Week #2

Well done on the first week's post! I enjoyed reading your comments. I loved the effort and thoughtfulness of your comments. Remember, this week you have to place your post on your own blog. You have to leave two comments on two other blogs. You can respond to my blog as one your two comments after you post or you can comment on two other students blogs. Go to your class section on our class blog and you will find the links to the other students in your section. I want you to copy the comments that you leave on others blogs and paste a copy to your own blog under your post for the week. Just go back to your original post and hit comment and copy the comment. I have to grade a lot of blogs between two sections so this will help me find all your work each week. Remember, you have to fully participate for credit each week. It must be one good post and two good comments, no partial credit for partial participation.
So, this week, let's examine our gender roles? How come so many of us adhere to gender roles in this day and age? IF men and women are moving towards equality in relationships, workplace, etc. how come we still adhere to masculine and feminine roles? My husband and I both are college professors, yet, the distribution of work around the house is still not evenly divided. I am still taking on the role of cleaning, childcare, organizing the home, shopping. My husband does his "manly" duties but, does significantly less around the home...yet, we both teach/work full time? How is it that as a gender communication instructor that I am caught up in these roles? Do you find yourself stuck in old fashion gender roles? Or, perpetuate their existence in your life, family, work, school? Do these roles help us understand ourselves better, and promote our personal goals or inhibit our growth? Are they barriers to our society or merely means to civility? How are you playing out gender roles in your life?

Welcome Rider Students - Summer 1 Class!

Welcome to Gender and Communication! I am looking forward to reading your thoughts. The idea of this blog is share your gender moments. I want you to learn to see the world through your "gender and communication classes", so to speak. Share with the class each week how you are recognizing the concepts and topics being discussed in class in the "real world". What are you learning about the way you think about Gender? How are you evolving or opening up your perspectives to see the issue of gender differently than you did before you started this course? What discoveries are you making that are surprising you? Are you having Eureka moments? We will blog this week on the class blog. Please indicate in the first line of your blog which section your are in this summer OL1 or OL2. (Please go to our Bb system to find full directions for blogging.) Post this week a moment that you recognized a gender issue in your life. Share with us your experience or moment and how it is shaping your life.

My weekly post: This past Saturday, I took my four year old daughter to McDonalds for a Happy Meal at lunchtime. We were waiting for our order and I noticed two young men around 18-19 years old holding hands. I was taken back and caught my breath for a moment at this sight. I was taken back because these two young men were not shy at all expressing their affection towards each other. One of the men waited in line for the order and the other went and found a table to eat. He kissed him before he left him at the counter. I have reflected back at this moment and have asked myself why I was surprised. I think it was their age and not so much their sexual orientation. How freely they felt expressing their feelings towards each other without hesitation. How at this age, whatever your sexual orientation, it tends to be a bit inhibited, (at least I was a little self conscious expressing PDA's!) and yet, these two men were not the least bit inhibited. Are we making strides in our society that we are finding greater tolerance for one another? Has this message really sinking in within this society that these men have learned it? I wasn't the least uncomfortable with their expression and think it was how freely and natural it was for them that caught me off guard. I continued with finding my daughter's chicken nuggets and orange drink and left, but, not until I asked myself, why was I taken off guard....