UM Intro to Political Theory Section Blog: 2, 9, and 13
Sunday, December 9, 2012
I Don't Throw Like a Girl
Thinking back to the beginning of the semester, I remember being intrigued by the idea of phenomenology, especially in terms of Iris Young's article "Throwing Like a Girl." I also remember being dissatisfied with with all of the conceptions of female existence and physicality: Our options were that women are immanent instead of transcendent due to objectification, that we experience systematic lack of physical confidence, or that our own mentalities may make us wary of performing certain tasks.
Up until a certain point in high school, there was a certain part of me that was in denial of these sorts of concepts in general, and even when we were discussing them in lecture, I thought to myself that maybe if I make myself more conscious of these, I don't have to subscribe to them. Maybe I don't really have to throw like a girl, and I can train myself to do the full wind-up and release I had to learn for baseball camp (an anecdote I'll touch on a little later).
Without going on a rant about the entire situation in general (for more information, it has been called "the worst attack on women's health in Michigan history"), I was thinking about this as how it relates to Young's piece. After Brown said one word, a biological term for that matter, the substance of her speech became irrelevant. Her entire speech now became the notion of female physicality that was tied to her using the word vagina. But does this incident fit into any of Young's ideas? Honestly, I don't think it really does, because it wasn't the women who were fighting for reproductive rights who were made to feel objectified or less confident in themselves: Instead it was the male proponents of the legislation (note: this is not to say all of the men in the Michigan house were for the anti-choice bills, but if I remember correctly many of its supporters were men).
With more and more feminist movements and discussion of women's health in recent years, it seems that women are becoming less prone to subscribe to Young's ideas. There is more acceptance of the idea that women can break away from "the gaze" and gain more acceptance of their bodies. What about the idea that this is socially and culturally constructed? Yes, this is true to a large extent: I know that for a lot of women, myself included, there is a fear of this objectification. A lot of us don't travel alone late at night, or may be hyper-conscious of male attention (years of riding the New York City subways taught me that). However, with more and more attention being drawn to women's issues, this mentality may not be broken down, but more women are at least conscious of it and wish it didn't exist. In the Michigan situation, it seems that it's more the men who ascribe to this mentality. It's the men who are uncomfortable with discussing issues that relate to the women who are sitting in the room, and instead try to control women through physical objectification. It's the men who are uncomfortable when we escape their constructed mentality.
How could I not make a Doctor Who reference? Image found here
Which brings me back to the baseball camp anecdote. When I was about seven, I was the only girl in my baseball camp. Granted I wasn't very good at it, but I'm fairly certain that was because I was a. seven and b. a bit clumsy. After class one day, one of my classmates came up to me, kicked me in the shin and said "girls aren't supposed to play baseball". Up until this point I wasn't uncomfortable. I did the baseball pitch the way I was supposed to and didn't "throw like a girl". But I obviously made him uncomfortable. Perhaps after that I was a little more uncomfortable playing baseball, but I hope my participation did make him uncomfortable in the end. Maybe it's because I'm stubborn, but the more this discomfort was transferred to him, the more both of us possible learned something about how constructed gender roles are, and it was only when I started learning about issues such as what happened in Michigan (and a bit before that, but this one really drove the point home), that I started recognizing these sorts of mentalities. So maybe Young's conceptions do still exist for women to a large extent, but perhaps my hope is that women are detaching themselves more and more from them, and maybe the men like the kid in my baseball class and the Michigan legislators are becoming more and more desperate to implement them, but it's becoming harder for them.
First off, I really liked the title of your post. I found it to be quite witty and it was what drew me to read your post. I also was recently inspired by Young's "Throwing Like a Girl" and agree that her conceptions do still exist for women to quite a large extent actually. What I blame for this are the social norms created by the social media, that have been instilled in the minds of women from a very, very young age. Although I honestly believe there have been great strides, I feel like many women are still objectified today, and in many cases it was aided by their behavior, behavior they learned from the media. The social media plays a huge role in our society and in instances like this, it's quite sickening. I would have loved to hear more about the news coverage on the Lisa Brown incident in your post. How did various news sources portray Lisa? Did they think she was wrong for saying "vagina"? Were male news anchors offended in any way if they were covering the story? Thanks for a great post!
Thanks for writing this Alexandra. I too was one of a the few girls in my neighborhood who played baseball in elementary school, though, I somehow understood that I was not really supposed to play, and felt the awkwardness of being a girl a little sooner.
Contrary to the belief you mentioned in your post, that women can move beyond "the gaze" and be more accepted as a person outside their body, I think the issue female objectification still exists and is often distorted by female advancements. Sometimes people conclude that because women are gaining more power in the workplace and in their education they are no longer constrained by their bodies and are equal to men. However, women are objectified constantly in the media and advertising, and the feeling of existing within a body, like Young says, is still a constant force around women and can impede their self esteem and growth in their workplace.
I also found your point, about how men feel uncomfortable discussing female objectification, interesting. I agree that there is a strange dichotomy with the male representatives who found the term vagina appalling yet felt they have the "correct" opinion of what should be done about it. I think the remark was so scandalous because it shows how the legislators are thinking of these issues from an abstract position of governance, instead of the reality of being a women, and having a baby or seeking an abortion. The reality is messy, emotional and vulgar. It is not a quaint law that can be written without the anatomically correct word. I think there were a lot of different reactions about this story from the word she used to her message. Like the commenter above me, I would like be interested in other people's impressions of the story. It would be interesting to see how men reacted, especially since they may not be as offended by the legislators against using the word.
First off, I really liked the title of your post. I found it to be quite witty and it was what drew me to read your post. I also was recently inspired by Young's "Throwing Like a Girl" and agree that her conceptions do still exist for women to quite a large extent actually. What I blame for this are the social norms created by the social media, that have been instilled in the minds of women from a very, very young age. Although I honestly believe there have been great strides, I feel like many women are still objectified today, and in many cases it was aided by their behavior, behavior they learned from the media. The social media plays a huge role in our society and in instances like this, it's quite sickening. I would have loved to hear more about the news coverage on the Lisa Brown incident in your post. How did various news sources portray Lisa? Did they think she was wrong for saying "vagina"? Were male news anchors offended in any way if they were covering the story?
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great post!
Thanks for writing this Alexandra. I too was one of a the few girls in my neighborhood who played baseball in elementary school, though, I somehow understood that I was not really supposed to play, and felt the awkwardness of being a girl a little sooner.
ReplyDeleteContrary to the belief you mentioned in your post, that women can move beyond "the gaze" and be more accepted as a person outside their body, I think the issue female objectification still exists and is often distorted by female advancements. Sometimes people conclude that because women are gaining more power in the workplace and in their education they are no longer constrained by their bodies and are equal to men. However, women are objectified constantly in the media and advertising, and the feeling of existing within a body, like Young says, is still a constant force around women and can impede their self esteem and growth in their workplace.
I also found your point, about how men feel uncomfortable discussing female objectification, interesting. I agree that there is a strange dichotomy with the male representatives who found the term vagina appalling yet felt they have the "correct" opinion of what should be done about it. I think the remark was so scandalous because it shows how the legislators are thinking of these issues from an abstract position of governance, instead of the reality of being a women, and having a baby or seeking an abortion. The reality is messy, emotional and vulgar. It is not a quaint law that can be written without the anatomically correct word. I think there were a lot of different reactions about this story from the word she used to her message. Like the commenter above me, I would like be interested in other people's impressions of the story. It would be interesting to see how men reacted, especially since they may not be as offended by the legislators against using the word.