Intro to Humanities

Tues and Thurs with Dr. Moffett

Melissa Saykham
03/26 /2015

Journal Two/Packet Four: Identity, Privilege, and Inequality

After examining these readings explore what it means to be a woman? How does it vary from
place to place? What does the position of men in their specific role in their society about it?
Identify ideals in our society of femininity. How is their place in society different from that of men.
Looking at, 'A Left-Handed Commencement Address', what does Ursula Le Guin really telling the
women of the University to do?

While in my last journal, I wrote about the challenges that men may encounter as a result of their gender,
in this journal, I feel it can be very easily recognized that women experience similar challenges and much,
much more to a significantly higher degree. While these readings did assist me in reaffirming my personal
perspective of gender inequalities between men and women, I did not need them to realize that women
were already at a disadvantaged position in most societies of the world. In some parts of India and China,
being born into the female gender will automatically increase one’s susceptibility to being killed,
neglected, and/or abused sexually or otherwise. Women can be denied the same education given to men
and forced into marriages against their will at a very young age and sexually exploited, and this is
considered socially acceptable in some countries. In many cultures, in addition to being considered
inferior to men, women are forced to play the scapegoat for inhumane actions of men or for inferior or
mediocre work compared to male colleagues and peers. For example, the dominant mentalities in rape
culture generally consist of sexually objectifying women and then subsequently blaming women for their
own objectification. In many cases, some men have justified raping women and then blaming them for
being raped due to how they may have been dressed or non-verbally “asking for it” in some other way, or
perhaps, it seems their justification could even be attributed to a sub-conscious ingrained mentality of
male entitlement.

To be a female is to be disadvantaged and misrepresented before one even realizes their circumstances
to be as such. Often times, if a female possesses a strong intellect and full potential to complete tasks or
fill roles that are primarily completed or filled by men, her capabilities will likely be overshadowed by her
external physical nature first. In “Memoirs of a Woman Doctor” and “Girl”, I felt the authors well-illustrated
some societal challenges females face, some even more so in certain cultures. In Western culture, while I
feel gender equality is more accepted here than other parts of the world, there are still undeniably many
gender inequalities that persist in this society. Although women make up more than half of the population
in the United States, there is still a substantial lack of females in higher positions of power at companies
and in politics. In some countries, a woman’s right to decide her education, occupation, and/or husband is
non-existent, as a patriarchal society will already pre-determine that for her.

The expression of femininity is a complex balancing act, as illustrated in “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid.
Women must be demure, so as to not provoke an impression of being sexually liberated, or in some
peoples’ words “slutty”, however, we must also contrastingly be sexually appealing, because society has
placed an emphasis on a woman’s value being greatly tied to her external physical beauty. We must be
strong enough to simultaneously support and fulfill the needs of our significant other, tend to our progeny,
and oversee a myriad of domesticated tasks, however, we must not be so strong in our career roles and
personal ambition, as this strength could lead to aggressive behavior that could be perceived as “bitchy”
for women, but “powerful” for men.

In Ursula K. Le Guin’s “A Left-Handed Commencement Address”, I gathered that she was encouraging
women to become empowered individuals in society, but not through emulating, bashing, or competing
with men, but by embracing a separate mentality from men. By nurturing and cultivating a mentality in
which women are encouraged to reach their full potential without a patriarchal influence, women can be
more inspired to growing their own innate strengths, talents, and true personal identities. I feel the
reading also emphasized that feminism is not a rivalry or an elitist attitude, but an advocate for true
equality between genders, when Le Guin express to women, “I hope you live without the need to
dominate, and without the need to be dominated. I hope you are never victims, but I hope you have no
power over other people. And when you fail, and are defeated, and in pain, and in the dark, then I hope
you will remember that darkness is your country, where you live, where no wars are fought and no wars
are won, but where the future is.”