Article Review 3- Bridget Thomas

Bridget Thomas

WGST 202 H

December 9, 2014

Article Review #3

Cowan, Gloria. “Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Toward Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Against Gays and Lesbians: Old-Fashioned and Modern Heterosexism.” Journal of Homosexuality 49.2 (2005): 67-82.

           

            In “Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Toward Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Against Gays and Lesbians: Old-Fashioned and Modern Heterosexism”,  Gloria Cowan and her colleagues examine the predictability of attitudes toward hate crimes and hate speech against homosexual people. This was done through the investigation of both old-fashioned and modern heterosexism. The study indicated the importance of the fact that old-fashioned and modern beliefs may be interconnected and might exist on a spectrum: these concepts are not separate from one another. Additionally, Cowan noted that hate crimes and hate speech experienced by homosexual people are expressions of the animosity and prejudice also faced by ethnic and religious minority groups.               

            Cowan first defines hate crime as “a criminal act in which the victim was targeted because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. This may include, but is not limited to, threatening phone calls, hate mail, physical assaults, vandalism, fires, and bombings” (68). In comparison, hate speech uses symbols and words, such as faggot, nigger, or pictures. Cowan points out that this type of speech is legal under the US constitution until it contains threats or intimidation. She argues that both hate crime and hate speech are problematic, as they generate trepidation within homosexual communities. Cowan writes, “Since hate speech toward gays often accompanies actual physical violence, the receipt of hate speech leaves the gay target with extreme feelings of vulnerability” (69).

            Successively, Cowan goes on to write about the differences between old-fashioned and modern heterosexism. Old-fashioned heterosexism involves the obvious demonstration of aversion and disapproval toward homosexuals. In contrast, modern heterosexism is elusive. Modern heterosexists do not always blatantly deem homosexuals as inferior, nor do they always blatantly show hatred toward them. Rather, modern heterosexists enforce and maintain policies that promote heterosexism while muffling homosexual rights. 

            Cowan predicted modern heterosexists to have attitudes that uphold a society where overlooking and excusing hate crimes and hate speech against gay and lesbian people is endorsed. She predicted that old-fashioned heterosexists will have attitudes that commend hate crimes and hate speech against homosexuals. The research indicated that the  predictions were accurate, with an additional significant finding: both old-fashioned and modern heterosexism diminishes the damage caused by hate speech. Cowan discusses the significance of these findings in relationship to freedom of speech in the US. She writes, “… freedom of speech is a double-edged sword. It protects gays and lesbians and it indirectly contributes to the tolerance of harmful speech” (79). In other words, as the importance of freedom of speech grows and perpetuates to old-fashioned and modern heterosexists, so does the belittling of the harm inflicted by hate speech.

            The topics of old-fashioned and modern heterosexism in relationship to hate crime and hate speech toward homosexuals pertain to my blog topic of violence against LGBT people. Hate crimes and speech are essentially forms of physical and verbal violence, driven by thoughts of heterosexist superiority. This concept of heterosexist superiority that drives hate crime and hate speech against homosexuals ties into the course themes of heterosexual privilege and heteronormativity, where heterosexuality is deemed the normal, acceptable, and natural sexual orientation.

            Cowan and colleagues discuss the attitudes of old-fashioned and modern heterosexists that drive hate crimes and hate speech. Although the Cowan’s and Paul Kwon’s articles discuss different topics, the topics are interrelated. Hate speech and hate crime can be tied into Paul Kwon’s article titled “Resilience in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals”. It relates because the resilience factors utilized by many LGBT people, as Kwon writes, is necessary because of the violence they experience in the forms of hate crime and hate speech endorsed by heterosexists, as Cowan writes.

            The article by Cowan gave me new insight into how heterosexual privilege and heteronormativity play out in our society. I had never before thought about, but now I understand, how freedom of speech can be a “double-edged sword” for LGBT people. Overall, the article was very thought provoking and I thought the authors did not leave anything out that needed to be addressed.

           

           

             

Josephine Hicks Article Review #3

Josephine Hicks

WGST 202

T/Th 12:301:45

Professor Currans

Blog Topic: Sexuality and Visual Art

Article Review #3

Levin, Gail. "Censorship, Politics and Sexual Imagery in the Work of Jewish-American Feminist Artists." Nashim 14 (2007): 63-96. ProQuest. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.

In Gail Levin's "Censorship, Politics and Sexual Imagery in The Work of Jewish-American Feminists Artists", she discusses the sexual visual art of nine feminist Jewish-American artists. She compares Jewish-American women in the theater to these artists, and claims that the activism of these women is a by product of their heritage. Levin believed that feminist artists of Jewish heritage were motivated by their belief in social justice and desire for political reform, and so they engaged in radical politics, through creative tools and imaging (87). Levin discusses how some of the sexually explicit art had been reduced to erotica and provoked attempts at censorship. Levin's main point is that Jewish women have been among the pioneers of feminists that set out to raise awareness of female sexuality(90).

