Starting from the beginning...

So I haven't been keeping up with the blogging, so I thought I'd go back and touch on some of the reading from the beginning of the semester. Sorry to go out of order!

September 1 reading: Franzmann chapters 1 & 2

On page 5, Franzmann quotes Ursula King, "Female bodily existence is a primary source of women's self-image and destiny, but not an exclusive one." This line resonates with me and I carry it throughout whatever else we read in this class. To me, it means that yes, females are different than males in many ways-- and this affects their experience in life. The differences in biological makeup between men and women causes the two genders to function and feel differently. But, to say that everything a woman experiences is affected by her bodily existence just isn't true. To paraphrase the author, I think it means that women and men have differences and similarities, and we can't pin down exactly what they are or what they mean. And to study women and how they interact in the world, one must remember that women's self-image comes from many different things than just their "female bodily existence."

Franzmann also quotes Judith Grant on page 6 in her ideas about rationality and objectivity. In class we often talk about how many systems in place in our society are "patriarchal," and I think Grant highlights how this is somewhat problematic. Just because a way of doing something has been in place for years, and maybe been used to oppress or control, does not mean it is inherently wrong, or inherently "male." Franzmann writes, "To suggest that rational ways of knowing are male and not female makes "the implicit assertion that the sex of one's body is at least as significant as the condition of one's mind in assessing one's reason." This line means that yes, men and women are different, but to say that rationality is a "male trait." Isn't the whole point of feminism to appreciate the differences but also highlight that women are just as capable as men?

In closing, I like how Franzmann basically wants to find patterns in womens' different experiences in order to understand individual experiences. These speaks to me, because even if we read about experiences that black women had, we can use them to understand ALL womens' experiences. It's a way of studying all kinds of experiences and using them to explore individuals.