http://www.comixology.com/articles/43/Gender-and-Reading-Habits-Part-Two-Lets-Hear-it-for-the-Girls
MUTTER MUSEUM
As we begin to talk about gender and biology, you may find interesting the Mütter Museum here in Philadelphia. Maybe some of you have been to the museum? The Mütter provides a fascinating look at the range of possibilities within the human anatomy, as well as insight into our own responses (medical, psychological, sociological, and so on) toward what we call “unnatural.”
When I visited the museum a few years ago, there were several schoolchildren standing around the corpse of the “soap lady,” laughing and making jokes. My initial response was annoyance, which changed to sadness as I witnessed the same derision used in playgrounds to cast out any number of children as "weird, not normal." Of course, laughter is a typical response from a fearful, confused child—a compensatory show of strength to disguise feelings of vulnerability—and sometimes adults make derisive comments in moments of discomfort, confusion, and fear. As we study gender, make sure to note not only your intellectual responses, but also your emotional responses. For example, if you feel uncomfortable with Garber’s discussion of multiple sexes and genders, ask yourself where your discomfort comes from: Your social groups (peers, family)? Your religious and cultural beliefs? Your class? Your race and ethnicity? Your gender? Your sexuality? It’s okay to feel discomfort, so long as you critically examine the source of those feelings.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
THE RHETORIC OF BEES
We were talking last week about language (human/non-human animal, written, spoken, and so on), and I mentioned to many of you that bees use dance to communicate the source of pollen to the rest of the hive. This is a great example of the important role communication plays in individual and group survival. Above left: the waggle dance. Above right: the circle dance.
Thanks to Joanna (051), who forwarded a playful YouTube bee-dance video (see below). The video also carries a serious message about the ecological disaster of the disappearance of the honey bee.
You can find lots of information about bee communication by Googling "bee dances," "bee communication," and so on.
Thanks again, Joanna!
Friday, September 5, 2008
FIRST LADIES
In the spirit of our discussions about gender and rhetoric, I thought I'd post these two C-SPAN videos. The first is Michelle Obama speaking at the Democratic National Convention, and the second is Cindy McCain speaking at the Republican National Convention. One of them will be the next "first lady." A couple of things to think about as you watch the videos: How do they identify with being a woman, a mother, a wife, a US citizen, a political being, and so on? How do they see the role of first lady? How does gender influence their political values, beliefs, and so on?
Michelle Obama:
Cindy McCain:
Michelle Obama:
Cindy McCain:
GENDER MATTERS
The following article appeared in last Sunday's New York Times.
August 31, 2008
Unity Deferred
Can You Cross Out ‘Hillary’ and Write ‘Sarah’?
By KATE ZERNIKE
It was an awfully complicated week to be a Hillary supporter.
Her voters headed into the Democratic National Convention in Denver with anger, with threats to reprise 1968. Then came the swelling of pride, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton gave what many considered the speech of her life. But, oh, the regret: if only she had campaigned with that kind of oratory!
By the time Mrs. Clinton graciously called for the convention to nominate Senator Barack Obama by acclamation, some of her supporters were working their way toward acceptance, wiping tears but nodding as she declared that the party had to unite behind him. Yet how could they not feel at least envy, watching the Obamas and the Bidens stroll out in triumph, and thinking that their candidate could have been in either role, at the top or bottom of that ticket. Not even vetted for V.P.!!
Then, of course, came Friday: “It turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet!” That was Sarah Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, as Senator John McCain introduced her to the country as his vice-presidential nominee. “We can shatter that glass ceiling!” she proclaimed.
What’s a woman to do? Or at least, the woman who so badly wanted to see a woman in the White House?
Democrats, who make up the party that has long claimed the bigger pool of up-and-coming women, were quick to dismiss Ms. Palin as not experienced enough to be a heartbeat from the presidency. Mrs. Clinton’s supporters will never back her, they insisted, because she is against abortion rights.
Not. So. Fast.
