I was one that was not surprised by the results of the IAT’s results. I feel as though the website made you feel biased toward certain things. I took the Age test and in the beginning it stated that most people prefer younger rather than older. So going into the tests you already had the pre-set images. I also didn’t understand exactly what it was trying to prove, I don’t feel that I had certain biases towards things, I just feel the way the tests switched the categories made it hard to switch the words so quickly. I do understand however why you used these tests in a women’s studies course. I feel that bias is a major part of women’s studies, especially for the men taking the courses. I feel that this course could open some people’s eyes to certain biases that they might not know they have, but for the most part I feel that some of the tests subliminally message the results that the testers want. I feel that it is important to look at prejudices and biases because these things hold us back. As humans we naturally have prejudices and biases towards something, some more major than others. Some people are prejudice towards women where as some people, vegetarians, are biased to veggies. If you look at prejudices and biases this way I feel that some are not as bad as another person’s can be. I also feel that certain prejudices and biases cannot be helped. I say this because a lot of the biases we develop depend on how we are raised and where we grow up. For instance, if you grow up in a small southern town, some could be more likely to develop prejudice towards African Americans or Gays. However if you were to grow up in say L.A., you probably wouldn’t think twice about either of these. I feel that a lot of our biases develop from the environment we are surrounded in. When I chose to take the tests I did, I mainly looked at the blurbs underneath each test and decide which ones sounded like fun.

Activity 2

For this assignment the three people that I chose to interview were my boyfriend, my sister, and my mother. When I first told them that I was taking a women’s studies course, each had a positive reaction. My mother and sister both thought that it was a good course to take and they felt that it is educational to learn about the different strong women that have impacted women’s rights and opportunities so much. My boyfriend also thought that it would be a good experience for me, although he did not really know much of what the course was about. One thing that I have learned from talking to both genders is how they perceive the word and idea of feminism. When I asked my sister, she said that the word feminist brings to mind a woman or person that has strong feelings of equality between women and men in all aspects of life. My mother felt the same way but also added the idea of a person that also works to achieve the equality between men and women. My boyfriend however, had a more negative connotation of the word feminist. He told me that when he hears the word feminist he thinks of an ultra liberal woman who believes in equality between sexes in life aspects that benefit themselves and against equality that place them at a disadvantage. He attends the U.S. Naval Academy, where he sees a lot of this type of behavior. An example he gave me is that he hears a lot of girls saying that a female can do anything a male can do, but then complain that there is no way that a female can uphold the same standards of physical fitness due to their weaker nature. What it comes down to, when he hears the word feminist, he thinks of a woman that is a hypocrite. As for their opinion as to me being or wanting to be a feminist, both my sister and my mother feel that it would be a good thing because in today’s world you have to be a strong woman to survive. My boyfriend thinks that it would also be a good thing for me to want to be a strong woman, as long as I didn’t turn into the hypocritical feminist that he comes into contact with on a daily basis.
My opinions of women’s studies and feminism are a mix of all the opinions of the people that I interviewed. As for my perceptions of feminism, as I said in my introduction I have a negative connotation of the word when I first hear it as well. I agree with my boyfriend in the fact that if women want to attend the military academies, they should be held to the exact same standards as the men are. I think it is amazing that they want to serve our country on the battle lines, but I also feel that in wartime such as now, the Iraqis are not going to give them a break because they have a weaker physical nature. I also feel that these women who are being hypocritical somewhat hinder women’s progress. I feel that the hypocritical women are the ones that give the word feminist a negative connotation to some people. I however feel that feminism is, on a bigger scale, an amazing thing. There are so many women in history as well as today that have made strides in advancing women’s rights and roles. My perception of women’s studies is a course that tries to turn the negative connotation feminism into a positive thing and show women that you can be strong and opinionated, but you don’t have to hate men and blame everything on them.
As for considering my self a feminist, I would say that I am one to some extent. I consider myself to be a strong woman with opinions who wants equality between both sexes. I say that I am one to a certain extent because though I consider myself to be a strong woman; I am not one that wants to go and conquer the world. In my future, I would be happy being a mother and wife, doing the house cleaning and cooking. I feel that some people think that women such as me are the ones that set us back to the times when a woman was supposed to be seen and not really heard. I do not feel that by wanting to be a traditional housewife is setting women back at all, but this is why I do not consider myself to be a full fledged feminist.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Haley Unroe and I guess I can call myself a senior now. I am an interdisciplinary major with minors in PK-6 Math and Social Studies. I am from Covington VA, a small town about two hours away from Tech. I am at home for the summer to work as well as take this course. When I graduate I hope to enter the education field and teach kindergarten and possibly younger. One thing that many people find interesting about me is I have never flown on a plane in my entire life. I have not taken any women’s studies classes before this, and am excited to see what this course has to offer. There is nothing specific that I hope that we cover, I am more interested in finding out what I can take away from this class. The only reservation I have about this course is being able to keep up with the course work. I will be working two jobs during the summer and hoping I can find time to keep up with this course. I think they only stereotype I have about feminists is that the majority of them bra-burning, man-hating women that have a chip on their shoulder. I do know however that the majority of feminists are not like this, but are strong women who stand up for what they believe in. This stereotype is just what comes to mind when I think of the world feminist. I think you used the cartoon at the top of the page because this, to me, is a slight bit of a stereotype of a feminist. I feel that when a lot of individuals think of the word or idea of a feminist, they think of a woman who wants to blame a man for everything that has gone wrong. So by saying that “if you use your imagination you can blame men for anything” places women in the man-hating mold.