old reply to Tom for week 1

I guess it seems traditional that a man should open a door for a woman but nowadays I think it is more just about commmon courtesy than anything else. I guess I think this because I am a little younger so it is not as instilled in me as it is in those that were raised more traditionally. I can see how you feel a little weird if a woman opens the door for you at the workplace, but hey, just say thanks and go through it. It is not a big deal. When I get to a door if I am the first one there than I definitely hold it for whoeever is behind me, wheher it be a male or female. I notice that sometimes people walk through and don't even say thank you, which I think is kind of rude but maybe thats just me. Whenever anyone holds a door for me I always say thank you to them. I personally don't think that gender matter when it comes to door opening, it is just polite to open the door for others and shows good manners.

reply to Glenn final week

I think you have the right idea Glenn! It is time that we all take a stand and strive to change our society for a better future. We really can't bring up future children the same way that children decades ago were brought up because lets face it, the world is alot different now than it usd to be. I do not have any children yet, but I know that when I do I am going to bring my children up to be open minded and tolerant of others. I cannot stand when people are judgemental of others or racist, and yet they really cant tell you why. All they know is that thats the way it is in their family so they feel like its some type of obligation to have the same viewpoints as their family. It is time that this type of nonsense comes to an end. Instead of trying to shelter children from all types of differences in the world, we should start educating them at a young age so that they can make their own informed decicions instead of being dictated how they should react to certain things. Children are eventually going to see it all, so we might as well teach them the right way to be accepting than to try to hide them from the differences. I hope that many others have the same viewpoint as you do because that is the type of people that we need in order to change the world for the better.

business post final week

So to be honest, I ended up taking this class by accident. My advisor had me in some other class and the first day of it she realized it was for english majors only so she switched me into this class at the last second and called me and is like, "I hope you are interested in gender studies." Now, I honestly had no idea what to expect in this class, and really I have never taken any kind of gender course before. I was just hoping that this class wasn't boring, because the first thing that popped in my head was like us having to read some stuff from hundreds of years ago about how men and womens culture developed or something. That probably sounds stupid, but I just didn't know. Well now I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by this class and I am really glad my advisor stuck me in at the last second. The stuff we read was interesting and not only that, it was important. The class opened up everyone's eyes to real life issues and helped us to become aware of the stuggles we all face everyday in our sex and gender. I am glad to say that this class is one of the many few that we can actually apply to real life and help us become more understanding of each other and the world around us. I think it is kind of ironic because there are so many classes that are required to take to graduate, and most of them you don't really learn anything from. It feels like a waste of time but you have to do it if you want to graduate. I feel like this type of class should be required way more so than certain others, because this class actually teaches us about real life and about relationships in our future work environments and personal lives. I feel like everything we did was worth the time we took to do it. I think we all can now be more aware of gender issues that we face every day in our daily lives, and I am sure we all learned something that we can maybe change within ourselves to make us better people and better able to relate to others around us. Thank you all very much for the opportunities we have had to share and to listen to each other. Hope you all have a great summer. Thanks Prof M for this class!

reply to Alex final week

That is awesome that you felt so at home and connected to the issues we discussed in this class. I know what you mean when you say that it is hard to just socially talk about this kind of stuff like at a party or something social. Alot of people don't really realize many issues that we discussed, but atleast those of us that took the class are more informed now. I am glad it was such a good experience for you and its truly amazing that it made you feel more empowered as a woman, in the many aspects of your life. Good luck to you in the future!
p.s. You will be awesome in the PTA...your daughter is a lucky girl =)

business post week 6

Do you think that guys that have sisters treat women better? I was talking to my boyfriend's mom and she was telling me some stuff one of her son's did that upset her. It had to do with him bringing home a few different girls in the same week and how she was pissed off because she felt disrespected in more ways than one. First she thought it was rude that he did that in her home when he has his own apartment to do that type of thing in, and felt that he was disrespecting her as a woman by doing that in her house. Also, she does not like that he obviously does not think much of these girls if he is bringing various girls home in a short time period. We were talking in general about how guys treat girls in general, and i was thinking, do you think maybe he does not have as much respect or understanding of females because he has no sisters? As a general statement, I feel that most guys that I know that do have sisters are somewhat more respectful towards other females and also have a better clue of how their minds work and the way they perceive things. Maybe they see more into what bothers or upsets girls so since they have this experience they can use it when learning how to treat other women that come into their life. We were also saying that we think men that treat their wives respectfully and lovingly usually have sons that treat women just as well. I think that some males learn how to treat females from the way that their fathers do. This is also why if a father is abusive than it is likely that the son can end up being abusive as well. My boyfriend's father died when he was very young so him and his brothers did not have their father around to see how well he treated their mother when he was alive. She thinks this also has something to do with it because his brother did not have a positive male role model around where he could see how women should be treated by men. Girls, what do you think from your personal experiences? Guys..what do you think?

reply to John week 6

Ha don't you just want to smack the crap out of her sometimes? If you have more credentials for the job than bam, that makes you the boss. It doesn't matter that you are younger, but I do notice that older people have a hard time when people younger than them are in charge. They feel that because they are older that they don't have to listen to you because they think they know more. I am one of the youngest at my job and I get the same thing alot. People dont listen to what I have to say in staff meetings or if I tell them something that has to be done, they kinda brush me off like oh whatever. If you have to remind her once in awhile whose boss, than thats what ya gotta do. It doesn't make you rude at all, its her own fault for not respecting you.

reply to Glenn week 6

What the hell? I think that it is ridiculous to claim that two girls kissing in public is innapropriate and that they should be thrown out. I do not think it matters who it is that is kissing, whether it be a man and a woman, a man and a man, or a woman and a woman. Honestly, who gives a shit? If you dont agree with homosexuality than dont kiss members of the same sex thats all. It doesn't give people the right to claim that someone else's behavior is unacceptable just because they do not agree with it. My answer is, if you think its wrong than don't look. As far as explaining it to children, why not be honest? Your kids are eventually going to end up coming into some situation that involves homosexuality, so if they are prepared for it, its probably better. For all you know your kid is going to end up being gay, so people need to watch what they say. If people teach their children at a younger age that everyone is different and that doesn't make them bad people, than our society would become more accepting of each other even if we all don't have the same beliefs. I think that the definition of innapropriate in a public place is the same for everyone regardless of what sex's are involved. If you are really going too far in public like groping like crazy or clothes coming up or off, that is when it becomes a problem. If you wouldn't want your own kids to see strangers doing that, thats when you know it is too much.