Dr. Mary Walker

There are many great women in our history. A very notorious and interesting character during her time period, Dr.Mary Walker was one of the many heroic, strong women of our lengthy history. Dr.Mary Walker was way ahead of her time.

Born in 1832, Dr. Walker lived a very controversial life. She attended Syracuse Medical School to become a doctor. Dr.Walker was one of the first women to earn a medical degree in the United States. She was a very independent soul and defied the conventions of society at every turn. As a testiment to her non-conformity, Dr.Walker chose to "dress like a man." She refused to wear corsets and uncomfortable dress and instead opted to wear what she viewed as much more practicle trousers, jackets and top hats. This exerpt from an article in one newspaper during her life,describes an incident in which Dr.Walker went into a women's restroom and "nearly caused a riot":
From a 1919 newspaper article in the Jefferson City, MO Democrat Tribune on September 3, 1919:

When Dr. Mary Walker, the woman who wore men’s clothing visited the rest room for women at the St. Louis Worlds Fair, she nearly caused a riot… “There appeared on the threshold a neat dapper little man in high silk hat, frock coat, irreproachable trousers, and a tie and a winning smile. Relaxed figures grew tense and an audible gasp smote the air. One woman clasped her just removed shirt waist on her ample bosom and exclaimed in hoarse tense tragedy, ‘My Gawd’. Dr. Mary’s card was read by an attendant and finally the women resigned themselves to negligee in the presence of an absolutely strange pair of occupied trousers.”
I find it very interesting that in this article, that because Dr.Walker was dressed in men's clothing everyone they had to check her card to verify that she was a woman.

However despite society's view of her, at the start of the American Civil War in 1861, Dr. Walker was knew that she wanted to help. But because she was a woman the military denied her the opportunity to make commission as a medical officer in the war. Out of her incredible sense of duty, she volunteered anyways. Dr.Walker was able to prove herself to be equal of the male surgeons and she was eventually promoted to assitant surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry. After the end of the war, she was the first woman to recieve the Medal of Honor. Unfortnately in a complete act of discrimination, Dr.Walker's Medal of Honor was revoked because there were "questions surrounding the terms used to justify this prestigious award." Dr.Walker defiantly refused to give up her medal for the rest of her life. After her death, the Army board restored the medal to Dr.Walker and admitted that she "had been a victim of sex discrimination... citing her for 'distinguished gallantry, self-sacrifice, patriotism, dedication and unflinching loyalty to her country.'"

When reading about this unflinchingly strong, courageous woman, I was inspired by her complete devotion to be herself despite the intense societal pressures for her to be otherwise. She could have easily conformed to the expectations of her, however she chose to be how she wished despite the hardship and struggles that this decision created for her throughout her entire life. Dr.Walker is one of the countless women whose activism and strength laid the foundation for the beginning for the equality of women.

Women in Advertisments

Beer advertisements are my favorite ad to analyze. A vast majority of all beer ads include very attractive, skimply dressed women posed in a provocative way. And why is this? It is because most beer ads are aimed at men rather than women. While many men do in fact prefer to drink beer more than any other alcoholic drink, our culture has also implanted the idea that manly men drink beer and women drink the sissy, fruity mixed drinks. The beer companies, with their billions of dollars of advertising each year, have also been a powerful influence in maintaining this perception of that men drink beer.
I found that this beer ad was particularly interesting. Like any other beer ad, there is a large, ice cold, beer with a provocative dressed and posed attractive woman. However, what I found interesting was the fact that the beer bottle is larger than the woman in the picture and her dress blends in with, and serves as the beer bottle's label. This superimposition of the woman and the beer delivers the message that the two are inseparable. With this tempting display of beer and cleavage, the ad draws the full attention of a man and conveys to him that if he drinks Budweiser, attractive women come as part of the package.
This ad has used a women as synonomous with a beer and therefore displayed the idea that the women is merely an object that a man must obtain as well. I have often heard the phrase that "sex sells" as a way to justify the degradation of women in advertisements. While I do not believe that this is a good justification for us to continue to use these ads, I do know that an attractive women sells more products than anyone else. Because this fact is true I know that companies like these will continue to market their products in this manner as long as this marketing ploy continues to make them money. But, until society can stop from displaying and viewing women as nothing more than objects, women will not be able to push pass this widely advertised perception of them.

Gender roles play a huge part in the society that we live in. Every day, most often without even thinking about it we play into these gender roles. For example, most workplaces are designed with very gender specific positions. I work at Freebirds, a local restaurant chain here in College Station, and there are several different positions that you can work within the restaurant. Though it might not be explicitly stated that each position belongs to a certain gender, it is definitely implied and practiced. Girls are expected to be the "runners"; to restock the line and clean everything. Only the boys are the ones trained to work the grill; to cook and cut the meat. When I first started working at Freebirds, I was trained only how to do the position of runner. After working there for a while I asked to be trained on the grill and was denied. For almost a month straight after that, I continually asked, almost begged, to be trained on the grill position and finally I was able to convince someone to train me on this position. However, even after being trained being trained on the grill, rarely when I worked did I get the opportunity to work grill. It was only after a couple of months of intensely trying to prove that I was capable of working grill, was I then trusted to handle this position. More and more women have been trained on the "men's" positions since then, but although the gender-specificity of each position at this job is slowly being eroded, it is still a constant struggle to equalize the workplace. In my opinion, in most workplaces, if a woman wishes to be taken seriously and treated equally, people do not automatically assume that she is as equally capable as a man. She must constantly struggle to prove that she deserves equality. We must work to implant the idea that men and women should not be defined by the gender roles set in our society.