Section 3

This class actually turned out to be my favorite class of the semester, no brown nosing intended.  My initial idea of what the class would be and what it actually was complete polar opposites.  After the first day of class I felt very overwhelmed and felt as though this class was going to require too much reading that I would not be interested in, like many classes do.  I was surprised class after class at how I was actually interested in the daily readings and the class discussions.  I learned so many different ways to look at certain situations, I have learned to not judge before knowing the entire story, and I have learned that you can take a group of students who have never met, put them in a circle, and discuss these issues and find that all our opinions make sense and are respected. 

This class gave me a chance to voice my opinion and I felt like my opinion was actually heard and not just disregarded.  I felt as a instructor you really couldn't have done any better of a job this semester, you were always very considerate and had so much knowledge of the subject matter not just what we were reading but from other sources.  If I had the chance to retake this course I would not hesitate I loved it.

If I had to say something I would change about the course I honestly would only change the fact that sometimes we would go over the discussions before we would discuss them due to lack of time, I felt as though the issues were better stressed and seemed more interesting when we would discuss each at a time.  Other than that this class honestly couldn't be changed for the better it was excellent and I'm really happy I chose to take it!

Have a great summer and good luck with your future classes!

Welfare and Other Assistance

While in this class we actually touched on the subject of people who received assistance of any kind whether it be welfare, food stamps, WIC, etc.  Before reading some of the stories that I came across I had some negative thoughts about those who received welfare and mostly because I thought of them as people who were just too lazy to work and wanted a easy way out, sadly this is true in some cases.  But I am happy to say that after this class it is NOT true in all cases and if used in the correct way welfare and other assistance groups can be a blessing.

In the readings we learned of a woman who had become a teen mother, her mother had been a teen mother to her and the cycle had basically continued.  The woman however wanted to end the cycle and make something of herself.  With the help of numerous aids she went on to college and got pretty far but not without rude remarks from others when they learned of the assistance she received.  The sad part of the story comes when she is almost at the end of her career and she is told she can not receive the welfare anymore which will force her to move into an apartment on a bad side of town, her apartment is broken into, her child is taken from a good daycare to a lesser, and she must stop taking classes to work more to support her family.

After this class it changed my entire way of thinking with these types of assistance.  I would have never considered that anyone on welfare would have so many dreams and goals because I'm use to what the media or what I have seen from personal experience.  I also found it extremely sad that if you receive assistance and you try to make something of yourself it will actually hurt you.  Is this the reason why most who do receive the assistance don't try?  I think that may be a very good question and one the state might want to look at.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to see the point of view from the women in the book to see their stories and how they used the assistance to a greater good.  It made me open my eyes, and see the money that is taken from me could be for a better cause.

Section 1 My Introduction

My name is Heather Fuson I'm 22 years old and I'm a Junior at Eastern.  When I first got into the Women and Gender Studies class I had no idea what to expect I just knew I had to take the class and so I went about it as any other normal subject.  After leaving class the first day I almost felt overwhelmed we talked a lot about what we would be covering we discussed the amount of reading and assignments we would be doing in class and I honestly felt like this class would be a complete overload that I may not be able to keep up with. I was wrong, I ended up absolutely loving the class.  My impression of the readings after the very first assignment was I was probably going to be upset many times during the semester.  A lot of the readings had touchy issues that we sometimes just ignore or don't bring up, we didn't ignore much in this class.  Although the readings had some controversy and were tough subjects at time the discussions were always interesting and it was a safe place to voice our opinions.

Older Women

The subject of older women really never occurred to me until we discussed it in class, and not really just older women but older people in general. When I have thought about older people at times I will admit I found them to be annoying or slow. After the discussion in class I don't feel the same or at least I have a better understanding of their feelings.

I learned a lot about how we in general treat elders and I definitely have done many of these things.  I think a big issue is when elders express aggravation the fact that we do not take their emotions and problems into consideration and we even find it cute or humorous.

This feeling of aggravation would seriously drive me crazy and would make me the stereotypical grumpy old lady.  I feel as though we treat elders as though they are baby's and they can't do things that they once did for everyone.  Older women and elders in general are capable of many more things than we give them credit for.  Their lives should be honored and we should treat them as higher individuals instead of expressing constant annoyance towards them.

The scary fact is that one day we all hope to be that old and to have lived the lives these people have lived however how will our lives play out when we are the one causing the annoyance towards others? How will we feel when we express our feelings and someone laughs? This very thought is what makes me change my attitude towards others.

Would it ever occur that elder women are just like younger women? Just slightly less sexually attractive.  Elder women can be fun they can be lots of help and can be loved.

Eating Disorders

The subject of eating disorders was a serious subject that we discussed on a couple occasions during class and is something I also found particularly interesting.  I feel as though women have such a hard time with body image although eating disorders effect males too I feel as though all women spend a little more time than needed asking themselves, "does this make me look fat", "should I change", or "how do I look" wouldn't it just be amazing if it didn't matter at all?

We are our own worst enemies, this is so true in so many ways I feel as though we judge ourselves so much more harshly than others would even begin too. I feel as though today's media is a definite factor in the pressures we all face today in what we feel the idea of beauty is or must be.  I'm not really sure if these problems can ever be completely conquered however I would like to think that they will get much better.  We can all start by simply telling someone how beautiful they really are.

I love the discussion we had about Barbie and how if there was actually a woman that had the measurements that Barbie has that she wouldn't even be able to walk.  I feel as though so many girls have the Barbie image in their heads when they have an idea of beauty, it's sad. I know as a child I actually faced problems with my body image even though I was never overweight it is a horrible feeling and is something that doesn't just go away with a simple compliment from someone else.