Significance of Rape

Rape can be broadly defined as sex without consent but it is understood as a crime of aggression because the focus is on hurting and dominating. There are many types and factors that influence this horrendous act. Rape has been a consistent problem for women over the years. Statistics show that with one in three to one in four women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. It is sad to say that seven out of ten women reported to have known their offender whether it was a relative, friend or someone that they just were acquainted with. Less than 5% of sexually assaulted women reported what happened to them. Women tend to not report the sexual assault because they are afraid, they feel ashamed or that no one will believe them. Women fail to realize that if they do not tell nothing will be done about the situation and the person that did this to them is still out there possibly repeating the offense or attacking other women. Even a form of acquaintance rape is women being raped by their own husbands. In 1993 marital rape became a crime in all 50 states, but why would rape in any case married or unmarried not be a crime? Other common factors found especially on college campuses are alcohol, and drugs, including the date rape drug. Women need to know the significance of rape and the scars that they leave on them, we as a society need to make women feel comfortable enough to come forward if they are violated in any such way. Hopefully legislation implemented will prevent the increased rates such as in 1993, and allow for us to have healthy sexual relationships.

Women's Influence in Poker

One of my favorite hobbies to do is play poker, more specifically No Limit Texas Hold’em. I am an avid fan and watch as many circuit events from the World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker. One thing I have quickly come up on was the incredible amount of critical thinking and social skills it takes to play the game. You need to be thinking constantly whether that be calculating pot odds, win odds, or reading your opponent, it is definitely more complicated than the two cards sitting in front of you. Being an avid fan and from what I have learned in this class I have realized the characteristics to be a successful poker player that I just listed are qualities best found in women, rather than men. What has confused me about this is that there are drastically fewer women that play professionally than men, but also the success of those women isn’t as great as those of men. Kathy Liebert is regarded as one of the best female poker players in the world; she capitalizes on these skills I mentioned earlier, she has won nearly six million dollars in live events. Comparing her to someone of the same age, who has had the same amount of tournaments under their belt in Daniel Negreanu the comparisons isn’t fair. Daniel has won many more tournaments and a lot more money, to be precisely correct he has won over fifteen million dollars in live tournaments. So why are men beating women at their own game? Is it because in the early 1950s poker was illegal and made the people that played look like gangsters? Or are men simply underrated in their social and critical thinking skills? I hope more women are able to join the poker boom so we are able to solve this argument on a level field.

The Perception of Women in Media

Media in our world now portray women as sex objects. Front covers usually have a woman showing as much skin as possible and showing tall, thin women. This gives a certain image to women on how all women “should” be. Television shows use women as the source to their jokes such as Marge Simpson from The Simpsons, or Liz Lemon from 30 Rock. Marge is a typical traditionally characterized housewife, and when she does try and go out for a job it is a huge joke, where things go wrong and she ends up back to where she was. Liz Lemon is a producer for a television network who is constantly harassed by her boss Jack Donaghy. Lemon is different in the fact that she is able to pursue her goals and dreams but like all of these media representations she is looked at as an object. The front cover featuring a model, Marge Simpson, and Liz Lemon are all being held back by stereotypical men who believe in traditional ideas, when you mix these with the perceptions the media is giving off women viewers are in very troubled waters. They see these episodes and realize they need to be that certain way, or that since they area woman they are unlikely to make more than men and are going to be treated unfairly, so why even try to pursue a higher education. I feel that personally the media is the primary cause of all the issues we have in the world, that they instill these ideas into us everyday, everywhere we go. I am not saying we need to stop watching these programs or magazines we just need to take them less literally and realize that we shouldn’t put ourselves under those same circumstances.

News Article:
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-human-condition/2010/04/08/leslie-knope-liz-lemon-and-the-feminist-lessons-of-nbc-s-parks-and-recreation.html

Marriage and Family

Many people have a variety of opinions when it comes to marriage and family. For me personally I definitely will be like most people where I will practice a monogamous relationship with my wife. I believe that family is the direct level of social unity among the people associated within it, where we are able to learn and share ideas of love, belief, and experience. I do not believe that one individual should run the house, or “wear the pants”, I believe that when you are married it is a partnership that has to be looked at in equal amounts of power and work. I feel that my job will be more of a priority in my relationship with my wife and for the family just because it is very inflexible as far as moving and the financial burdens that would be involved in the process. I am not saying my wife can’t have an education or a job for that matter I just feel like when it comes to raising kids and taking time off, with the amount of money I have invested into my education to get the benefits of a higher salary, that my wife will be the one to take on that role. If for some reason my wife is making more than me, than I would greatly accept that role in the family, because I feel that the work done at home that isn’t compensated with money is equally important as the work that is compensated. My mother was a stay at home mom and my dad was a doctor, seeing both of them do their daily routines I would say it is very close in displeasure and stress. My mom watched three obnoxious little boys and took care of the house work, while my dad took the responsibility of running his own practice. Being able to be apart of both of these schedules has made me appreciate each side more and understand the sacrifices that need to be made in a relationship even better.

