Embodiment

Embodied: describes a sense of subjectivity instead of objectification, a feeling of being in one's body physically and psychologically, instead of monitoring one's body from the perspective of an observer.

In class today, we watched a documentary titled, "Period: The End of Menstruation." It is a collaboration of various women's perspectives on having her menstruation and how they feel about menopause. I was surprised at how extreme some of the women felt about it. The one woman that shocked me the most is the one who took shots in her butt to stop getting her period. She did describe how excruciating the pains were during her menstruation but I questioned how safe is this method? I myself get severe cramps to the point of tears in a fetal position but I feel like I need my period. She was in her early 30s and was already going through menopause. In the end of the video, we find out that the method was extremely unsafe and could lead to many complications for her health in the future. I really enjoyed this movie because they had real women, of different ages, races, and sexuality speaking about how they truly feel. I think that everyone in the class was impacted in one way or another, because we were able to relate to (emobdy) at least one of the women. The different viewpoints helped our diverse class, the viewers, feel herself in the documentary. One thing I did not like was that most of the women were in the kitchen or hanging out with girlfriends during the interviews. I think that they chose these settings to help the viewer relate to the speakers more, but I found it as catering to certain stereotypes. Stereotypes like, the woman should stay home and that girls talk too much with their girlfriends.
In Chapter 7 of Crawford's book, Transformations, she has a section titled The Contradiction between Femininity and Physical Activity which I found interesting. She introduces it by questioning the stereotype of women being the "weaker sex." Crawford states that "It is not easy to answer this question because the answer depends on what is being assessed." I completely agree with her. Biologically, men are generally bigger than women, heightwise, weightwise, muscle masswise. With this in mind, of course they would be stronger, in the sense of carrying heavier things. But in racing, swimming, sports where the smaller the better, women prevail. I think that when comparing the two sexes, it should be a specific subject instead of generalizing. An interesting idea that Crawford mentions is that, "In the late 19th century United States, medical experts believed that intellectual activity and physical exertion would decrease women's fertility." This thought is from a little over a century ago and may effect perceptions now. Basically, medical experts thought, the smarter and more athletic a woman, the less capable she would be of bearing a child. Considering the time era, women's sole responsibility was to raise a family, hence, she couldn't risk being smart or athletic. Fortunately, the invention of the safety bicycle helped the movement of change.
Progression for the change where the idea of women participating sports activities was very slow. It took almost a century for women to participate in the Olympics (1972). This day and age, there are much more opportunities for females to be active in sports but it is not equal to our counterpart. For example, only men play professional baseball, even after the movie A League of Their Own. I even noticed this in high school where we had more sports teams for the boys than the girls. I see less girls active in sports. Crawford states that "It is unfeminine to have muscles, or to be strong, fast, tough, or better than boys." It is very true. Majority of the mothers that I know shelter their daughters, prevent them from getting hurt. I know my parents hated me playing rough because they didn't want me to have scars on my legs because it is unattractive. I never listened and I love my scars. Although there are more women in the sportsworld, it still remains a "Man's World."
So where would be the "Woman's World"? The insightful, entertaining article in the New York Times, "Good Girls Go Bad, for a Day" by Stephanie Rosenbloom, on Halloween, the "Woman's World" seems to be in dressing up for the strip club. I personally loved this article because it is so true and I unfortunately fall victim to this. Rosenbloom asks the reader, Why have so many girls grown up to trade in Wonder Woman costumes for little more than Wonderbras? Very good question. Pat Gill answers by stating that "many women think that showing off their bodies "is a mark of independence and security and confidence." I couldn't have thought of a more honest answer. Big females, skinny females, young girls, grown women, old women, can be seen dressed in very revealing costumes on Halloween. I am not saying all women, but a whole lot of women do. And what do the guys do? They stare, whistle,
try to talk, sometimes even try to touch these women. Women know that this would happen, but still initiate it. We don't like it because it's degrading, but we like it because we're getting attention. I think that this is the struggle of most teenage-young adult females.
To sum everything up, it is very difficult to embody any woman in any time era in any place. And what is disappointing is that it is small things that should be different yet we still need to overcome odds. Sports; women are just as capable as men but mentally and psychologically, it is discouraged. How we dress; should always be for ourselves, but it's not. Instead of changing those things, women are trying to stop mother nature by injecting themselves with hormones and other weird stuff. We need to step up and get our priorities straight.