That underestimated, or at least underappreciated, the raw feelings of many Clinton supporters, and particularly the women among them, despite the almost flawless display of harmony in Denver.
At the very least, Ms. Palin’s selection unleashes gender as a live issue again, just when Democrats thought they had it under control. (This might not be a bad time for Mr. Obama to reconsider that question of retiring Mrs. Clinton’s campaign debt.)
“This puts the issue back on center stage,” said Debbie Walsh, the director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “There are going to be some really fascinating conversations that are going to come up around gender, in some ways that nobody expected.”
Lynn Hackney and Kim Hoover might perfectly illustrate the emotions of those whom Ms. Palin counts as “not finished yet.” They had gathered 20 equally passionate Hillary supporters at their home in Washington on Tuesday to watch Mrs. Clinton’s speech. “The Kleenex was flowing,” said Ms. Hackney, who declared the speech “brilliant.”
Thursday, when 38 million Americans watched Mr. Obama’s speech, they watched a movie, “The Squid and the Whale.”
No matter what Mrs. Clinton urged, they cannot support Mr. Obama.
“To go against Hillary is not easy for us,” Ms. Hackney said. “We don’t take that lightly. We just don’t think he has a message. We don’t think he’s good for women.”
“It’s not about being bitter for Hillary,” she said. Still, “I think the Democratic Party took women for granted in the primary, they didn’t step on sexism when they should have, and I can’t support them.”
Her phone, she said, began “burning up” when Mr. McCain announced Ms. Palin as his choice. “The fact that he went out on a limb to pick a woman, I’m very impressed by that.” She says she is not sure she can vote for a Republican, and will most likely stick to her plan to write in Mrs. Clinton. But, she said, “It’s opened my eyes to at least pay attention.”
Yes, they said, they were troubled by Ms. Palin’s opposition to abortion rights. But Ms. Hoover said she felt betrayed by pro-choice groups, and in particular politicians like Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who were helped into office by pro-choice groups like Emily’s List but came out early to support Mr. Obama over Mrs. Clinton, despite her being the first viable pro-choice woman to run for president.
Ms. Hoover has stopped giving to Emily’s List as a result. “It doesn’t make sense to me that, frankly, Emily’s List didn’t hold them accountable for having been elected on that platform but then not supporting that platform,” she said. “The setback for the pro-choice movement is almost deserved.”
Karen O’Connor, the director of the Women and Politics Institute at American University, said the convention’s constant repetition about the “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling” had left many people depressed. “If 18 million votes is not enough, what does it take in the Democratic Party to get a woman on the ticket?”
Healing may have come easier to those Clinton supporters who went to the convention, with all its women’s caucus meetings, the Emily’s List luncheon, and Mrs. Clinton’s meeting with her delegates, where she released them to vote as they pleased. It was hard to stand in a stadium of 80,000 listening to Mr. Obama and not be moved.
Lanny Davis, who was special counsel to President Bill Clinton and who came to exemplify the die-hard Hillary Clinton supporter so much that he was barely speaking to a son who supports Mr. Obama, said he was riding such a roller coaster of emotion that he finally Googled Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief.
“Denial, yes,” he said. “Anger, definitely. Bargaining, well, O.K. And depression, that’s definitely what I was going through.” He struggled to get to five: acceptance. “Even after we had our little Kumbaya meeting with Senator Obama I wasn’t doing well,” he said. But after the speeches, and Mr. Obama’s graceful acknowledgment of Mrs. Clinton in his speech accepting the nomination on Thursday night, Mr. Davis said, “O.K., I’m there.”
For supporters who saw the speeches only from home, said Ms. Walsh, it may have been harder, particularly with Mrs. Clinton coming off so forcefully.
“I think that makes it doubly hard for some of these women, because she really did look presidential.”
Mr. McCain’s choice, she said, “is a move for the women who weren’t at the convention.”
And even there, some women were not appeased. Ms. Walsh sat two seats away from an African-American woman who was crying during Mrs. Clinton’s speech. When the convention staff handed out “Unity” placards, the woman refused it.
