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=**Week 2: Toying with kid's futures**=

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It wasn't until today's lecture that made me realise just how much traditional gender roles are still evident in today's society. There has always been the stereotype that women belonged at home where she cooked, cleaned and chased around after the children, whereas men were to work full-time and therefore provide an income. As time passed and women became more accomplished in terms of career and power in society, I began to think that these gender roles were slowly being erased from society; despite the incline of women in the workforce, I believe this is no longer the case.======

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This was realised in the Tutorial, when we discussed what was on offer to children in a toy store. For girls, the aisles are filled with an array of pink, with the shelves filled anything related with dolls, fairies, princesses and of course, kitchen sets, vacuum cleaners, mini brooms, baby cots and more. This is in contrast to the boys aisle and its wide range of guns, swords, cars, trucks, then toys associated with "imitating Dad" or the workforce such as tools, building blocks, police and "tradie" props, and more. It seems that the toy industry is still trying to promote these gender roles onto children at a young age, when they should be given the opportunity to experiment and develop their own perspective as to what their gender is. In a society today in which women are striving to be just as equal as men, it seems that our younger generations are still not being given the chance to form their own decisions without the influence of social reinforcement encouraging these gendered behaviours.======

=**Week 3: "Someday my prince will come" -A feminist take on the construction of women in Disney Films**=

It was not until 70 years passed that these stereotypical feminine traits of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, transcended to the later and more masculine roles evident in 'Mulan', 'Pocahontas', 'Shrek', 'The Princess and the Frog' and 'Brave'. The female heroines of these films are greatly more independent, strong and well-equipped to handle any situations that they face. For example, Mulan disguises as a man to go to war in her father's place, not only to protect him, but to find her inner-identity away from the roles expected of her in Chinese society, to marry and have children. Once in the battle field, she was considered the weakest link until a turn of events where she surpassed all of her fellow men and in the end was accepted amongst the men, despite being a woman. This role specifically indicated a small progression in the inequalities between men and women, not to mention the reduced expectation for women to marry, in comparison to the Classic princesses above. My next point brings me to 'Tiana', the female heroine in The Princess and the Frog, who was an African-American woman set in the 1920s working day and night in order to obtain her dream of having her own restaurant. The character evidently made working and achieving this dream her first priority, with romance as her last. This, I found, was an incredible portrayal of women in modern society, in which we have now reduced the inequality of men and women in the workforce, as well as the increased expectation for women to focus on their career. However, this comes to a downfall in the film, when Tiana's male co-workers tell her that she’ll never be able to buy her own place. In addition to this, when Tiana finds out that a gentleman has outbid her, the real estate agents, both male, try to comfort her by saying that “a little woman” would have had her hands much too busy trying to run a business. In other words, she would not be able to succeed. It seems that despite the progression in time and in the fight for equality between men and women, there are still going to issues between the two genders, in which in the workforce a male will always be given first priority over a woman, because "women are to marry, stay at home and raise the family".

=**Week 4: Who do we support? Mum's rights, Baby's rights, or both?**= For all of my life I had believed that abortion was wrong; not because I believed it was murder but because it is sickening to think of the end result for the foetus. Julie-Anne raised an interesting question though, who do we support within this debate of abortion? Do we support the woman, the unborn child or both of them? This question made me think about the pros and cons to abortion, but this time in the perspective of both the mother and the baby.

There are many contexts in which a woman may choose abortion. A lot of people misunderstand that, thinking that abortion is only chosen out of convenience, for the fact that they are too selfish to look after a baby or ultimately, to handle the consequences of not abstaining from sexual intercourse. However, what others may not realise, is that sometimes abortion seems to be the only way out of an unplanned pregnancy or an impossible-to-negotiate future. The three main reasons for a women to opt for abortion is: negative impact on the woman's life; financial instability; relationship problems or the unwillingness to be a single mother. These are all good enough reasons, but what if the woman was actually a teenaged school girl? Then everyone would be shouting for abortion; because it is simply wrong for a young girl to be pregnant in the first place, as well as potentially ruining her education and chance of getting a decent career in the workforce. Moreover, saving for a baby is one thing but when it is an unplanned pregnancy, it places an enormous financial burden on the woman who cannot afford to care for the baby, let alone the required GP visits to ensure it is healthy. However, these are not the only options, other include: - "I don't want more children, or I'm done with childrearing" - "I'm not ready to become a mother, let alone a single mother" - "My husband/partner wants me to have an abortion" - "There are problems with the health of the foetus (prior to birth or post-birth) - "There are problems with my own health" - "My parents want me to have an abortion" So, when you look at these other reasons, how is it not easy to understand and accept their choice? From a feminist point of view, it is very easy to look at this list and say it is the woman's right in order to take care of her own health.

