Freud, Plato and the Definition of Homosexuality

   Learning about Freud and his thoughts about homosexuality really amazed me because I always forget how the term "homosexuality" is fairly new to the English language. I am learning about Plato in one of my other classes and my professor emphasizes how homosexuality did not occur in ancient Greece because same-sex relations were seen as a privilege for male citizens. In "The Symposium", one of the play-writers, Aristophanes, discusses the Myth of the Circle People which tries to explain why people feel incomplete and are looking for his or her's significant other to feel "complete". The three kinds of circle people are male/male, female/female/, and male/female. Searching for your male counterpart, if you are a male,  is considered an honor while your female partner is only seen as a means of reproduction. Same sex relations in ancient Greece were not seen as perverse but they were preferred.
   It is interesting how over time the opposite attitude towards same sex relations has occurred. Although Freud believes that there is no cure for homosexuality and that it is only a problem to heterosexuals, people still feel strongly against it. If the notion of male/male relations had carried over to present times, the notion of the family unit would be completely distorted and change the mindsets of how men and women should act in relationships. Defining homosexuality as immoral is to justify monogamous heterosexual relationships that are rarely seen in nature.

Interesting relationship between Marxism and Feminism

One of the prompts for the first writing assignment caught my mind the moment I saw it (not that I am writing an essay for that prompt). It was the first one, which asks to explain why the relationship between Marxism and Feminism. It says that the two terms' relationship is like a marriage. After reading the Second Wave book, I realized that there relationship is called 'marriage' because when the two marry, they become one. In the process of uniting into a single thing, one item often dominates the concepts of the other. In this case, "Marxism subsumes the feminist struggle into the "larger" struggle against capital,"
(Hartmann 97). Marxists are mainly concerned about class struggles and they give no more concerns to Feminists than that feminists struggle due to class division. The Marxists are sex-blind, not taking in the fact that women struggle partly due to their gender.
Marxism and Feminism are similar in that both discuss struggles. However, feminists are more concerned of relationships between men and women. In the past and even today (though it may sound controversial), men and women are given different roles by the society. Men usually work outside to earn money for the family. Nowadays, men earn 'family wage', enough money to support all their family members, and money is followed by power. Women usually work inside their homes, doing house chores and taking care of their children. In my opinion, women's roles are as important as those of men, if not more important. However, since women do not actually earn wages from doing such work, from a Marxist's view, women are not making any profits, so their roles are seen as insignificant. In this case, too, Marxism dominates feminism by making women's work insignificant. That works of Marxism receive more consideration from the world than those of Feminism may also suggest why Marxism is the dominant one, and feminism just integrates into Marxism.

10 Reasons Why You Would Like to Be the Opposite Sex...

In my social psychology class our professor conducted an experiment. We were asked to write up to 10 reasons for why we wanted to be the opposite sex. Not surprisingly, females turned out to write an average of 7-9 things, while males wrote on average 3-4. The reasons why females wanted to be males included:  taking the pressure off looking good, the ability to have a child without going through labor, their lack of menstrual cycles,  more job opportunities and the lack of discrimination overall. These, all social constructs, which we read about in class and are still alive today. The males on the other hand, opted to be females for the ability to experience a different anatomy. There were in fact some who decided to write that they would never like to be the opposite sex in the poll. If this is how many of the males feel, if they understand how it is that women are treated in this society, then why is it that they can’t understand the feminists fighting for equal recognition?

                The reading explains a time when women and men were once equal human beings. There were even ideologies that argued that women were indeed men with their genitals inside rather than outside. And despite their obvious difference that one could give birth and the other not, this belief was held to be true for a long time. Menstruation during puberty was even seen as a bleed nose in males during puberty. But as one of the articles stated, “Culture shapes how scientists perceive the natural world”. And when the necessity came, women were said to be less worthy than males. And through their sexuality, women were condemned as dependent to the male to create life. Even when proof came to show that sperm was the weaker one, a woman’s reproductive system was belittled.

Men earn more than women-a myth or a fact?

Men and women both work for their household expenditures, yet it is true for most of the families that the man earns more than the woman.

The reason does not lie in the stereotypes or beliefs, rather the time both the genders put in decides the pay. Turns out that men tend to put in more time doing their office work compared to women. Women spend more time taking care of their babies and households. Even though this reason has its roots in the societal stereotype, there is no conspiracy at play; it is only fair that those that work more get higher rewards.

This is not to say that sexism doesn’t exist and that women are always treated fairly. But as a general rule it is inconceivable that employers could hire a female worker for the three quarter of what they would have to pay a man with the same qualifications.