Nine feminist Jewish-American artists, Judy Chicago, Judith Bernstein, Martha Edelheit, Eunice Golden, Joyce Kozloff, Joan Semmel, Nancy Spero, Anita Steckel and Hannah Wilke, have all contributed in the making of controversial sexually explicit art. This art was contextualized by the new openness about the female body and sexuality manifest from the 1960s through the 1980s (63). Levin discusses the stereotype of Jewish-American woman being keen on addressing female sexuality through creative tools. She tells the reader that this stereotype started to really emerge in the early twentieth century when a Russian-born Jewish immigrant, Sophie Tucker (1884-1996), had established herself as a cabaret performer. Tucker performed songs that challenged the United States' code for morality regarding women's sexuality, such as “I May Be Getting Older Every Day (But Younger Every Night). Tucker mocked old-fashioned marriage and would talk about marital sex and how spouses would cheat on each other. She even went as far to "encourage women to hold on to their men by becoming more physical and men to treat their women 'right,' implying that marriage should be gratifying sexually and personally for both men and women" (66). She challenged Puritan ideologies that were widespread at the time. Levin brings it to her reader's attention that Puritan tradition continues to affect trends in modern American art. She points out that Tucker did not have this Puritanism in her ethnic background, and that "Jewish feminists’ use of sexual imagery often celebrates both sexuality and female agency" (67).

Levin continues by saying that the sexual art depicting female anatomy and nudity was often misread as simply erotic. She says, "to a feminist in the early 1970s, the political issue of female identity often trumped other meanings," (67). Levin gives us an example of what those meanings include; she quotes Barbara Rose: "It is designed to arouse women, but not sexually. . . . Judy Chicago’s yoni lifesavers [Pasadena Lifesavers, 1969–1970] are all vaginal or womb images. What is interesting about them is the manner in which they worshipfully allude to female genitalia as icons—as strong, clean, well made, and whole as the masculine totems to which we are accustomed" (67). Rose believed that the glorification of female genitalia was liberating because it undermined "one of the most fundamental ideas of male supremacy—that a penis, because it is visible, is superior" (67). Levin discusses male supremacy by informing the reader of the double standard that exists when it comes to the depictions of sexuality in visual art. She explains how women artist's images of female genitalia have been rejected by art critics, whereas male artists' images of phalluses are accepted. Jewish-American, Hannah Wilke (1940–1993), was particularly motivated to target these double standards as she ignored the traditional male gaze upon the female nude by presenting herself nude so that she could control what the viewer would see (71). Another Jewish-American artist, Joan Semmel (b.1932), known for her images of couples making love, was also concerned with these double standards. She views women’s sexuality intellectuality—as something men have “suppressed and then denied," and believed that "the male [has] had free reign to invent sexual mythology in terms of his own fears and fantasies," (73-74). Levin mentions seven other Jewish-American artists in the same light, in effort to really bring about awareness of Jewish-American women claiming their sexuality.

Naturally, these Jewish-American women speaking out against the repression of female sexuality became a kind of political activism (74). People would look at their art and reduce it to erotica or simply explicit sexual material with no redeeming social value. Their art made people cringe with disgust, anger, and sometimes pure outrage. People were constantly trying to look away from their work, and ultimately censor it. In retaliation to this censorship, these women joined the "Fight Censorship Group"" that was organized by a fellow Jewish-American woman artist, Anita Steckel. Women Jewish-American artists such as Judith Bernstein, Louise Bourgeois, Martha Edelheit, Eunice Golden, Joan Gluckman, Joan Semmel, and Hannah Wilke were all members of this group. Levin concludes with, "The artwork and the struggles summarized in this paper should serve to heighten our awareness that the drive for free expression in art is linked with women’s quest to claim their sexuality ... and that Jewish women have been among the pioneers in that quest" (90).

Gail Levin's "Censorship, Politics and Sexual Imagery in The Work of Jewish-American Feminists Artists" easily relates to my blog topic, sexuality and visual art. She describes the efforts of Jewish-American women as they set out to claim their sexuality through visual art. The topic of this article is very similar to Einat Metzl's "Artistic, Therapeutic, and Sexually Informed: A Five-Week Human Sexuality Course for Art Therapy Students", in that art is used as a means to represent and express sexuality. In Metzl's article, the reader learns that art-making and other creative outlets serve as an effective way to teach people about sexuality. That was because art-making and creative tools created a space where Metzl’s students could represent, express, and talk about sexuality. It was important for each individual to discuss their sexuality with others so that everyone could learn that everyone’s sexuality is different.  In Levin's article, we witness women using visual art as a means to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and ideas about sexuality with their viewer. These female Jewish-American artists were doing the same thing that Metzl’s students were doing. They were teaching about sexuality by expressing their individual takes on sexuality. All in all, I would definitely recommend reading this article. Not only is it a very informative read, but it was interesting to witness the progress that feminism has made so far.

Sarah Reasoner's Third Article Review

Sarah Reasoner          

WGST 202H

T/R 12:30-1:45

Professor Currans

Blog Topic: Transgender Movement

Article Review #3

Shapiro, Eve. “’Trans’cending Barriers: Transgender Organizing on the Internet” Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services 16.3-4 (2004): 165-179.