So what are the baby's rights? Only that abortion will destroy another "miracle of life"; but let's think about the child's rights if it was born and not aborted? If this was an unplanned pregnancy, who's to say that the child is going to be born and then mistreated for the rest of it's life, treated as a burden to the mother and ultimately leading to a long list of mental health and physical health issues later in life for that child? What if the fetus was already disabled in the womb? I know of a personal story where the young woman's unborn child was aborted based on the fact that all of it's bones were already broken in the womb, that it had stunted development due to that and therefore would be disabled for the rest of its life from birth, or may not even survive the pregnancy. Of course the woman had to abort the child in order to save both herself and the child from a lifetime of hardship and sadness. What if the child was born, not wanted and handed in for adoption? There are multiple of studies in which children have had a lifetime of identity issues based on the fact that they do not know who their real family is. So have a think about it, all of it, from both perspectives of the woman and the child. I personally think it is both of their rights in this debate of abortion. We need to consider the health of both individuals, in order to maintain an optimal health status in the end, if the woman chooses for or against abortion.

=**Week 5: Are we losing sight of our real selves? An insight into the portrayal of body image**= When you look in the mirror, do you like what you see? This week's lecture was another reminder that society still has not changed. Women today are under so much pressure to measure up to a certain social and cultural idea of beautiful, and therefore leading to poor body image. We are constantly bombarded with Barbie-like doll images and shots of underweight models on the runway, conveying to us that being thin and on the verge of anorexia is healthy. By presenting this ideal, it is so difficult to achieve and maintain this image. I, myself, have even lowered to these pressures. To be honest, who hasn't? The message we're always hearing is that "all women need to lose weight" and that the natural aging process is "disastrous"; persuading us that cosmetic and diet products are the only things that will help us to stay young and thin, and ultimately, beautiful. With this constant stress regarding body image, women continue to compare their bodies to others, feel shame, anxiety and self-conscious about their own bodies, therefore having this distorted perception of their own shape and size. To make matters worse, the female stars shown in mainstream movies, TV shows and even music videos, are not only sexy but often behave in a kind of subservient and helpless way that men find appealing. The camera eye is always focused on women to look and act in a particular way that pleases men and once again, conveying to women that this is what a woman is supposed to look and act like, especially if you want to please your man. We are so accustomed to seeing things through a dominant male perspective that we often don't even notice the dynamics at play. Many of us (and I include myself in this statement) begin to objectify ourselves. Even when we are with our partners or simply walking down the street, are we not thinking about how we appear to others? Instead of thinking about the beauty and various stimuli around us? This self-objectification can easily lead to a feeling of self-consciousness and humiliation, and it can make us all believe that our bodies only exist for the pleasure of others. The health issues regarding this is extensive; unhappiness, emotional distress, low self-esteem, the need to diet and the obsession with weight loss, anxiety, depression, and a greater chance of developing an eating disorder.

We are all special and we are all beautiful in our own diverse way. There is no need to work on perfecting ourselves, because perfection is a myth. It doesn't truly exist, it's just made out by the media and social construction that it is. Many women who struggle with body image, spend inordinate amounts of energy trying to change their appearance. They make their bodies their life's work; waiting to be thin. Weight is not a measure of self-worth, why should it be? Self-worth is our view of ourselves as a total person. Weight is just a measurement, nothing other than that. Focus on what's really important in life- living. media type="youtube" key="sTDaeR3eWxA" width="560" height="315" align="center"

=**Week 6: "The Fertility Time-bomb": When is the right time to have a baby?**= Today's tutorial raised an interesting thought, that I'm sure we have all thought about before, but not as seriously until now. My mother married at 22 and had children at 24, 30 and 32. Now, for her, she did well in terms of fertility whilst being the ideal age; however, she regrets not having the chance to study and therefore have a career to focus on. Consequently, she encouraged me to do what she didn't get to do, all at the same time as reaching for my own plans to also one day marry and raise a family. It seems that many women who have been raised with mothers in the same situation as mine was, have been misguided by this, being told they can "have it all". These women complete primary, secondary AND tertiary education; they get an amazing job and make a career out of it, all because they can. However, as they solely focus on their careers, they don't realise that an impending doom is waiting just around the corner- the fertility time-bomb. Everyone has a life plan of some sort; for most women it includes: to study, have a career and be financially stable, to travel, to find Mr Right, to buy a house, to get married, to have children and still have a career to go back to; but for many women, this is never the case. Michelle pointed out today that "at the age of 35, you have 15% chance of falling pregnant, with the chance decreasing every year after that. To top that off, any conceived pregnancy has a 20% chance of ending in a miscarriage". Most often, women have their careers but they never find Mr Right, therefore delaying the chance of having a baby til too late. So, if this is the case, when is the right time to have a baby? Are we supposed to only focus on getting married and having a family like the couple of generations before us? Or can we still strive to be a wonder woman and achieve everything our mothers hoped we would? In my opinion, I think we can still achieve as much as we want by 35, it's often not as easy as we hope it to be, especially in terms of ensuring a career after studying and finding the right partner, but it is all still attainable; that is, if our biological clock doesn't tick any faster.

