Blog #2 - Eureka moment

My Eureka moment came earlier this week while I was in the shower! I had my ipod on shuffle and the song "Baby Got Back" came on. Normally, I would just sing and dance in the shower, although my 7 year old happened to wake up and come in the bathroom. With lyrics like, "I like big butts and I can not lie, You other brothers can't deny, That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist And a round thing in your face You get sprung, wanna pull out your tough' Cause you notice that butt was stuffed, Deep in the jeans she's wearing I'm hooked and I can't stop staring Oh baby, I wanna get with you And take your picture My homeboys tried to warn me But that butt you got makes me so horny" (Sir Mix A Lot). This was always a song that came on the radio when I was growing up and I just sang along and laughed. My friends and I always teased each other with the intro.

Maybe it's taking this class, which is forcing our brains to analyze everything, or my 7 year old daughter being present, but I could not believe how inappropriate the words were. The entire song is completely demeaning to women. Of course this song has a good beat and a catchy chorus. I can't imagine how many boys and men went around singing and dancing to this song, especially in clubs, and how many girls and women just laughed and went along with it. It's songs and lyrics like these, played on the radio, in bars and clubs, etc. that make it "okay" for men to talk about "women" and degrade them like this. Especially being a mother, I'll be sure to pay attention to what my children are listening to. While it's easy to get caught up in the beat and chorus of a song, it's important to understand what is being said before you walk around singing a song, especially one that is demeaning you!!

My first blog

Today is the first day of my online class for the summer semester - Gender & Communication. Being a HR Professional, I found this topic intriguing and oddly enough, found myself wanting to dive right into the book and learn all the interesting facts. I was pretty surprised to learn, almost right off the bat, that gender and sex have different meanings. I also don't think I realized how much interest there was in this topic and how analyzed it is. It's interesting to me how some people are so caught up in not being "stereotyped". Is it really that deep? Don't we all realize that not everyone is the same and there are always exceptions to the "rule"? It's funny because my husband and I don't have the "typical" roles society would say are the norm.. My husband goes to school, takes care of the kids, household chores and dinner most of the time, while I work full-time, go to school, etc. Regardless of what others may think, this works for us! The funny thing is, which I noticed the book pointed out pretty early on, is that I'll still tend to offer up responsibilities that men have to my husband such as clearing the sidewalk after it snows. He's always baffled when I play the "most men..." card, especially since our relationship is not like most others. I'm sure by the end of this class I'll be more aware of the things I say and do. Looking forward to where this takes me...