Women dressing for men or women?

 Who do women really get all dressed up for? Lately I have become convinced that women do not pick out their outfits for men. But instead we choose our outfits to impress other women. If I wanted to impress a guy I would just wear a lower cut shirt, skinny jeans and heals. Nice and simple but if you are going out on the town the outfits tend to become more elaborate. Because you know you are going to be around other women.

  I personally think that women are more judgmental towards other women in general. So that’s why women accessories and try daring styles. Most men can care less what color your shoes are or if you wear feathers in your hair.  We want validation from other women. Of course I do not mean all women have this need for validation. Some have rose above this practice but a lot have not. So my verdict is that women dress for women.

Are Gender Roles because of Biological Differences?

Traditional gender roles in today’s American society have affected both men and women by giving each gender a stereotypical lifetime responsibility. As the divisions between men and women become increasingly equal in society today, the same basic gender roles will always persist because of the biological differences between the genders. A major gender division has been in the human household and the marriage arrangement. This set up has created the male-dominated families and marriages, but is also an example of how human nature has enabled this dominance to take place. In the American workplace, the traditional gender role that is present is that the males are usually at the head of each job/business and the women either assist these men in the tasks to be accomplished or do not work at all. Even though women in the 21^st century have been given increasing amounts of opportunities to establish a high level career, it has been harder for them because of the stereotypical gender role that is still present in society. Due to the male dominated workplace hierarchy, the men have also become in charge of the majority of household finances, finances within the government, and also the education system. The various traditional gender roles that persist in today’s American society are still present because society has subconsciously divided the aspects of traditional male and female roles in order to fulfill the basic needs of a traditional human establishment. 

The genders of a male and a female are the result of multiple biological differences that are present at the time of fertilization. The one variance in the X and the Y chromosome is what leads to the entire biological and gender role differences in humans. The human male, who contains the Y chromosome, develops into a taller and stronger individual than the human female does. The female usually does not grow as tall and as strong as the male and has more of a fragile body. These biological differences in the male and female are the result of the tendency for animals to display larger males than females in order to show dominance for the purpose of reproduction. Because humans are indeed an advanced portion of the animal kingdom, there is a necessity for the two genders to have one sex to be biologically dominant. This biologically stronger male was used thousands of years ago to protect the females within their lifespan and also to ensure reproduction. Now that society has developed and humans are now more intelligent than they were thousands of years ago, men are still seen as the dominant gender both mentally and physically, and in a way, there needs to be a dominant gender for society to work correctly. If men and women had the exact same body structure and the same minds but only differed in sexual organs, the “traditional gender roles” would be drastically different.  Men and women also differ in their minds and viewpoints on various aspects of life. Men are usually more aggressive and tend to have a mindset that makes them want to control things such as marriage and companies. Women usually are better at problem solving and are less aggressive than men. In order for society to have the basic needs fulfilled, both the male and female qualities of mind must be taken into account. This is because there has to be variations between ideas and life views and the two separate sexes allow these to take place. Because of the biological differences in both male and female bodies and minds, there are traditional gender roles that persist in today’s society because of the human’s animal-like tendencies to be male dominated. 

Double Standard in Judging Women's Sports

There is obviously a double standard in judging women’s sports. Male athletes receive attention from the public that focuses on their athletic skills, on how well they perform in games. Conversely, the attention on female athletes is more likely focused on their feminine features, on their physical attractiveness not on their athletic abilities. Anna Kournikova, now a retired professional tennis player, was made one of the best known tennis stars worldwide based on her beauty and celebrity status, despite her never winning a WTA singles title. This double standard devalues the athletic achievement of female athletes compared to male athletes, placing emphasis on appearance over performance. It is fairly enough to say that female athletes cannot produce the same performance as male athletes due to male’s physical superiority.
However, is it strength that matters the most in sports? In the Nike Athlete Campaign video, Gabrielle Reece, a professional volleyball player, presents rhetorical questions: “Are boys bigger, stronger, and faster? Yes. Is that all that has to do with being an athlete? No.” Sports should not be viewed merely as a platform where strength determines the popularity of athletes involved, it should includes the capability of the athletes and the level of skills that are displayed in games. It is unfair for female athletes to be judged based on their appearance rather than their performance just because they are unable to display comparable speed and power to male athletes in games because many of them indeed show excellent skills involved in the sports. Skills in sports should be the determinant of the quality of an athlete instead of mere strength. “It’s not a girl thing. It’s not a boy thing. It’s a skills thing”, said streetballer Alvina Carroll in the video. It is inappropriate to judge female athletes based on how powerful instead of how skillful they are.