Comments:

MeganMay 7, 2012 06:39 PM

I agree with some aspects, because that fetus will eventually be a child when it is born and I am fully pro-choice but I am pro-choice because I don't know what I would do if I were put in that situation. You can't fully commit to something (in my opinion) until you are put through it yourself. Which is why there is so much controversy over it, for example Amendment 26-giving men the opinion in voting on what to do with women's bodies. Wrong. But that is just my opinion. I am on the fence with some aspects but that is why I consider myself pro-choice.

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MeganMay 7, 2012 04:45 PM

I agree with the entire fairy tale happy ending that we wish for when we are younger, being the only girl in a house full of brothers my parents referred to me as the princess. Even though this is my fourth year at college I still have my "princess/diva" moments but now growing up I realize I don't want to find "prince charming" for about 4 more years (I'm 21), but all of our situations are different of course! I agree girls need the sense of being rescued, which in my opinion may be why the divorce rate is what it is and also why girls choose to marry so young when they haven't even developed who they are themselves. But yes pop culture and our media definitely brain wash us from start to finish, no matter what the age.

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Part 2:


I think what I have learned the most is not to be walked all over by the way things are in our society now. I developed more feminism views about March of last year when one of my ex boyfriends and I completely ended all forms of communication. He was very sexist and racist (told me to change my major to elementary education so I would be able to "find a job" wherever his job sent him, when he always knew I wanted to be apart of the business world) and for a bit it did rub off on me. And through this class it made me realize even more that I am a strong, independent young woman that does not need a man telling me what to do, I am fully capable. 
Paige had commented on my pop culture blog about the show Desperate Housewives commenting how in shows and movies with strong women they often end up being left or never being able to find a man. I think compromise and negotiation works for every type of relationship business, friendships, and even marriages/relationships. But you must not only compromise and negotiate for the other person's wants and needs, you must be treated as an equal. Even talking to my mom about some topics in class she told me something that she wished she would have done right before marriage or right between marriage and having me-set up who is going to do what, whether it be for the year or for forever. My mom keeps track of the paperwork, deals with the money, deals with our college tuition and every other little thing. My dad didn't even know you could transfer money online, he told me that last year. Not doubting my father and other men but using some of what I learned in this course and relying it to my mom and she telling me her input made me realize things I do need to do when I find the "fairytale facade" (woof). And I always thought Beyonce was all about girl power until I read "Single Ladies", I love Beyonce and I have been to many Destiny's Child concerts when I was younger, but that definitely put a bad image in my head about her and her views. But anyways I really did enjoy this class and I know I will continue to use what I have learned throughout the future!

Pop Culture

Pop culture is everywhere we turn, we are bombarded by it every single day with the television shows we watch, the music we listen to and the advertisements we see. These can put a negative or positive taste in our mouths about gender. My favorite television show is Desperate Housewives and my favorite character is Lynette. She is a very strong, independent woman who when she has children quits her job to stay home but then into further seasons she goes back to work with her husband staying at home. In this season her husband gets sick of her being so outspoken and leaves her for a woman who says all the "right things" and does everything for him, while Lynette tries to win him back. I don't think enough shows depict strong, working women and when they do they show that woman as cold and not happy. She is shown like that throughout the seasons which I don't like but I do like that even though her husband leaves her and people view her as cold she still does not change and does not choose to change her ways. I believe her character has influenced me to know that I can still have a family and a career when I get older and it is okay to take time away from work to raise a family but then also go back to the work world and to never change who you are. Out of all the television shows I watch her character has had the most influence on how I would want my working and family life to be like.

Pro-Choice

I classify myself in the category of pro-choice because I honestly do not know what I would do if I was put into the situation to choose. But because of my social location in society I would not have to choose abortion. I do believe in adoption because so many families that want children cannot have them but more girls that are too young or cannot afford to raise a child consider adoption but then once the baby comes changes their minds, which is wrong. If a young girl cannot mentally handle being a mother or financially raise a child or her family cannot then they should either take care of the situation before they become too attached or change their minds about adoption.

I believe fully in God and I am religious but some situations are not for everyone and I believe children should not be born into bad situations because then the odds are fully against them.

Blog 7

Being the only girl and followed by three brothers I’m not quite sure why my parents never covered the sex talk with me growing up but they really did not touch on it too much. I came to college I had never taken birth control but knew I needed to take it to be careful. I did not tell my mom when I choose to get on birth control. One day we were at lunch I believe my junior year in college when I was at home over a break and I took out my birth control without thinking about it to take my pill for the day and my mom was mortified. She said “Megan Elizabeth, what are you doing taking that out in public! There might be someone here that we know!” I responded with telling her she should be happy if someone we knew was there saw me take my birth control because then they would know that I am being safe and not being an idiotic irresponsible college student. Many people I grew up with or just went to school with in passing have children and are my age, my high school sweetheart (the boy I lost it to and him me in high school) has a child and is married and is only a year older than me. I have engraved it in my mom’s head that she should be happy that I am being safe and she should not be embarrassed if anymore were to see me doing the action that keeps me safe. Girls should not be embarrassed if someone sees their blue, tan or whatever color birth control case in public because we are doing what we need to do to stay safe. It is our bodies and our futures that we make the decisions for and no one should be embarrassed for that.

