HERE and NOW

Do you think that things have changed??

I think things have changed a little for some and a lot for some. I think that it all depends on the ways you were raised and the things you were taught, along with your own beliefs on top of all of that.   This week we are talking about the men’s movements.  I think that their are a lot of people that still feel that women and men should not have equal rights because a women is only good for so much or whatever their reason may be.  However there are also a lot of men that feel the opposite.  In the book it spoke of traitorous identity and how men in particular feel more ashamed when other men criticize them rather than when women criticize their beliefs. (97) This statement made by Larry May (97) really intrigued me and gave me comfort because it just made sense when I thought of different experiences that I faced and saw in my life.  For example I’ll use myself.  Growing up as a child I saw my father tell my mother and all of his girls (as in children) that they were suppose to be a housewives that take care of his children/ their husbands children and that was all. He would tell us that this is all we had as individuals and women in our nature. My dad told us that we as women were suppose to nurture. However we as women and as individuals felt totally different. Now my mom agreed with my dad a little because of the ways she was raised. This was something my mother was use too. Now me on the other hand felt completely different and began to rebel, which places me where I am today.   In opinion my dad felt that he could say such things because he felt he held the power in our family dynamics; in which he did, but not that much.  Another example is when you’re in a line at store and someone cuts you in the line; you only will say something when you feel that you have more power. In fact this is something that one of my other classes talked about. Now this example only shows a little when going up against men and women because it proves that people in general will speak up if they feel they can.  In my opinion this whole theory of traitorous identity only happens because it’s easier to dismiss someone’s criticism upon us when we feel they don’t matter and we hold the power; this invisible power we know of;  This power that a lot of White men and women have and were given at birth.