A New Masculinity

-Mary Beth
                      In Borderlands La Frontera (2007), Chicana author, Gloria Anzaldua, addresses the social construction of masculinity in the Hispanic culture in terms of aggression and frustration. She informs readers that her culture is very different from the others in it's sense of values and beliefs pertaining to gender roles. In no way, shape or form does she agree with it's ways, yet she "understands" the root of the male hatred and fear behind violent acts committed against women.
                      Anzaldua explains that being a woman is being seen as "defective" in her culture. The opposite, "being macho" is respected. Yet, she stresses that being macho is no easy task. In the words of the author, being macho means "being strong enough to protect and support a wife and children." In the economy we live in today, this is not always an easy task. A male's sense of masculinity is jeopardized when he cannot provide monetarily for his family, which is sometimes impossible despite valiant efforts. Thus, a Chicano male may suffer from feelings of "inadequacy, inferiority and powerlessness." This loss of dignity and respect may lead him to put down women or even to brutalize them. They become an outlet for frustration. Despite how much a man may love his wife, the culture has ostracized him to a point of violence and wrecklessness.
                    Although this cultural phenomenon is one that can be applied to many ethnicities, Anzaldua explains that the Mestizo culture is one that sees it's effects more than others. She explains that in her culture and the church insist that women are subservient to males." What I found much different from my own white, byzatine christian background, were the things that the author heard discussed frequently in her culture pretaining to violence against women by their husbands:

"How many times have I heard mothers and mothers-in-law tell their sons to beat their wives for not obeying them, for being bociconas (big mouths), for being callejaras (going to visit and gossip with neighbors), for expecting their husbands to help with the rearing of children and the housework, for wanting to be something other than housewives"

I found this appaling. In such a traditional cultures, such as hers, straying from established gender roles within a marriage is considered unacceptable. Coming from a household where my mother is the primary breadwinner, I found this concept difficult to grasp. Never has my father put a hand on my mother for "wanting to be something other than a housewife." In fact, while she was away, hard at work, he took over many of the household duties that are traditionally assigned to the woman, and also was the parent who I accredit for raising me the most.
              In taking over my mother's household responsibilities, my father was culturally jeopardizing his masculinity. He still worked and provided for his family, yet, he also exemplified a certain tenderness towards me, his daughter. This tenderness and vulnerability is something feared in the eyes of a Chicano male. This shows that in some instances, "men, even more than women, are fettered to gender roles." I can firmly agree with Anzaldua in the sense that a new masculinity needs to be esablished within society to rid the gender roles that have been socially constructed. Acceptance of behaviors that have been considered feminine in the past should be looked upon in a new light, because some of such behaviors, for instance, love, compassion and service, are not female traits, but human ones.

The Aggressives

Jennifer:

Photo courtesy of chicagonow.com

The dictionary’s definition of the term “aggressive” is as follows: “characterized by or tending toward unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like; militantly forward or menacing.”

For some of us, it is hard to imagine why anyone would want to so closely identify with a word that society has deemed negative. In Daniel Peddle’s documentary, The Aggressives, he introduces us to a world unknown to most people, even those living in New York, exposed to many that identify in an infinite number of ways. Peddle explores the lifestyles of six lesbians that strongly identify with this powerful word. Over the course of five years, he was able to get as close of a real understanding as possible of their individual lifestyles and their lifestyles in “the scene”.

Though there must have been hours upon hours of footage to choose from, I felt Peddle did a remarkable job in choosing just the right footage. He was able to show the considerable difference between sex and gender in a way that would allow an audience, otherwise unfamiliar, to obtain a lucid insight into this discourse. He made this particularly clear when capturing these defining words of Flo, an Asian aggressive woman, “I’m an aggressive butch. I’m not trying to be a man. I don’t want to be a man.”

Photo courtesy of 7thart.com

As expressed by many of the women in the film and in particular by Kisha, the word “aggressive” made them excited. She states without hesitation, “Aggressive is your strength, your courage, your whole aura”. However, I found the visible and rather dominant characteristics that they exuded to be especially noteworthy. They appeared very similar to straight male characteristics that women recognize as wrong, yet can often be seen in active pursuit of. Several of the aggressives referred to being a player or when wanting to play nice with their sweethearts, simply “just crushing a lot”. This and other similar statements made me wonder: How influenced are lesbian relationships by heterosexual relationships? How great of a role does social class play in lesbian dynamics? And possibly the most intriguing question:  Is there a “machismo” culture within the lesbian world?

David Vitter's "Serious Sin"

Photo taken from thewashingtonpost.com
By: Chris Valletta

Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana gained recognition in 2007 for a sex scandal that rocked the world of politics. Senator Vitter, who began his career in the House as a Congressman in Louisiana's 1st Congressional District, has been recognized as a politician who has consistently spoken about the strength of his marriage and morals in his political decisions. Senator Vitter also outwardly called for the impeach of President Clinton at the time of his affair in the Oval Office. However, news came out that Senator Vitter was not completely honest and faithful as he appeared to be.

