Journal Entry 19: Get Back In The Kitchen

Today in my "Gender and Politics" class, there was an interesting discussion on the role gender plays in society. I was quite surprised to hear some of the ideas that I heard, and actually felt like I had traveled back an entire century.

The majority of the class was male, which was a shock in itself to me. One Ghanaian man raised his hand and said that it should be "gender equity" and not necessarily "gender equality". He used an example of how everything gets thrown off when a man comes home and his dinner isn't ready. The professor asked, "Is there something wrong with men and women having equal roles?" "YES!" One man shouted. The professor then began talking about how in some countries (such as the U.S.), a woman may be bringing home the bacon, while the man stays home taking care of the house. The men were so loud and obnoxious, snickering when there was a comment they didn't like. "Those men are weak" one male Ghanaian student said, obviously implying that women must be weak too if their role is to take care of the house. Interestingly enough, the conversation then went on to comparing the West to Africa. "The West does it like this--", "In the U.S., it's done like this". 

I was beginning to get aggravated by the entire dynamic. The fact that the men felt so entitled to speak and voice their opinions didn't bother me so much; it was the fact that the Ghanaian women didn't. The women from western countries had no problem voicing their opinions, but I only heard from ONE Ghanaian woman, and she just mentioned how culture changes over time (not necessarily addressing the sexist remarks she had been hearing). I could feel the Wellesley coming out of me as I began to feel so entitled to speak. I rose my hand, claiming that I wanted to hear more from the Ghanaian women, and that hearing from only Ghanaian men is just going to perpetuate the current power structure. All of the men started whispering loudly amongst themselves as I was talking, getting annoyed and wondering who this American girl thinks she is trying to make the women speak. The professor was annoying me. I had tried another gender studies class and I noticed the same thing; this female professor was trying to tone down all of that “female empowerment” talk so that she wouldn’t upset the men too much. “We’re not asking to be the same, we just want the same opportunities. We are not saying that men and women will be the same” she would say when the men would cause an uproar. 

The teacher was ready to adjourn the class. "The next time we will discuss how things such as religion play a role in gender inequality", she said. I started packing my bag as I heard a guy's voice behind me, "Yea--it even says in the book that that's the way things should be". 

I decided to keep the class; My Wellesley instincts were telling me to cause a little more havoc.