The Palin nomination complicates the gender question in many ways.
Susie Tompkins-Buell, the Democratic fundraiser who declared herself the “poster child” for the “Hillary holdouts,” announced on Thursday that after her convention conversion she would transform Women Count, the organization she founded to support Mrs. Clinton in the final days of the primaries, into an organization to help protect women like Michelle Obama against misogyny.
But what will happen if the misogyny extends to Ms. Palin? There were hints of that on Friday, with Web sites showing photographs of her bare-shouldered in the days when she was runner-up for Miss Alaska, or as one caption read, “showing off her legs.” “Sarah Palin — Alaska Gov., McCain’s V.P. Pick, Kind of a Babe,” read one Internet headline.
The nomination promises to test the argument made during the primary that it wasn’t about sexism, it was about Hillary.
And, as Ruth B. Mandel, one of the founders of the Rutgers center, said, “this raises the question of when, where and how often women vote out of anger because there’s sexism.”
Republicans were stoking the gender wars before the Palin announcement.
Alex Castellanos, a Republican media strategist, revived the “Fatal Attraction” analogy in a television discussion about whether Mrs. Clinton would be able to gracefully cede the convention to her former rival.
Mr. McCain’s campaign ran an ad called “Passed Over,” highlighting the fact that she had not been seriously examined for the vice-presidential slot.
At the same time, the move is such a bald bid for the women’s vote that it might backfire. It seems likely that most Clinton supporters backed their candidate for her experience, not her gender. They may resent being reduced to the sum of their hormones.
When a Republican woman has run in the past, Ms. Mandel said, “we did not see a big benefit for her from the gender gap.” And Geraldine Ferraro did not prevent a landslide for Ronald Reagan, when she was on the ticket with Walter Mondale in 1984. But, as Ms. Mandel said, “It’s a different moment.”
The general election comes off a primary season of division, if not anger. And the country has been closely split in the last several elections.
Few people claim to understand the dynamics of the Clinton vote. In the most recent New York Times/CBS News poll, conducted Aug. 15-20, 22 percent of voters who said they had voted for Mrs. Clinton in the primaries say they now support Mr. McCain, while 61 percent back Mr. Obama. Among the women who voted for Mrs. Clinton, 17 percent say they support Mr. McCain, and 63 percent Mr. Obama. (The rest were undecided.)
“This says again, you can’t take these women for granted,” Ms. Walsh said. “There’s going to be a need to really reach out to them, to highlight the difference between John McCain and Barack Obama on the issues women care about.”
For all the emotion of the week, she said, the lesson is clear: “We matter.”
August 31, 2008
Unity Deferred
Can You Cross Out ‘Hillary’ and Write ‘Sarah’?
By KATE ZERNIKE
It was an awfully complicated week to be a Hillary supporter.
Her voters headed into the Democratic National Convention in Denver with anger, with threats to reprise 1968. Then came the swelling of pride, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton gave what many considered the speech of her life. But, oh, the regret: if only she had campaigned with that kind of oratory!
By the time Mrs. Clinton graciously called for the convention to nominate Senator Barack Obama by acclamation, some of her supporters were working their way toward acceptance, wiping tears but nodding as she declared that the party had to unite behind him. Yet how could they not feel at least envy, watching the Obamas and the Bidens stroll out in triumph, and thinking that their candidate could have been in either role, at the top or bottom of that ticket. Not even vetted for V.P.!!
Then, of course, came Friday: “It turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet!” That was Sarah Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, as Senator John McCain introduced her to the country as his vice-presidential nominee. “We can shatter that glass ceiling!” she proclaimed.
What’s a woman to do? Or at least, the woman who so badly wanted to see a woman in the White House?
Democrats, who make up the party that has long claimed the bigger pool of up-and-coming women, were quick to dismiss Ms. Palin as not experienced enough to be a heartbeat from the presidency. Mrs. Clinton’s supporters will never back her, they insisted, because she is against abortion rights.
Not. So. Fast.