            Eve Shapiro’s article, “’Trans’cending Barriers: Transgender Organizing on the Internet” discusses the complicated relationship between the transgender rights movement and the internet. In this piece, Shapiro uses interviews and quotes from transgender activists to talk about the immensely positive impact that the internet has had on the transgender movement. She also critiques the internet, pointing out the problems that it does not fully help the movement to overcome. Overall, Shapiro argues that the internet’s wide use in the transgender movement is not without problems, but it has helped propel the movement forward in a powerful way.

            Shapiro first lays down a historical timeline that explains the different stages of the transgender movement. Through this description, the readers can understand where exactly the internet started being used by organizations in the movement. Shapiro identifies “three overlapping waves of organizing which moved the community from a support focus, to an educational one, and finally toward political organizing and activism” (168). She says that the internet was one big factor in helping the transgender movement shift from helping people survive and providing information to a movement that is trying to achieve social justice. During this political wave, there was a lot of direct action, such as protests, which, “allowed for a visible transgender presence” (168). During this wave, activists were also able to push the trans-rights movement forward by information exchange and organizing on the internet. Use of the internet in this way created widespread effects which reached further than any physical organizing could.

            The internet helped to overcome many issues that were faced by the trans-rights movement during the first two waves. For instance, before the internet, a transgender or non-gender conforming individual might not have known anyone like him or herself. The internet provides a space where trans-individuals can communicate safely with people who feel the same way they do.  This allows trans-individuals to educate themselves and get involved in support groups in ways that they never could before. Because of this, the internet fostered the communication and collective identity that the movement needed to grow. Furthermore, before the internet, medical organizations that performed gender-reassignment surgeries encouraged those who had undergone the surgery to try and hide their identity or past life. The internet overcame this problem by providing anonymity to those who are afraid to ‘come out’ as a trans-individual and also provides a space for activists to challenge the medical community’s notions about transsexuality. In this way, the internet has completely changed how the trans-rights movement is able to organize. It provides information about transsexuality to anyone who has access to a computer all across the world. People who are embarrassed or confused about their feelings of gender dysphoria can search for information on the internet in private, rather than having to look up information in a library or send a letter to a trans-rights organization requesting information. The distribution of information in this way had grown the movement astronomically. The internet has also helped to overcome the lack of funding that the trans-rights movement has. According to Shapiro, “(W)ith the Internet limited resources can now be better utilized. Whereas ten years ago the largest transgender support organization (…) almost closed its doors due to financial trouble, transgender organizations now can and do function with much smaller budgets,” (170). Shapiro explains that the internet allows organizations to be run from activist’s homes and eliminates the need to pay expenses like upkeep costs for an organization’s headquarters, which can help to expand the movement in spite of its limited budget. Despite all these upsides, however, the internet is not without flaws.

            One of the biggest challenges the trans-rights movement faces is their need to reach their most marginalized populations. For instance, many trans-individuals are homeless, having lost their jobs or homes because of their identity. These individuals oftentimes do not have access to the information or resources that the internet can provide them with because they do not have a computer or internet. In other words, the poorest and most disregarded trans-individuals are still being left behind as the movement relocates to the internet. Furthermore, the internet does not always reach members outside of the community. For instance, bystanders would have to move through a picket line during a trans-rights protest, directly exposing them to problems faced by trans-individuals, but those bystanders on the internet who are not involved in the movement can avoid ever seeing or reading such content about the trans-rights movement. This prevents the movement from expanding to include cisgender allies.  Finally, the use of the internet in the trans-rights movement is often criticized for having created, “a false sense of movement size and safety,” (174). Shapiro explains this by pointing out that trans-individuals might better be able to figure out their identity through information on the internet, but that “Basically, society is still limping along trying to understand what has happened and how should/do they respond,” (175). In this way, the internet does not fully help society as a whole understand the movement and be able to react to it appropriately, but it often creates a false sense that the movement is far-reaching when, in reality, there is a lot more work that needs to be done. Overall, these problems are still being addressed by leaders of the movement, but continue to operate through the internet.

            This article, like “Stepping Back, Looking Outward: Situating Transgender Activism and Transgender Studies- Kris Hayashi, Matt Richardson, and Susan Stryker Frame the Movement,” helps to develop my blog topic of the Transgender Rights Movement by addressing positive influences in the movement and offering a critique of how this could be better improved. Both “Transcending Barriers” and “Stepping Back, Looking Outward” emphasize the necessity to reach the most marginalized people within the trans-rights movement and both articles offer critiques about how the movement can better accomplish this. In both articles, the information that the authors use to frame the movement is based on quotes and interviews from activists and leaders within the movement, making both articles excellent examples of pieces that frame the movement in new and thought-provoking ways.  “Stepping Back, Looking Outward” described ways that direct action, education, and organization worked to help raise awareness for the trans-rights movement and “Transcending Barriers” added to these ideas by describing how the internet has served as a powerful tool for trans-rights activists.  Although I wish “Transcending Barriers” had done a better job offering solutions to the problems the movement still faces even with the internet, I would still recommend this article to people who are interested in seeing the positive changes and victories of the transgender movement in the past few decades.

