Top Posts Tagged with #plenary 2

Plenary #2

This morning’s plenary really impressed me. I was so happy to see three women of three different faiths come together to speak to us on the intersections of different aspects of life: sex, race, and namely religion. All of the women, particularly Professor Aftab, talked about how religion (specifically Islam) was traditionally patriarchally dominated, and how that affected not only how people practiced the religion, but how it is viewed by others outside of it. The example she used was a verse from the Quran about covering one’s bosom, and how it was seen as radical at the time.

Perhaps the single most important thing to me throughout the entire session was how seamlessly their religious beliefs fit with their social views. They seemed progressive and wanted to see important changes being made in regards to how their respective religion was practiced. As Dr. West stated, she wanted to see Christianity and faith used as a tool rather than something that hindered people, especially in understanding the role it plays in the cycle of abuse and how to stop it.

Overall, I feel that this was a message that I, and many other young women in the room, really needed to hear. I feel that a lot of young people, women especially, struggle to find a balance in faith and progressive beliefs that often contradict religious backgrounds that we may have grown up around. Rabbi Reed said that it was okay to disagree with others even of the same faith as you because it is your belief. Agreeing with her, I think that young or liberal people think that religion and liberalism cannot co-exist; these three women prove that they can and religion can even reinforce this mindset rather than hinder it. Another important thing that all three women emphasized was free-thinking and questioning traditional belief systems, and I think that by doing so, many young people can find comfort in a higher power should they pursue any sort of spirituality.

#plenary 2 #section 3 #rfr39

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The issue of work life balance is a question often directed at women, though recently I have started noticing this question also being asked to men or men including the topic in their talks. Traditionally women were the ones taking care of the children and staying at home to cook and clean. This idea of women being the homemaker unfortunately carried over to women in the business world. Though men and women should share equal responsibility in taking care of their home and children, these tasks are often seen as women’s work. This is damaging to both men and women, as some men may wish to take care of his children at home and some women may want to continue to work full time after giving birth. There is currently a stigma against both of these groups of people.

For women, it is often difficult and stressful to be the only woman in the meeting room, or the only woman on the team. In my first internship, I was the only woman on the team. In fact, I was the first woman to ever work on that team. In my second internship, there were two other women on my team, around 10 men. I really appreciated having those two women on the team as my mentors because they have a perspective that men do not have. In general men who are dominant, aggressive, and blunt are respected as being ambitious and leaders, while women who are the same are seen as bitches. I recently saw an article rewriting some famous quotes if they had been said by women in a meeting. Although of course not all women state their opinions apologetically, it is far more common for a woman to than a man. This is not because women are inherently more demure than men, but because societal pressures change them to be this way to be more acceptable. I am very impressed that Wendy Cai-Lee is so successful in different ways. Still, as some people in class who had lunch with her said, she had to be careful when spending time with her male coworkers. When they went out to drink, she would not, because it is fine for men to make a mistake in that setting, but if women do, it would ruin her reputation forever. I am disappointed that even today when so many people believe the feminist movement is unnecessary, that men and women are held to different standards.

#plenary 2 #jf573 #section 19 #section19 #jasmine feng

Plenary 2

I really enjoyed our second plenary speaker, Wendy Cai-Lee. She was extremely inspirational, exceptionally wise, and an excellent orator. When I originally heard that our speaker was going to be a businesswoman, my interest was not piqued. I am not majoring in business and know nothing about the subject, thus I could not foresee just how meaningful Wendy’s speech was going to be for me.

As a child who grew up with a stay-at home mom, I find myself very thankful for the extensive amount of time I was able to spend with her and am happy that she was always there to support me whenever I needed her help, love, and guidance. This, however, is not what I want to do with my life. I strive for both a successful, rewarding career and a large, loving family. I do not think that a woman should ever have to choose between one or the other. I have never had a role model to look up to in this respect because my mom and her sister are both stay-at-home mothers. Wendy Cai-Lee provided me with a woman leader who I could strive to emulate, regardless of our differing chosen career fields.

I find the issues that Wendy Cai-Lee spoke about regarding women in a male-dominated profession very interesting, particularly her confession that she has experienced quite a few issues with women in the workplace. I can attest to the unfortunate fact that, many times, women are the ones who perpetuate harmful, gender-biased stereotypes. I used to work as a cart-puller at a supermarket and more often than not, whenever I received a hurtful and ridiculous comment, such as, “women should not be doing a job like this” or “you should be inside, not out here doing physical work,” the perpetrator would be a woman. Most, but not all, of the comments coming from men were much more supportive, encouraging, and constructive. It is very interesting that Wendy, a woman with an extremely developed career, has experienced some of the same negative encounters with women.

Finally, I believe that Wendy Cai-Lee’s supportive marriage is an incredibly important step in the integration of women in the workplace as true equals to their male counterparts. Because Wendy’s husband took on fatherhood in the true sense and equally split the work with his wife, both him and Wendy were able to balance their family and their careers. Wendy’s relationship gave me hope that regardless of whom you are married to or whether you are married at all, if you have a great support system, the sky is the limit (just watch out for that glass ceiling).

#acb223 #Section7 #Section07 #164003902 #Plenary 2 #Wendy Cai-Lee