Short Post 2/7

I thought that the three readings that were assigned for this class complemented each other very well. Throughout my reading of the patriarchy article I found myself constantly thinking of counter arguments. Many of these counter arguments were address by the Frye and Gokova articles, which resulted in a more positive reaction to all of the articles. My issues with the patriarchy articles were that I felt as though at times the argument was a little over dramatic. I do consider myself a feminist and I have very strong opinions about reproductive and health rights of women, but at times I find myself becoming defensive and disagreeing with the arguments. Like all of the discussion over representations in the media, which came up again in the Johnson article, can trigger a negative reaction for me. I feel like often people blame oppression on media when maybe media is just a reflection of society. It is hard to see if the real world is reflecting the media or the other way around. This causes me to get frustrated with wasting time over analyzing and searching for faults in the shows that we depend on for entertainment. I do not watch TV in order to see a utopian society depicted in which there are no longer any issues. In fact the TV depicts a patriarchal society because that is what we live in and it therefore make the shows more relatable.
As I became more critical of the article it also occurred to me that men are also depicted on TV in certain ways and are restrained by certain expectations. This is where the article by Frye helped to expand my understanding. Frye addresses what oppression really means and that it is possible that men can be unhappy or dissatisfied with the status quo without being considered oppressed. I thought she was very accurate in her analysis that women can be trapped in a place where it is considered wrong to participate in sexual activity and it is also wrong to not participate. This is a feeling that I have heard expressed before on the Colgate campus. Women are quickly assigned to being sluts or prudes and there is not much room for a woman to be comfortable with her sexual experiences. Gokova opened my eyes to understanding feminist rhetoric in a different way. He offered an interesting perspective because he comes from a drastically different culture than I do. Sometimes it can be difficult to see the consequences that can come from a patriarchal society when looking at the issues from an affluent American perspective. After reading Gokova, Johnson article seemed much less dramatic and more like a legitimate and concerning perspective. For me an argument really comes alive when discussing consequences of potential rape rather than holding open doors.