=**Week 7: Has feminism killed chivalry?**= "There never was a time when women were more frequently made the subject of verse, nor worshipped with greater devotion, then the age of chivalry. It was a time when the duty and pleasure of every gentleman was to be the slave of the same lady, and when passion of love was studied more ardently, and expressed in more delicate and sincere language then at any other time". The lecture this week triggered a very interesting thought in me, especially when Julie-Anne raised the questions "has feminism killed romance? And is this mentality still held by people today, especially in relation to gender roles?".

I spoke to my parents earlier this evening and I simply asked "Do you personally think the rise in feminism has killed chivalry and romance?", and they answered loudly "YES!" and I agreed with them. Do I think it's important for women to have a place in society besides a kitchen and have all of the same rights as men? Absolutely. Do I think it's crucial for women to make an impact in the workplace, and have the ability to gain the same respect men receive? Definitely. However, even though I think those aspects are essential, I still believe that men should maintain their manners and generally continue to go out of their way in being chivalrous. So many people call themselves feminists and are all about women being the same as men in regards to women's rights but at the same time, they do not take into account that when feminism rises up, chivalry falls down. For the last half century, the feminism idea of "We can do whatever a man can" has been propagated into our society. It made me think, well if men and women earn the same income in the workplace, men question why they should pay for dates. If a woman thinks she is useful for lifting more than a bag of flour in the kitchen, or pushing a vacuum down the hall, men start to wonder why women can't open their own doors for themselves when walking into a restaurant. We all loved the capturing literature written in the Romantic Movement, men still had a sense of worth, and women obviously had no option of a career; however, there was passion between the two. Men were respected and as my father stated tonight "Men, in particular fathers, are no longer respected as the head of the house, now that both parents are full-time workers, but mostly because they are no longer considered the "breadwinners" of the house, as they did 30 years ago". Thanks to feminism, we live in a time of equality, where treatment for men and women should be equal; and I agree, this is an amazing movement. Chivalry is a well-intentioned ideal, but it is exclusionary, and sadly these chivalrous practices are becoming more and more scarce.

=Week 8: "Why does she stay?"= Today's lecture and tutorial were very interesting. It had me thinking in ways that I believed everything being said, and then had me questioning the tutorial, but in overall, I feel like I have learnt a lot within from today's session.

The issue with many domestic violence cases is that the perpetrator and the victim are most commonly a couple and that they come across as any other regular couple. Almost everything in the relationship is the same as any other- the constant affection and the desire to always be with each other; although, this this is a sign for violence too? Moreover, I found that there are many myths about domestic violence, the two I found most relevant included: 1) Domestic violence is the __woman's fault__. A woman can prevent abuse by obeying her husband or trying harder to please him; and 2)A victim of abuse __can always walk away__ from the relationship. She only stays because she has low self-esteem or because she is allowing herself to be abused. The first myth is probably the biggest of them all, and is the most often used excuse by men, for example, "If you didn't piss me off then I wouldn't be yelling", "You make me so angry!", etc. The primary issue regarding this myth is that many battered women make numerous attempts to change their behaviour, hoping that will stop the abuse, as the partner has made them believe it is entirely their fault. Ironically, this change in behaviour may only fuel the abuser's control over the victim. Only the abuser can change his or her own behaviour. For the second myth, there are many reasons for why women don't leave abusive relationships. It is common knowledge that when battered women leave the relationship, they are at the highest risk of retaliation from their abuser who may become angry that he has lost control over the situation and the victim. Abusers are very controlling and often deny their victims access to resources including money, information and social support. If the survivor is an immigrant, her resources may be even more limited and she may face additional language, cultural, legal and economic barriers. There is also a "cycle of violence"; in which there is the "honeymoon phase", the couple are happily in love, there are no issues and everything is absolutely "perfect". Then there is the "build up phase" where minor incidents begin to occur such as criticising, yelling and blaming each other. The victim is "walking on eggshells", because they believe it is their fault for why the abuser is upset. Next comes the "explosive phase", the tension has built up in a variety of different ways in which the abuser becomes out of control and terrorises the victim, is verbally abusive, breaks things and all sorts of physical abuse toward the victim themselves. This then ends in the "reconciliation phase" where both the abuser apologises but blames the victim for the abuse. The victim is still in shock and the abuse leaves them vulnerable to accepting the apologies. A major key factor of this entire cycle, as well as being a major reason for the victim to stay in the abusive relationship, is that one part of the cycle represents a good and loving relationship in contrast to the abusive part. It is the honeymoon and reconciliation phase that keeps the victim hoping that the bad will end soon and the good times will come again.

