Blog 5 - Brett Kuxhausen

Chapter 10
1.) I believe that the clip for Iron Jawed Angel is hard to nail down to the two prescribed time periods you speak about. But, if I had to choose one, I would choose the time period when where women are concerned with total women's liberation. It seems that Hilary Swank's character does not even recognize the fact of racial differences and mentions nothing about civil rights struggles. Instead, I feel that her character has taken it upon herself to be the voice that has to be heard because she is a white, upper class woman. She may not outright say it, but I feel that she has the notion that she is more informed and better educated than others, which may cause her to have a feeling of superiority over black women and more concerned woman's liberation as a whole. But, she does not take a "white power" stance described by hooks; " just like abolitionist ancestors who had demanded that everyone be given the right to vote, but when faced with the possibility that black males might gain the right to vote while they were denied it on the basis of gender, they chose to ally themselves with men, uniting under the rubric of white supremacy" (pg. 56). So, even though  they do not align solely with white men against all blacks, it still feels like they are taking the side for white women's rights after they were heard as having absolute whites for all women of color. 
I think the clip about The Help definitely is from the time when the civil rights movement was in full swing. It recognizes the fact that women already have certain rights awarded to them, but they seem to be available to only upper class white women and unavailable to the black women who work for them. White women seemed to have joined with the white men to suppress any rights for black people, and so to be heard, the white girl must write what is happening and how unfair the scales are.


As I said, I do think there is a racial bias in the clips. In Jawed Angel, race isn't even discussed. It focuses purely on white women's rights. But for The Help I think that there is equal representation of both whites and blacks, but still a bias against other minority groups. Latino and Asian women are not even mentioned, and the last time I checked Civil Rights encompasses all minority groups, not just blacks.


I think that women may have had strong motives to practicing discretion with respect to race during the early times seen in Jawed Angel. This is a time where blacks are still viewed as lower rung and long enough beofre the Civil Rights Movement to where the public has little concern with other minorities. So, the women were simply being politically smart and picking their battles one at a time, meaning that they understood that they could not secure all women's rights at once, but that they would have to be slowly secured and chipped away at as the public began to embrace civil rights more and more.


2.)Yes, I do feel that this evolution of perspective parallels to our generation with respect to many issues. In example, I think our generation is much more tolerant to sex then it was in the generation before us. With much more women in the work force, leaving the home, and comprising society, the women of today did not have to experience the professional difficulties that women had to face during our parents' and grandparents' time. I think this video shows how contemporary women didn't have to deal with these issues


I also think that other minorities today have had a younger generation develop that have challenged cultural racist ideas towards them. I feel that minorities like Latinos and Asians today are redefining their public perceptions by becoming a larger part of the population and dominating demographics, whereas to a generation ago they were the people coming into our country yet not entering our societal system. Instead they seemed to hold menial positions where now there are Latino supreme court justices and Asian business leaders.


I think that the external factors that perpetuate this change is solely the composition of the subordinated group in the demographics. If they are the larger part of the group, they have a larger say, and have a larger voice. It seems to me that smaller groups get easily perpetrated against due to their lack of voice. So, having strong group leaders and numbers is a very key thing.


Chapter 11
1.) I think many of the underlying causes of violence has to do very much with the male's upbringing by his parents. If he witnessed his mother being abused he may think that it is acceptable, or if he didn't he may not perpetrate this violence. Another factor may have to do with work environment. A stressful environment can be brought home from the office very easily, and a male could look for a place to emotionally dump this stress (in this case being a woman). Another underlying cause could be media's portrayal of violence in general. We are so numbed to the thought of human beings be violated (be int MMA, video games, or viral videos) that the violence becomes part of everyday life and something we are accustomed to.

I think the public may refuse to link violence to patriarchal thinking because there are so many other facets that could be making this violence happen besides just male domination. Instead of focusing on how our society works and is dominated, people want to find easier and more poignant examples of what is causing violence, and not point the finger at the system itself. I think this may be a stage of denial due to the fact that we don't want to recognize that our culture is one of sever inequality.

2.) After watching the video, I think domestic violence between spouses and children can be very related. First, like I discussed, children many times learn from watching like the Social Learning Theory we discussed in class. Children learn from watching their parents, so when they see domestic violence they may become accustomed to it and may perform it themselves, continuing a circle. Or, if they see this violence against someone they love, they may make a point to never incorporate it to their lives.

I think the issue can be brought more to light so it can be more of a discussed topic is by incorporating it into the media more. I know we all see movies and shows with domestic violence in it, but we hardly see any media addressing it or its underlying causes. We need to stop being enamored with the violence itself and instead dig deeper into the roots of things. Support groups need to be made more prevalent, as does education on the subject so that children can learn from a young age that what they are witnessing is wrong and should never occur.

Resources: 

bell hooks. (2000). Feminism is for everyone. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.