Thursday, October 15, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Pink Ribbon: Breast Cancer and Feminism
Breast cancer has caused millions of deaths in women across the globe. The increasing cases of breast cancer has raised awareness and brought breast cancer to a global stage. As a result, women across the world have united to help and support those affected by this disease and donate to finding cures. Breast cancer is a women’s issue in the field of medicine. With a heightened awareness of the true significance of this disease mammograms are now covered by insurance companies. This gives women the chance to get examined regularly increasing the survival rate if cancer is stopped at its early stages. The most prevalent and successful treatment method for breast cancer is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a beneficial radiation process that attacks malignant cancer cells. Women often have one or more breast surgically removed to help eliminate cancer in their bodies. Feminist Sue Wilkinson elaborates on how women who experience breast cancer are expected to hide their physical and emotional scars by wearing wigs or fake breasts to conform to society and feel better about their appearance. She mentions that “Not a single woman among my research participants described thinking about whether she would wear prosthesis after surgery – the possibility of not doing so was simply not an available option”(Wilkinson 3). Maintaining a certain appearance and upholding the role of a woman is influenced by society despite a breast cancer victim’s tribulations. More than 180, 000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States every year and countless more are diagnosed beyond our frontier. According to an article published in Time magazine, “an estimated 1 million cases will be identified this year, and about 500,000 new and existing patients will die from the disease [in the world].” Organizations have been established around the world that evoke sisterhood by allowing women to come together by addressing the issue of breast cancer. Through the creation of national and international organizations like the National Breast Cancer Coalition in the United States and the Organization against Breast Cancer in Israel, breast cancer has become globalized feminist issue-metaphorically building a bridge that connects women around the world. In this project we interviewed a woman who suffers from breast cancer, a breast cancer survivor, and a family member of a woman who lost her life to breast cancer. Our presentation will highlight the mental, social, and physical effects of breast cancer, while citing various feminist issues.
Purpose of Research
Breast Cancer’s existing impact on women as a community and as individuals, drove us to research the topic and to conduct interviews that highlight the different ways Breast Cancer impacts the lives of women. The medical and scientific aspects of Breast Cancer are unpleasant, but the purpose of our research is to show the physical, mental, and social aspects involved in this disease. Our three panelist will be able to represent different perspectives of how the disease influences, and has influenced their lives. Our panel of women will contain survivors of breast cancer, and someone who has lost a loved one to breast cancer. Our panel includes, Maureen Lovett, Betty Wingo, and Leslie Berry. Their responses are aimed to create a link between breast cancer’s affects on their lives and possibly create an idea of what the future holds for the disease. We can look at the differences in our panel and how those with the disease coped with it and the support they received from those around them. Then we can look at how those who had a loved one that had Breast Cancer and how they were able to be supportive, and what they learned from that experience. Many aspects of womanhood and feminism are relevant to Breast Cancer. Society views hair and breast as primacies of womanhood, but those with breast cancer have battled this stigma as well. Breast Cancer involves hair loss, and in many times the surgical removal of the breast. In our interviews we want to see how women adapt when their physical characteristics are deviated from societies views, and what methods kept them strong mentally and allowed them to embrace their new image.
Maureen Lovett
When Maureen Lovett learned that her sister Tricia had contracted cancer, she had no idea what to expect. "I knew to do monthly lump checks," she said, "but, like Tricia, I thought that no one in my family was a candidate." Before the news that Tricia had contracted breast cancer, they did not spend much time thinking about what sort of role cancer played in the world around them. When Tricia died of breast cancer in 2008 after a mastectomy, two chemotherapy sessions, and an experimental treatment through John Hopkins, Maureen's life changed. Not only was she heartbroken about the loss of her sister, but she was also shocked that the evils of cancer had found their way into her life. She immediately decided to take a stand. Ever since Tricia's death, Maureen has been raising money through the Avon breast cancer walks, which donates the money to research for the disease. "I've participated in 2 Avon walks to raise funds and contributed funding to other family members when they do the same. I expect to continue to do so in the future," Maureen says. Friends and neighbors each helped Maureen out in raising the money, and surprisingly, it seemed like each had been touched by breast cancer in some way during their lives. "Almost everyone I knew had a family member or close friend who had breast cancer, some survivors, many not," Maureen said. Maureen sees now more than ever that both men and women alike should be aware of the dangers that face them. "The risks and dangers of life in general, and how short life is, should alter the way all humans interact with their societies," she says, "Everyday is a gift, my sex has little to do with these unalterable truths."
