Reflection

In some ways my social location (my home) is a fairly gender equal location, but in other ways my social location is not as equal as I may have previously thought. I still feel that it is a space where I am free to be myself and be respected for that, but I am better able to see the less obvious things that are going on around me in the way of gender equality/inequality.

 One of the biggest examples of this is from my image and discussion of patriarchy, in which I included an image of my mom cooking dinner for us after coming home from work. I had never really thought about that unequal work division in our home before, and I had certainly never thought about how it showed a form of patriarchy. But using these definitions and understandings I have gained through class, I can see how this gendered division of labor, while not fair, is something that most people (us included) participate in everyday without thought. A way in which this example could be rectified would be if I or my father, especially my father, would help my mother with the dinner preparations. Even if he isn’t comfortable cooking, he could do something like set the table before dinner or clear the table and put away leftovers after eating. Expecting my mom to do it simply because it’s her “job” as a woman isn’t fair to her. Another example that I was surprised to find in my home was the example of sexism, which I portrayed through a video game I own. This example comes from something that I purchased in order to have, and that I must choose to devote time to playing. While the game may not be blatantly sexist, there are hints and tinges of some of the negative or false gender norms and roles that we are taught from a very young age. Knowing that this type of media that I consume contains sexist content, I can only imagine what sorts of things I would find if I closely examined my reading material or movie collection. While these things may seem harmless because they are simply for entertainment, they still help perpetuate gender stereotypes that devalue or place women below men when it comes to skill, power, etc. In order to not support this kind of portrayal, I would have to become a much more conscious consumer and make sure to not blindly accept media that contains these subtle (or not so subtle) messages about gender and gender roles. 

This exercise allowed me to see that while my home is not a perfect gender equal zone, it does have its strong points. The things that I identified as contributing to gender stereotypes or inequality, in most cases, are things that could be fixed through a little effort and awareness on my part and the part of my family. In most cases we don’t do the things that we do to be sexist or to follow along with the patriarchal agenda, but we do these things nonetheless. By gaining the awareness to understand what exactly it is that we are doing, we are able to make a positive change in our social location if we so choose.