In 2007, Senator Vitter admitted to making a "serious sin" after it was discovered that his phone number was on the list of clients of the "DC Madam." The D.C. Madam is a woman by the name of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who ran a prostitution ring for years in Washington D.C. According to www.reuters.com, Vitter said "Wendy and I dealt with this personally several years ago. I confronted it in confession and marriage counseling, I believe I received forgiveness from God, I know I did from Wendy." This story is ironic on a number of levels, but I would like to start with the fact that this Senator is very hypocritical. As his political career suggests, he has been an advocate for family values, marriage faithfulness, and has attempted to take the moral aspect side on many issues. 


Following his political words, the country then discovers that this politician has been completely lying about his supposed morals and has been guilty of the same "guilty pleasures that he has criticized others for." Not only has Senator Vitter been cheating on his wife, but he has done so at an illegal brothel. In addition, Senator Vitter did not step down from his office and even won his re-election in November of 2010 as a result of American's sentiment against President Obama. In his apology, Vitter notes God's forgiveness and forgiveness from his wife. Bringing God into the story is another interesting aspect. It seems as though Senator Vitter is just looking for excuses to get himself out of a tough situation where his pleasure for immediate sexual satisfaction was too much to resist. 


Since he has acted in such a way, then clearly he doesn't see a problem with it. Yet at the same time, he is very quick to condemn others publicly who have acted the same way. This is all a public spectacle by Vitter to use people's pleasure to make him appear as a better person. The sad part is, many people in this culture believed him and even after he admitted what he did, the Senator still was re-elected into office. It turned out that the sex scandal was not as important as his political party. This to me reveals that perhaps people's secret pleasures may not be as bad as the public displays them, for if this was truly the case, the people would never have re-elected this man.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Photo takes from realnewsblog.com
By: Chris Valletta

The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was instituted in the United States in 1993 and essentially allows gay Americans to serve in the armed forces, so long as they do not admit to their sexual orientation. This past fall, a 10 month study of the issue of whether to repeal the policy was revealed by the Pentagon. The House passed legislation to repeal the policy, but the Senate has stalled this from being enacted. According to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, multiple Senators have gone on record to speak about the policy.

Senator Evan Bayh (D) supports the repeal of the policy, citing that gay Americans have been fighting in wars long before the policy was put into effect. Senator Susan Collins (R) also spoke in support of a repeal, reading from a soldier's quote which basically said that no one cared about a member of his troop that was gay because he was just as big and violent as anyone else. However, Senator John McCain (R) has consistently remained adamantly opposed to the repeal of the policy. In response to the study that was conducted, he has revealed concerns that the surveys sent out that were responded to do not represent the full views of the armed forces as a whole. Senator McCain also notes that the chairman of the committee, Admiral Mullen, is not directly in charge of troops.

In response to Senator McCain, Admiral Mullen cited specific examples of the many instances in his career where he was in charge of troops. Additionally, he confirmed that the surveys reached 400,000 troops, as well as 150,000 family members of those troops. Admiral Mullen was able to successfully shoot down McCain's opposition with these facts. However, the big picture here is once again pleasure's role in politics. The pleasure here is homosexuality, which has still yet to be accepted by a good amount of Americans, in particular those with conservative views such as the likes of Senator McCain. It is telling that we are in the year 2010, yet Americans who have gay sexual orientation cannot admit who they are to be able to serve their own country. This policy suggests that gay Americans are not truly American because of the same-sex pleasure they experience in their lives.

It seems as though many Americans are still afraid to believe the fact that there are gay Americans among us that receive this type of pleasure. To some it appears alien and foreign. The real issue isn't the fact that gay Americans in the armed forces will have an impact on a troops performance, team-work, morale, or trust; but that they receive pleasure from a different source than most others. Why does this pleasure have to be not spoken of? This is blatant repression, amazingly apparent even in the name of the policy. Such an open repression from the United States government shows just how afraid this culture is of its pleasures and how the repression of these pleasure's hinders our lives in many different facets.

A Chilling Soldier's Girl

This is Sophie

I found the most chilling aspect of the movie Soldier's Girl to be the fact that it was based on real events.  This film portrays a very obviously passionate relationship between Barry, a solider in the Airborne division and Calpernia, a transgender veteran of the army.  The love scenes in this film portray a relationship that is just as authentic as a relationship between two heterosexual people.

Barry is murdered by a fellow soldier in his sleep after suffering multiple occasions in which he was called cruel names because of his sexual orientation, some becoming violent.  Throughout these incidents, Barry remained level-headed, and although he defended himself when they became violent, he kept in mind the army's "dont ask, don't tell" policy for fear of being kicked out of the army.