Betty Wingo
“Regardless of the form, when you hear the words, ‘You’ve got cancer,’ your entire world changes in an instant. At first you only hope and pray that it is all a false alarm, then they start talking about surgical options, other treatments, and life expectancy, that’s when you say to yourself, ‘Whoa, this is real’.” These words reign true for almost every cancer patient in the world, but it is Betty Wingo’s faith in God and her incredible zest for life that kept her going through her entire cancer process and it’s that same zest for life that continues to help her get her story out and be an inspiration to others. When she was diagnosed, she began her treatments with a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy. Fear of loosing her breasts were not an option for Betty, “So you have ‘the big C’..You cannot change that. So you might loose your ‘tatas’..Big deal. You are still you!” After her first procedure, she began chemotherapy treatments and in all cases women loose their hair.As Betty recalled being bald she stated, “Being a bald female was an interesting experience. We see baldness in men all the time but a women’s crowning glory is her hair, right? WRONG! The truth is, you look in the mirror and you say to yourself, ‘I have cancer and while the treatments are making me hairless, they are saving my life. It’s just hair, I am still me. Sure I bought an expensive wig made entirely of human hair but, guess what..I never wore it!” Her friends threw her a hat and scarf party and she revealed her baldness publicly, took picture’s, and had a blast! Betty’s attitude about her hair loss was amazing and as a result everyone made comments “that she had to be the cutest, classiest, sick person they had ever seen”. One of the things that stood out most while talking to her was when she said, “Breasts and hair do not make us women. WE are women with or without them. Your breasts and/or your hair do not define who we are or should be.” I truly believe having that attitude maintained her "womanly" image and allowed her to stand out in a positive way throughout her community. Since her cancer, she has inspired and educated others about her disease and how to cope with it. She has participated in walks, runs, Relay for Life, and motorcycle charity rides for breast cancer. Bosom Buddies and Reach to Recovery are two programs by the American Cancer Society that she also participates in. She also made a calendar to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness called, “Faces of Courage”, where women in the community were selected to be photographed in black and white to put a real face on the disease. Being diagnosed with cancer is one of the most devastating things a person has to experience but, through faith, love, support from others, and her incredible zest for life, Betty Wingo has won the fight of breast cancer.
Leslie Berry was a honest worker and living the typical life of a middle aged woman in the South when in 2006 her life took a tremendous turn. Berry went from working and caring for her family to being seriously effected by two major problems in America at this time. The first was our nation’s troublesome economy. After being laid off from her job of fifteen years she was unsure as to where she would find work in her late fifties having earned a high school diploma. This was just the beginning of her problems. Soon after being laid off Berry went to the doctor for a check up and was informed that she had cancerous cells throughout her blood and a small lump in her breast. Immediately she became very worried and scared because she knew that breast cancer is a very serious and more often than not a terminal illness. Ms. Berry was already a very religious person and felt pretty secure in her relationship with the higher power but, after her diagnosis she noted that her everyday life changed by making it a point to become closer to her family, friends, and God. Berry used her family, church members, and prayer to pull her through her ordeal. Luckily Ms. Berry caught the cancerous cells in her body early and through treatment she was able to get rid of it before having to go through much more serious treatment like years of chemotherapy and/or the loss of her breast. Berry made it clear that her months of treatments and doctors visits was a very fightening experience and it definitely made her appreciate her body more. When Berry was posed the question: “Does the media and the market do enough and/or depict women with breast cancer fairly,in her opinion?” She answered, “Yes.” In her opinion America is doing a great job at promoting awareness of breast cancer and facilatating efforts to come up with a cure and better treatments of the illness. Unfortunately, Berry did not have insurance due to her layoff before being diagnosed, so she had to pay for her medical expenses. Today, Berry has completed her treatment and is enjoying her life one day at a time.