Blog 6

http://ptbillington.xanga.com/758839717/blog-assignment---3/?page=1&jump=1524639099&leftcmt=1#1524639099

http://speaklifewithin.blogspot.com/2012/02/feminine-or-not.html?showComment=1330379361238#c8421697202274335982

Politics

My social and political position on things is very in the middle, saying I am very moderate in my political beliefs. I have shifted from a very conservative at the age of 18 to a moderate and even more liberal on certain topics now being 21 and living away from my parents and on my own. I believe living in Mississippi has opened my eyes to many social and political issues that people either do not talk about where I am from or have viewpoints different from people from Mississippi.  

I believe I am oppressed by my position on some topics by my parents, for instance prop 26. I put my Facebook profile picture to Vote No on Prop 26, updated my status about it and so forth and when my parents would ask me about it I would tell them my stance and they automatically would act like they weren’t listening. My parents view the things that fell under prop 26 very different than I do, but I have grown to learn about these things and change my political position on many things from being in college and being around different people and learning new things. I don’t believe that your gender or race should set you back from equal job opportunities when you are working just as hard as the “white man”.

When I express some of these beliefs people either avoid the topic completely or just think I’m crazy. I think I’m privileged to have this open thinking that I have picked up over the last four years because it sets me apart from others and gives me a wider and better understanding of the world which makes me feel better about my knowledge and myself.

I think it is our right as women to know that believing something different and going against the man is okay. Stepping out of the social norm our society has created could be good for many people. 

Gender

Growing up my parents let me play with almost any age appropriate toy that I wanted. I had an abundant amount of Barbies and American Girl dolls while my brothers had every G.I. Joe that was ever made but we all played together, putting my Barbies in the G.I. Joe tank and so on. Our parents never looked down upon me playing with “boy toys” or my brothers playing with my “girl toys” and me. We also played hairdresser with fake scissors, house with fake food and school. My parents would never get mad or yell at my brothers when they would be the baker or be the hairdresser because we were happy.

My parents let me participate in any and every sport I wished. I was in gymnastics and cheerleading for a few months then told my parents I didn’t want to do it anymore because it was not something my brothers would do with me. Growing up I played soccer, basketball, softball and volleyball and continued with volleyball until I was 17. I preferred a sport with a ball because my brothers’ main sport was football while also playing basketball, running track and baseball. I wanted to be equal to them, which meant not being a girly girl and being able to be rough with them.

We also would wrestle when we were little from me being about 5 to 8, I was never told by my parents that I couldn’t do so because I was a girl. I believe my parents did not put gender roles on us because they did not have them on each other. My mom is a very independent hardworking woman who works in the business world of sporting goods, which is predominantly male based, my father does the same. They view one another as equals so that is how my three brothers and I were raised.

I was not extremely exposed to these set in stone gender roles until my arrival for college in Mississippi in August 2008. I was told multiple things just in passing or would hear what some people would say. Some being, “whisky is for guys”, “beauty is pain if you are a lady”, “women belong in the kitchen”, etc.

Not that some of these views are not had in Houston, Texas but men and women do not typically comment or say those types of things. In my experience in living there and going back for breaks my friends and the people I associate myself with do not look down upon women. Many people have a very high and positive viewpoint of successful women and agree that women should be equal to men. It is not that way all throughout the state but in the metropolitan of Houston and the surrounding suburbs (unless you live on a farm or are very old country Texas) women are viewed more equally than I have ever seen in Mississippi.

 

My Amazing Mother

Being the first born with three younger brothers following behind it would be a huge cliché to say that my mom is my best friend but that cliché falls true between my mother and my relationship. She is the strongest woman I have ever met in my entire life. Growing up I didn't fully understand why my mom was always planning trips for just us, wanting to send every moment with me and continuing to grow and develop our mother-daughter relationship even though at times I was resistant to it. Not until high school I fully understood why my mom was constantly trying to build our relationship, she had a horrible relationship with her mom. Some of the stories she told me seemed unreal and I was able to understand and appreciate our mother-daughter relationship more. 

Since I was in fourth grade we have taken our own mother-daughter vacations. The trips were usually wherever I wanted to go, Florida, skiing, New York, Chicago and I cannot express how grateful I am for those trips. Especially since I have come to college so far away we aren't able to go on trips as often or see each other as often but she is still my best friend. Then when deciding where I want to relocate after graduation I have chosen to move back to Houston to be closer to my family come August and she can't wait.

My brothers are great boys that are growing into young men, being 19, 18 and 14 but they are defiantly a handful for my mom but she still continues to be involved in all of their activities so when we have a family of our own we will look back on all the great memories our mom gave us.

One of my favorite memories of growing up was the summer I had turned 5 and my brothers were 2 and 3. Our parents worked out of our house and my mom was becoming flustered with us. She gave us all the washable paint we wanted and let us go outside and paint the fence for hours. Of course our dad was mad but she wanted to let us do something that we would have fun doing, and keep us occupied.

 She is such a strong and beautiful woman that I hope to be like when I have a family.