Women, Politics, and American Society -- Reaction

Nancy E. McGlen, Karen O'Connor, Laura van Assendelft, Wendy Gunther-Canada

I'm very glad I read the whole book and took this class. Although, at times, the material that's been covered has pissed me off that only serves to give me more energy to do the things I need to do. For example, the fact that computer science and engineering are still male dominated fields while psychology, my major, is already two/thirds female makes me want to follow one of the other possible job ossupation ideas thats been floating around my head for the past two years, which is architecture.

Earlier in the semester we were asked in class whether we would run for office or not and/or what would make us do it (or something to that effect). I responded, as I still think, that for me to really want to do something someone has to tell me I can't or think that I can't. Most women try to avoid male-dominated professions because they are less welcome in those fields, but I welcome being not welcome because it means that I'll have to prove myself.

Personally, because of my parents divorce and joint custody policy, I've always been interested in divorce, child custody, and family laws along with the current view of the family structure. I'm glad it's changing, but I think it needs to change more. Men and women need to equally split both the income and the hosuehold work for the family system to be stable once more. In the book, it was mentioned that men are being involved way less in their families, actually completely runaway dads are getting more and more common. To strengthen the family once more, I tihnk we need to come up with a new view on what household work and childcaring is. Most men I know want to be good fathers, they just don't feel that they are welcome to it. So instead of making it viewed as a man "going down" to women's work we'd need to make it viewed as a man taking on extra responsiblities.

But culture isn't welcome to change as the book has pointed out over again. Phyllis Schlafly is a great example of that, a woman who even now is fixed in old stereotypes. It is changing though, slowly buit steadily. Women are now accepted, or even expected, to be in places where they used to not be allowed such as undergrad and grad schools, business and the general workplace. This will continue to change, in what direction we don't know, but somewhere.