Conclusion
After conducting our interviews, our group realized that even though each of our interviewees was aware of cancer and the troubles of dealing with the illness before they actually had their experiences, they all found the process of actually dealing with it more traumatic than they could have ever imagined. Each person interviewed changed their perception of the illness and turned their negative experience into a positive. Maureen Lovett was angry when she lost her sister, but realized that she had to learn from her experience and try and help fight the disease so that other people may not have to go through what she went through. Breast cancer movements were her avenue for further bringing awareness to the issue. Betty Wingo found the silver lining in her dark cloud from the beginning of her ordeal. She focused more on the fact that she was still alive rather than losing her hair and her breast. Within Wingo's interview, the feminist issue of the perception of women's beauty was highlighted as the social norm of beauty was redefined by their ability to use their new appearance to be embraced by the breast cancer community or on a larger scale the world. Feminism lies in the fact that courage and a strong community create an image that represents women as a whole and ignores physical disparities. Leslie Berry’s life was on a downward spiral after losing her job and then being diagnosed with cancer. Berry turned to family, faith, and put her trust in her treatment and she made it through a life changing situation. Each of these women battled cancer and used their experience as a tool for self empowerment and inspiration. Even though their experiences are different, each woman showed extreme perseverance in what could have halted them from enjoying life.
Group Reflection
This assignment gave us the ability to research a topic that we all found both important and relevant to feminism. We believe this project represents how the community must approach issues in this day and age, to ignite change and awareness. Interviews and research gave us vital pieces of information, but the project went deeper and allowed us to publish our results and present the information to educate others. We believe that with the increasing usage of blogs, posting, and familiarizing ourselves with this technology was beneficial. We enjoyed the interviewing process as well, and were happy to see how the panel of women was able to pride themselves on their strengths and support with the Breast Cancer community. The research we gathered was both interesting and inspirational as well. We researched Breast Cancer, because of the importance of the issue globally, and on an individual. We believe that in our examining of the issue, we were able to see how different individuals are linked to the global association of Breast Cancer.
Highlighting the Positive Realities of Living in Lesbian Households
We are conducting this research in an attempt to understand how lesbian families overcome the stereotypes placed on them by society and to disband the social stigma that exists in society towards lesbian couples with children and families. We intend to explore how having two parents of the same gender may affect interactions between the individuals of the family and interactions with those outside of the family. The first individual that we interviewed was Kacy Welsh. She is a doctor in psychology at The University of Georgia. Dr. Welsh has a son from a previous heterosexual marriage, but is currently in a lesbian relationship. We interviewed Dr. Welsh in order to gain first-hand testimony as to what it is like raising a child in a lesbian household. The second individual that we interviewed is Patricia Del Rey. She currently has a partner and two adopted daughters with a former partner. We interviewed her in order to better understand the relations between mothers and daughters in lesbian households. The third individual that we interviewed is Rocio Brandau. Rocio is a high school senior and an adopted daughter of Patricia. We interviewed her in order to have the ability to view the issue from multiple perspectives.
Patricia's adopted daughter, Rocio Brandau, also participated in our project-interviews. The 18 year-old feels that she is lucky because the public has not judged her harshly for living in a lesbian household, confirming that other residents in lesbian households might encounter animosity. Additionally, Rocio defines a “normal” family as one that consists two parents, regardless of gender, who provide support to their child(ren). Personally, Rocio feels that living in a lesbian household has made her more open to different perspectives regarding various issues such as gay marriage, abortion, etc. She also stated that her parents do not place themselves in the maternal or paternal roles within their family. Lastly, Rocio explained that her parents' sexualities do not affect her own, but that living in a lesbian home does makes her more receptive to the possibility of becoming a lesbian than she may have been otherwise. She also described her curiosity of the male gender during her early childhood, but insists that she would not feel comfortable with a male figure in the house. Furthermore, Rocio stated that her relationships with men will never be as strong as those with her mothers.
Overall, the interviewees showed that the lesbian household is very nurturing and functional. These households which consist of two mothers, rather than a mother and a father, are sometimes more open in relationships with their children. We found that having two parents was beneficial, but the sex of the parents did not make a difference. A male presence is not entirely necessary, but it is helpful and sometimes sought after. The dynamic created by having two parents is more important than the sex of the parents when providing a stable household in which to raise children. When interacting within the community, the families have not been faced with animosity. This has helped make their experience growing up and raising children, respectively, easier than many would assume about their situation. It is possible to live in a lesbian household without facing judgment. When this is the case, the family which is formed is strong and tight-knit so that as children grow, the family grows as well.