That underestimated, or at least underappreciated, the raw feelings of many Clinton supporters, and particularly the women among them, despite the almost flawless display of harmony in Denver.
At the very least, Ms. Palin’s selection unleashes gender as a live issue again, just when Democrats thought they had it under control. (This might not be a bad time for Mr. Obama to reconsider that question of retiring Mrs. Clinton’s campaign debt.)
“This puts the issue back on center stage,” said Debbie Walsh, the director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “There are going to be some really fascinating conversations that are going to come up around gender, in some ways that nobody expected.”
Lynn Hackney and Kim Hoover might perfectly illustrate the emotions of those whom Ms. Palin counts as “not finished yet.” They had gathered 20 equally passionate Hillary supporters at their home in Washington on Tuesday to watch Mrs. Clinton’s speech. “The Kleenex was flowing,” said Ms. Hackney, who declared the speech “brilliant.”
Thursday, when 38 million Americans watched Mr. Obama’s speech, they watched a movie, “The Squid and the Whale.”
No matter what Mrs. Clinton urged, they cannot support Mr. Obama.
“To go against Hillary is not easy for us,” Ms. Hackney said. “We don’t take that lightly. We just don’t think he has a message. We don’t think he’s good for women.”
“It’s not about being bitter for Hillary,” she said. Still, “I think the Democratic Party took women for granted in the primary, they didn’t step on sexism when they should have, and I can’t support them.”
Her phone, she said, began “burning up” when Mr. McCain announced Ms. Palin as his choice. “The fact that he went out on a limb to pick a woman, I’m very impressed by that.” She says she is not sure she can vote for a Republican, and will most likely stick to her plan to write in Mrs. Clinton. But, she said, “It’s opened my eyes to at least pay attention.”
Yes, they said, they were troubled by Ms. Palin’s opposition to abortion rights. But Ms. Hoover said she felt betrayed by pro-choice groups, and in particular politicians like Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who were helped into office by pro-choice groups like Emily’s List but came out early to support Mr. Obama over Mrs. Clinton, despite her being the first viable pro-choice woman to run for president.
Ms. Hoover has stopped giving to Emily’s List as a result. “It doesn’t make sense to me that, frankly, Emily’s List didn’t hold them accountable for having been elected on that platform but then not supporting that platform,” she said. “The setback for the pro-choice movement is almost deserved.”
Karen O’Connor, the director of the Women and Politics Institute at American University, said the convention’s constant repetition about the “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling” had left many people depressed. “If 18 million votes is not enough, what does it take in the Democratic Party to get a woman on the ticket?”
Healing may have come easier to those Clinton supporters who went to the convention, with all its women’s caucus meetings, the Emily’s List luncheon, and Mrs. Clinton’s meeting with her delegates, where she released them to vote as they pleased. It was hard to stand in a stadium of 80,000 listening to Mr. Obama and not be moved.
Lanny Davis, who was special counsel to President Bill Clinton and who came to exemplify the die-hard Hillary Clinton supporter so much that he was barely speaking to a son who supports Mr. Obama, said he was riding such a roller coaster of emotion that he finally Googled Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief.
“Denial, yes,” he said. “Anger, definitely. Bargaining, well, O.K. And depression, that’s definitely what I was going through.” He struggled to get to five: acceptance. “Even after we had our little Kumbaya meeting with Senator Obama I wasn’t doing well,” he said. But after the speeches, and Mr. Obama’s graceful acknowledgment of Mrs. Clinton in his speech accepting the nomination on Thursday night, Mr. Davis said, “O.K., I’m there.”
For supporters who saw the speeches only from home, said Ms. Walsh, it may have been harder, particularly with Mrs. Clinton coming off so forcefully.
“I think that makes it doubly hard for some of these women, because she really did look presidential.”
Mr. McCain’s choice, she said, “is a move for the women who weren’t at the convention.”
And even there, some women were not appeased. Ms. Walsh sat two seats away from an African-American woman who was crying during Mrs. Clinton’s speech. When the convention staff handed out “Unity” placards, the woman refused it.