Recognition of Sexual Violence Against Men: Inclusive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiJlVGPq9E0

Ben Acheson explores the idea that rape and sexual violence against men needs to be more recognized. He includes that men make up 14% of rape victims in the U.S. and that even the discussion about rape committed against women isn't adequate. It's important to note that he is advocating for the inclusion of male rape victims and not trying to invalidate female victims or anything of the like -- he is trying to eliminate rape culture and he's trying to make the world a safer and easier place for survivors. He explains that male rape victims need be be discussed openly rather than in hushed tones and as though the topic is taboo.

-Elijah Zagorski

Article Review 3

Ashley Compton

WGST 202H

Professor Currans

Blog Topic: Women and Country Music

Article Review #3

McClane-Bunn, Ann. "Sex in the Hillbilly Field: Objectification of Women in Country Music Videos." Media Report to Women 38.4 (2010): 6,11,19-21. ProQuest. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

            In “Sex in the Hillbilly Field: Objectification of Women in Country Music Videos”, Ann McClane-Bunn talks about the idea that the country music industry is dominated by men, yet women still tend to be the main focus in most country music videos. McClane-Bunn looks closely at the music videos presented on CMT (Country Music Television) before and after the channel became owned by Viacom, Inc., the same company that owns MTV (Music Television) and how the videos have changed since. Using her research, she argues that the women in modern country music videos are most often portrayed as sexualized objects.

            To better understand how women have been represented since the beginning of country music presented on CMT and how women’s portrayal has changed since MTV Networks’ acquirement of CMT, McClane-Bunn reviews women in general advertisements, women in country music, and women in popular music videos in any genre. Women in advertisements are more than often portrayed as thin, young, and beautiful, which women in our society try to emulate. She also points out that in advertisements, a woman’s beauty is often reduced to her individual body parts. When looking at women in early country music, she finds that the role for women was to be a housewife; therefore there was not much place for them anywhere else outside of the home. However, women slowly made progress and found a small place in country music but were not as successful as women in rock and pop music. McClane-Bunn clarifies that MTV is the biggest music video channel, which targets a demographic of 12- to 34-year-olds. She explains that since the audience is mostly adolescents, they often want to copy what they see on screen, which is not a great thing since MTV often makes women seem like they are just a visual object for men.

            To improve understanding on the portrayal of women in country music videos now, McClane-Bunn conducted a study to compare videos from before and after MTV Networks’ acquisition of CMT. While watching the music videos, she divided them into the most common sexually objectifying frames of representation of women. The frames became: focus on women’s bodies, women’s gratuitous presence, and scantily clad women. Focus on women’s bodies is characterized by the amount of time the camera spends on a woman’s body or body parts compared to the other elements of the video. Kenny Chesney’s “Shiftwork” was the example she used for this type of video because the camera focuses most of its time on women’s bare midriff and cleavage. The women’s gratuitous presence frame is characterized by the woman being a visual pleasure for the viewer, but the woman’s presence has no relation to the lyrics or is not even mentioned at all in the song. “Santa Fe” by the Bellamy Brothers was the example for this frame because it personifies a place as a female and focuses a lot on a native American woman that has nothing to do with the lyrics. Lastly, the scantily clad women frame is depicted by the overt focus of women wearing almost nothing. Sugarland’s “All I Want to Do” was an example used for this frame because the female in the video is wearing a bikini while standing next to her fully dressed male counterpart.

            During her research, McClane-Bunn found some unfortunate results. With regards to the change of women’s representation since MTV Networks’ purchase of CMT, she discovered that the music videos point to more obvious and unnecessary sexual objectification today than they did before MTV Networks owned CMT. When looking at the content of videos in relation to lyrics, she found that sometimes images, in this case women, are included merely as entertainment factors or as a way to make more money, much like advertisements do to sell products. With her found information she makes the statement that the women in country music videos are “made into mere commodities, serving only to please their male entertainment counterparts or the assumed male viewer” (19), which she believes to be very dehumanizing to women.

            This article provides a lot of very useful information about my blog topic, which is women and country music. She shows the sad truth about country music videos being extremely sexually objectifying to women and makes this objectification into a way to make money. This article is similar to Julie Andsager and Kimberly Roe’s article “Country Music Video In The Country's Year Of The Woman”. Their article and McClane-Bunn’s article both focus a lot on the representation of women in the music videos rather than the lyrics of the songs. However, Andsager and Roe present a lot more statistical data that distinguish the dominance of men in the country music industry, while McClane-Bunn focuses more on giving a good description of exactly how the women are portrayed and objectified in the videos. One thing I wish that McClane-Bunn had done is provide a few more examples of music videos that clearly represent the objectifying frames that she established. She gives one example for each, however it would be nice to have a few more to see different videos of the same frame. I think that this article is very enlightening and anyone who enjoys country music should take the time to read it.