In sum, this project was most enlightening. We learned about the many characteristic and familial benefits that stem from living in a lesbian household through our research and interviews. When we initially discussed doing this project, our group was very interested about learning more about the family structures within lesbian households. Through the interview process our interest began to greaten into a better understanding of what it is like to be a part of a lesbian household. Some of the things that we learned through the interviews were that being in a lesbian household does not necessarily mean that you will face constant, overbearing struggles with society. Not that these problems do not exist but what surprised our interviewers the most was that these families did not express that society issues and standards made for many struggles in their everyday lives. Also, through the interviews we observed that gender roles were not specifically concrete in these families. The parental roles were implemented in an unbiased manner that did not depend on which parent enforced them. It was interesting when Rocio stated she saw a family structure as being two parents in a household, but the sex of the parents within did not matter, as far as she was concerned. When we looked back on the interviews we saw that these things were most surprising to us. We had a specific outlook on this project going into it, but as we progressed in our project, that outlook was altered in a very insightful way. Looking back we also learned about each other and our individual views on lesbian households. These views also fathered our knowledge about ourselves and our group members in a positive way. We have now experienced firsthand that even if someone appears different from oneself, it is important to be open-minded, you never know what you may learn from them.
The New Burlesque: Feathers and Feminism
Purpose of the Research
We performed this research for a very simple reason: to find out what real burlesque dancers had to say about the representation, or lack thereof, of feminism in burlesque dancing. There are so many misconceptions and condemning criticisms of burlesque dancing. It has been called objectifying, antifeminist in that it still measures the value of women only by their bodies. It has been equates to stripping and prostitution, so much in fact that the women of Effies Club Follies actually had to resort to posting on their website: We are NOT: prostitutes, escorts, porn stars, or garden variety strippers. So, with all of this controversy and debate about Burlesque- pro feminist versus anti feminist, objectifying versus sexually liberating, we noticed a trend emerging: no one was actually talking to the burlesque dancers themselves. In all of the research we did, scholarly or in mainstream media, we noticed that the evaluations and judgments made about burlesque were done so from a distance, the authors forming their opinions from simply watching it or responding to public reaction to it. However, no one was giving the dancers themselves an opportunity to say what they feel about burlesque; why they do it, if they find it empowering and why, and if they feel it is indeed feminist. This is what we are attempting in this research: simply to hear and respect the dancers' thought on the phenomenon of burlesque dancing, with the hope that they will reinforce our opinions that it exemplifies sex-positivism and feminism. To accomplish this, we interviewed two of the women from Effies Club Follies Burlesque Troop. We chose Effies because with their highly stylistic, politically involved performances; rife with biting social and media satire, we thought they perfectly embodied the spirit of intellectual recognition and holistic beauty that makes burlesque dancing such a positive advancement for feminism.We selected two women from Effies, Andrea Boyd, a.k.a Scarlett Noir, and Amanda Knisley, a.k.a Miss Effie.
Scarlett NoirSN: I think, to most people, it's a striptease kind of thing.
SN: The definition of burlesque is a farce or satire. It's based in ancient Greek theater where you had lower class people making fun of the upper class and it grew into this mockery of social mores and that's what it continued to be until Vaudeville went into decline, and they brought out the dancing girls to revive it.
When was that?
SN: The 1940's and 1950's are considered the Golden Age of burlesque.
What do you enjoy about performing burlesque?
SN: For me, I enjoy the act of performance. It's a way to push boundaries, to make fun of things that are so not funny – events, politics, drug abuse, sexism, racism – it's an opportunity to just be ridiculous and get together with a bunch of other women who li
ke to be ridiculous. 
What is your political agenda?
SN: There's still a lot of standards for beauty. One of the things that I love about modern burlesque is there is such a range of body types and personal styles and types of women who do this.
Some women argue that burlesque while burlesque pushes a different kind of beauty, it's still a beauty standard. Is that in itself anti-feminist?
SN: There's a lot of retro-phile in burlesque, so you have this specific hair and make-up style, and I can see how that might be considered its own standard of beauty, but honestly I don't feel like anyone's pushing that. It's a personal choice to follow that standard for the people who do. I feel that because of burlesque performance, there are a lot of women who have become comfortable with who they are and what they are and what their body is. They're able to project that confidence, and that's beautiful to me.
SN: I think as far as the standard of what is considered beautiful in burlesque, one of the major differences between now and in the past is that men decided that was beautiful. They were putting the girls on stage to draw men into Vaudeville. Women now are doing it because it's their personal choice. The performers now are going to do the same number regardless of whether the audience thinks it's sexy. They do it because it makes them feel sexy.
Do you think burlesque is sexually liberating?
