being scared of a class

[sidekick]

i'm afraid that the sociology gender relations class i signed up to take is going to be full of scary feminist ladies with me being the only dude to balance the scale.

[bungoshlung]

lol.. dont get me started with feminists

i took gender studies at sfu and wanted to smash some heads.. it wasnt as bad as actual women's studies courses though (as i've heard taht is)

i'm afraid of my STATS class, me and math dont mix :(

[miss.myra]

I took a class on feminist revisionist literature, and my teacher was not a big scary bulldyke (she was actually one of the sweetest teachers I've ever had, and a shakespeare expert to boot) and we started the class with two brave boys in it. I don't really know if it was so much the people in the class, or just the issues that were brought up,but something made it so that both of those boys didn't stay to finish the course.

The thing is, in classes like that, I think it's so much better to have male members of the class as participating members. One of the first things we learned in that class was to be able to look at both sides of the situation and not to be all one sided like 'ok men are pigs and this is why', it was more about figuring out why the world thought different things for males and females throughout history..and stuff.

I really hope it's not that kind of situation for you Jake, because that would entirely ruin the point of the class.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by bungoshlung

lol.. dont get me started with feminists

i took gender studies at sfu and wanted to smash some heads.. it wasnt as bad as actual women's studies courses though (as i've heard taht is)

i'm afraid of my STATS class, me and math dont mix :(

dont worryb about sts its really easy.


im not bad at math but i hate it and i got some of my highest marks in stats. statistics isn't even math really, its nothing like calculus or even algebra.

p.s dont worry jake, its not the lesbian feminists to be afraid of, their usually the dopest/friendliest members of the class, its the bitter/jilted/angry hetreosexual women you have to worry about, hahaha, and all you have to do to mitigate their hatred is to say youre gay..

[sidekick]

^haha, that'll be my saving grace of the class. i can just back out of any argument by ending with "but hey, what do i know? i sleep with boys, too"

myra, i hope it's a cool class. the books on the reading list sound really interesting, i'm just hoping it's not too one-sided. i don't mind being the only guy in the class as long as the prof is going to explore both sides of every issue. it is called gender relations...not just female point of view relations. i think i'm going to stick with it and see what comes up.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Sidekick

^haha, that'll be my saving grace of the class. i can just back out of any argument by ending with "but hey, what do i know? i sleep with boys, too"

myra, i hope it's a cool class. the books on the reading list sound really interesting, i'm just hoping it's not too one-sided. i don't mind being the only guy in the class as long as the prof is going to explore both sides of every issue. it is called gender relations...not just female point of view relations. i think i'm going to stick with it and see what comes up.

whose the prof?

since its gender relations your fear of gynocentric discussions is probably exagerated.

[sidekick]

alexia bloch is the prof.

and the only reason i'm thinking it's going to be gynocentric (hehe, that's a fun word) is because all the books relate to women. we'll see though.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Sidekick

alexia bloch is the prof.

and the only reason i'm thinking it's going to be gynocentric (hehe, that's a fun word) is because all the books relate to women. we'll see though.

yeha dude, i think your fears are legitimate then

[wishbone]

edit:
that probably doesn't work.

[robyn]

All the women's studies classes I've taken have been really, really cool. No scary bull-dykes or anything. And we always thought the token males were adorable!

[dre420]

I'm afraid of my whole 2nd year :/


computer engineering at UBC

*shivers at thought*

[Prissypants]

Ah I loved the women studies class I took in 3rd year. I would defend the male in many of the texts...Just to play devil's advocate...I got the highest mark in the class. :)

[sidekick]

^chauvinist pig!

[yoko*]

Originally Posted by bungoshlung

lol.. dont get me started with feminists

i took gender studies at sfu and wanted to smash some heads.. it wasnt as bad as actual women's studies courses though (as i've heard taht is)

i'm afraid of my STATS class, me and math dont mix :(

Hello STEREOTYPES!

There isn't much you can say that's fact unless you've actually taken EITHER stats or an actual women's studies course. Would you care to elaborate WHY you felt like smashing heads?
---------------------------------

I find it funny how most people who roll their eyes at women studies or gender related courses haven't even taken the course. It's not much different from what you would learn in a general 100-level sociology class. In fact, a lot of the things you learn don't focus SOLELY on women and the women I've shared a class with in these courses were some of the most intelligent and unique women I've ever had the chance to meet. In fact, I think it takes a certain level of maturity and open-mindedness to be able to really understand and appreciate some of what is discussed. On the other hand, the course isn't for everybody.


