Tag Archives: Gender & Communication

Giving a new definition of “Baby Fat”

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How many times have you seen in popular magazines, television, and media, countless celebrities claiming to have “gotten their body back” after having a baby? This idea of being the “perfect mother” sets unattainable expectations for everyday mothers- shifting priorities of being pleasing towards society and your significant other rather than soft and nurturing to your newborn child.

After problems with recovering from her own pregnancy, photographer Ashlee Wells Jackson created the “Fourth Trimester Project”– a series of photographs that show the true beauty of mothers after their pregnancies. The plump, skinny, wrinkled and smooth mothers of all nationalities and origins embrace their body’s changes which are suited best for their families, not for society.

“We live in a society obsessed with perfection. The goal of this project is to shift that focus to the beauty of who we really are.” – Ashlee Wells Jackson

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XMAAmRKZrc[/youtube]

Gender discrimination in the workplace

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So although I am not a Nicki Minaj fan, I do think she makes a very good point in this short clip. Yes, our society has come a long way on their views of women in the work force. However, there is still a lot of discrimination out there. In chapter one of Gendered Lives, Julie Woods writes, “The fact that my sex makes me vulnerable to job discrimination, violence, and other injustices is not something I accept as unchangeable.” Nicki Minaj’s clip gives us a whole new perspective of this discrimination with a look at how women in the entertainment industry are discriminated against. One would think that celebrities don’t experience discrimination, but it is clear that this social construction of gender roles truly is unequal all over. When will our society start to see women as equals? Will our society ever see women as equals?

Loving Your Child Unconditionally

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One day during my hourly “Let-me-read-through-Facebook-and-put-off-homework” phases, I just so happened to find this article in my newsfeed. At first I thought nothing of it because it was so short. However, the more I thought about it through the day, the more it kind of buried itself deep into my heart.

While reading it I immediately thought of the Transgendered Lives video. All five of the subjects in the video attest to being either supported or shunned by their families. The younger children seem to get support while the older ones were more likely to get shunned by their families. Hailey was the perfect example. At six, she decided she wanted to become a girl. Her father, being a Sunday School teacher, took it hard. However it did not take the family long at all to accept Harry as Hailey and love her unconditionally.

Julia Wood states in her book, Gendered Lives, “Problems unique to GLBT families seem to arise primarily from social prejudice rather than from any lack of parenting skills (Snow, 2004).” Sometimes it’s not the parenting, it’s the fear of being judged by society that holds parents back.

After I read that I decided to do some reading up on other blogs to find a good co-blog to go along with that first one. I then found this beautifully written piece by Jacqueline Shephard. I was in awe. It is a lengthier reading, but I promise well worth your time. I cried, I laughed, and I got a whole new outlook on parenting an LGBT teen.

While I was reading through these two articles all I kept picturing were my future children. Would they be lesbian? Bisexual? Gay? Transgendered? Would I love them the same as if they were heterosexual? My answer is YES. There are so many things that could go wrong with my child. Cancer, kidnapping, sexual assault…you name it. If my child wants to indentify with another gender, SO BE IT! If he wants to a date a man or if she wants to date a woman, SO BE IT! At least they are alive and healthy enough to make that conscious decision. Isn’t that what most parents want for their children?

I have taken the pledge to love my future child(ren) unconditionally…can you say the same for yourself?