SN: Yes, but it's really about being comfortable to explore new territories. It's amazing – almost all of us have said at one time, 'Well, I don't hang out with women. I don't really have very many girlfriends.' But we've both been doing this for 4 years. Of course we get mad at each other from time to time.
SN: The burlesque world at large is pretty embracing of women. We've performed with other troupes, and they don't do anything like what we do, but they're always really welcoming and embracing of the differences.
What is burlesque?
ME: The modern incarnation is actually very retro.
When was that?
ME: They started introducing it in the 1920's and 30's. Modern burlesque has its roots in the Vaudeville era because when burlesque started, there was usually a coughing man who would tell the jokes and then there was a girl who would be either the punchline, or do a little dance, somehow vamp it up, bringing the sex appeal. There's also another place where burlesque gets its raunchier qualities and that's on the carnival strip. They'd have the tent shows where you'd have a barker out front bringing all the guys in. With those 2 things combined it became more of the striptease that you see now.
How/why did you start dancing?
ME: I am Miss Effie and Harry Dixon. I moved to Athens and I hadn't done any theater or anything like that since high school and they were having amateur drag contests and I thought it sounded like so much fun. I started performing drag and I created the character Harry Dixon. I had a lot of fun, I really loved it. But there were some numbers that I had ideas for that I would rather do as a woman, and there's really not a whole lot of place for that in drag unless you're doing what they call bio-drag where you try to look exactly like someone. There's not really same-sex persona, because that's just lip-syncing. That's not drag. So I thought surely there are other people who want to do what I'm doing, and I heard about burlesque, saw a Suicide Girls show, and I thought it was amazing. I thought it would be really funny if we did it ridic
ulous and over-the-top. It wasn't about sex as much as it was about being ridiculous.What do you enjoy about performing burlesque?
ME: We're slowly pushing our political agenda on people, they're just laughing too hard to realize it.
What is your political agenda?
ME: Boobs can take over the world.
Some women argue that burlesque while burlesque pushes a different kind of beauty, it's still a beauty standard. Is that in itself anti-feminist?
ME: Hollywood definitely pushes its own standard of beauty. If you're an actress and you don't look like that, it doesn't necessarily mean that you won't get jobs, it just means that that part of the industry may not be what you end up doing. Burlesque has its own Betty Paige ideal of beauty, but there's lots of room within the whole of burlesque to do other things. Effie's has tried very hard to do that. We've tried very hard not to go with the stereotypical sexy pinup look. Honestly, we are our biggest censors as far as that goes. If we have a number with a girl going all sexy all the time, we try to bring in some ridiculousness. We try to dirty it up a little bit, make it a little uglier. We would rather go out there looking a mess and be funny than look perfect. That's not where our emphasis is. I agree that there are elements of burlesque that are sexist, but because you're dealing with something that is, by definition, a farce, you can also choose to lampoon that. That's part of what burlesque is about.
Do you think burlesque is sexually liberating?
ME: It's not so much about liberation as it is about comfort. Almost every girl in Effie's was not an exhibitionist to start out with. We all have flaws and parts that jiggle that we make fun of and that's fine, that's cool! Nobody expects you to be perfect. There's no shame anymore because we've broken through that. That's part of the reason we always wear wigs, always wear eyelashes, because we've created a persona to do something we weren't comfortable doing when we started out.
Upon actually speaking with these amazing women, we discovered that they, and the entire institution of burlesque dancing, is so much more politically laced, socially conscious, intellectual, and feminist than we had originally thought. They confirmed our beliefs that burlesque is about flaunting an independent sexuality, bereft of mens' or anyone else's standards of beauty, "The performers now are going to do the same number regardless of whether the audience thinks it's sexy. They do it because it makes them feel sexy." (Scarlett Noir). The women also definately affrimed our belief that the exaltation of a broad range of bodies and appearance expands the popular conception of beauty, inciting women and the general populous to look for and flaunt their natural and individual beauty, "One of the things that I love about modern burlesque is there is such a range of body types and personal styles and types of women who do this." (Noir). They also spoke of something we hadn't originally considered as an aspect of burlesque that further advances and embodies feminism, kinship between other women. When women base their entire self concept off of their ability to please men, it fosters an atmosphere of competition and treachery between women. However, by advocating an independent and autonomous sense of self and sexuality, burlesque dancing encourages women to be confident in themselves and to recognize and appreciate the beauty of fellow women. This atmosphere of friendship and unity is expressed inside of a sexually liberating, cerebrally charged and uninhibited environment, making the innovation of the New Burlesque a milestone for feminism.
