Full Frontal Final Chapters

Chapter 8: Some definitions of femininity that are unrealistic and/or inherently wrong include (1)

Because a woman is capable of having a baby, she should have a baby, (2) A woman should

want to have a baby more than anything in the whole wide world, and (3) Women should be the

perfect mothers. The patriarchy paints real womanhood as the capability for women to rear

babies. While some women do want to have children, not all do. And for a matter of fact, not all

women are capable of having children. Valenti connects these demands on and expectations of

women to the material in this chapter by discussing how women are valued for their ability to

procreate and how then they are basically forced to stay at home. She discussed the mommy

wage gap and how mothers are encouraged to stay home because they earn less for the work they

do outside of the home, but at the same time they are shamed for being stay at home moms

who dont earn money for the household. Its an endless cycle.

Chapter 10: My initial reaction to the piece Ten Responses to the Phrase Man Up was that it

that I really liked the concept. The main points that stuck out to me included the quotes Women

and the womens movement figured out a long time ago that being explicitly ordered around by

commercials, magazines, and music is dehumanizing. When will men ever figure that out? and

How many boys have to kill themselves before this country acknowledges the problem? How

many women have to be assaulted? How many trans people have to be murdered? I think

Guante included these points in order to exhibit how the phrase man up translates into this ideal

for men to be tough and not show emotion. This in turn causes a lot of suppression of feelings

and affects all people in various types of negative ways. Valenti mentions in Traditional Gender

Roles on Crack that women are told to get married and have babies while men are told to be
strong. Anything less than masculine is considered gay for a man. She also features a statement

by The Focus of the Family that states that men are designed to be more aggressive and wild and

that they must be given love, attention, and approval from their fathers or male role model. I

think Guante would respond to these points by agreeing that this is the case but hell expand

upon the conversation by talking about how and why men should be encouraged to show their

feelings and have a strong bond with their mothers or female role models as well. Valentis

arguments may have slightly more strength if a male identified individual argued them because

he could give the readers a little bit of insight into his experiences as a way to help show how

men would like to challenge these gender roles.

Chapter 11: There was this boy in elementary school who used to make fun of me because of my

arm hair. At the time I must have been in either the fourth or fifth grade. I used to wear long

sleeve shirts under my short sleeve shirts to hide my arm hair and in addition to that, I wore

sweaters over top of that to hide my stomach. Right around that time I had gained a little bit

more weight around my stomach and I was ashamed of that too. Keep in mind I wore this

clothing even in the warmer seasons. I guess I was more concerned about being judged than I

was about my own comfort. Eventually I got used to the heat. With time I learned to accept and

not be bothered by the fact that I had arm hair. I would even come to realize that I wasnt the

only girl with arm hair and that there were other girls like me. I have felt that I needed to change

my appearance to be accepted by certain people. I feel as if I get the most compliments about my

appearance when I am dressed cute or wear makeup and it honestly frustrates me because it

makes me feel as though I cant be complimented for the person I am without all of the extra

additions.
Chapter 12: I cannot think of any recent examples of politicians who have made effort to

improve the lives of disenfranchised groups of people. This I because I dont really follow

politics but I know I should. I think Congress should implement mandated quotas to increase the

diversity of elected officials but it shouldnt be implemented for the sake of just having more

diversity. It should instead happen naturally and systematically to where the best candidates are

chosen for each minority position. Additionally, in order to get more diverse and marginalized

voices heard on the national level there needs to be more organizing in schools and the local

level. These organizations should encourage women to not only vote but also run for office.

Chapter 14: My two favorite feminist calls to action include (1) Dont stay with a person

who hits you, emotionally abuses you, or threatens you in any way. and (2) Call yourself a

feminist loud and proud. Wear a shirt. Yeah, I admit it. I love a shirt with a good message. The

first point speaks to me because Ive seen many people stay with people who dont treat them

right and it pisses me off. No one deserves to be treated like that. I want to be able to help people

get out of situations like these in order for them to improve their lives. The second point speaks

to me because I consider myself a feminist and Im not ashamed of it. I use my feminist intuition

almost daily in my decision making or even my reactions against prejudice bullshit.