Women and Plastic Surgery

People in general are afraid of aging and the physical characteristics that it brings with it, while women are now dreading age fifty instead of forty there are a few reasons for this adjustment. One of the most rapid growing fads to solve this problem in the United States is Plastic surgery; this fad is primarily dominated by women seeking perfection. There are a variety of reasons why women are seeking out surgery, whether it is hoping for better sex lives, or just improving their life in general. While past issues have been directly related to weight, that is no longer the issue. Women have figured that they need every little detail on their body perfected so they can get Catherine Zeta-Jones’ face, or Jennifer Lopez’s butt. However what the clients don’t understand is that we are all born with a frame and if we lose too much weight or try to alter it in anyway, we are going against this natural look designed specifically for us. As a consequence certain surgeries or dieting can make people look abnormal even if they think they are getting that little perfection. Gill Todd a nurse specialist said “The message women get is that we need all our bones showing, and we need to be thin, so only then can we be happy and successful.” I feel terrible when I hear this because it is unfortunately very true with our society, and many people have to go through these surgeries only to find out that their lives aren’t any better than before. I think plastic surgery is good to a certain extent, if you have something that is preventing you from living a normal life and you would be better off getting plastic surgery then I am all for it, however if you are just doing it simply to get a better cup size or a smaller nose then I feel like you are going against what God gave you. I do believe that this will become a very big issue with women in the future because celebrities are getting operations done all the time, but like anything we do surgery has consequences, I just hope we are able to get this problem under control before women have to face them.

The End of Men

The traditional idea of women has slowed down drastically in recent years into a more modern belief. For our required readings this week we were able to see two classic viewpoints on what the future holds for both men and women. Hanna Rosin’s main argument is that men will not be as successful as women in the future, and that the world will be better run with the characteristics of a woman, while men may choose to change but it will not affect the outcome of the future. Where for the first time in human history we have started changing from the industrialized economy that requires strength and toughness to a more technology based economy that allows for critical thinking skills to reign supreme. Men just occupy two of the fifteen job categories selected to grow most rapidly in the future, while they are still leading in crime and poverty. While Ann Friedman does agree that the future economy does favor the characteristics of females, she also believes that men are essential to the growth and leadership of society in the future. Therefore saying that men just cant be ignored when it comes to the lack of certain traits, that men need to change otherwise they will not only fail for themselves but their families as well. If fathers took more time to be nurturing instead of macho, not thinking about being the bread winner as much we would have less cases of poverty, crime, rape, etc. This is because they will have a role model that will make sure they stay out of trouble and go get an education. I believe Friedman’s theory and I hope that men are able to change because it would be a shame if we weren’t able to if not for ourselves then for our families.

Eating Disorders

A serious issue especially here in the United States is the idea of eating disorders. These terrible habits consist of anything from Anorexia Nervosa to Bulimia Nervosa to Binge Eating. Found most commonly in women trying to get to the ideal body size nearly ten million women and girls suffer from anorexia and/or bulimia in the United States alone. Possibly even more shocking is the amount of men also involved in these terrible habits, nearly one million men and boys suffer from anorexia and/or bulimia in the United States. Many consequences exist because of these practices including Osteoporosis, Electrolyte imbalances, low heart beat, distorted thinking, abdominal pain, hypertension, diabetes, as well as cardiac arrest and death. These are not consequences that should be reached, if someone is experiencing the urge to use these tactics then they should seek help. Even young children are being affected by these horrible practices nearly 81% of ten year olds are afraid of being fat. I think that this is an awful stat and we need to be more aware of children and what they are watching and doing because a little 10 year old girl or boy should not be worrying about their appearance to this extent.
I feel that this is an extremely serious issue, that parents, friends, and family all need to be looking out for because the victims of these terrible addictions are too afraid to seek help because they feel that they need their image to be similar to what the media portrays as the best looking person. Women who do practice these tactics are twelve times more likely to die than women of the same age, when I first heard that statistic I could not believe it. To think that women are putting that much pressure on themselves to be skinny is just heartbreaking because it should not matter what the media perceives as the perfect person. I hope in my generation we are able to get a handle on this but with the way the media is currently I feel that there is a large fight left in the future.