Doing this project was amazing and very enlightening. We got to experience the raw, social evolution of feminism within burlesque dancing all against a hilarious, sexy backdrop of sequins and glitter. What was particularly interesting about observing the feminsm in burlesque, is that through a performance based setting, we could actually see it enacting before us. With so many other feminist issues, they are hidden and suppressed within our culture; suffered silently by those who are oppressed. It may take years or even centuries for those issues to attain the recognition and exposure that they warrant. However, in burlesque, these women demand an audience. They take whatever issue they want to critique or explore, and perform it brazenly before a captivated audience. Rather than studying the subtle elements of the issue within our culture. With burlesque, one can stand in the crowd and actually see this issue presented on stage. This is only one of the reasons why this project. and this subject, was so fascinating, and why we highly recommend taking in a burlesque show to anyone struggling from lowself-confidence, esteem, societal marginalization, or anyone who just wants some great entertainment.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Is THIN Still "IN": Women's Health vs. Body Image
Statement of the Issue
Over recent years, many women have turned their concern for diet and exercise from “how to look thin” to “how to become a healthier person”. Instead of solely working out and dieting in order to satisfy a physical appearance standard of having to be “stick thin”, women are breaking stereotypical gender roles by focusing on their health and well-being. Women are beginning to learn that a healthy body is much sexier than an anorexic body. In the past and even still today, the media and society has put a lot of pressure on women and their image. Men have helped to create this obsession with body image by giving precedence to women who are more physically appealing. Women therefore have been led to believe that they are incapable of affecting the world unless they first shape their bodies into a socially accepted form. Through research, we are learning that today the expansion of women’s involvement in sports has helped to alleviate some of this focus on purely physical images. Our first research article, “The Discourse of Empowerment: Foucault, Marcuse, and Women’s Fitness Texts” by Tina Eskes, Margaret Duncan, and Eleanor Miller, discusses how several women’s fitness and health magazines try to blend physical health with what society defines as beautiful. Our second research article, “Physical Activity and Women’s Health” by Christine Wells talks about how women are more active today than in the past, but are still less active than men. Our study takes a look at people who are taking an active role in changing the health views of today’s women.
Purpose of the Research
Through the topic, how women are using diet and exercise to become healthier, we will be looking at how women are increasingly more aware of their health, especially through diet and exercise. Over time, the stereotype of how women’s bodies should look has changed. What is fashionable has become more of a healthier body, as opposed to an unrealistically thin frame. Women are increasingly more aware of the medical benefits of physical activity and how they can improve not only their physical appearance, but also their overall health and attitude through exercise. To find out exactly why and how women are working out for their health, we interviewed a woman who exercises and a trainer. We also interviewed a dietician to find out how she is teaching people about the medical benefits of a healthy diet and the amount of women who are watching what they eat for those benefits. The more we have examined our topic, the more we realized that the media is also showing more ways to be healthy and fit, not ways to be skinnier. The media is using the terms “eating healthy,” “being healthy,” and “dieting” instead of just suggesting that women need to be thinner. The focus is more on a healthy body image, as opposed to being a skeleton.
Jena Mitchell(trainer)
Through talking with Jena Mitchell about women’s health and exercise, the 24 year-old shared with us the ins and outs of her job and how she deals with this issue daily. Jena is the New Member Experience Coach at the Omni Club, a workout facility, in Athens. As she put it, her job requires her “working one on one with the new members to ensure their comfort level at the club and helping them reach their goals.” She trains new members, if they need it, or she may take an exercise class with them. When we asked if she thought that being healthy has become more influential to women than being very skinny, her answer was slightly contradictory to our project. She said that it all depends on the age group of people as to whether health or being thin is more of a concern. Pressures to fit in attribute to this logic. Jena commented that once women get in they’re thirties they more readily see the importance of health. She also said that our culture is becoming more health conscious, which is one reason why women’s health is more in the spotlight. Through Jena’s job, she has seen many women who originally began working out for vanity, the number one reason women start working out, but women also want to feel good and look healthy. She tells people that they’re going to look good, but also get the health benefits; emphasizing the results of working out as a “package deal”. She also said that many people come into the gym because their doctors tell them that they need to begin a workout regimen to improve their health. Next we asked Jena what her daily regiment is for working out and dieting. Jena began working out in high school to stay in shape for sports. She commented saying “I enjoy feeling healthy,” which she said was one of the benefits to working out and eating healthy. Currently, Jena works out four to five times a week with at least three days of strength training. She does cardio everyday and strength trains to increase metabolism and keep her bones healthy. Strength training also gives females a more toned look. We asked her if she emphasizes an overall healthy lifestyle and she said yes; emphasizing exercise and nutrition. She said it’s about “what we put in our body, being active, and being particular about what you eat.” The tips she shared with us were to stay away from processed food and sugars and look at the quality of food that you eat, not the quantity. It’s better to eat more, healthy food than less unhealthy food. She stressed how important it is for women not to focus on weight, but worry more about body composition. Showing people how important eating right and working out is for your heart, bones, and mental health is what Jena wants others to focus on. In closing, Jena explained to us how she feels like she is accomplishing something with every person she helps become healthier and improve their quality of life.
