Weekly Response by Karissa Chow
I thought that the reading on marianismo was very interesting. In many classes and popular culture, I can easily learn about and identify machismo as the idea of the hypermale is very prevalent today. I have already heard about the some of the stereotypes that are symbolic of marianismo like women are spiritually strong. However, the idea that people think women are semi divine and morally superior is something foreign to me. I really enjoy history so I loved early about the history of how the practice came about. I found it interesting that in the beginning the women was seen as a strong woman by herself until the later periods when a man would be seen with her. As the years go by, the patriarchal society increases and the image of the strong woman goes away. However, the Marian cult immerges through the ashes. The reading
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It has to be a cultural phenomenon. However, is it a cultural practice that we have a right, as “white” society, to tell them to stop their actions? I have actually been thinking about this idea on my own recently. When or if is it ok to try to help people change their culture from a “demeaning” practice and how do we go about it? For example, when westerners went to Africa, they insisted that the “heathens” must start wearing clothes to make the Africans more civilized. However, what clothes are and how they are designed are very cultural. People can argue that clothes help protect people from sun or cold, but the Africans were fine for millions of years without any clothes. The same can be said with other practices. Even though I personally disagree with the idea that makes women passive and stereotypes them in something that many women are not, I do not want to be ethnocentric and say that my ways are the best ways and other people should follow the same
The study of religion is often a rigorous process because the central tenets of the subject: image, ritual, and myth are often copious in their complexity. For example, consider the multiple meanings that are inherent in the image of a crucifix. Some Christians might view it as an image of suffering, whilst others would reject that notion and instead perceive it to be one of love. These differences may seem inconsequential at first, but they can overtime shape the beliefs of an individual and by extension a community. To understand this dynamic better one only has to analyze the Christo Aparecido (Christ Appeared), an authentic Mexican crucifix with a fascinating history from the colonial era to the present. This history is made known by the text, Biography of a Mexican Crucifix: Lived Religion and Local Faith from the Conquest to the Present by Jennifer Hughes, from which I contend that over the life of the Christo Aparecido there continues to be an understanding among devotees that this crucifix is sacred because it displays animus while being a vestige for the sacred to occupy. To support my position I will attempt to relate the moments where the Christo Aparecido is said to show signs of life, in particular his stay in Mexico City during the colonial era and his role in more modern times with rival groups clashing over its efficacy in the village of Totolapan.
Throughout my ongoing investigation of the interactions between religious values and social behavior, I have become thoroughly intrigued with the role of the institutional church in the realm of social commentary and criticism, as well as political activism. That there is a long standing concept within the church tradition relating to my curiosity is not terribly surprising after just an overview of the language that sociology theory has applied to religious bodies. The role of the church in relation to society is divided into two basic categories of action- that of the “priest,” and that of the “prophet.” (Download a PDF file of a pamphlet eslpaining the terminolgoy of "Priest & Prophet.") The former describes the conserving, nurturing actions of the church towards broader social structures, the latter, criticism and the call to move away from corruption towards righteousness. When acting as prophet in the most extreme sense, the church is considered to be in a time of, what is called, status confessionis - acknowledging a state of social injustice so abhorrent that the church must actively interject its influence into even the secular sphere and demand repentance and reform. Nazism and apartheid in South Africa are the two most often cited examples of church bodies acting in status confessionis (Schuurman 100).
Discrimination, prejudice, and racism are all terms far too similar and encountered by multiple cultures. A vast amount of individuals have experienced these different terms, unfortunately some individuals belonging to certain minority cultures experience them more often than others. After the attacks on 9/11, the Muslim culture became a major target for actions such as discrimination. The media, especially in regards to women and their attire, fueled warped views about this culture. There are beliefs that women in this culture are oppressed and forced to wear a veil, or hijab, however their views and opinions are not taken into account regarding these statements that are being portrayed through the media and its watchers who are not aware of the cultural beliefs and traditions.
When it comes to African Americans, women have always been an imperative part of our culture and our history. Over the course of history, African American women were frequently hated and shunned not only by the color of their skin but for having “nappy” hair and/or a large buttocks which in a sense puts us at the bottom of that hierarchy. When it comes to other races, people with straight hair or without a big butt were more commonly accepted as beautiful or more likely to be accepted before African Americans. As African Americans continue to progress as a people, black women are becoming more powerful and learning to embrace their once shunned characteristics. Black women are growing to embrace their character so heavily other cultures are starting to emulate black culture.
The marianismo gender role beliefs vary depending on where one is located. Marianismo beliefs influence what women see as “appropriate female behavior” (Craske, 1999, p. 12). Stereotypes of women are created which have stuck to what is ‘appropriate’ for what women can and cannot do. It is out of the normalcy for women to not follow these marianismo beliefs. It is obvious that motherhood is found as the ultimate role for women. Though it would make sense that men have fatherhood is not the ultimate role for men (even though both man and woman are needed to create a child) this is not the case at all. Another key marianismo belief Craske (2002) found was that women are “dominant in the private world of domestic organization,” while men are dominant in the public sector (p. 11). This is important to know because women lived very secluded lifestyles. This exclusive lifestyle connects to how Catholic women in Latin America had greater transgressions than men when it came...
The premises that race and gender are social constructs mobilized anti-racism and feminist movements, including education and research, to counter the issues encompassed within these two forms of discrimination. However, while there are many arguments supporting the problems surrounding white supremacy as well as the sexual oppression of women, the combination of both race and gender lacks examination in comparison. Racialized women are commonly associated with being sexually available and exotic, despite feminist movements against the objectification of women. Because women are underrepresented in arguments against race, and issues of race are underrepresented in arguments against the sexualization of women, racialized women are marginalized and continue to face both racism and gender inequality.