The Feminist Movement in Poland Article Review 3

Tarryn Priestly

Nov 23^rd, 2014

WGST 202

Professor Currans

Blog Topic: The Feminist Movement

Article Review #3

 Bystydzienski, Jill M. "The Feminist Movement in Poland." Women's Studies International Forum 24.5 (2001): 501-11. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

       'The Feminist Movement in Poland' is exactly as it says: an article that discusses the feminist movement's formation in Poland. This article, written by Jill Bystydzienski, goes in depth into how the movement had formed and specifically why it had been so slow to form in Poland, a country that Bystydzienski believes already has all the qualities to sprout this movement and yet hadn't. With this, her main point in the article is that historical, political, economic and social conditions have posed obstacles to the formation of a strong feminist movement in Poland, but such smaller women's movements had emerged on a local context. To support her main point, Bystydzienski brings into light Poland's past, showing why many Poles, especially women, believe they don't need a feminist movement in their country.

        Poland throughout its life as a country had experienced foreign rule after foreign rule, and in the era of the two World Wars, such rule had influenced the people within Poland to preserve traditions special to their culture. This involved women being put in traditional roles as educators, preservers of the Polish heritage and language and maintainers of Polish traditions. Such traditional roles were given to women so that men could focus on rebuilding the nation, ignoring women's demands to be admitted into the professions and political parties for this purpose. The Poles' want to be unified, and in such created an “us against them” attitude for the people (pg 502). With this, inequalities or differences among the people weren't seen so much as a priority, as a focus on gender inequality was seen as unpatriotic, unnecessarily taking the focus of a unified nation and people away from being the most important thing to achieve. The call for traditional roles from the Catholic church also slowed the process of forming a feminist movement in Poland, as the Church is seen as a major influence in the lives of the Poles since a majority of people in Poland are Catholic. There also was the idea of ideals and chivalry that had Poles take comfort in these traditions, not wanting to sacrifice them for a feminist movement.

        The later rule of communism had also set back the idea of a feminist movement as it too enforced the ideas of preserving traditional roles amongst women, saying that they had equality but in honesty women were still seen primarily as homemakers and mothers. Under the rule of communism, women were not allowed 'legally to establish autonomous women’s organizations' (pg 502). Established by the government, one women's organisation did exist: the League of Polish Women. This had existed essentially to 'facilitate women’s adaptation to the expectations and demands outlined in the state plans of socio-economic development which determined their activities' (pg 502). With these organisations influenced by state plans rather than feminist ideals, this trend of deception had continued into policy making, with policies appearing to benefit women but were actually to benefit the state's economic goals. And it is also under communism that feminism wasn't given a good light in the first place as its cause was belittled, and the Polish people formed disdain for what they considered 'western feminism', a movement seen as a 'bourgeois preoccupation' (pg 503). Added to this was also the dismissal of western feminism as being lesbian-dominated and anti-male, something the traditional Poles didn't want to be seen as. Feminism in Poland was also associated with communism, as Poles saw that communism gave them a right to employment and abortion legal, and with those issues taken care of, they saw no reason to implement feminism.

        After the communist era, Polish people didn't want a feminist movement because of the supposed relation to communism. They had 'resisted creating centralised umbrella organisations' to keep away from the communist ideal but also because it was the less centralised organisations that were more effective (pg 504). The League of Polish Women had become more feminist, but didn't have as many members as before due to the former communist ties, and it was also communist history that made the Poles experience difficulty in establishing international coalitions since that would mean including Russian women as well. But in the years after communism, many organisations had been created that have become more feminist, one such being Pro-Femina, an organisation that, created in 1989, devotes its entirety to the issue of abortion legality. And there has been an increase in feminist ideals in Poland, such as the establishment of several centres of Women's and Gender Studies in major Polish universities in the 2000s and the Network of East-West women started by U.S. women that connects them to Polish women and even Russian women, showing the improvement in solidarity. Poland still has a ways to go, but Polish feminism has begun to form, becoming its own unique feminist movement not in the issues it handles but how Polish women handle these issues and how they relate them to their past and their present.

        I chose this article to discuss the feminist movement in a different country because what is seen in the media is normally American feminism, so to broaden the horizon to include other countries' feminism can really help show how our own movement compares and if there is anything we need to work on ourselves. This goes for my blog topic and course themes, my blog topic in that it's good to see how others handle situations such as gender discrimination, and course themes because while we may look at other countries, these could still be 'privileged' (privileged in the sense that the movement was fast to happen and would have minimal backlash if begun) countries such as Great Britain or Canada, so to look at a country not so privileged is to really see how something such as the feminist movement had transcended across the globe to affect everyone.

