Short Post 2/2

The New Girliness chapter in Douglas’s book Enlightened Sexism, made me truly think about why women are they way they are and why men are the way they are. I believe that men and women are inherently different. If they were not inherently different then how have we reached these stereotypes in the first place? Of course I believe a woman should be able to do everything a man should do and vice versa. However, women are not men and will never be men. Douglas talks about the growing sense in the years of boy bands that men and women have “an innate essence that is utterly distinct and unchangeable”. After this comment she says how it is the women who accommodate to the unchangeable men. I believe men are indeed different that women, but none the less just as able to change as women are. Present day, you see men who have realized women are just as capable as themselves in doing whatever it may be. The really important thing to understand here is that feminism has changed men. However, just because some men have been changed by feminism does not mean feminism is no longer needed. Although there are the traditional men, from my experience more and more married couples are acting as a team with equal divisions of power as oppose to the father ruling the mother. I believe in order for all men to act this way and want domestication and marriage the feminist movement has to continue at full strength.

I also think it is extremely interesting how Douglas portrays the importance of the femininity scale. She talks about having a certain level of femininity and also a certain level or success. She puts Janet Reno on one side of the spectrum and Cindy Crawford on the other end. This concept of finding a happy medium is interesting. The only thing telling us we would be most happy in the middle is media portraying society. I personally like to be feminine. I like to shop, I like to gossip and I enjoy watching most of the shows Douglas critiques. At the same time I am success driven, hard working and understanding of the importance and fulfillment of having a career that I love. Although I do think Douglas over analyzes every show and does not offer her own perspective of what should be done, I also think she is doing a great job at raising awareness levels. She has made me question everything. Do I really like to shop or do I only shop because society says women should enjoy doing that? She has made me analyze all the feminine stereotypes I am subjected to. However, at the same time I feel I break those stereotypes just as I support them. I play hockey and snowboard, both predominately male sports. I am an economics major and enjoy math, which statistically are predominantly male majors. I am sometimes in the gym doing the machines where I am the only girl. From my perspective, I feel I balance out success and femininity well. Of course if it came down to obtaining my dream job, which meant giving up some of my feminine characteristics the decision would be clear. I mean how could I ever give up shopping? Kidding! Of course I would pick the job.

Douglas discusses Oprah in chapter 5 and like Michelle said, it was hard to find exactly what Douglas thought of her. She refers to her usage of Black Speak to a predominately white audience. It seems to me that people who can make fun of their own group feel they have power. Stereotypes are always going to exist unless all races, classes and gender are mixed at an early age in education. But we live in America. People have the freedom to do whatever they want and to live in areas where the kids are not going to be diversified in school. This is true with man’s perception of a woman. Unless they are taught from an early age that they are equal they will not feel women are completely equal. And in my mind getting rid of entertainment shows like Ally McBeal and Legally Blonde are not going to fix the problem.