Katy Petrosian(trainee)
To gain perspective on how a college female feels about women’s health, we interviewed Katy Petrosian, a 19 year-old who attends Gainesville State. She was very helpful in showing how the college age demographic views women’s health through working out and dieting. When asked if she thought that being healthy has become more influential than being skinny, Katy said, “I think it has because there has been a lot of negative attention to girls who are super skinny and more emphasis on girls who are healthy and fit.” She also said that health in general, especially women’s health, has become a lot more important now than it has been in the past. To further see how Katy views working out and dieting, we asked about her personal life and what steps she is taking towards being healthier. We first asked why she began working out and she honestly admitted to us that it was to “drop a few pounds.” She said that with her family’s health history, she also knows that she needs to do her best to be healthy so she can avoid any problems she may have in the future. Katy works out four times per week and she does cardio and strength training. She says the strength training helps her get more toned. In regards to her diet and exercise, she said it is very important to her. It’s important to be healthy in general. Katy said, “I gain weight easily, so in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle I have to eat good and work out.” The advice she gave us for other women her age is to not compare themselves to other people and only focus on what makes you feel good. Since she began exercising, she said she has seen an increase in her health. She said she can run better and has a lot more energy all the time. Katy commented that she feels happier and a lot of that is contributed to the way working out makes her feel.
Alice Bender (dietician)
Alice Bender is a licensed dietician in the state of Georgia and currently works for the University of Georgia Health Center. She has over 20 years of experience working in the education field as a dietician. Alice earned a masters degree in Nutrition and Public Health and is a nationally certified Dietician. At the university, she helps students seeking to improve their dieting habits and general health. Alice suggests personal diets for each specific person she works with, as well as provides avenues for maintaining those diets successfully. Besides a good diet, Alice is a proponent of sufficient sleep, stress reduction, physical activity, and abstaining from drug and alcohol abuse. Alice warns young women about obsessing over body image because of the high risk that this could lead to eating disorders. The most important thing one should know about Alice Bender is the dedication and passion she has for her job. Alice told us that the most satisfying thing for her is to see the results from the people she helps. She knows that in her line of work the most important thing to do is to help women feel better about themselves. Specifically if she can help someone recover from an eating disorder, adopt a healthy diet and exercise routine, or simply provide information on health and fitness she will go home feeling a sense of accomplishment towards what she does.
Conclusion
After researching several articles and interviewing three women on their prospective, we have come to our conclusion. Women have historically been pressured into maintaining a certain image in order to satisfy social norms; however the upcoming new trend for women’s image is health, not weight. Due to the fascination with the female image, a plethora of new information, research, and studies over the last decade has expanded our understanding of exactly what it means to be healthy and how to do so. Now it has become easier to relate to women that an iconic body image does not necessarily dictate good health. All of the women interviewed agreed that it takes more then being thin to be healthy. It takes a sound mind, a good diet, and a healthy workout schedule. Through our research, we believe that as the idea of what is “sexy” changes from being thin to being healthy, so will women’s attitudes. This will be a positive change, where the amount of women with eating disorders will decline, and the amount of women who become active in their fitness will rise. As long as this trend continues and more women become aware of the steps to becoming healthy we hope that more and more women will pick up personal fitness, while less and less turn to extreme measures that could endanger their lives.