        It's interesting to compare this article with the last article I reviewed, 'Can Men Promote Feminism' by Jean Pierre Vernet, Jorge Vala and Fabrizio Butera, because for both articles, yes, men can promote feminism in both countries Poland and the United States. And it's with this promotion that both articles show that men would be heard more and would have things done more because they were heard, since they're in power. But in the case of Poland, it's the sheer fact that men don't want to promote feminist ideals at all, that it's women who do it and are still ignored, that contrasts these two. Vernet, Vala and Butera state that men can promote feminist ideals all they want and show that some do, but Bystydzienski brings in the information that they can, but none do. And it's with this that I've learnt about how difficult the struggle is in other countries such as Poland to have a feminist movement because everyone is convinced that nothing is wrong and that nothing needs to change. It's certainly different to go from a feminist movement that moves quickly and has existed for decades in America to Poland, who had just started their feminist movement, and it's still so small. And that brings me to something I would like to find more about, which is the more recent achievements of the feminist movement in Poland just to see how it has faired and if it is getting stronger. I wonder if anyone else had picked up where Bystydzienski left off in terms of tracking the progress of Poland's feminist movement. If no one has, that brings up the question as to why not and also of course curiosity as to whether no one knows current happenings because people stopped caring or something went wrong. If Bystydzienski would have alluded to other articles that were still researching Poland's feminist movement as she was finishing hers, that would have helped the information stay current.

The Bechdel Test

The Bechdel Test

    The above link Describes what is known as the Bechdel Test, which is a test that helps evaluate female presence in media such as books/movies/TV shows etc. The requirements to pass the test seem pretty simple; you need at least 2 female characters, and they have to speak to each other at least once about someone who isn't a guy. It doesn't seem like a very hard test to pass, yet about 80% of movies do not pass.

    Not to say that movies that don't pass are necessarily misogynistic, for example the website I listed above mentions Mulan; it's generally considered "One of the most feminist movies in Disney canon" But it fails the Bechdel Test. They also go through a couple of examples of movies that do pass the test, but can be very sexist.

But how does this relate to sexuality? 

    My topic is sexuality in film, not feminism in film, and although that would be an awesome topic to cover, it's not what I'm supposed to cover. I'm going to relate this to my topic by creating my own test that's similar to the Bechdel Test but deals with sexuality rather than feminism.

    To pass the Casey!Bechdel Test, you need two non-heterosexual characters, that talk to each other at least once, about something other than their sexuality. Like above with the original test, there are other circumstances that would be involved with measuring  how successfully different sexualities are represented in movies and shows, but I think that would be a very good place to start!

-Casey Coulter

Article Review 3

Article Review #3

Alex Duncan
Dr Currans
WGST 202
T/Th 12:30-1:45
Blog Topic: Violence Against Transgender People
Article Review #3

Testa, Rylan J., Sciacca, Laura M., Wang, Florence, Hendricks, Michael L., Goldblum, Peter,
Bradford, Judith, Bongar, Bruce. “Effects of Violence on Transgender People.” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. Vol 43(5), Oct 2012, 452-459.

                The article “Effects of Violence on Transgender People” is a compilation of studies regarding health risks due to high amounts of violence towards trans men and women.  Much of this article focuses on the mental health of individuals who have experienced different forms of violence.  Based on a series of studies implemented by the Community Health Research Initiative (CHRI) by the Virginia Commonwealth College.  Subjects include physical violence, sexual violence, suicide attempts, and substance abuse.  The studies show high risk of suicide attempts, and that transgender individuals who have experienced physical or sexual violence may be more likely to attempt suicide or abuse drugs. 
            These studies were titled the Virginia Transgender Health Initiative Study (THIS) and it was a multiphase, multi-year project.  The sample included 350 self-identified transgender people who lived in or attended school in Virginia.  Subjects were predominately white, low-to-middle class, and had a variety of ages and education levels.  They were divided into four groups: dmab (designated male at birth) who wished to or have fully transitioned, dfab (designated female at birth) who wish to or have fully transitioned, dmab non-transitioning trans individuals, and dfab non-transitioning trans individuals.  They all took a survey, inquiring about physical and sexual violence since age 13 and whether or not their gender identity was a contributing factor.  They were also asked about if they have ever considered or attempted suicide, if so, how many times, and if they have ever used illegal substances.
            Based on the analysis of data, statistics show that trans women who had experienced physical violence were significantly more likely to consider suicide and that trans men who had experienced sexual violence were significantly more likely to consider suicide.  The results of the survey also report that the primary cause of the sexual or physical violence was the gender identity of the victim.  Rates of physical violence did not differ significantly based on age, race, ethnicity, SES, or between trans men vs women.  However, those with higher SES (annual household incomes above $100k) reported fewer occurrences of sexual violence.  All of these figures and statistics are shown through tables, significance tests, and percentages in regards to survey responses. 
            The studies do have a few limitations.  Because no data exists on the population of trans people in Virginia, a probability sampling could not be created.  This results in the studies using chi-squared tests rather than t-tests, which tend to be slightly more free, but still show statistical significance.  Because this was a volunteer based study, it may underrepresent those who do not have access to trans resources or who do not wish to seek help.  Most of the findings also focused on people who have fully transitioned or intend to fully transition, so the study cannot be generalized to people who identify as trans but do not intend to transition in any way. 
            This article related to my blog topic “Violence against Transgender People” because it is a statistical study surrounding the frequency and effects of violence, both physical and sexual, against people in Virginia who self-identify as transgender.  Due to the fact that it is based on significance tests and surveys, it has more in common with the first article I reviewed, which was in the same format, rather than the second.  “Transgender Foster Youth; A Forced Identity” was  more of a persuasive text which outlines the care of transgender youth.  However, both articles discussed the frequency of sexual violence and physical abuse and how these actions affect the mental health of individuals.  All three articles show the same facts that trans people are far more likely to experience violence and to suffer from suicidal thoughts than cisgender people are.  This article certainly introduced new ideas about what is the same and what is different between the experiences of trans men and trans women.  Of course, since it is just one study, we cannot take these figures as facts, but it was very interesting to see which factors showed correlation, even if that doesn’t necessarily imply causation amongst them.  

