Week 9-10 Questions

On the Ehrenreich reading, which was 1. the Ehrenreich reading on Welcome to Cancerland focuses on her personal experiences after and during breast cancer diagnosis. During her ordeal she mentions how AIDS begs for researching finance, tuberculosis has no support but yet breast cancer has the support of most stores like Revlon, Pier 1, Avon...etc. Do you think that Breast Cancer has been a marketing tool for corporate America? How does this help or cripple the attention of other diseases?

From the Nikki Stewart reading which was: Women's studies has proven vital in academia, but can the issues of gender, sex, feminism, social constructs etc, be made as a pre-requisite in all majors, or should it only count for the social sciences? What makes a degree in Women Studies not as prestige among other majors?


By Mike

Week 9-10 Question

In the articles by Doezema and Smith, authors both talk about women’s reproductive and human rights.In the topics of prostitution and abortion rights, what are the "forces" that are creating the dichotomy among these issues (ex. white supremacy..etc)?

Week 8 DIs Questions

1. Did President Bush promote marriage only to heterosexuals in order to stress his opinion of traditional marriage or because he knew that the divorce rate was rising and "multiple marriages mean multiple expenditures?" Additionally, if this is true, and his intention was to bring more economic flow into the country, then why did he not promote gay marriage when same-sex weddings "translates into such huge revenues?"

2. Why would the nation exclude other groups of people, such as the homosexuals and multiracial people from fully integrating into the country as shown by Morrison and Lewis? What would be the benefit of doing so through the excluder's eyes?

Week 8 Discussion Questions

1. Steinem talks about how many of the murder crimes committed are because one needs to feel more dominant or prove their identity. What do you think Messner who wrote the "100% Straight" piece would say in relation to the Steinem piece?

2. Do you think that the militarized sex industry that Nagel talks about is one that should be fought against? Explain. If yes, how is it different to any of the other domestic sex based institutions? for example, strip clubs or the Las Vegas sex industry.

Week 7 Presentation

1. According to Bose and Whaley there research suggests that there is segregation between women and men in the work force, and that when women are hired into the top pyrimad  it is usually because the job has changed in some way? Looking at successful women today, to what extent do you think this is true?

2. Mink speaks on feminist politics and single poor mothers. The author discusses how child-caring has lost its "economic" value to our society, since we value wages and income so much. Working in the labor market is considered liberating and receiving welfare or staying at home looked down up on. Do you think it's socially fair that the new welfare law forces woman benefiting from it to work outside of the home? Why?

Presentation Question Week 5

How have women of any race, class, sexuality, and physicality been shaped by society's norm of: " 'true' womanhood" as Bank's appraises; the "culture of thinness" as Thompson proposes; and the conception that "loose lips sink ships" as firmly stated by Davis?

presentation question week 5

What is it about our culture that has led mainly women to the belief that our physical appearance and attributes are more important than anything else in many cases? Women go to great lengths to have plastic surgery because our society tells them that bags under eyes and wrinkles on their face are defining pieces of who they are. As Debra Gimlin talks about in her article, women are supposed to be independent and support change and advancement for themselves, yet at the same time still are held to the standard that appearance is more important than anything. Why is our society still at this point?