Class Notes 2/8/2007

Class Notes 2/8/2007

Class Notes for 2/8/07 (completed on 2/12/07) Revised on 2/19*
Examples of Hegemony and Resistance
• Group 3 Responses
• “Because You’re a Girl” –Ijeoma A.
• Family uses tradition to maintain the power aspect of tradition
• No resisting before going to America
• Once she traveled to America and was exposed to freedom, started to really resist
• The example of eating the chicken heart shows that she was always the same person but came out of her shell when she came to America
• “The Veil” –Satrapi
• Mother resisted veil and had to change her appearance
• The veil materializes the change in the country and maintains the hegemony
• The girl wants to be her own person, partially due to her age
• Group 2 Responses to Group 3 – Power and Who Benefits?
• “Because You’re a Girl” –Ijeoma A.
• She benefits because going to America empowers her and opens her eyes up to expanded opportunities
• Doesn’t benefit her family who is trying to maintain tradition
• She had to hide her power at home but when she went to America she was able to expose who she really was
• “The Veil” –Satrapi
• The people composing traditional society benefit from the veil
• The government benefits from gaining power
• Individuals lose their ability to make their own choices as of what they wear
• Group 1 Responses
• “Because You’re a Girl” –Ijeoma A.
• Hegemony – Gender and Culture
• She is expected to cook, clean and take care of her brothers because she is a girl
• Resistance
• Talking back
• Telling her cousin to do things himself
• Going to America made her realize she didn’t have to cater to the boys
• She had power in school but no where else
• “The Veil” –Satrapi
• Hegemony
• Gender and Culture
• The culture expects women to wear the veil
• Political
• Separated the boys and girls in school
• Resistance
• Her mother protesting and getting her picture taken for a magazine without a veil
• Wanted the maid to eat at the table
• The girls were playing with their veils
• Group 3 Responses to Group 1 – Power and Who Benefits?
• Men are in charge and the women are inferior
• Role of the women is homemaker
• She is expected to stay at home, care for the children and maintain the household with little opportunity to escape these chores
• Men are free to enjoy recreational activities in addition to having a job/career
• They expect their women to make them food and care for their children
• Men benefit because they are praised for the work they do as well as the work the women do in maintaining the household and raising the children
• Women are rarely given credit for their hard work

*Additional Notes Added on 2/19

• Group 2 Responses
• “The Veil” –Satrapi
• Dominant Group – male – dominated traditionally Muslim regime; also class-based – Marjane’s parents had servants, a Cadillac
• Resistance – kids playing with veils, Marjane proclaiming her dreams to become a doctor or prophet, her parents who protest against the government, Marjane’s protest against the maid having to eat separately from them
• “But I Know You, American Women” –Moschkovich
• Dominant Group – white, Anglo-Saxon, middle-class, American women and their culture
• Resistance – the author’s response to the letter written, her wish for people to become more proactive in learning about other cultures
• “Growing Up Hidden” –Linnea Due
• Dominant Group – heterosexual and homophobic society that suppresses any alternative sexual identity
• Resistance – proclaiming one’s sexuality and being open about it
• Group 1 Responses to Group 2 – Power and Who Benefits?
• “The Veil” –Satrapi
• The traditionally Muslim men of the higher class has the power
• The girls and political opponents to the regime are powerless
• The power produced who goes to school and girls wearing veils
• “But I Know You, American Women” –Moschkovich
• White Anglo-Saxon middle-class women have the power
• Minority women and lower class are powerless
• The power produced ignorance
• “Growing Up Hidden” –Linnea Due
• Heterosexuals have the power
• Homosexual people, out or closeted, are powerless
• The power produced homophobia and forced people to stay closed

Notes by: Tara B