It creates an imagination for the world where they think that they can achieve this and it looks so easy so its possible where as in reality there are all these other factors that play into where you fit into popular culture. For example, black culture is widely used in popular culture today. Soul food, fashion, hairstyles etc. They are even given new names and the “creators” never cited their sources or gave props to where it originated from. Popular culture also creates a division of people. Predominantly white casts, TV show hosts, soap operas, etc. are spewed all over television for years, White hairstyles are marketed, displayed in pamphlets as professionalism where black people’s hairstyles are deemed unprofessional, and all black casts are labeled racist all because white people or the main followers of popular culture do not understand how to take it when the next fad is not targeted towards them. This divide is a taught one and it is up to the people all over the world to unlearn the systematic beliefs about people of color and white people. I noticed that we have been following the paths of older world like Lyons, France and we are challenging the social norms, rules, and regulations that have been put in place before us because there are new dominant races that have emerged and are trying to find their place in the world. I can see that the old ways are being broken down and demolished by the new waves of enlighteners, educators, activists, etc. where as in the older world this could not have
...ding white, male superiority. Back in high school, I dated a non-Asian male from my class who often talked about how Asian women are “hot and sexy” yet “more faithful to men and less aggressive than White women.” At the time, I thought this was a compliment and I often tried to conform to this stereotype in order to satisfy my partner. Images of Asian-American women as both innocent and dangerous have legitimized any racist and sexist policies directed at Asians and women.
To begin this argument I would like to cite the works of Richmond Campbell in “Moral Epistemology”(Campbell 2003.) In this he states that “Moral knowledge exists, but moral facts are relative to the social group in which moral sensibility is formed with the result that no moral truths are known to hold universally.” While it may be fair to judge someone of your own culture off of your moral intuition, the statement above shows that you cannot equally transfer this moral judgment to another culture. Campbell uses the argument of a woman wearing a veil over her face. He says that while in one culture this may be morally wrong, in another there is nothing wrong with it. (Campbell 2003.) Through the eyes of your average American this would seem morally wrong. By doing this you are shaming a woman, or hiding her from the world. But, you must look at this through the context of the culture. In the countries that this ideology originated there is nothing wrong with a woman covering the majority of her body. In these cultures women tend to be much more mode...
Oppression disguises itself in various spheres, including Black womanhood. This classification includes societal pressures of Black women to conform to Eurocentric values, such as in beauty, gender, and families. The standard of European beauty is imposed on Black women, in which they feel subjected
Firstly, Rape culture can be defined as the normalization and excusing of sexual violent behavior towards women in everyday media and culture (marshall.edu). Rape culture can also be the over sexualization of women’s bodies and misogynistic attitudes. These images and attitudes may not seem like they are obvious or even present but they are subtly weaved into many of the symbols and daily interactions in society. This is what causes rape and rape culture to be normalized. For example, if a young woman is sexually assaulted in a club, instead of asking details about the person who committed the act, the questions are reversed onto the victim. There are questions that arise such as, “what was she wearing?”, “was she drunk?”, “was she flirting with him/her at first?”. These questions are problematic because they suggest that the victim is the one is at fault for being sexaually assaulted. This idea is pushed by the symbolic interaction that if someone is trying to get lucky the other individual has to follow through, especially in party settings. I often see this especially in music and movies where stalking and harassing a person to the point of being uncomfortable is chalked up as a heated “romantic” pursuit.. For another example, women’s bodies (and often men’s too) are oversexualized. The is especially in the advertising industry and again in the media.
The women’s movement began in the 1800s to justify the right to go to university. Before the women’s movement in the nineteenth century, females were to focus on the sixteenth century of the three C’s, church, children and cooking. The Catholic Church did not start the inequality of men and women. It was already in the world. For most of the years, the Church followed society with many of the factors in life but teachings of the Church state females and males have the same opportunities in faith and are equal in God’s eyes. Many women, including Catholic women, were part of the women’s movement. When it began, the movement did not want equal opportunities but independence.
Gender roles and racial discrimination has changed in many ways throughout history as within recent societal representation. In the the early 1900s, woman wore skirts that brushed the floor, belted jackets, fancy dresses etc. In the early 1990s, women wore short dresses, heeled shoes, turtlenecks etc. In fact, every succeeding generation has brought with it different expectations for how races,women and men are viewed within society. Although, we may be more open to expectations than were past generations, there are still expected norms of behavior for women and men in society. For example,“gender roles” means society expects
Men also oppress women so they can be seen as a man and are no longer sexually distracting. Even things that women do without the slightest intention of being sexual, a man will sexualize. Geng provides an example of this by saying “...panty hose are stripped off so that bare toes may frolic in the nap of the industrial carpeting”. Bare toes are not a sexual things but a woman is exposing her bare legs, which is seen as distracting towards men. Because of this, men are hired instead of women so they won’t be distracting towards other make coworkers. As shown, society has degraded women making them a “sexual object”. This is what causes men to think of women in such sexual ways. This may also contribute to why men disapprove or oppress women
Racial characteristics infuse gender stereotypes in particular: African American masculinity (hyper-virile and threatening), Asian femininity (hyper-feminine and submissive) being two key instances. This kind of cultural racism survives the downfall of institutional racism that is, racism that formally disbars some races from access to jobs, neighbourhoods, clubs, etc. And cultural racism is especially damaging in that it can so easily be interiorised by members of oppressed races