Week 7 - Response to Celita

I thought N.O.M.A.S. has some nobel ideals. The thing I find interesting is that say that want to redefine what in means to be masculine. When you do a google search they come up with the header saying "Pro-feminist, gay affirmative." Thinking back to the project we did I was thinking is this something that most men would see and say "I want to find out more about this?"

week 7 - Career mistakes that women make

Had an interesting conversation with two female co-workers. They both attended a lunch and learn session on the 10 mistakes women make in business. How perfect is that, I would have attended if I knew beforehand I told them. They were somewhat shocked, they said "Tom there were only women in the room." I let that one go. I told them about my class and blogging and asked them if the could tell me about what was discussed.
We started to talk about some of the items that were identified. As we were going through them they seemed fairly universal to me. I asked them if they thought that the issues identified were specific to women or just good practices in general. They replied that they felt they were not specific to women.
I asked them if they could identify a few mistakes they think women make. Their response was inappropriate attire. I asked if it was dressing provocatively , they said that too. They said it is the little things too, like the shoes you wear. You would amost never see a man wear flip flops to work in a business environment during the summer but many women do, or wear sandals that aren't more than flip flops.
That was about all the time we had to talk before we had to get back to what we get paid to do. But it was an interesting conversation. All of the points made during the presentation applied to both men and women. What are the real mistakes only women make?

Reply to Jason - Week 6

Jason, I think you are making some huge generalizations in this post. Most of the parents I know are very involved in their children's lives. I am very involved in my children's lives. "Many parents both work leaving the child to be raised by 50 cent and Paris Hilton." Are you trying to imply that if both parents work they are uninvolved in raising their children or have made a selfish choice? My wife and I both work. Before we had children we discussed our goals, that our children would have more opportunities than we did. We moved to get into a better school district before we had kids. We opened 529s for the kids (we both paid our own way through school and know what a struggle that was). If you have young children you know that they have to have some type of socialization before they get to kindergarten. My sister is a stay at home mom and her sons go to daycare 2 days a week so they can be socialized. I think you have made a very bad assumption that parents don't think their roles as mothers and fathers are the most important aspects of their lives. If you are not willing to make it the most important role than you should not have children in the first place. There were conversations last week about people having children later in life. This is why they do. When you are ready to commit yourself to raising children that is when you have them. I agree some parents are uninvolved, but you have taken your view of the minority and extended it to the majority with the generalizations you have made here.

Reply to Charlene - Week 6

I think there are certain genres of music that very disrespectful to women and people in general. First and second graders certainly do not have the maturity to distinguish between reality and what is usually glorified life experiences or fantasies. I would guess that these first and second graders probably have older siblings that are exposing these children to this music. i think that their parents need to monitor what their children a seeing and hearing on television and in music. If they are going to allow their children to be exposed to this they also need to help the child understand the difference between reality and fantasy to minimize negative influence.

Reply to Ashleigh - Week 6

Absolutely guys with sisters treat women better. At least in my observations. I have one friend who has 5 brothers and 1 sister. He does not fit the mold probably because the female is so outnumbered. But when it is even I think it makes a big difference. I think the more you practice anything the better you get, so having the opportunity to interact with female siblings while growing up is definitely beneficial to males.

Hannah Montana Episode - Wk 6

watching Hannah Montana (with my daughters - LOL such a masciline disclaimer) Hannah's father asks her friends mother to dinner, the friends mother responds "it's a date." They go on their date (not shown). when they get back it is clear they had an aurgument. It is later revealed that the aurgument was because the friend's mother insisted on picking up half the check. Both insisted their opinion of how to pay was right. The father is called a caveman the mother is called uptight. It is never resolved during the show because the plot was focused the conflict between the daughters.

I was hoping for some kind of resolution during the show. The question is, was it really a date in the sense that is there a romatic interest? There are so many different ways this could be construed. If a woman allows a man to pay although she has no romantic interest is she sending the wrong signals? If a women asks a man on a date should she pay? What is the etiquette for a "man date" ? (Wood p216).

I suspect opinions will vary widely.

response to Dorit - week 5

Dorit,I think the fact that many women having children later in life has a lot to with people getting married later in life. My parents were 21 and 18 when they married. It was a failry common age to get married back in their days. I hear a lot of youger couples also saying they don't want to have children until they have a house. So therefore the economy also has an impact on the age that women choose to have goals. I think most people know whether they want children or not at an early age. I think people set criteria for when they will have children which takes longer to achieve now than it may have many years ago.