Gender Binary

In an attempt to placate many, many readers, I will be sharing with you some excerpts from my Women's Studies work this past semester. Here is the first installment! 

When trying to understand the gender binary hierarchy, I tried to see how this dualism has affected my personal life. I attempted to answer the questions: am I defined in relation to men and do I see myself, and do others around me view me as subordinate to men? These questions stem from the two key points for the gender binary hierarchy (i) women are defined in sole relation to men and (ii) women are always lesser than or subordinate to men. In my personal relationship, I am an equal to my partner both in his mind and mine, and for me to be with someone who considers me less than he would be inconceivable. In the workplace, however, I have witnessed what I believe to be a form of female subordination in the form of a glass ceiling. At a previous job, several very capable women were passed over for a high ranking position, while a man with very little experience and skills needed for the job was offered the position.

Where workplace discrimination is commonplace, both in reality and popular fiction, I had thought that the act of defining women legally in relation to men had become passé. However, I was recently made aware of Japanese law that calls for men and women to share a last name once they are married (see: http://ca.jezebel.com/5760692/japanese-women-fight-for-right-to-keep-their-maiden-names). I found this example of the hierarchy to be particularly troublesome, as I personally recoil at the thought of giving up my name for someone else’s and I cannot imagine the grief I would feel if I were legally forced to define myself solely by my relationship to men. 

Thankfully, in Canadian law that the first part of the gender binary is definitely fading away and becoming yet another black spot in our history. The second part however, of all women being lesser or subordinate to men is still, I believe, rampant throughout our society.  This subordination is not only present in sexual assault cases, and although my recent volunteer experience has been eye opening to the prevalence of these events, female subordination is everywhere. From the way Lara Logan’s recent assault in Egypt has been handled by some news outlets and reporters (see: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/16/how-could-nir-rosen-not-have-known-his-lara-logan-tweets-crossed/) to the continual  treatment of Liberal MP Belinda Stronach by both members of the press and fellow MPs (see: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2006/10/20/mackay-stronach.html), the treatment of women as lesser than their male counterparts is in practically every career and every society. Women are in positions of power as MPs and as foreign correspondents, and we are holding more and more of these positions. As such, we should be respected for the work we are doing and the contributions we are making to the society. Unfortunately, whether it is the glass ceiling, legalities or politics, women are still being faced with this primitive notion that we are somehow lesser than our male counterparts.  

Salandar's Turn

Rooney Mara has posed for some very racy photos dressed as the character Lisbeth Salandar for W Magazine. I am shocked and upset at this turn, inventing a sexual image for a rape victim. The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series focuses on one of the best female characters in literature, I would argue, ever. A strong, independent woman, facing mental illness and a past of gigantic proportions, Lisbeth is kept androgynous by genius author Steig Larsson. The Swedish film series, although heavily sexual, does not stray from this portrayal of Lisbeth. Suffering from years of abuse and rape, Lisbeth experiments with her sexuality but I find it hard to believe she would go this far with her experimentation. David Fincher has an interesting past with women's issues (most recently seen in his almost completely male cast of The Social Network). It will be interesting to see if this is merely poor publicity or how Lisbeth will be portrayed once the movie comes to the big screen.
To see the photos and the accompanying article, please click here.

Salon's Broadsheet Folding

Salon.com's women's feature blog, Broadsheet, is being closed down. What does this mean? Definitely a loss of an intelligent voice in the women's online community. Of course, Salon will still be publishing their take on world issues, often presented with a women's position in mind, but to lose such a compelling argumentative authority for health issues, financial issues and popular culture is a shame. I worry that this could signal a decline in other women focus blogs (Jezebel.com and Feministing.com come to mind). Is the blog reading generation just apathetic to feminism? Or is it just too heavy a subject for a generation fixated by the Kardashians?

Black Swan's Body Issues

Last night, after watching (well, mostly watching) the chilling Black Swan, there was one thought that kept nagging at me. For as long as the movie has been out, the media have been raving about the amazing shape that Natalie Portman was in during the shooting of this movie. A recent Today Show segment pegged her body as such and the hosts were seen practicing workouts that would elicit the same kinds of results.

To achieve such shocking results, Portman tells Access Hollywood that she did see a nutritionist and “couldn’t not eat.” So, she wasn’t starving herself. Good, but still, she has the shape of a 12 year old boy in the film!

The people that will be most affected by this, I worry, are under the movie’s 14A rating, and without the crazy ballerina story line that Portman portrays as the decrypted Nina, this body type could seem, with all the attention it is garnering, like a positive decision. The sexual nature of the film and the stars' bodies are all the media is really capturing about this strange and striking movie. Maybe less about inspired workouts and more about the actual film? Thanks, American media.

One Day

I have just finished reading David Nicholl's One Day. Since it appeared on so many 'Best of 2010' book posts, I thought it might be a good read for the winter break. I did find it enjoyable but with one glaring issue, I could not connect to the characters! Last semester I was fortunate to take an Indian Writing in English course, where we read The Guide by R.K. Narayan. This question was presented during discussion, "do you have to like the characters to get something out of the novel, or perhaps, are the characters unlikable to exemplify a greater theme in the novel?". For Nicholl, I felt the character was, frankly, sloppy. The greater theme of finding true love was diminished by the disdain I had for the lead male. Dexter is a personified Peter Pan British boy, a similar complex that Hugh Grant exists within almost all his movies. I think that this shtick is overplayed and is often a fall-back for writers looking for a clichéd character to present.

The female lead, although more likable, falls in the predicable literary trap of being the destroyed-by-love female, waiting for the man to finally come to his senses. Emma, the female protagonist, is constantly and continually falling in love with a terribly abusive and awful Dexter. She attempts to lead a strong, independent life, but is unable to move on from that one perfect day that she shared with a man who hasn't existed since.

The two find themselves in a committed, adult relationship. One where Dexter has to clean up his act and finally this static character changes! Ultimately, I have no qualms with this book being a fun, and despite being rather large at 448 pages, it is still a light read. If I wasn't trying so hard to find qualities in especially Dexter that were relatable, I think I would have liked it much more.
Done!

Madame de Prince de Beaumont and Feminism

This blog is titled Beaumont's Folly, solely due to Madame de Prince de Beaumont, a little recognized early feminist and writer. Along with dedicating her life to the creation of equal educational rights in England for women, Beaumont is credited with writing the canonized Beauty and the Beast, creating a strong didactic tale exemplifying her life's purpose.

Currently, I am a student at the University of Alberta and am often struck at the extreme apathy towards women's issues that surround me at work, in my personal life, and in school. Here, I plan to write on issues that Beaumont would have been shocked by still exist in 2011, whether they exist in politics, literature or pop culture.

I hope to apply a refreshing and youthful feminist spin to critical critiques of what I am constantly surrounding myself with.

Here's hoping it works!