Radical Romance

We covered so many interesting topics this week I am having trouble
centering my thoughts.
The movie the “The Music Man” definitely grabbed my attention and I was
very intrigued by it. In the scene we watched I recognized that it is
very political. The setting of the movie is quite ironic because it is
taking place in Iowa, it is hard to believe but Iowa has a very liberal
record. It was one of the first states to desegregate its school, permit
women to vote and now it legalized gay marriage. Harold Hill uses the
“Fear Doctrine” which our generation is familiar with, since we had
eight years of it but that is for a whole different discussion. Harold
Hill identifies what the weak point of the people in this town is and
thrives on that. He sees potential in the conservative views and people
are easily convinced when their basic instincts are challenged.
"Anything these Iowa people don't have already, they do without." Is a
great example of the close mindedness of the town and also inexperienced
people are easier to control and influence. Everybody has their own
agenda and when you have a herd of sheep and not one is standing up to
you, it is easy to manipulate.
Another topic we touched upon was feminisms and how women are portrayed
as the “other” or basically the slave. The Second Sex by Simone de
Beauvoir had many different aspets of looking into woman’s world but in
particular was remarkable, I do believe women do not bond and support
each other like men do in most situations. I guess based on the feminist
definition I am not a feminist… because I do not want to be equal with
the man I want to be better than him. The issues of women rights and are
we equal comes up more often then we think. I have a feminist
conversation with my friends or people I have just met almost every day.
I personally believe women are better than men, we can multitask, we
smell nicer, and we make better executives. It is true men stick
together whereas women are competitive and usually do not get along with
each other especially in close counters. Women are taught not to trust
each other from a young age and that is why a woman CEO would never hire
another woman. I grew up with the saying, “Do not trust a girl.” from my
great-grandmother.
Maybe that is the reason I have male best friends and have a hard time
trusting women. My close girlfriends could be counted on my finger tips
but my guy friends are numerous. I trust them more and I hang out with
them more. I personally enjoy myself more with my male friends than my
female ones. And that is true for my close female friends also, all of
us have closer ties with guys despite the fact that we are very
ambitious, strong minded and motivated to lead. We trust each other but
we are more open with our guy friends. Now why is that? Women should be
able to relate to women better. Why are we more inclined to trust the
opposite sex? One reason is because women need to know how men think
because at the end of the day the men is the one we are competing
against. Secondly, women tend to be more emotional and make you dwell
over your problems and psycho analyze yourself whereas guys will tell
you the truth straight forward and then take you out and make sure you
have a good time. There is no additional drama and no constant second
guessing. Where do you think the famous one liner “He is just not into
you.” surfaced. I believe it was a guy’s advice towards this woman who
was so upset the guy she talked to at the bar did not call her. We are
in a constant competition but at the same time we trust them more. Guys
have something unique about them; they keep secrets better than women do
and therefore make a better confidant. But is it the fact that now most
women associate with male friends good? Are we moving towards equality?
Men view us as equals, respect our opinions and trust us. We are no
longer a piece of meat to them. We have a greater role in their lives
which means one day we would be leveled off. But while they trust us and
respect us, when their close guy friends are around they act
differently. Bro-mance is still a stronger tie and I have not met a man
to prove the opposite. So again no matter how close a woman is with a
man, he will always show solidarity to his brother man.