Group Reflection
The interview project allowed us to take our preconceptions on the issue of women’s health and body image and contrast them with the way real women perceive their diets and exercise habits. Through the interview process, not only were we able to share our ideas with these women as to how and why fitness is such an issue for women, but we were also able to rely on their experiences in order to establish our ultimate conclusion on the matter. More importantly, we are very excited to be relaying our research and analysis to our class, and whoever else may read it, as we feel it clears up a lot of the misconceptions and stereotypes that surround the topic of women’s health and body image. The knowledge we gained is applicable in life not only for the women in our group but also for the men, as we can better understand the habits, social implications, and biological factors that contribute to why and how women participate in dieting and exercise.
We're hoping you were all inspired by our presentation, so if you're on the lookout for a great workout routine, you can walk it out with Richard Simmons!
Women Bartenders
Introduction
When many people approach a bar, they rarely think about the gender of their bartender. They merely await the arrival of their alcoholic beverage. Most people don't wonder if the gender of the bartender affected their decision to order a drink or if the bartender is a form of advertisement. Although many women and men are bartenders, but want to explore the experiences of female bartenders. Our group would like to unearth any factors of gender that may contribute to the bartending profession. This is a feminist issue because feminists strive for equality and women and men should be treated equally at their jobs.
Purpose of the Research
The purpose of our research is to determine if female bartenders face any sexism or other forms of discrimination in their profession. We want to know if female bartenders have certain job requirements, such as attire, attitude, or behaviors that male bartenders are not obligated to fulfill. Our main goal is to discover if they are treated differently from their male counterparts by their bosses or the customers. If the female bartenders are treated differently, we want to identify how and why female bartenders are treated differently from male bartenders. We interviewed two females to learn about the female perspective of bartending. We also interviewed one male bartender to prevent any bias and to get a male perspective of gender factors in bartending. We interviewed one female bartender named Katie from Walker’s Pub. We interviewed another female bartender named Haley from Pauley’s Pub. We interviewed a male bartender named Matt from Wild Wings Cafe.
Katie's Interview
Katie is a bartender at Walker's Pub. She chose to be a bartender because she needed a part time job. When we asked her if she had to adhere to a specific dress code, she replied no. However, as a personal guideline for herself, she never wears any clothing that she feels would be "scandalous." In her previous bartending jobs, Katie felt that her gender helped her get her job, yet she does not feel that gender helped her get her current job. Katie does feel that she is treated differently than male bartenders by customers. She says that male customers usually tip her more and tend to flirt outrageously with her. As we sat and observed, we watched two male customers entering te bar and going straight to her. We also observed that as they flirted with her, she played along and she ended up with a big tip.
Haley's Interview
Haley is a bartender at Pauley's Pub. She chose to be a bartender because she had worked as a waitress and said she liked the type of environment. Haley said that all bartenders at her job were only required to wear something presentable to work. Haley added that her appearance helped her convince other men to buy more alcohol and better alcohol. Haley admits that she believes her gender helped her get her job. Haley also feels that customers treat her differently from male bartenders because she receives more tips and gets hit on frequently. She also says that her boss treats opposite sexes differently; her boss makes fun of her for not knowing about beer. She also admitted that to get a better tip, she has to flirt with the male customers, and that she enjoys her job because of the social interactions. On the more positive side, she gets paid at least a hundred dollars a day from customers' tips.
Matt's Interview
Matt's Interview
Matt works at Wild Wings Cafe and previously worked at a bar-rack. He mentioned that only males get his job because his job also requires heaving lifting. Matt said males are required to wear a collared shirt with the Wild Wing emblem located somewhere on the shirt, while females are allowed to wear t-shirts if they desire to do so. Matt stated that customers treat opposite sexes differently by showing more tolerance towards females than males.
Conclusion
Our interviews showed that there is discrimination in the bartender field. Females are sometimes hired based on their gender. They may also be refused a job because they are female. Matt's comment about women not being hired for a lifting job is an example of women being excluded based on stereotypes about women. Women are believed to be weak and men are believed to be strong. The dress code does not appear to be a gender issue; however, as Haley admits, her attire can affect sales. All the bartenders, male and female, agreed that their attire does affect alcohol sales. All of the bartenders like their job, but they all hate dealing with drunk, annoying people, because they are always flirting with them, but they tend to get more tips and they love interacting with people. They all also agreed that since Athens is a small town, they do not have as many requirements as the city bars.
Reflection
Our group is not surprised by the results of the interviews. We predicted that female and male bartenders were treated differently in the workplace. We were surprised that there was not a serious gender issue with the dress code. We find it refreshing that the female bartenders enjoy their jobs just as the male bartenders and do not feel oppressed by their jobs.