Women Embodied: What is a Woman?
This week we discussed the theme of “Women Embodied: What is a Woman?”. By reading multiple passages and discussing them in class, I was able to understand the meaning of woman and gender. Society plays an important role on defining a woman and her responsibilities. Rose Weitz defined women as “property, defective, and controlable.” For a long time, and even still today, many people use the same definition for women. For a long time women have been opressed and repressed and Weitz reinstills this philosophy with her ideology.
Watching “But I’m a Cheerleader” in class brought Weitz’s philosophy to life. The majority of the movie takes place in a camp designed to turn gay people straight. There boys and girls were taught how to act like a man or woman. For example, the boys were taught how to fix a car and girls were taught how to vacuum. This scene depicts stereotypical man/woman behavior as defined by society.
