The main focus of the article on PMS was to point out that it is specific to Western culture and is essentially socially constructed. One point the author made was that if you look back about thirty years there is not this same stigma around a woman's period. You can also look at the opinions women in other countries, such as India, have towards their menstrual cycle and you will see they hold much less disdain towards it.
One of the most pertinent observations I noted from the article was that women now use the phenomenon of PMS as an excuse for undesirable emotions and therefore play into the ideals of gender stereotypes. For example, when a woman gets angry or upset she will blame it on the onset of her period, regardless of whether or not that is actually a factor. This is because women are intended to be docile and calm creatures, and so any display of such emotions needs to be masked under the veil of a disorder.
In the two articles about disabilities we explore the effects they have differently on men and women. We see that for men they are able to combat the stigma surrounding their disabilities by putting their energy into sports. They feel that by playing sports people will see that they are able to participate in 'manly' activities just as anyone else would and there for see them for more than just their disability.
As I stated in my previous comment, I believe that PMS is viewed differently all over the world proving that it is largely a sociological issue rather than a medical one. Just as Natalie points out, women in India view PMS very differently from women in the US.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how Natalie pointed out that “by playing sports people will see that [men with disabilities] are able to participate in 'manly' activities just as anyone else would and there for see them for more than just their disability”. The desire to be defined as more than ones disability could lead to awe inspiring results. For example, Oscar Pistorius aka the blade runner became the first amputee runner to compete at an Olympics.
-Zeina
I completely agree with Natalie when she said "This is because women are intended to be docile and calm creatures, and so any display of such emotions needs to be masked under the veil of a disorder". In our culture, women are not supposed to have mood swings. They're supposed to show little emotion and be subservient to men. While I don't believe that PMS should be used for a woman's advantage by using it as an excuse, or taken into account during a job interview, it also shows that our society doesn't like it when women break from societal expectations.
ReplyDelete-Jane Vinocur
I think it's interesting how Natalie points out that now women have been using PMS as an excuse to mood swings and stress, even though it might not be related to it at all, and I completely agree with her. PMS has been turned into a syndrome, an illness, when it's a completely natural process that most women in the world undergo, and lack of self control should not be blamed on it.
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