I liked the way he used humor to deliver his idea. How he refused somewhat the idea of Mars and Venus and used earthlings instead for men and women. I agree with Kimmel’s idea here, that men and women are more similar than different. They do have differences and different needs which he mentioned in his four brilliant points and that are the most obvious things we see.
The changes in thoughts from 1970 to 2005 were quite amazing to know. That reveals a lot about change in human nature itself with the passage of time and surroundings. When he says that women lives are changed but men live aren’t then this is not quite true in my opinion. If the life of one partner changes then it also impact the other partner’s life in some way. In case of gender I think a man and a woman both should realize the importance of understanding each other in a relationship. Friendship is a good way to communicate and be the way one wants to be. I like the way he mentioned friendship and marriage. “Politics of friendship is egalitarian, peer relationship. The more egalitarian the marriage, the more likely they will thrive”
One thing I felt, he was talking a lot about women’s right and men’s responsibilities. I never expected that coming from a man’s side. This was quite interesting and somewhat upsetting. Well he should have also talked about what men thinks about this gender issue. What they feel with all these changes in woman lives in these past 35 to 40 years? What they have to say about it? So that they feel importance in this issue of gender and that it is related to them also. Nothing was coming from a man in the favor of a man. Then he is proving that gender is really a woman’s issue and all about woman and men has nothing to do with it. These videos discussed most of the times that men need to change in order to stay healthier and fit. Look at the other side of the picture he never said that women should be thankful and praise their husbands for what they do for them and their families. That they should stop bitching about the one only thing their men haven’t done and that they must not overlook great things they have done for them.
I loved the example he gave about privilege. The communication between a black woman and a white woman. Phrase that I see a black woman in mirror. Race is visible to the black woman because she has to face it and not to white woman because she has never been through any of those situation. That’s how privilege works. Knowing that I am privileged over other is one thing and understanding that what if I wasn't. What that feeling could be like? This is not only true among different races but in every field of life. Well i think it also differs in how people see it.
As far as men’s lives not changing, yeah they do change, but I don’t think the lives of men can be the focus of Kimmel’s gender conversation. His lecture was focused around the idea that privilege is invisible to those who have it: that privilege is only made aware when the under privileged speaking up. So one’s privilege of being a certain gender is not made aware until the underprivileged gender (in America women) speak up. That’s what I got out of those moments.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea that both partners need to come to an understanding about each other in a relationship for it to be a successful one. Also, I liked the way that you mentioned that both people are affected when something drastic happens in one person's life since that is so true. Both people are in a relationship and working towards living their lives together so, of course, both of their lives would be affected if something changed in one's life.
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed listening to Kimmel when he talked about what type of marriages thrives. I think this can be traced back to why both genders are similar. Both men and women like to feel secure, it is human nature..and an egalitarian marriage does this for us. Men and women may differ greatly in many ways, but our end goal in life is usually similar in that we want someone to spend our lives with.
ReplyDeleteHis point about women's studies/gender studies also rings true. When I teach this class face-to-face, there are usually 4-5 men out of 60 students total. In my Intro class, I had one man out of 30. Men need to be in these classes to learn about gender, but for some reason many do not see it as affecting their lives. I have also heard that some are afraid to take women's studies b/c they think it is a male-bashing environment. Gender is seen as a "woman's" issue" --this needs to change but men need to get over their fears and take on the issue in a more visible way.
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