A Proposed Solution to Gender Inequality in Films

For our last post, I'm just going to leave you all to read this online article: http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/cross-post-a-solution-to-gender-inequality-in-film-just-add-5-female-characters-onscreen-20141124

Which is an interesting idea that we could possibly fix the gender inequalities in films simply by adding five female actors on screen. As the author of this article says, "Overall, the solution is simple: Just add five female speaking characters to scripts going into production. Then, repeat this process for an additional three years and do not look back.  If each of the major studios and production companies creating content agreed to do this, we would reach parity in just four years. This would be a historical shift and one whose time has come."

I think this theory is an interesting one to consider, especially since adding five female speaking characters to scripts would be a fairly easy task. 

Erin Lucas's Article #3

Rosengard, Cynthia, Jennifer G. Clarke, Kristen Dasilva, Megan Hebert, Jennifer Rose, and Michael D. Stein. "Correlates of Partner-Specific Condom Use Intentions Among Incarcerated Women in Rhode Island." Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 37.01 (2005): 32-38. Jstor.org. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

    "Correlates of Partner-Specific Condom Use Intentions Among Incarcerated Women in Rhode Island” by Rosengard, Cynthia, Jennifer G. Clarke, Kristen Dasilva, Megan Hebert, Jennifer Rose, and Michael D. Stein is an analysis of incarcerated women’s sexual life. It focuses on the use of or intention to use condoms between “main” partners and “casual” partners. It was found that there is a correlation between how the women classify their partners and the likelihood they’ll use a condom. This study is meant to prove the cost effectiveness of and need for programs that encourage condom use in prisons.

    The introduction provides ample statistics that help support the need for informational programs.They begin by pointing out the money it costs to treat the inmates with STIs and care for pregnant women in the system. According the the article, 6-10% of inmates become pregnant and around 1,400 U.S. incarcerated women gave birth in 1998. Further, women inmates have a higher risk of STIs and the danger of getting HIV is 3 to 5 times higher in jails. Since most incarcerated women have shown risky sexual behavior, in the form of unprotected sex, many times, it seems only logical that something needs to change.

    Next, the authors describe the reasoning behind the study. It uses the theory that, like women outside prison, inmates have several partners that vary in commitment, familiarity, and duration. Using this, they tested how these variables come into play when the women decide whether or not to use condoms. The eligibility of the women were clearly and specifically written out to the point that even women who could not be screened right away were waited for to ensure that the highest amount of women were used in the study. The women were interviewed for four different categories: partner specific condom use, behavioral characteristics, psychological characteristics, and demographic characteristics. All four categories were explained further to break down what was being studied in each one. In the end of this section, there is an example sheet that shows the data compiled for one of the women. Overall, it was a highly specific set of properties that added to the credibility of the study.

    Finally, the results were a bit surprising. Over 50% of the women reported having a STI. Even more surprising is the fact that 74% of the participants reported being pregnant while in jail. On the other hand, women were less likely to use a condom with main partners as they were with casual partners as expected. Even though they are more likely to use condoms with casual partners, most were inconsistent with using them regardless of the partner classification. To prove that an educational program would help, the study also included questions about the participants’ main partners. The majority of the women thought that the partners were not partaking in risky behavior or having multiple partners. In the conclusion, the authors press the matter by pointing out that when the women are released they will take whatever behaviors they had in prison to their communities. Because of this, it becomes very important to educate the women before they are released.

This article shows the importance of improving women’s health in prisons. Much like my last article, “Drug Abuse and Incarcerated Women: A Research Review” by Dorothy J. Henderson, the articles use a problem-solution format to try and improve women’s health within the prison system. However, Henderson’s piece is more oriented towards keeping women out of prisons, whether it be repeat offending or the first offense. Therefore, she delves into why women are incarcerated in the first place. These authors are focused on stopping unwanted pregnancies and ridding the spread of STIs once the women are already incarcerated by educating them. By fixing the problem in prisons, the communities that the women are released to also have a lower risk for the spread STIs. The benefits are universal for everyone.

