Reflection Paper : He Hears, She Hears

Whilst on shift one day I needed to ask my key resident Mr H what clothes he wanted to wear for that day. Mr H is very hard of hearing but refuses to wear a hearing aid as he states they make his ears sore. Mr H has no speech difficulties.

While reading “Gender,” an essay by Jack Halberstam, the topic of sexism was brought to the forefront of my mind. It has been brought up more often in conversation in the modern era, issues such as how a few cruel insults pertain to female reproductive anatomy and, in a sense, degrade females and ultimately identify them, as well as femininity, as inherently “bad”. Such a thought stemmed from how Halberstam touches on the “problematic stabilization of the meaning of ‘women’ and ‘female’”: meaning there is no room for argument when it comes to your gender—you’re either a girl or not. You either fit into a strict mold, or you do not.

Gender derives its formative meaning from culture and societal values, it is not a universal entity as there are various cultures, societal values, beliefs, and preferred ways of organizing collective life across the globe and even within a single culture the meaning of gender varies over time. Chapters three and four of Gendered Lives by Julia T. Wood helps to insightfully look at those views, and rhetorical movements (women and men’s movements) that have overtime influenced, defined and given various meanings to gender (masculinity and femininity).

"You're such a girl!" is something we hear quite often. But we don't exactly analyze its importance. Every man or women act and behave differently, and that is because of gender roles, "instructions for how to behave and appear as a woman or man (Wade and Ferree 2015; 61). We all "do gender", the ways in which we actively obey and break the gender rules of our society." (Wade and Ferree 2015; 61). We don't always obey these rules and regulation, we're all humans, and we all make mistakes, but it's other peoples reaction what's most interesting about breaking them. Once we break these rules, there is something known as gender policing, "responses to the violations of gender rules aimed at promoting conformity. (Wade and Ferree 2015; 71).

Could the killing of an unborn disabled child be considered acceptable in today’s society? Selective infanticide is a very controversial topic that many have argued about over past years. In her article “Unspeakable Conversations” disabilities activist and lawyer Harriet McBryde Johnson demonstrates her viewpoint on this issue. She writes this article as a story, with herself being the narrator. It follows her journey as she feuds with Peter Singer, a Princeton University professor, who has an opposing perspective regarding the killing of unborn disabled children. With this in mind, Johnson reveals her point of view using the strategy of a Rogerian argument and the rhetorical elements of

Carol Gilligan believes that there are vast differences between genders. Males are individuals who want to see justice be converted into instant gratification. They can be described by the following terms: logical, right and wrong, rule-based, less caring, present focused, strict rules, black and white, independent, rigid or commanding. Females are individuals who see caring for other people as important. They can be depicted by the following terms: reasonable, emotional, compassionate, more caring, rationalizing, future focused, shades of gray, dependent, people oriented, or having difficulty in decision-making. These terms, of course, do not express the characteristics of every man or woman.

Gender has been described as masculine or feminine characteristics that encompass gender identity sex as well as social roles (Nobelius 2004). According to sexologist John Money, there is a difference between gender as a role and the biologically of differences in sex (Udry 1994). Within scholarly disciplines, cultures and contexts, gender frequently has its own mean, contextual frame of reference and the manner in which it is used to describe a variety of issues and characteristics. The sociocultural codes, conventions and the suggested and literal rules that accompany the notion of gender are vast and diverse. There has been and continues to be much scholarly debate regarding the idea of gender and how it has been viewed historically; as well as changes in the grammatical use of the

Gender is one of the most heated terms in the English language during the 21st century, whose role seems to be constantly changing, always on the move, reflecting new updated meanings for society. Gender roles often portray the fairness and justice of any given society, hence the more equality genders reach, the more advanced and sophisticated the society is considered to be. They also suggest a set of rules that males and females have to follow and play their parts in order to define genders. However, the ambiguity of society’s confinement, like an invisible hand around everybody’s neck, draws attention to the artificiality of what we define as “acceptable” behaviors.

I am glad that this class had taken part in the listening journal assignment as I was not sure what to expect. I was uncertain of my listening capabilities and have wondered what areas could use improvement. I do consider my interactions with people in hindsight, and I always hope that I did my best to listen and communicate with respect. I am fortunate to find out through the logs that I am above average while listening to others, in respect to the log analysis. I am further aware that this is because of a significant change in my life that took me from being self-focused to other-orientated. If this class had been over thirteen years before, my details on those logs would have been vastly altered.

The Voices is directed by Marjane Satrapi and written by Michael R. Perry released in 2015. The movie was focusing on the importance of mental illness, crime and even romance. It touches comedy to horror. There were mixed reviews in the public getting both good and bad reception.

What concepts, principles, or ideas that you have learned, do you think you will remember the most after you leave this class?

In society, the biological difference between men and women is used as a justification for aligning them with different social roles which restrict and mold their attitudes and behavior. Merriam-Webster defines gender as the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex. Narrow minded society of today is not satisfied with the natural difference of sex, but each insist on adding a cultural difference of gender to it. The unsophisticated, ideal physical facts always become associated with the complex psychological qualities (Holter). It is not enough for a male to be a man; he must also be masculine. A woman, in addition to being a female, must be feminine (Magner). In a more evolved and accepting society,

In this class, I’m learning quite a bit about listening. I’m learning how to listen and communicate better with people, especially when the things I’m listening to and talking about are more on the sensitive side of topics. I’ve always been a very closed off person, even from friends and family. I️ would have a hard time expressing my thoughts and emotions verbally and would get upset with people when they would try to pry. Friends and family would get angry with me when I️ wouldn’t talk or wouldn’t listen to them when all they were really doing was trying to help me. Very frequently when out in public it’s easy to observe this same kind of people or behavior. There are many more people out in the world with poor listening and communicating skills than you may think. For instance, those who get flustered when discussing certain topics whether it’s at the store or a coffee shop. If you like people watching, then you know what I’m talking about.

In 1990 Judith Butler first published her book Gender Troubles, where she questions gender roles. Butler theorizes that gender, as in male and female, is a type of societal/gender colonialism created to keep people who do not fall within the gender roles from being part of the mainstream society. In her 1999 preface, in which she addresses the impact her book had in the decade since its original publication, Butler expresses the concern she had with the “heterosexual assumption in feminist literary theory (61).” Butler utilizes the works of other feminist philosophers to further demonstrate the inconsistency, and disconnect between fighting for women rights and fighting for human rights. Judith Butler makes an interesting argument on the failure to recognize the spectrum of gender, however, she makes a compelling argument on the use of language perpetuating a patriarchal society.

Communication is essential in all facets of an organization. It can aid in decision making, planning and conflict resolution. The ability to effectively communicate allows facilitation of relationships between superiors and subordinates; essentially this creates higher job satisfaction (Dogra, A., 2012). Open communication where employees have opportunity to voice their ideas and concerns, corelates to employees feeling a sense of value within the organization, which creates motivation (Dogra, A., 2012). Furthermore, in conjunction with these ideas, a sense of partnership and loyalty begin to develop between subordinates and superiors. The responses to this are typically seen in greater responsibility being given to the subordinate.