Decide for yourself, not for others

Jasmin Obadencio
16 Sep. 2011
FD1

Women adjusting to their gender roles are taken melodramatically. In the public eye, they implanted this idea upon women and it has been a daily routine. The difference now is gender roles are more communal. The years are progressing with women breaking barriers. Women don’t need to be brushed into their roles; instead they should be given the liberty of expanding their intellect that will balance between both sexes. This gives "independence of women externalizing their skills.” Some men are already adjusting to it, so can the rest. Therefore, [THESIS] I stand against close minded thinking, "males are the stronger sex and women the weaker sex.” [THESIS]


We can all agree that the military can be a tough task to endure, yes? And if a woman wanted to serve for our nation, her chances would automatically be slim. Blindfolded, society is ignoring the fact that not all women are fully feminine; they too have some masculinity. After a brief discussion about my fiancé's side of the family, women have joined or are continuing to serve our country. This includes his Aunt, mother, and cousin that I know of. His mom served four years, his Aunt ten, and cousin two. In our past conversations, all three of them were successful in the military. They did get judged, but they also proved to men that strength did not only lie in a man’s world. Holding bravery and reassurance, these are women participating “manly” duties. They went to the same training with men and served alongside them. This is a definite eye opener for mankind to see that women are capable of anything.


"It still seems to make more sense that the man works and make the money, while the female stays at home and cooks and cleans around the house"- Max Babylon, a quote from my classmate that I differ to. A scenario in today's economy, both parents would need to be working, except for those who inherit richness. Cost for food, mortgage/rent, and everything else takes a toll for us that live on our own. We never get it easy once we reach adulthood, so we need be ahead of ourselves and do the best we can to survive the obstacles that occur. Partnership, such as husband and wife, is vital for their own sake to strive ahead of economy costs. If gender roles were still kept strict today, families would need to rely double on WIC and food stamps at the rate everything’s going. Like the saying we all heard at some point in our lives "not everyone gets to live life on the easy lane."


Taking this into perspective, we can take encouragement from these women that hold strong for the rest. In the beginning of Mary Pipher's excerpt, she mentions Polly who was a girl that passed for a tomboy. Since males and females have different sexual organs, females have what we call our menstrual period, menopause, and pregnancy. Polly was out casted from her boy friends and judged because of her puberty. Then once her appearance changed, boys started looking her way again. Her stage of trauma in transitioning from preadolescence to being a teenager changed dramatically. In relation with my childhood, I played with Tonka trucks instead of Barbie’s, played sports for fun, and even though it wasn't ladylike, it didn’t matter. I loved video games, and I would always play with my brother daily while my sisters would play with makeup. Then as I got older, I noticed a different image. I went from plain T’s and shorts to skirts and blouses. I wanted to fit in Intermediate school, and just by appearance, I was back to being girly again. Lost interest in sports except volleyball, and I made more friends. So the story of Polly does bring me back to my point on women having choices that boys/men have choices in. Society falls short on meditating only on appearance and not their skills. Women will have their periods of trauma because of their bodily and emotional changes throughout her teenager years to after menopause, but it doesn’t help for people to bring them down on a lower level.


Giving acceptance to women lets their opportunities flourish on a greater scale. People will never stop judging, but it shouldn't be a calamity on all of us. Do away with the barrier and let women perform the same work as men or join in any activity men participate in. We ‘ere all created different, but are all equals, society can cooperate with women just as they do with men.

Works Cited

Pipher, Mary. “Saplings in the Storm”. Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader. 6Th Edition. Eds. Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2011. 347

Babylon, Max. “Causes and Solutions”. Online Posting. 29 August.11. Laulima Discussion. 14 Sept. 2011 [http://laulima.hawaii.edu].

Arambula, Tracy. Personal Interview. 31 Aug. 2011




Log of Completed Activities
_x__ Aug. 22- First Day of Instruction. Read the welcome message, which includes instructions on how to navigate our class blog. Next, log in to our Laulima discussion forum and your hawaii.edu mailbox. Become familiar with these instructional media. Carefully review the information in our class blog, especially the schedule and syllabus (click on the tab at the top of the page). In the syllabus, pay special attention to the grading policy and the document “Am I Ready for an Online Class?” These will give you an understanding of online classes in general and this class in particular.
_x__ Aug. 23- Laulima Discussion: Who Am I? Post your response by midnight. Possible topics: your academic and career goals; your favorite pastime; favorite book, movie, song; favorite physical activity or sport; favorite quote; personal philosophy on the purpose of life; your personal thoughts on why it’s important to become an excellent writer; favorite food or restaurant; favorite vacation destination; etc.
_x__ Aug. 23- Intro to Paper #1. Read the “Guidelines for Paper #1” by midnight.
_x__ Aug. 23-31- Set up your personal blog for all class papers. Click here for instructions. Alternately, see the “Blogger” links in the right sidebar in our class blog. To begin, complete the initial setup. You’ll be able to add finishing touches as the RD1 due date approaches. If you need help, post a request in the “Q&A About My Blog” forum in Laulima.
_x__ Aug. 26- Laulima Discussion: What Is “Trauma”? One definition or many different definitions? Post your response by midnight.
_L__ Aug. 29- Complete readings for Paper #1 by midnight.
_x__ Sep. 2- Laulima Discussion: Causes & Solutions: What causes gender role trauma? What’s the solution? Assume that there is more than one cause or solution. Post your response by midnight. [10 pts]
_L__ Sep. 6- Submit RD1 (Review Draft #1) [50 pts] Review the guidelines.
_x__ Sep. 12- Submit three RD1 evaluations in Laulima. [50 pts] Review the guidelines.
_x__ Sep. 16- Submit FD1 (Final Draft #1) [100 pts] Review the guidelines.