The Palin nomination complicates the gender question in many ways.
Susie Tompkins-Buell, the Democratic fundraiser who declared herself the “poster child” for the “Hillary holdouts,” announced on Thursday that after her convention conversion she would transform Women Count, the organization she founded to support Mrs. Clinton in the final days of the primaries, into an organization to help protect women like Michelle Obama against misogyny.
But what will happen if the misogyny extends to Ms. Palin? There were hints of that on Friday, with Web sites showing photographs of her bare-shouldered in the days when she was runner-up for Miss Alaska, or as one caption read, “showing off her legs.” “Sarah Palin — Alaska Gov., McCain’s V.P. Pick, Kind of a Babe,” read one Internet headline.
The nomination promises to test the argument made during the primary that it wasn’t about sexism, it was about Hillary.
And, as Ruth B. Mandel, one of the founders of the Rutgers center, said, “this raises the question of when, where and how often women vote out of anger because there’s sexism.”
Republicans were stoking the gender wars before the Palin announcement.
Alex Castellanos, a Republican media strategist, revived the “Fatal Attraction” analogy in a television discussion about whether Mrs. Clinton would be able to gracefully cede the convention to her former rival.
Mr. McCain’s campaign ran an ad called “Passed Over,” highlighting the fact that she had not been seriously examined for the vice-presidential slot.
At the same time, the move is such a bald bid for the women’s vote that it might backfire. It seems likely that most Clinton supporters backed their candidate for her experience, not her gender. They may resent being reduced to the sum of their hormones.
When a Republican woman has run in the past, Ms. Mandel said, “we did not see a big benefit for her from the gender gap.” And Geraldine Ferraro did not prevent a landslide for Ronald Reagan, when she was on the ticket with Walter Mondale in 1984. But, as Ms. Mandel said, “It’s a different moment.”
The general election comes off a primary season of division, if not anger. And the country has been closely split in the last several elections.
Few people claim to understand the dynamics of the Clinton vote. In the most recent New York Times/CBS News poll, conducted Aug. 15-20, 22 percent of voters who said they had voted for Mrs. Clinton in the primaries say they now support Mr. McCain, while 61 percent back Mr. Obama. Among the women who voted for Mrs. Clinton, 17 percent say they support Mr. McCain, and 63 percent Mr. Obama. (The rest were undecided.)
“This says again, you can’t take these women for granted,” Ms. Walsh said. “There’s going to be a need to really reach out to them, to highlight the difference between John McCain and Barack Obama on the issues women care about.”
For all the emotion of the week, she said, the lesson is clear: “We matter.”
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
WHAT IS GENDER?
Here are some of your responses:
I think gender is the specification of a person. The common question, especially in applications, is what is your gender. The answer is either male or female.
Guys, girls. Male, female. Some people like to get it changed.
Gender is the classification of a person.
Gender, to me, is one’s BORN anatomical sex. Male/Female.
There are only two types of gender (male and female). We were born with these genders by the grace of God. That does not mean that a person has to act as his or her gender. But it is rare that a person would act out of his or her gender.
I think that gender means what sex you are and tell how you are “supposed” to act or how society feels you should act.
Gender is not only a scientific description but also a social division between people. It describes physically the differences between males and females. Gender separates people and causes many social issues when one gender feels superior to another.
Gender is the two separate halves that when together make a species whole. Gender exists because of the difference between the males and females of a species.
Gender, as I’ve always understood it, represents something else. For instance, you can use gender to catalog anything. It is usually used in personal information sheets to ask whether you’re male or female, but it may be used to stand for a group of subjects with similar characteristics.
Gender is what makes up a person—whether male or female. Gender is compiled with several components—it can help describe one’s being—mentally—physically, gender defines peoples body types and languages—thinking because of different genders—people act different ways and process things differently.
Gender is something that plays a large factor in some peoples’ lives. Whether you’re a male or a female can determine the outlook someone may have on a situation.
Gender is the sex of a person, I think.
