Miss America in the New Decade

A new decade has emerged and another Miss America has been crowned. This year's competition was different: for instance, viewers voted 3 women into the Top 15, and the final contestant in this grouping was chosen by the other contestants. We saw all aspects of the show, it seems like in years past we didn't have the privilege to enjoy the talent. But, Katie Stam (Miss America 2009) explained in this TLC commercial that the pageant has been brought into the 21st century.

Are pageants an attempt for men to idolize women from a distance while still subjecting them to their wills?

Are women focusing on only outward appearance and teaching young girls to focus on their looks instead of building character?


Anyone who has seen Sandra Bullock in "Miss Congeniality" knows her opinion of the contest and the contestants changes during the course of the film. Women were valued based on their intelligence, talents, and desire to be a part of community service. I think some of that is true in the current pageants. Miss America does offer $50,000 in scholarships to contestants and many participate in order to pay for college. Perhaps, eying the women in bikinis and admiring their evening gowns is an opportunity for the contestants to reap the rewards of being talented and beautiful (great clothes, travel, fame, etc...) while making the general public believe that it's all about the beauty.

What Women Want

The New York Times did the follow-up story, "What Women Want," after the 1972 cover story concerning Americans' reaction to the Women's Liberation Movement.

Here are a few interesting statistics: 
1972-7% of high school athletes girls  2010-42% 
1972-60/40 of men and women on college campuses    2010-40/60 of men and women 
1970s-majority of kids had stay at home parent   2010-less than 1/3 
1972-10% of law and medical degrees for women  2010-50% of degrees
    50% of Ivy League Presidents 
    3 of 4 most recent Secretaries of State 
    40% breadwinners  
    65% financial planners for their families  
    71% family accountant  
    75% buying decisions for the family 
    70% of kids have working mother
   working for themselves doubled from 1979 and 2003 
   35% of self-employed people (last 2 statistics from The Unfinished Revolution)  
   10% of civil engineers   
    1/3 of physicians and surgeons   
    98% of kindergarten teachers and dental assistants  
    earn 77 cents on the dollar compared with men (2010)  
   earnings dropped 2% in 2008 (double the change in men's earnings)  
   32% more likely to have sub-prime mortgages
    children born to single mothers from 12% to 39% 

Complete NY Times Story and Statistics

Somethings changed, somethings didn't:

Interestingly enough, the Times also found 76% of men and 80% of women viewed the change to women working outside the home as positive. That statistic is regardless of race, age and political ideology.

The article also explains that numerous surveys convey the same message: as women have gained more freedom, education, and opportunities, there has been a general decline in their happiness. This could be interpreted, as the article says, that the movement was not about happiness; it could also be that society and individuals have changed their ideas of happiness.

On each side of the issue, it's still easy to have labels and stereotypes: men who resent women, women who think men still have greater advantages. While some of this is true, it seems that the political and social atmosphere has changed and both sexes are more open to the new dynamics. But depending on how, when, and where you were raised, you will probably each have a different perspective on the issue.

Personal Note:

I watched my parents celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary last year. Growing up, I knew that my parents had an equal relationship. My mom didn't work until my sister and I were in middle school, but that was her choice. The reason was the kids spent less time at home and there was less for her to be involved in (school PTA, yearbook, etc). She wanted the chance to do something different. At no time did my father say she couldn't work (she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom), and her working was not concerned with money. 

Take it for what you will, but I enjoyed having my mom around when I was a kid. Even after she started working, she was always home when we finished school. Looking to my future, I think a similar plan would be good for me: yes, I want kids and I want both parents to be involved in raising them. Both of my parents were part of everything that ever happened to me. I realize I was blessed to have them there, because not everyone has that opportunity.

To conclude, have things changed since the 1970s? Yes. Society is constantly evolving and are women gaining momentum. It will be interesting to see where we are another 35 years from now.

Lions, and Tigers, and Cougars, Oh My!

Cougars:
Do you think that society holds a double standard for men and women when it comes to expressing sexuality? For centuries, older men have dated and married younger women. Now that older women want to date younger men, television shows are being devoted to the subject. When interviewed, the older individual (male or female) usually stated the reason the/she liked younger singles is youth gives his/her mates more energy and makes him/her, in turn, feel younger.

Did anyone watch the TV Land show “The Cougar”? Were you appalled at the way “the Cougar” was portrayed as a woman obsessed with young lovers and the men were like putty in her hands? I’m sorry, but I think the dynamic of a couple should be based on more than sex, money, and having a trophy to show off (either male or female).  There’s the ABC show “Cougar Town,” Lifetime and E! specials on celebrity cougars, and a basic Google search for information about “Cougar Town” led me to Want to date a Cougar?. It is truly amazing.

Tigers:

Then we get to the old news story about Tiger Wood’s cheating prowess. I’m sure there are many women who have something to say to him and/or his wife. He’s being idolized in the news for having so many affairs and keeping them secret from all of the women in his life. Men are so proud of his scoring and some women wish they were part of his pack. Some of the women had no regrets and their families and friends helped keep the secret. How low does your self-esteem have to be? And the fact that everyone knows he’s married, the restrictions he put on the relationship, and that since he’s cheating with you, he will most likely cheat on you, clues to these women?

Lions:

What about Warren Beatty’s record? Ladies, you know that if a woman announced those numbers she would be called a slut, prostitute, and whore, and be questioned about STDs and pregnancies. But did this king of the jungle receive that kind of press? Besides, who asks these questions and who keeps count? I know I wouldn’t want to be asked and I wouldn’t want to ask a boyfriend, fiancé, or husband. Awkward!

