Gender equality

I think it's crazy to see that we are in the year 2015 and there still isn't equality among men and women. Women are still being judged, viewed and evaluated in such a harsh negative way. In a article I read it argued that men are instantly seen as powerful and since women have a lower status in society it makes them to be seen as powerless. It also stated that women feel like they shouldn't ask directly. Believe it or not I've seen this with my own eyes, where a man ask/demands the woman to do everything; for example, cook, clean, etc. while he sits back and relaxes. The woman in this case feels like she doesn't have the right or the power to speak up. In my opinion, this is such a bad way of living I wouldn't want to live basically under a rock where I couldn't speak up or do what I wanted. Men and women are both human beings so women should be treated and respected equally as men are. 

This unit

This unit has really got me thinking about why society is so focused on everyone else but ourselves. Society is just set up this way and most likely it will continue to act this way but in some cases it's just taken to far. In reality who are we to judge and evaluate someone based on how they act, choose to live or what they choose to do with their life. It shouldn't really have to matter to us; for instance, we've made mistakes and no one is perfect. It really isn't necessary for it to affect us and to have to get to the point where we have to judge and evaluate someone who we may not even know in such a negative way. It's pretty much pointless and unnecessary. 

My Interpretation of "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" PART TWO

Broken down gods survive

in the crevasses and mudpots 

of every beleaguered city

where it is obvious 

there are too many bodies

to cart to the ovens

or gallows

~

I think this means roughly "faith is alive in very few in a city too full of unscrupulous people."  It could also mean that very few people are able to express themselves in a place where there are so many people.  This interpretation supports the line "our labor has become more important than our silence" as meaning expression is more important than silence.

~

and our uses have become 

more important than our silence

after the fall

~

I think Lorde is talking about peoples' silence not helping them, more specifically, her realization of how useless silence is as she nears her death - "the fall."

~

Too many empty cases

of blood left to bury or burn

there will be no body left

to listen

~

To me, this line is comparing human life to an expendable resource.  Too much blood left to burn represents the untapped potential in silent people as well as the untapped potential in her life that her impending death will seal.  

~

and our labor 

has become more important

than our silence

~

She repeats this line to draw attention to the fact that we should all take advantage of the time and knowledge that we have on this Earth.  In other words, our labor - what we do on this Earth while we are alive - is more important than just living without asserting our own knowledge and vocalizing ourselves.  

Gender norms

When I read the article I learned that there is a difference between men and women. That this difference has caused the women to be judged negatively on the way they say things or express it. Since gender norm has a bigger effect on the women then men it has created this difference where the women use indirectness while men use directness. With this it shows who has more power in gender, language, and cultural. But what irritates me the most is why do we have to be judge so cruelly in the way we speak when involving gender norms? I just wish we can be more equal towards each other so there doesn't have to be this division in this world where we can't get along each other.

My reaction to His Politeness is Her Powerlessness

I wasn’t really happy with this article. Why can’t men and women be seen as equals? I shouldn’t have to be subservient to a man. It’s 2015 and the gender norms are still in place, it’s time to move on. In “His Politeness is Her Powerlessness” Deborah Tannen stated that “[women speak indirectly, when they want something because she doesn’t feel she has the right to ask directly]” (2), that particular line I didn’t like. The reasoning for that is because if I want something I’ll ask for it directly; why should I have to sugarcoat the way I speak to sound more ladylike? Language shouldn’t divide us they way it does. If a woman speaks with authority then she’s seen as mean and extremely aggressive but if a man does it then it’s socially acceptable. That’s not fair, when will gender equality take place? Women and men should be treated with the same level of respect because they’re human beings. 

Division and Human Nature

This unit shows the division between people: the way they think, their sexual preferences, and the way they behave in different settings. Human beings will always judge people because it’s just in their nature. However, it just goes too far sometimes. In Phylosophe by Judith Butler, a boy was killed because he walked more feminine than most boys. Why does the way he walk affect anyone else’s life to the point where those group of boys felt like they had to rid him of the world? Everyone’s life would be a lot easier if people would just mind their own business. The way we judge people, creates a division between everyone. As people we should be a lot more accepting than we are because no one likes to be judged.

The barbershop

Our cultur has been divided without us even knowing it. In the article the barbershop it talks about how when she goes to her neighborhood she can act as however she wants. However when she goes to talk to a professor she can't. She can't just talk how she normally would because that would be inappropriate. She has to collect herself and become proper. Talk clear so he can understand her. Without her having to say things twice. To sum it up, were divided because when she was in the university she had to act differently than she normally would when she's in her own neighborhood.