When Rosie Molinary visited our class, she spoke about the way in which social expectations can be both reflected in, and dictated by, media and advertisement. These norms are internalized by the audience and inevitably find their way into public discourse. This process is vividly displayed by gender inequality in Armenian culture, economy, and politics.

According to a 2011 public opinion study on Armenia’s mass media conducted by the CRRC, 81% of Armenians spend an average of three hours/day in front of the television (Stepanyan). For 33%, television is the main source of entertainment, stealing seven to twelve hours of their time daily (Stepanyan). Armenian soap operas are watched by 80% of the population (Stepanyan). Female protagonists, for the most part, don’t work in these soap operas— it seems their characters are created only to engage in secret schemes, cry endlessly, and experience violence. Per the Yerevan-based NGO Society Without Violence, images of women crying, depressed, or experiencing violence make up 60% of all Armenian soap operas (Stepanyan). Women’s bodies are also used to advertise products and to attract customers. In Armenian magazine ads, 50% of women are pictured wearing revealing clothing, lingerie, or are completely naked (Stepanyan).

Politically, 60% of Armenian men believe that a woman could never be a good leader. Out of eighteen government ministers, only two are women—and out of 131 members of Parliament, only fourteen.

This reigning paradigm is represented in the famous monument known as Tatik-Papik, overlooking Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Tatik-Papik translates literally to “grandma-grandpa,” and pictures the heads of an elderly man and woman side-by-side. The woman’s head is covered, and she has a covering over her mouth, displaying the belief that a woman ought to be publicly invisible and silent.

In The Color of Wealth, Meizhu Liu et. al. writes “Income feeds your stomachs, but assets changes your head” (8). When an individual must live from paycheck-to-paycheck, they are forced to think about how they’ll make the next day. But when an individual has a set of resources that allows them to think about their future in a positive way, they can strategize about the future, create and take advantage of opportunity.

In a society like Armenia’s where men dominate political and economic life and women are expected to remain at home, all assets within the family are held or controlled by men. Women cannot leave their husband or exert any sort of sway within the marriage because they rely on the income from his held wealth. Now compound this with the way in which women are sexualized in advertisement, but their sexuality is repressed in the public domain—where women are expected to remain home until married and must then remain in the home and never enter spheres outside of education or care.

Thus, a big step towards gender equality that an Armenian non-profit, like our Fund for Armenian Relief, can offer is an opportunity for Armenian women to increase their wealth and assets. I propose to our donors that we launch a program that designs a platform for Armenian women in rural villages to sell their hand-crafted goods on a Eurasian/international level, with a potential clientele of other Eurasian countries or Diasporan Armenians. We will work with our local FAR employees to identify which women/villages are interested in working with us, and the products they desire to sell, and to provide a certain level of quality control. We will also use our current designer and development team to put together a website that will sell these goods and provide a brief bio on each woman. As their products gain wider popularity, these women will gain a new asset: a clientele base. Because our entire overhead is covered by one donor, we will give all proceeds from sales to each producer, less the cost of maintenance. As each woman’s revenue stream increases and this enriches their community, they will hold much heavier sway within their respective villages. They will gain business savvy and confidence, as well as the financial assets, to hold their own and thus enrich both their communities and families, and in this way, the gender dictate of Tatik-Papik may be defied and overthrown.

 

Works Cited

Lui, Mezhui. The Color of Wealth. New York Press: New York, 2006. Print. Accessed

November 2016.

Stepanyan, Ani. “The Image of Women in Armenian Media/Video.” Information Analytical

            Portal. 4 April 2015.

This past semester, I have come to understand the importance of intersectional feminism in responding to the inequalities espoused by the feminist movement, which was created in response to the challenges facing white, middle class, cis-gendered and able-bodied women. Although early feminist thought involved the ideas of women from all backgrounds, white feminism has, and continues to, dominate and marginalize the voices and needs of women of color.  While I was aware of intersectionality before GSS 101, class readings helped me uncover the complexity underlying societal patterns of oppression, creating different forces of inequality for various individuals. Following the resounding support and election of Donald Trump, who has blatantly endorsed racist, misogynist, and xenophobic messages, I have feared for my safety, as well as my friends and classmates who identify as queer, Muslim, trans or African American. The readings and conversations in GSS 101 helped me cope with these feelings and understand the need for intersectional feminism amidst the current fear experienced by the LGBTQ community and people of color.

To put knowledge and conversations from GSS into practice, I would like to encourage fraternities to implement a Sexual Misconduct Policy, similar to the one created by Warner Hall, and implemented by other eating houses. Under this policy, sexual assault victims can request that perpetrators be denied access to eating house events following a hearing by Conduct Council.  The purpose of the sexual assault policy was to grant Warner Hall with the authority to restrict entrance to anyone who threatens the safety of its members; the policy affirms that Georgia Ringle is the designated resource to report sexual assault and assert eating houses as equipped to handle the implications of sexual assault. However, the policy creates an opportunity for victims who lack evidence to enter a school based trial to feel comfortable at social events hosted by their eating house. Implementing a similar policy among college fraternities would protect any fraternity brothers who have also been victims of sexual assault.

Additionally, I would like to expand the sexual assault policy to encourage fraternities and eating houses to conduct their own hearing to institute sanctions against a member who has committed sexual assault. While measures must be taken to ensure confidentiality and protection of the victim, this extension would protect the safety those who attend fraternity or eating house events.

Stefan Moskowitz
Gonzalez
GSS 101
December 8, 2016

The Often Forgotten Asexual Spectrum within the LGBTQ+ Movement

One idea that GSS introduced to me is that equal rights for those who identify as homosexual, and increasingly for those who identify as transgender, has been the primary focus of the “mainstream” LGBTQ+ movement, at the expense of those who eschew marriage, are poor, or are on the asexual spectrum. Part of the reason for why this might be is homonormativity, as there are no legal rights that asexual people are barred from, as opposed to homosexuals that want to marry someone of their same sex/gender, who until very recently were not able to do so or trans people who want to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity. The hierarchy of advocating people who identify somewhere on the LGBT spectrum as opposed to those who identify somewhere on the LGBTQ+ but not the LGBT spectrum is rooted in the logic of compulsory heterosexuality, which places the “couples model” above all else and inserts a chronological timeline of when and how one should participate in this model.

To investigate the attitudes of Davidson students regarding this chronology as well as the issues concerning those who identify as either asexual or aromantic, I would conduct a campus-wide online survey through the Davidson Research Initiative or the George L. Abernethy Endowment using the following questions.

1. What would you consider to be the minimum age that someone should be to be dating?
2. What would you consider to be the minimum age for someone to be in a committed relationship?
3. What would you consider to be the minimum age for someone to be having intercourse?
4. What would you consider to be the minimum age for someone to get married for the first time?
5. How many movies/TV shows have you seen/read where there was a character who was explicitly asexual/aromantic?
6. How many people have you met who identify as asexual/aromantic?
7. Approximately how many conversations have you had on the issue of asexuality/aromanticism?
8. Do you believe that sex education sessions at Davidson do a sufficient job at being inclusive of those who identify as asexual/aromantic?
9. If you are/were asexual/aromantic how likely would you come out to those who were closest to you?
10. Have you ever experienced discrimination for being asexual/aromantic or know someone who has been?

Every participant would receive $5 in dining dollars, which would incentivize more people than if they could enter in a raffle to win a more expensive item because they are being guaranteed a reward. Given that this survey may take slightly longer to complete than many others, most of the participants would have to be reasonably interested in the topic to participate because for many, time is a more precious asset than money.