What College Women Do and Do Not Experience as Rape

- I never was sure what the exact definition of rape was, but according to this, I have been raped before several times. It was upsetting, but I tried to just blow it off because I was so drunk all of the times it happened and he was a friend/acquaintance of mine. And sexual assault. I've had that done to me a number of times since I was 16 years old.

- I'm surprised at how many of the rape cases, the women didn't consider it rape. I always thought it was a pretty black and white issue.

- I've definitely submitted to a boyfriend before too because he relentlessly badgered and whined at me. I never considered it rape though.

- I also think that the media portrays rape as "sexy" as my above example shows. I've seen it in movies too. Rape should never be portrayed as erotic, but it's accepted by society by people who think women want to be dominated.

Human Rights: Sex Trafficking & Prostitution

- That narrative is very depressing and sounds not at all that uncommon. I didn't know girls were trafficked into the US too. I always thought it was other places, but not here.

- Are Russian mail-order brides considered sex slaves? I don't know much about that business, but I know my mom's cousin has one and they seem to be happily married with two kids. She even brought her sister over too, though I'm not sure if she lives with them or not.

- I wonder why the US was critical of the international anti-trafficking protocol. I mean, it seems like common sense that it's wrong, right?

- It sounds like governments are starting to combat this which is hopeful. I'm sure a lot still needs done though.

- I really like how Sweden and Venezuela handle prostitution. They are helping put a stop to it but also helping the women find education and good jobs. I think that is the right answer to the problem, even better than trying to decriminalize it and regulate it.

- I think if we try to decriminalize it, the same that happened in Australia would would happen.

Prostitution, Humanism, and a Woman's Choice

- Since when did the media say feminism was a white woman's movement? I'm pretty sure I wasn't aware of that concept until I read this book! This book pushes that idea more than anything else I've ever seen.

- The thing with prostitution is a grey area for me. I try to see the side that women should be allowed to if they want, but I still can't get passed the fact that they are objectifying their bodies into sexual objects. They are selling their bodies for money.

- On the other hand, I see what she means by how they're not protected or regulated at all. The bad situation could be made better if the government addressed these issues. It's like abortion: people are going to do it whether it's legal or not so you might as well provide a safe and healthy way for people to do it to protect them from harm.

- So they're against the legalization of prostitution because it tries to regulate their lives too much? I mean, I think mandatory regular health checks are good because it protects the customers. If they have an STD, you don't want them spreading it around.

Globalization and Its Disconents

- Wow, they pay these workers pocket change. That's why it's good to try to buy things made in the US, but impossible to do entirely. From this, it sounds like not even that helps because there's sweatshops in the US too. I thought there would be laws against that. That's pretty ridiculous but I guess if they're undocumented, they don't report earnings or pay taxes to the government.

- So what are we supposed to do? This is indicating that sweatshops exist both in poor countries and in the US itself. Should we just make our own clothes again? I don't know- this seems like a really big problem that the government needs to control by putting stricter regulations on US-based companies here and overseas. This probably won't happen though because it's hard to regulate and these huge corporations have so much power.

Maid to Work

- I think the wages for housework makes sense logically, but is not practical. I mean, where would the money come from? the government? It would make taxes go up even more and would be something else the government could tax. I also think it still reinforces the idea that it's "women's work" too.

- I don't know how I feel about hiring a main though. I never saw a problem with it because it allowed working women to focus more on their careers. I mean, regardless of whether you hire a maid or not, she is going to find another low-paying job somewhere else. Maybe you just insist on a male maid or treat them very fairly. It's a problem with no easy answer. I guess too you could just divide the housework up evenly between you and your spouse.

- Interesting about the size of houses increase. I'd heard that before too. And the part about people spending less time at home too. I feel that is very true and kind of sad. Families are so busy- they don't spend much time together and the bonds of family are not very strong.

- I totally agree about people not knowing how to clean. They're slob. I live with a girl who admits she didn't know how to clean because her mom didn't teach her. I thought that was crazy! My mom made me help clean from a young age. I hated it, but it taught me good values and that if you live with a group of people, you help contribute to maintaining the household. It's just something that has to be done.

The Myth of the Perfect Mother

- I think I want to balance motherhood by either:
a) Being a stay-at-home mom until my kids are old enough to go to school and work during the day, maybe part-time to start out.
OR
b) Have my husband be a stay-at-home dad until he can go back to work.

- I think though that most men would not want to be stay-at-home dad so option A is the more likely option I will follow and I'm okay with that.

- Seriously, good advice in this essay. I really don't want to be one those perfectionistic mothers that signs up their kids for like a million activities. People do need to learn how to just BE. I see people that are so busy and tired all the time and I'm like why do they push themselves so hard? They're miserable. Sure, they'll probably achieve great success in life, but what's the point when you're so miserable? Just be satisfied with the little things in life.

Cheaper than a Cow

- Is this legal to do? To sell women as like, sex slaves? because it kinda sounds like with how secretive they are about it. And why is it recently that villagers became desperate for brides and sons? Where are all the women in these villages? Ok, so it's because fewer girls are being born but why? OK, that's what I thought. They abort them. WOw, what do they think is going to happen? duh.

- It's pretty sad what happens to these girls. IT sounds like some places are beginning to fight back against this though.