Rape in the Military

It was not surprising to me about the number of rapes which occured on women in the armed forces.  While I believe the practice and the numbers are horrendous I am not surprised.  The US military is a highly masculinized instituion in which the soldiers are broken down on entry and rebuilt to be command following violent individuals.  One of the unfortunate side effects is that the soldier than revert back to basic animal instinct and believe they can take what they want.  This then transfers over to the women who they take advantage of because they want to.  I am not saying this is right I am merely saying what I observe. Because of this I would not encourage any female member of my family whether sister or daughter to join the military for fear of the abuse which they would endure not just sexually by also mentally.  The military and its hierarchy was developed for men not for women. 

Strippers?

During a class discussion a girl in our class asserted that she did not want to live in a society in which women were givent eh opportunity to work in a profession in which they are used as sex objects.  This girl was talking about prostitutes however what she failed to see is that we already live in this society.  How in fact is a porn star who is paid to have sex on camera any different than a prostitute who is also paid to have sex.  The fact is whether right or wrong we live a society where women are viewed as symbols of sex and women have the opportunity in many field to exploit the culture and make money.  Another question is does the government have the right to tell a women what she can and cannot do with her body?  I believe the precendent of Roe v Wade says that the Federal government can not.

Candyland

For our presentation me and my gorup created a board game dealing with sex trafficking.  The game was modeled after candyland and shared the same rules and principles.  I found it interesting however the amount of competiveness that the students were willing to show when playing the game.  It seemed to me that the natural competiveness was coming out because the game was familiar and that it tok people back to childhood.  I heard people wish for others to pull the wrong card which was beaten or drugged.  However I believe the message was recieved, in sex trafficking there areno true winners.

Gender and War

In class today we discussed how the different genders are supposed to act while their countries are at war.  It seemed obvious to me that the men would go to war and fight while the women would provide support on the home front.  However I never thought about how the support provided by the women would also redifine the gender roles.  During WWII women took on new roles such as mechanic and welder as well as the main provider for the family.  While the men were away the women were given more freedom and that is one of the reasons for the advancement of the feminist movement. 
 I do not believe however that the meaning of man is redefined by war.  In fact I believe the definition is reinforced.  In war the men are teh soldiers and the protectors of the country and its ideals.  They are still viewed as strong and expected to show no emotions.  These are attributes we expect out of males in war time and in peace time. 

Gender Roles

This week we spent a majority of our time discussing gender roles and the boxes which we all are socialized to fit into.  While many people attempt to push the boundaries of the box the larger society forces them to stay within the constraints of the box.  I believe that in order to change the boundaries of the box there will have to be a change in the society as a whole.  While certain individuals are able to step outside of these boxes it does not mean that the broader society has changed.  The groups that step out of the boxes are outcasts in society and recieve many informal sanctions.  Memebers of these outcast groups include gays, trans genders, even working women who are childless by choice and all others who do not fit with in the socially constructed boxes of gender.
The United States of Aerica does not have any laws which explicity prohibit the groups previously mentioned.  However the informal sanctions by the larger society are so strong that many are reluctant to step even a little bit outside of the boxes for fear of the looks of disgust or to be labeled as a freak or for teh working woman a bitch.  So i guess what I am trying to say is that in order for the gender boxes to expand or dissappear society as a whole will have to change.  This change will not happen over night but eventually we as a people will be open to these groups.  This change must begin within each one of us and continue trough society as a whole