This film, and the fact that it is based on real life occurrences for which two soldiers were sentenced to jail time, emphasizes the stigma our society continues to attach to "other" people with "other" desires that do not uphold mainstream American values.  The fact that a person was brutally murdered with a baseball bat, defenselessly in his sleep and a woman had her partner stolen from her because of homophobic ideology is incredulous and is something that I simply cannot wrap my mind around.

Dirty Politics

Prostitutes, affairs, dirty sex.

Many people avoid talking about sex. They cringe at the thought of those three letters coming together and rolling off of someone’s tongue. Yet, it is the first thing everyone gets excited about (no pun intended) when sex is associated with scandal. No, I am not talking about your neighbor having an affair with the mailman. I am talking about the scandals that involve politicians. Sex and politicians do not mix, well at least in America.

Photo courtesy of nola.com

I guess many Americans want government officials to be immortal human beings. Politicians must be perfect in a sense, but we all know that major corruption is associated with politics. Although we would like politicians to be honest reformers, we know that most politicians can never be trusted. Nobody is perfect, but why is it such a big deal when politicians are caught with a mistress, same- sex partner, or even more scandalous prostitutes?

You have to admit, politicians are human beings and are looking to seek pleasure just like you and me. So why is it such a problem when a politician is caught having an affair? Do sex scandals leave a mark on a politician’s career?

The French President Nicholas Sarkozy was accused to have affairs while being married to his first and second wives. Nevertheless, he is holding office since 2007. I doubt any Americans would ever vote for a candidate that was married more than once and was accused of having multiple affairs. Former Governor Elliot Spitzer had a hard time redeeming his reputation after it was uncovered that he was a frequent client in a prostitution ring with the infamous Ashley Dupre. Governor David Paterson, his successor, was heavily criticized because both he and his wife admitted to having extramarital affairs. Will history judge the actions of Paterson fairly? Will historians and the American public look back at his governing abilities positively or will they be overshadowed by his infidelity?

Which politicians come to your mind when you think of scandals? Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Larry Craig, and James McGreevey to name a few. But do some politicians get away with scandalous affairs? David Vitter, the Senator from Louisiana, was accused of seeing several prostitutes at a company owned by the “D.C. Madam” in 2007. During President Clinton’s scandal, Vitter publically defamed Clinton and believed that the president should have been impeached because he had an extramarital affair. Does having an affair impair your leadership skills? Clinton did not flee to the country to see Monica Lewinsky.  (Unlike Mark Sanford, who just fled South Carolina to go see his mistress in Argentina. I am not saying he was not allowed to have an affair, but he haphazardly left the state, and did not really inform his staff to take over in case an emergency arose). Clinton eventually admitted to the affair, but was it so awful that he needed to resign?

Vitter replaced Congressman Bob Livingston in 1999 after Livingston committed adultery. At the time, Vitter believed Livingston’s decision to resign should send a message to Clinton. He thought Livingston was noble and Clinton should have done the same. Nevertheless, Vitter was victorious in his re-election bid this past election cycle.

Another surprising scandal I read about involved newly elected Governor Nicky Haley. She was accused of having an affair with a conservative blogger, but she denies all allegations. Despite the rumors, Haley was able to defeat her Democratic opponent.

Are we more partial to forgiving some politicians rather than others? Does it depend on the politician’s political party? Why do some politicians like Vitter and John Ensign continue to advocate for family, wholesome, values, yet they are involved in affairs? I believe that the American public should not be heavily concerned with the sex lives of their representatives in Congress or even in higher offices. But, it does bother me when some politicians preach values and accuse others of being less wholesome, even though they are hiding some dirty, sexy, politics themselves. Should we take a lesson from France?

-Nidhi

Digital Nation Dialogue

Amy: Hey, how is everything going? It is been so crazy lately; I wish we had more time to just chat. How is the semester going for you?

Maya: Hey! I am so glad we finally decided to have lunch together. My classes are going well, but there is so much work. How are things going for you?

Amy: Same old stuff. I cannot wait for the semester to be over. How is your thesis going? What are you working on again?

Maya: That’s good. Well, I am studying zebrafish and their abilities to regenerate their neurons after they are blinded for a period of time.

Amy: Wow! That really sounds amazing! What do you exactly do?

Maya: Well, I am using electron microscopy to study the tissues like the optic nerve and retina of the zebrafish. We actually blind the zebrafish with a laser and then we…….

Amy: Yeah, I’m listening go on.

Maya: It’s okay. I will let you finish sending your text message.

Amy: No, don’t worry. Keep talking. I can listen and text and the same time. Please, I really want to hear about this.

Maya: No, that’s fine. I thought you wanted to catch up. I guess my story was not that interesting, as you had said.

-Nidhi