When I was younger I was fortunate enough to have a supportive family who taught me that education is a priority and something that I needed to take advantage of. I have always been a studious girl and kept up with my classes. I got through all my private school training and even made it through college with a degree in journalism to show for it. But as wonderful as that sounds and as proud as my family and friends are of me I am still sitting at the desk of the same job that got me through college. Unfortunately, I am not alone and post grad life is a phase that I have found to be discouraging. There have been various blogs and news segments on how the class of 2009 is the smartest of all time but going into the worst job market in history and I guess I have never felt something to be so true. I am a driven individual who has been emailing and applying every and anywhere and like running as fast as you can on a treadmill it's gotten me nowhere. The editor and chief of my college newspaper seemed like she was on the road to journalistic success and just the other day I saw her slaving away at the same retail store. Old friends with different majors are struggling to pay rent because they haven't found any other careers or full-time jobs. Just about everyone I know still lives at home and they are all in their mid-twenties, I remember the days where living at home when you were 24 was pathetic now it's the norm. It makes me sad to think that I worked so hard to achieve something that was supposed to make this "adult life" a little easier but instead just threw me into an epidemic that still makes me feel dependent upon my parents.
So in this job market what is there to do? Of course the obvious answer would be keep your head up and keep trying but when will the trying pay off and what measures must all these young twenty somethings take to be successful again? People used to be afraid of the out of college kids who were eager and hungry to take on careers and climb the professional ladder, now us kids are stuggling grasp the bottom of that ladder. Truth of the matter is this economy feels like it's getting worse. It is so bad that colleges are denying students because of it's budget cuts,so we can't even use this time to get more education, people are lining up for a job as a cashier at See's candy and it seems as though time has stood still and no one is progressing. Hopefully, we see a change but until then what?
Friday, December 11, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
gender roles
Gender roles are something that people have connected with society. There are so many strong opinions on what is "normal," what is right and what things should be like, but in this day and age, with all the open minds out there we still try and fit into this certain mold that is instilled in us since birth.
As a lesbian I often battle with the topic of gender roles. I am what the lesbian world calls a femme. I'm a girly girl to the core, I always played with barbies and my favorite color is pink, I love make up, dresses and all things that fall under that girly stereotype so I feel that because of my appearance butchy, studly or masculine women approach me more because they think that's what I would go for. I once went on a date with a stud and she wouldn't let me pay because she said that girls aren't supposed to pay. The first words out of my mouth were "but you're a girl," I ended up letting her pay because she was so pushy, and hey it was a free meal, but I didn't like the feeling of being so conformed. Underneath her baggy jeans and white tee there was a woman with curves. Although I'm feminine, I love to pay for dates, and send flowers and open the door for a girl and a lot of people find that surprising because the automatic reactions I've gotten is that it's not normal, I should be the one who is treated like a girl. I will admit I am attracted to that stud look and a lot of boys I met don't understand why I just wouldn't be with a man but when it comes down to doing things behind closed doors you're doing things with a woman and it's a completley different experience and connection.
I will admit that I have caught myself trying to fit into the social norm and I think it plays into that manly and girly gender molds I thought and still sometimes think I have to fit into. I find myself feeling like i have to be a little more girly around women and label myself as this "wifey" type of girlfriend because I naturally felt like I had to be paired with a more masculine woman to feel more socially accepted. Most of my friends and aquaintances are coupled up in that stud and femme pair some have even use the word, "wusband" to symbolize who was the "husband" in the couple and when one sits back and thinks about it it's rediculous because A, it's a stupid word and B, even in heterosexual couples it is beginning to be a normal thing for the woman to go out and be a successful career woman, while her man holds down the fort and does things like cook dinner and take the kids to school. My dad does a lot of the cooking and decorating in the house and I love that because it shows me that I'm not a failure for being in my twenties and not being able to make a meal for my future life partner. At the same time my dad is a traditional man who would argue with me almost every night because he says it's a woman job to pick up the man's plate and to wash the dishes. He would tell me how I should be for my husband and how being domestic was top priority. Eventually he saw how much of a feminist I have become and he backed off a little but being told how you are supposed to be, act, think dress and live by not only your parents but the media gets to a person and gives people mixed feelings on acting how they really want to be.
In conclusion,gender roles have such a huge affect on society and even the most liberal type of women and men are subconcsiously migrating towards "normal" social behavior. I think that everyone should check out my friend's documentary based on gender roles it's really amazing and gets you thinking. So, please enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P2uM-qK7Aw
As a lesbian I often battle with the topic of gender roles. I am what the lesbian world calls a femme. I'm a girly girl to the core, I always played with barbies and my favorite color is pink, I love make up, dresses and all things that fall under that girly stereotype so I feel that because of my appearance butchy, studly or masculine women approach me more because they think that's what I would go for. I once went on a date with a stud and she wouldn't let me pay because she said that girls aren't supposed to pay. The first words out of my mouth were "but you're a girl," I ended up letting her pay because she was so pushy, and hey it was a free meal, but I didn't like the feeling of being so conformed. Underneath her baggy jeans and white tee there was a woman with curves. Although I'm feminine, I love to pay for dates, and send flowers and open the door for a girl and a lot of people find that surprising because the automatic reactions I've gotten is that it's not normal, I should be the one who is treated like a girl. I will admit I am attracted to that stud look and a lot of boys I met don't understand why I just wouldn't be with a man but when it comes down to doing things behind closed doors you're doing things with a woman and it's a completley different experience and connection.
I will admit that I have caught myself trying to fit into the social norm and I think it plays into that manly and girly gender molds I thought and still sometimes think I have to fit into. I find myself feeling like i have to be a little more girly around women and label myself as this "wifey" type of girlfriend because I naturally felt like I had to be paired with a more masculine woman to feel more socially accepted. Most of my friends and aquaintances are coupled up in that stud and femme pair some have even use the word, "wusband" to symbolize who was the "husband" in the couple and when one sits back and thinks about it it's rediculous because A, it's a stupid word and B, even in heterosexual couples it is beginning to be a normal thing for the woman to go out and be a successful career woman, while her man holds down the fort and does things like cook dinner and take the kids to school. My dad does a lot of the cooking and decorating in the house and I love that because it shows me that I'm not a failure for being in my twenties and not being able to make a meal for my future life partner. At the same time my dad is a traditional man who would argue with me almost every night because he says it's a woman job to pick up the man's plate and to wash the dishes. He would tell me how I should be for my husband and how being domestic was top priority. Eventually he saw how much of a feminist I have become and he backed off a little but being told how you are supposed to be, act, think dress and live by not only your parents but the media gets to a person and gives people mixed feelings on acting how they really want to be.
In conclusion,gender roles have such a huge affect on society and even the most liberal type of women and men are subconcsiously migrating towards "normal" social behavior. I think that everyone should check out my friend's documentary based on gender roles it's really amazing and gets you thinking. So, please enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P2uM-qK7Aw
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