Videos for week five - Feminist Paradox and Male Identity Crisis

 A paradox is typically something that can't be solved with contradicting features. For the feminist paradox, it never occurred to me how paradoxical feminism really is. This is due to feminism, by definition, being the advocacy for women's rights based on the equality of the sexes. What people also don't realize about feminism is that it gives the right to not support it. From what I understood from the ted talk video by Thisari Randunu is that feminism is more about choice rather than an impending result. If I'm being honest Thisari's ted talk was not something I could quickly bounce back with a response containing my own ideas, thoughts, and opinions on the matter because she didn't really state anything new or different that I think most people know about feminism already. For example, Thisari would discuss the possibility of a woman wanting to stay home instead of going to a normal work day. Thisari explained how this is completely fine because of the woman simply having the choice to do so is what makes feminism, feminism. An example I did enjoy was when she quotes Tumblr which states "The first thought that goes through your mind is what you have been conditioned to think, what you think next defines who you are" which simply states that consciously changing your original thoughts proves that one's original thoughts could be unconscious while also available for change. To put simply, I think the feminist paradox is when someone supports women along the lines of feminism, but then continues to judge the woman for something you once thought you supported. I think the full paradox end of the equation is when it becomes a realization of the judging shouldn't be happening and creates a correction of thoughts and actions. 

As for the male identity crisis, I wasn't able to. imagine a male perspective for how they may feel about enduring the typical societal expectations of a man, but I was able to imagine it along the lines of a female perspective. I was able to do this due to the ted talk host Fraser smith telling the audience to imagine how you view the men around you and what you expect of them along with what you don't expect of them. The ideals and realities I was able to create helped me understand the male identity crisis as I didn't realize the very strong subconscious bias I had toward men. Such biases included expecting men to provide, be strong, and I also expected them to be aggressive. I continued to notice that I had patriarchal biases toward men such as they don't cry or express any type of strong emotions. The realization of this has made me fear how men and boys are processing and controlling their emotions as simply doing that is seen as wrong creating more pent-up anger and aggression that strengthens their stereotype. I also think there has been an insurgence of men being seen as villains rather than victims along with the mentioned #metoo movement that was discussed in the ted talk. I have failed to realize how the movement may affect men as they now also think that men are violent which makes them think that they are violent. I really enjoy mindfully changing my perspectives on topics such as this one as it creates new outlooks which can change my opinions on a discussion completely. As for the feminist paradox and male identity crisis if we are looking for solutions I think the best place to start is simply having empathy for the other gender as identities are a natural part of having a gender, but we can control what identities form and how.