There are only 2 sexes my ass

Semenya, the African athlete who was forced to undergo testing to prove her sex, is actually intersexed.

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/10051660/Report:-Semenya-has-male,-female-sex-organs?GT1=39002

I'm sure I'll have more to say on this later.

The problem with no name...

This summer, I read The Feminine Mystique. My mother's response was, "You're just now reading that?" Well mom, between you and me was the Third Wave of feminism. Anyway, I truly enjoyed it.

I suppose I could sit here and summarize it, but there's just so much that this book covered in it's almost 400 pages. I learned a great deal about myself by reading this book. I'm going to cheat and offer up an overview from Wikipedia:

The Feminine Mystique came about after Friedan sent a questionnaire to other women in her 1942 Smith College graduating class. Most women in her class indicated a general unease with their lives. Through her findings, Friedan hypothesized that women are victims of a false belief system that requires them to find identity and meaning in their lives through their husbands and children. Such a system causes women to completely lose their identity in that of their family.

Friedan specifically locates this system among post-World War II middle-class suburban communities. She suggests that men returning from war turned to their wives for mothering. At the same time, America's post-war economic boom had led to the development of new technologies that were supposed to make household work less difficult, but that often had the result of making women's work less meaningful and valuable.

I too have fallen victim to the mystique. I've dated, I've been in relationships. And while in a way they make me happy, I am not myself nor am I fully and truly ever happy in them. I live my life thru my partner at the time- utterly supporting them in their needs, but never asking for fulfillment of my own. I rarely, if ever, suggest activities, instead doing whatever it is my partner wants. I can't truly remember the last time I did something with a boyfriend that I chose or wanted. It leaves me unhappy and unfulfilled in the end. While I enjoy making others happy, I cannot continue to do this at the expense of my own happiness. It's something I will work on in the future.

Another thing addressed in the book was the preoccupation women had with youth. This still continues to this day. You can see this every where, but this new infomercial makes me laughs at the ridiculous lengths people will go. So watch and laugh like I did.

A Brief Introduction

My name is Amanda and I graduate at the end of this semester from the University of Central Florida. I majored in International Relations and minored in Communications. I also am going to receive a certificate in Women's Studies, which is the inspiration for this blog.

I have been a feminist as long as I can remember. This blog is my journey reading through various feminist texts and my responses to them. I know I will also post many things that are not based on what I read, but just general social commentary. This blog is mostly for myself, but I wanted to have a method to keep my accountable. I also really need a hobby! I am also hoping for recommendations for future reading. Or even interesting feminist movies. Or whatever.

So, why start this particular venture? Besides needing a hobby, I really am hoping to find myself. No really, it sounds cheesy, but it's true. For many years, I never thought I was valuable as a person, that no one on this earth would truly care about me. Well, I recently found out I was very, very wrong. Knowing that has been an eye-opening experience

Now, it is time to value myself. I do not want to only feel important because others do, I want to know it for myself. In our society, it is so important to have external validation. That is why grades, jobs, statuses, and labels are so important. Who we are is based so heavily on what others think of us. Our value is only as high as others place us. I don't want that for myself. I want to only require the validation that I find within myself. So my search for answers begins.

I wrote this a few weeks back and posted it on facebook. I have copied for you now.

Women, Politics, and the Media
I feel compelled to write about something that has been bothering me for a while. Really, we all know I could go on and on about the portrayal of women in the media. But lately, there has been a gross mistreatment of women in the media who have some tie to politics. This, of course, has been going on for years as well. But this past month has just gotten to me.

I am sure everyone is now familiar with the picture of Obama at the G8 supposedly staring at a woman’s rather curvaceous backside. The picture seems to be telling a pretty clear story: Obama staring with Nicholas Sarkozy looking on in approval. When this picture came out, talking about Obama’s love of ass was all the rage. A few days later, a video was released that seemed to make Sarkozy the offender, while Obama was helping someone else down the stairs. Most of us are very aware that cameras can play funny tricks, so maybe Obama wasn’t staring. Argue all you want about what is true, I don’t care, that’s not my concern. Everyone has been guilty of glancing at someone at some point in their lives, and the man is married, not dead. Ultimately, the subjects of this debate are what bother me. It’s Obama and a woman’s butt.

Does anyone know this woman’s name? Why she was even at the G8 in the first place? From what I have read, she was a student who was lucky enough to be allowed to attend. This woman, who for all we know probably has a great interest in politics, had an opportunity most students in politics would die for, and she has been reduced to an ass. Ladies and gentleman, this young woman has already probably had the most media coverage she will ever have for her entire career, and it was because of her rear end, not because of what she did. Another young lady who reached her career peak because of objectification.

Now we come to something more recent, the selection of Dr. Regina Benjamin to be the Surgeon General of the United States. One could talk about her awesome work in her community. How she treats patients for free who cannot pay, and even buys their medications for them. Or how her clinic was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, then again by a fire one day before it was supposed to reopen. She built it again anyway. She has also served on way too many committees and boards for me to list here, including working with the Governor of Alabama. She has been given several awards and honors, including one from Time Magazine. She was named People Magazine’s “Person of the Year and was also a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Award. Hell, she was even recognized by the Pope. But that’s not what the media is talking about, is it?

No, the media thinks this woman is too fat to be the Surgeon General. Should the Surgeon General be an example to Americans health-wise? Clearly, this woman is no size two Hollywood actress. But we, as Americans, have become accustomed to that being the symbol of health in women. Dr. Benjamin is, for better or worse, an average sized woman in the US. The average woman is a size 14 or 16, depending on who you ask. Maybe she’s larger than that, I don’t know. Judging from her pictures, I doubt it. She has a larger chest and carries some extra weight around her face. However, it is fat that is carried around the waist that is most dangerous to health. Body size itself is not a good measure of health. There are some very small people on this planet who are not healthy. There are average sized people who are not healthy. There are also various health problems, such as a thyroid disorder, that could also cause someone to be heavier. Interesting how no one really commented on David Satcher’s weight. Or C. Everett Koop’s. Something tells me it’s because in our society, looks matter a lot more for women than they do men.