If any of us know someone who has been in an abusive relationship, let alone just a bad relationship in general, it's hard to persuade them to leave. There are so many factors revolving around the incidence of domestic violence, and it seems that as much as all of us try to help change the situation, very little can be done. The best we can do is provide the support, let the person know we are here and help make them feel less alone and disconnected. Domestic violence will not be revolved until the perpetrator themselves are willing to change their behaviour. It starts with the perpetrator, so it must end with the perpetrator.

=**Week 9: __WEEK OFF__**=

=**Week 10: Healthy Ageing for Women- "How is advertising __shaping__ the image of women?"**= This is a women's health issue that I take very seriously. As pointed out in the tutorial, **"Our media seems to be fixated on how to reverse or prevent ageing whether it is how to achieve a size 8 body, which moisturisers prevent wrinkles, or hair products to cover grey roots in between colours". So how does this influence women's health as they age?** The media, especially advertising, tends to target women for profit. They do so by using a model that represents our fantasised image of "normal". This, therefore, creates opportunities for companies to sell their products that are supposedly used to **fix the flaws of real women**. Media has a great impact on the ways in which our society thinks and performs. Although this is seen as an asset to society, the media can have also have a negative impact on the these societal views. For example, it can help to create stereotypes, stigmatisation, and alter the society's beliefs, norms and values. Most importantly, the media often enough depicts women who do not accurately reflect the women in society. So, how does the media portray the ageing woman?

Quote: **"The first thing the advertisers do is surround us with the image of ideal female beauty, so we all learn how important it is for a woman to be beautiful, and what it takes"** -Jean Kilbourne

The ageing women is often the target for cosmetic advertisements, in which magazine and television advertisements are increasingly featuring the latest advances in surgical procedures. These ads are tailored toward older women to enforce the idea that you must avoid ageing, through the advertisement of anti-ageing products and services. **But how do marketing companies target the older woman?** **It's simple... by using a younger face**. This enforces the idea that looking young is ideal in today's society. If older women in particular are constantly bombarded with the notion that the perfect woman is young, then they will learn to fear and hate the ageing process and to use anything they can to avoid this "disastrous" process. So what can we do? What does a pro-ageing woman look like? How can we promote this?

=Week 11: Same-Sex, Same Entitlements- Same-Sex Adoption=

I found this lecture very insightful into the debate of same-sex couples, in particular the mention of these couples and their desire to have children, whether it be through adoption or assisted reproductive therapy (ART). I firstly want to point out what I found were the key statements from the lecture: 1. A critical factor in promoting the welfare and wellbeing of children is through the way in which a family functions, not in how it is structured. 2. Having a happy, healthy, well-adjusted child depends on much more on what their parents do and rather than whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. 3. More evident-based research on child wellbeing in same-sex relationships has shown time and again the importance of a loving, stable, accepting relationship with parents who prioritise the needs of their children and are prepared to work at developing and sustaining a positive attachment. 4. Lastly, Ms Goward stated that heterosexual parenting is not necessarily better than homosexual parenting. How are these not powerful statements!?

There are many issues that could result for a child of a same-sex couple: the child could be bullied, frowned upon by religion and organisations, they carry the burden of the discrimination against their parents. However, as stated in the lecture, earlier research indicates that children of same-sex couples were developing in healthy ways and that the sexual orientation of the parents in no way affected their growth and development. What matters most is the consistent warmth, closeness of the relationships and the attention provided by these parents. Moreover, the issue most often debated by those against same-sex adoption is the thought that these couples will "detrimentally damage" the lives of the children they raise, but they never once thought that these children are never conceived or adopted by accident. Every lesbian couple, even gay male couples, plan for the chance to have a child; whether it be through the search and use of a sperm donor and therefore In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) procedures, or even going through the lengthy and often doubtful process of adoption. In the end though, every child living in the home of a same-sex couple is wanted, loved, nurtured and perfectly taken care for. Lastly, the study conducted by (Wainright et al., 2004) (noted in the lecture) comparing the health, well-being and social functioning of adolescents found: no significant differences between adolescents living with same-sex couples and those living with other-sex couples in the self-reported assessments of psychological well-being, such as self-esteem and anxiety; measures of school outcomes, such as grade point averages and trouble in school; or measures of family relationships, such as parental warmth and care from adults and peers. In conclusion, the children of lesbians are not likely to be worse off in health and wellbeing than children of heterosexual couples.