Anthony Bellore

12/8/14

Article Review #3 pt. 2

Professor Currans

            Ruby, J. (2005, Jul). Women's "cock rock" goes mainstream. Off our Backs, 35, 42-44. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.emich.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/197135561?accountid=10650

            In Jennie Ruby’s article, “Women’s “cock rock” goes mainstream,” Ruby talks about women’s cover bands that cover classic 70’s and 80’s rock band’s music.  Ruby talks about how these women who play rock songs in the industry are pushing the feminist movement to show that women can do everything that men can, even though they might not admit to it.  She also claims how famous women in the rock industry are still in the huge minority of women in the rock scene.

Jennie Ruby starts out her article by describing her experience of going to an all-girl Led Zeppelin cover group named “Lez Zeppelin.”  She talks about how in the mid-80’s, she never would have thought of going to a show where the headlining group had lesbian in the name of the group, and had there been a show like that,

“I would have been among mostly women, recognizing each other on the street approaching the venue in a secrethandshake kind of way, by the short hair, the Birkenstocks, the hermaphroditic clothing, the pairings of women, the absence of boyfriends. I would have felt the thrill of recognition of political bumper stickers on cars parked in the vicinity. I would have resisted the impulse to hold my girlfriend's hand until we were safely inside the concert hall, and then relaxed into the safety of a, for the moment, lesbian space.” (Ruby)

She goes on to explain how the concert was completely different from what she expected.  She talks about how the crowd was mostly full of straight white men, and that the concert was advertised through email, and tickets could be bought through a popular online ticket sale website.  Also, she described the band as, “And the band was not exactly what you might call "out." Or even particularly lesbian, for that matter.”

            In the next part of Ruby’s article, she cites an article written in Spin Magazine, a music publication, by Chuck Klosterman called, “The L-Word.”  “Chuck seems troubled by the possibility that women playing men's music might be political-returning to that worry throughout his article in between trying to find ways where it is just about the music, or about fun, or about sex, or about something else, anything else but "political"”.  Ruby claims that the woman cover band groups are part of the political feminist movement.  She talks about how woman in the rock scene aren’t seen as instrumentalists, but as mainly vocalists.  She claims that these rock groups are trying to show that woman are more than just the fronts of bands, but can be the whole band, as well.  These cover groups are asserting their abilities above men in the same genre of music, where the scene is a male-dominated society.

            Jennie Ruby’s article relates somewhat to my second article in terms of rock music.  In my second article review, I talked about how Hernandez writes about the hegemonic masculinity problems in Mexico, and how the band Tex Tex sings against the social norms of modern Mexico.  In the article, Ruby talks about how modern all-girl cover groups are pushing the societal norms of a male-dominated rock industry, and those groups are showing how women can do anything that men can, if not better.  Both articles write about how rock groups are going against social norms.  This article relates to our course theme of Music, as well.  In that course theme, we talked about how Nicki Minaj is pushing the feminist movement through music, well so are these female cover band groups.  Only the cover bands are asserting women’s talent while also expressing themselves.  He one thing I learned through reading this article is that there are all-girl cover groups out there.  I never knew about them before, and I find it awesome that women are proving themselves in a male-dominated industry.  I have a few bands that I really like where females are the heads of the group, and I’d like to see more succeed in the rock music scene.

Changing Country Music

Kasey Musgraves is a relatively new young country artist who started her career as a song writer. On October 21st, 2013 she released her own single titled "Follow Your Arrow" which won Song of the Year in the 48th annual CMA Awards. This was a very big turning point in country music because the song promotes smoking marijuana and same-sex relationships, which is not something that is often present in country music. This also made her one of the very few women artists to receive that award.

The song is also very important because in several different parts of the song she points out ridiculous stereotypical labels that are often placed on women:

If you save yourself for marriage

You're a bore

You don't save yourself for marriage

You're a "whore"able person

If you won't have a drink then you're a prude

But they'll call you a drunk

As soon as you down the first one

If you can't lose the weight

Then you're just fat

But if you lose too much

Then you're on crack

These lyrics point out many of the difficulties that women face throughout life while trying to please and fit in with society, which makes it very relatable to many young women that listen to it. The problem is you can't please everyone so Musgraves response to these labels is:

You're damned if you do
And you're damned if you don't
So, you might as well just do
Whatever you want

Her song is very inspirational to young women everywhere and is a great step forward for, not only the women of country music, but the country music industry in general. Everyone, especially young women in today's society need to forget about those labels and what everyone thinks and just "follow your arrow wherever it points".

- Ashley Compton

Minnesota Considers Transgender Athlete Policy

This video was posted on December 3rd, 2014, and it talks about schools in Minnesota debating whether or not to allow students to play on sports teams based on their preferred gender identity, rather than based on their birth assigned sex and gender.
People in Minnesota who are opposed to allowing transgender athletes to play alongside cisgender athletes have even gone as far as to run full page advertisements in the newspaper in an effort to persuade the general public that transgender athletes should not be allowed to play on teams with cisgender individuals.
The main thing that stood out to me was that those opposed to trans inclusion tended to focus on not allowing trans girls to play alongside cis girls, while completely ignoring trans boys playing alongside cis boys. To me, this omission of concern regarding trans boys inclusion shows that there are elements of sexism playing into the oppositions argument.

--Melissa Condon