Yes! It is interesting...

Taken off of swan.ac.uk

I realised today that most of my posts have been about events and things I have done in Sweden but in actual fact most of my time is taken up by studying and reading, of which I have written little about.

As you know I am studying gender studies but I am amazed at how few people (including myself prior to this course) actually know what it is about. Whenever I tell people what I am studying I get this niggling feeling that I am being judged (this could be insecurity but the follow up questions and responses confirm my suspicions). "Ooooh, thaaaat's interesting." I always feel as though people think I am some raging feminist, ready to go out and chop penises off of every man I come across. Although a novel idea (wink wink), this is not what I am studying and not what I hope to gain from the course.


The course I have started this week has some incredible insights into what gender studies is about. Gender studies traverses many fields of study including everything from sex work to political economy.

I started reading a book on Monday by Joan Acker titled Class Questions, Feminist Answers and have also now had two lectures on a book by Ehrenreich and Hochschil, Global Woman which have highlighted several issues that are very gendered and very racialized which I think people are very unaware of.

Joan Acker discusses how class is innately racialized and gendered and how our access to capital and income is influenced by our gender and race. Now this might sound like some abstract, outlandish idea but once you sit down and give it some thought you realise how almost everything is influenced in this manner.

I think back to South Africa when I held numerous jobs including a bartender, waitress, swimming teacher, tutor, and assistant; and how some of these jobs were directly influenced by my race and gender. For instance, the swimming school had no male swimming teachers because of the idea that men are "sexual predators",an idea I don't agree with, but which many parents felt strongly about. Also, as a waitress, I was one of many young, white waitresses who were hired based on our race and gender. Although there were both waitors and black staff how we were treated by management and customers differed. I remember nights when I would earn more tips than the male waitors and how this would be attributed to "tits and ass" as opposed to my skill. These are tiny examples taken from my own life but I am sure if you sit down and think about it you will realise just how gendered and racialized class is and how our access to (of denial of) certain things is influenced by this.

A big topic of discussion is the global care chain. Because women are increasingly entering labour markets there is a gap at home with noone to look after children and housework. Now I know some people might be thinking..."Well, that's why women should stay at home". Ummmm, no. This should not be understood as solely the women's responsibility (another hot discussion). But anyway, now this gap exists and what is happening is that cheap labour is filling the void and you have immigrants and people from poorer classes taking up these roles. It is interesting and it is a gender issue.

So the next time you hear the word gender think a little further and don't be intimidated. It is an interesting field and once you enter it your perspectives shift and you begin to look at power dynamics in a whole new light.

Before, I stop my mini tutorial on why I think gender studies is valuable it is important to realise that gender studies does not equal women's studies. We are not only talking about problems that affect women but how relationships between men and women, women and women, men and men, etc impact on aspects of our lives.

Take for example issues surrounding paternity leave, the fact that the most growth in unemployment is amongst men, and that men are 3 times more likely than women to commit suicide. Why? Well, that's the question isn't it and that's why studying gender studies is fascinating!

So with this in mind, I think I am going to start doing a blog enter every now and then about topics that have arisen in class. I would love your thoughts and opinions on gender studies, gender issues and your own experiences!