=**Week 12: Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Women**=

I always find this particular topic very interesting, especially when put into the context of women living in the 1950s. As Julie-Anne outlined in the lecture, back then, society placed a high importance and an incredible number of expectations on women's behaviour at home and in public. They were expected to be a caring mother, a perfect homemaker and an obedient wife. The media at that time also constructed the label of a "good wife" which further added to the weight of pressure onto women. Although, if you think about it, when you fast forward to contemporary women today, the pressure on women is still the same, just in a different context. Nowadays, women are still the targeted audience to the media, and furthermore the advertisements that promote a "better life" through "how to get a beach body", "how to make your home beautiful", "how to please your man" or "how to spice up your sex life", "the 5-minute face", "Lose weight in just 2 weeks" and "how to raise the perfect child". When you think about it, women today are more than likely faced with more pressure than what was considered to be felt by women in the 1950s. If you ask me, it's a tyrannical myth of perfection and it just does not let up. Which leads me to ask, well how do women cope with all of this pressure? In answering that, Julie-Anne raised an interesting discussion as she reported the link between mental health and substance abuse in women to be highly associated. In spite of the some of the improvements in recent years in the equality between men and women, women and women's health issues remain grossly under-represented in the research on women and drugs. In particular, there is a large amount of research ignoring women; in which, majority of studies have only used all-male samples. Today's lecture has given me enough insight to conclude that there is unsatisfactorily low knowledge on the most effective ways of preventing and treating women's mental health issues and women's drug problems. In order to improve the future of women's health, this needs to be considered.

=**Week 13: International Health, How the other half live and die**=

This week's lecture showed an incredible comparison to the health of women in developed countries and those living in a third-world country, such as India or Somalia. It was great to see the extent of women's health in these particular countries. However, the only topic that sparked any thought on my reflection this week was of Child Marriages, in which young girls and boys below the age of 18 are arranged to marry an older partner, although the practice is far more common to younger girls. To me, child marriage is an appalling violation of human rights and particularly robs these girls of their education, health, future dreams and most of all their innocence.

According to the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW), one third of the world's girls are married before the age of 18, and 1 in 9 are marriage before 15; and if present trends continue, 142 million girls will be married before their 18th birthdays over the next decade, avergaging to be 14.2 million girls each year. In Mozambique, 60% of girls with no education are married by 18, compared to 10% with secondary schooling and <1% of girls with a higher education above that. In terms of health, girls below the age of 15 are 5 times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s. As well as child brides facing a higher risk of contracting HIV due to marrying an older man who may have had more sexual experience. In relation to violence and child marriage- a subject I am most contentious about. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence than their peers who marry later in life, in which they were twice as likely to report being beaten, slapped or threatened by their husbands. Lastly and most importantly, child brides often show signs of sexual abuse and post traumatic stress such as feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and severe depression. Also according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), girls married young are especially more vulnerable to intimate partner violence and sexual abuse than girls who marry later. Recently, I read a news story regarding a child bride of the age of 8 in Yemen, who married a 40-year old man (who was 5 times her age) and later died on her wedding night, as a result of internal bleeding after sexual intercourse. These young girls are powerless to refuse sex and lack the resources or legal and social support to leave an abusive marriage. It is also often found that poor families marry off their young daughters in order to reduce the number of children they need to look after, and in some cultures, a major incentive is the price these prospective husbands will pay for young brides.

I believe no girl should be robbed of her childhood, her education and health, and her aspirations. Yet today millions of girls are denied their rights each year when they are married as child brides. This in itself is a very complex issue with very deep roots, and unfortunately, despite actions being put in place, it seems nothing is changing for these girls.

=**My final reflection on the unit:**=

I absolutely loved this unit and I would happily encourage it to other students to choose this as their elective. I have learnt so much, and it has opened my eyes up to a much larger issue to women's health and overall, public health. Thankyou to all of the teaching staff, I feel I have now more knowledge to assist in my degree and my future as a public health professional.