Male or female. How someone looks, acts, dress, talk, etc. Category used to judge people.
How masculine or feminine someone is.
Gender is a means of distinction, a person is either male or female. Gender is used to distinguish the traits and characteristics that a male or female is supposed to exhibit to be considered the norm.
Gender is the sex of a person or animal. It deals with what reproductive organs and physical appearance a person has.
Gender is a way of classification. I think it has a very limited meaning.
Medical to me. There are, however, huge arguments about the psychological aspect.
Gender is a biological and sociological status that people tend to embrace and feel a certain urge to act in a way typical of their gender.
Gender is what defines or differentiates a male from a female.
Gender is whether you are feminine, masculine, or neuter.
Gender is the word used to tell people apart by the category of males and females. The gender of a person consists also of the organs in one’s body which contrasts them again from males and females.
Gender is what makes a man a man, and a woman a woman. The sexual organs distinguish which side you belong to.
There are two genders, male and female. Both are needed to reproduce and continue the human race. The most obvious difference between the two is that they have some different body parts.
The groups of people that are based on reproductive organs.
Whether you are a man or a woman.
I think gender is the specification of a person. The common question, especially in applications, is what is your gender. The answer is either male or female.
Guys, girls. Male, female. Some people like to get it changed.
Gender is the classification of a person.
Gender, to me, is one’s BORN anatomical sex. Male/Female.
There are only two types of gender (male and female). We were born with these genders by the grace of God. That does not mean that a person has to act as his or her gender. But it is rare that a person would act out of his or her gender.
I think that gender means what sex you are and tell how you are “supposed” to act or how society feels you should act.
Gender is not only a scientific description but also a social division between people. It describes physically the differences between males and females. Gender separates people and causes many social issues when one gender feels superior to another.
Gender is the two separate halves that when together make a species whole. Gender exists because of the difference between the males and females of a species.
Gender, as I’ve always understood it, represents something else. For instance, you can use gender to catalog anything. It is usually used in personal information sheets to ask whether you’re male or female, but it may be used to stand for a group of subjects with similar characteristics.
Gender is what makes up a person—whether male or female. Gender is compiled with several components—it can help describe one’s being—mentally—physically, gender defines peoples body types and languages—thinking because of different genders—people act different ways and process things differently.
Gender is something that plays a large factor in some peoples’ lives. Whether you’re a male or a female can determine the outlook someone may have on a situation.
Gender is the sex of a person, I think.
Male or female. How someone looks, acts, dress, talk, etc. Category used to judge people.
How masculine or feminine someone is.
Gender is a means of distinction, a person is either male or female. Gender is used to distinguish the traits and characteristics that a male or female is supposed to exhibit to be considered the norm.
Gender is the sex of a person or animal. It deals with what reproductive organs and physical appearance a person has.
Gender is a way of classification. I think it has a very limited meaning.
Medical to me. There are, however, huge arguments about the psychological aspect.
Gender is a biological and sociological status that people tend to embrace and feel a certain urge to act in a way typical of their gender.
Gender is what defines or differentiates a male from a female.
Gender is whether you are feminine, masculine, or neuter.
Gender is the word used to tell people apart by the category of males and females. The gender of a person consists also of the organs in one’s body which contrasts them again from males and females.
Gender is what makes a man a man, and a woman a woman. The sexual organs distinguish which side you belong to.
There are two genders, male and female. Both are needed to reproduce and continue the human race. The most obvious difference between the two is that they have some different body parts.
The groups of people that are based on reproductive organs.
Whether you are a man or a woman.
METABLOG: BLOG ON BLOGS
Ben (069) mentioned in class yesterday that blogs have been around since the 1990s, which made me think about the evolution of weblogs from remote-server lists to today's MySpace, FaceBook, and so on.
Here's a link to an early (November 1999) web-diary service, Diaryland.
And here's a link to a brief history of weblogs.
Here's a link to an early (November 1999) web-diary service, Diaryland.
And here's a link to a brief history of weblogs.
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