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Sunday, April 1, 2007

Class notes for 3/29/07

Prepared by Jess T

WGS 220- Prof. Gamble

Class notes for 3/29/07

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All students must email team liaisons and specify what aspects of their presentations were used on the individual blogs


Kuper's Reading


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Prison visit by author for the purpose of mental health assessment of the inmates.
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Why did the young man feel like he needed to dress as a woman to avoid injury? (When he first got there, he was repeatedly abused, and its better to be someone's “bitch” and become their “property” due to the subsequent protection, then have rivalries over rights to who can do what to whom
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“Taken off the market”
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By taking on the role of a female, be becomes “property” of one of the men
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Guards advice: should have been violent from the start to establish himself in the prison hierarchy, to avoid being constantly attacked, de-sexualized
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Hierarchy created inside- like a mini culture, symbolic and representative of the outside world
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Those who do not initially establish their authority are feminised/devalued in this culture
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Child molesters at bottom- people can gage themselves depending on the type of crime they committed
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Young man does not consider himself a trans gender/sexual, however has taken on a persona that is not his own to just to be safe
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WHY CANT PRISIONERS BE SAVED FROM VIOLENCE W/IN PRISION?
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Understaffed
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Corrupt
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Deserve It?
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Prisons made into pop culture trend due to reality TV
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Aspects of pop culture recently blamed for increase in violence


Enloe Reading


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Was the incident considered pop culture at the time? No
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now moreso than ever
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Public is shocked that women are portrayed as demeaning prisoners and their masculinity
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gender roles in war
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usually women are the ones who are degraded
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role reversal in this case
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Women are used as a commodity of war
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raped and pregnant, child shunned
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Pregnant on trial- sign of heirarchy and dominance
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Women must become ultra masculine to fit into the male dominated profession
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to get respect
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for safety?

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