Male Prostitution:

On January 6, CBS aired a story that Nevada’s first workingmen have received their licenses and the go ahead--Legal Male Prostitutes. Say what? It’s true! In December, the health authorities changed the specifications so that men could be tested for STDs, and therefore, can legally play the other role in the age-old game. Wow, the times they are a changin’. I understand that prostitution has been around for ages but it usually is considered a lower class of business, even if it does pay well. 

So here we are: the world has been flipped on its head and men are now prostitutes and older women dating younger men is the new rage. But let’s be honest for a minute. What do you really think about all of this? There has always been a double standard when it comes to women being promiscuous, having a share in the business world, and generally wanting equality, power, and individuality. But are these new  changes helping the feminist movement of the 21^st century; are they empowering women to be individuals and take control of their lives; or, are the double standards a problem that will never be completely resolved?

The Slogan and It's Uses

"Well-behaved women seldom make history." Have you heard this phrase, seen it on bumper stickers, t-shirts, or just as a slogan? What does it mean?

Well, according to the speaker, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, it can have many meanings. It was taken from her 1976 doctoral dissertation on Puritan women’s funerals. No offense Laurel, but it sounds kind of boring. And I guess, since I’ve read parts of your book, that your response to me would be, “Yes, they were boring and the women essentially forgotten.”

This exert was taken from page 19 of the prologue from Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History:

“So what do people see when they read that well-behaved women rarely make history? Do they imagine good-time girls in stiletto heels or do-good girls carrying clipboards and passing petitions? Do they envision an out-of-control hobbyist or a single mother taking down a drunk in a bar? I suspect that it depends on where they stand themselves.”

If you are interested in reading the entire introduction, check your local library or use Google Books; a few pages are left out of this copy.

Ulrich explains that she has received a lot of fan mail over the years with people describing their efforts to illuminate and live-up-to this phrase. Type it in Google and you get nearly 200,000 hits.

But well-behaved women can make history, for instance, Ulrich herself. Does anyone know the background story on Rosa Parks? It is true that she refused to give up her seat on the bus, but it is also true that she was not the first black woman to have done so. E.D. Nixon, president of the Montgomery NAACP, later explained that the others didn't have a reputation and history that lacked smudges that could bring the Civil Rights Movement positive results.

So what do we do with women like Queen Elizabeth, Joan of Arc, and Mother Theresa? They have come to be revered as powerful women of history, but in their own times people had mixed feelings about them.

Modern Example:

Let’s talk about something more modern then. Everyone has at least seen reruns of “I Love Lucy.” I know that this may appear as a corny example, but bear with me for a minute. Lucy got into trouble in nearly every episode. We watched her be reprimanded and even scared of her husband Ricky. There is an episode where the men and women switch places and the ladies try working (the classic chocolate factory scene) and the men make dinner (a pound of rice for each person!). The end result is that the ladies find they don’t have what it takes to work and the men realize household chores are not all fun and games.

On the surface this appears to be a sexist show, but look a little deeper. Lucy negotiates, deceives, or a combination of the two, to get herself out of almost every scrape. The empowerment of women against men and against society is the undercurrent. It is masked by screwball comedy and if the producers had realized how female-empowering they were being in the 1950s, they might have taken the show off the air. But here again, we see women gaining power and fighting the system even before the controversial 1970’s women’s movement.

Personal Note:

I don’t want to give the impression that I am pro-women’s liberation to such an extent that I am also pro-choice and believe women should abandon motherhood for the sake of their careers. I think there should be a healthy balance between family and work and that women, just like men, have the right to choose. But now, I want to know what you think. If you do respond, could you include a little about yourself, such as your age, if you are married, a parent, never want kids, etc? Thanks for contributing.

The Beginning

The purpose of this blog is two fold—to satisfy a few class requirements and gaining knowledge. Let me explain. I’m taking a class about digital media, so it stands to reason that we would have to make a blog. But this time, I’m not without ideas. I’m also taking a class about Renaissance women writers. But there are none, you say. Ah, my dear friend, that is where you are wrong. We have always been taught that women writers were scarce until at least the 18^th or 19^th centuries, but that is a fallacy. Not until the 1970s when a new wave of feminism posed the question did scholars and historians find these forgotten works.

What makes my case more interesting is that the class is looking at Renaissance women through the lens of Feminist Theory. Theory can be described as thinking about thinking. Now, I know I’m not the only one who finds that concept boring, highbrow, and a cause of a headache. But, another way to look at theory is challenging traditional, common sense knowledge in order to find possible new incites. So, what is Feminist Theory? That is a complicated question, and one I don’t know the answer too.

Feminist Theory:

You could say it is looking at literature (or any aspect of society) with the perspective and eye of a woman—what a woman desires, thinks, feels, etc. But since this is theory, it also challenges the traditional thoughts about women—what makes a person female (besides biology); what is a woman’s role in society; are their certain characteristics that are strictly female; and the list continues. I wish to explore what feminist theory is and how it relates to our current society.

History:

Whenever I hear the word feminist I think of bra burning. Am I right? That’s what we are taught about the feminist movement of the 1970s. What I didn’t know is that feminism has been around for a long time and is not simply one movement. Every time it surfaces it is looking for something different—1920s equal rights in the work place, 1970s independence and individuality. I do not consider myself an expert in this field, whatsoever, that’s why I am in college. Right?

Personal Note:

But still, what I am looking for is insight into what feminism means to men and women of today. No matter your age, race, gender, nationality, political or religious ties, you have an opinion. And I want to hear it! I will bring in my own thoughts and ever-changing perspective on the matter, and discussions that have been started in class. But I want to know what you think. In order to understand this world and where females, feminism, and feminist theory fit into the scheme of things, I need a wider lens than my own.

Is this the new wave of feminism or just a better way to promote it?