The attitude you bring to a class before you even take it is going to impact how you do in that class. You come to class with a negative attitude thinking that you're going to be surrounded in a bunch of angry dykes, then that's what you're going to get, simply because that's the lens of perception through which you chose to see things. You come to class with an open mind, expecting to get SOMETHING from the experience and whatever it is, you will get it.

I've taken both statistics and women studies and though I can't say that I absolutely LOVE either, I made the most out of both courses and did well by giving them both a chance and working hard at them both.

Take it from me, I've taken a few gender related courses and the women in the classes I've taken were smart, intelligent, kind and respectful. In fact, I've found that classes aren't very rigidly structured and thre's a lot of room for creative/critical thinking and discussion.

I say, keep an open mind and you'll enjoy it.

[sidekick]

^oh yeah i'm keeping an open mind...the only thing that put me off was the list of books we had to read and how none of them had anything to do with men. it's not a feminist or a woman's studies course. i'm sure i'll have fun. plus, i like girls...they're funny.

[yoko*]

Originally Posted by Sidekick

^oh yeah i'm keeping an open mind...the only thing that put me off was the list of books we had to read and how none of them had anything to do with men. it's not a feminist or a woman's studies course. i'm sure i'll have fun. plus, i like girls...they're funny.

Well i'm sure that in learning about women you'll also learn about men, since both topics are interrelated and it's hard to "learn about" the experiences of one in isolation from the other. Also, I'm sure that there will be a lot of heavy discussion in your class. I think my old manager at Club Monaco T.A.'s one of the gender studies classes at UBC.. his name is Derek Wun, perhaps you'll run into him one day.

[sidekick]

^that's a good point. i guess i shouldn't get all hung up about the books being about all women because they have to discuss guys at some point in how they affect the women.

thanks that actually helped a lot.

[mugsy]

this one time, at art school myself and my friend ben got called homophobic biggots and were told that we offended our friend natoya who - when the accusatory finger was being pointed - looked at us and didnt really understand or see what the hell was up.
the woman was a loaded up stereotypical femenist - who also got upset because natoya and i were talking about our heterosexual relations with our boyfriends. she said our sex lives were offensive. thens he proceeded to tip down two peices of art work i made off the wall. the first one was a mono-print that actually natoya and i made together about talking jive and it was this mock contract\inside joke. and another one that said "pro choice" and had a bird in a tree sitting in a nest with a broken egg at the bottom of the tree. apparently those could have been offensive so she brought it apon herself to rip it down and throw it out.

there are even more stories the surround this woman. i laughed at her when she said that my heterosexual relationship offended her, and then we all asked her about her girlfriend and proceeded to let her know that her relationship in no way offended us. and i know i can be a bit of a douche when it comes to womans rights because i feel that we have been given too many and its bull shit that women get jobs over men in certain trades, but she would throw glares when i would say "chicks" and other shit like that.

but jake, i think the class will be super informative and my whole point of this post is that you'll run into people with obsurd views and ideas anywhere in life.

[bungoshlung]

Originally Posted by yoko*

Hello STEREOTYPES!

There isn't much you can say that's fact unless you've actually taken EITHER stats or an actual women's studies course. Would you care to elaborate WHY you felt like smashing heads?
---------------------------------

Smash heads of certain females that were in the class, I quite enjoyed the course itself actually. And yes, I did meet a lot of really cool males and females in that class, I'm just talking about the few women that made things really difficult.

An example of the frustration would be them arguing that lowering the weight carrying standards for female firefighters is justified just so there would be more females on the force. You can't say that's not ridiculous.

I said I was afraid of STATS because I've heard from many people that it's quite difficult. I know it's not all math based but many have said a math 12 background would be of help. I'm hoping I can handle it.

[jono]

If it's Sociology 312, I took that gender relations class and loved it. I didn't have the same prof. as you though. Becki Ross taught it and turned it into a class on the sociology of sexuality. We covered heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, transgender, pornography, masturbation and tons more all in such an interesting way. We got to watch lots of videos like "The Contest" Seinfeld episode and clips from Disney movies and discuss them sociologically. We even passed Playboys, Playgirls, Hustlers and the Abercrombie and Fitch catalgue (which is pretty much porn) around class and critiqued them. Near the end of the class we had a panel of transgendered people come and talk to us about their experiences.

As with any sociology class it was about 80% girls. I think I was one of about 12 guys in our 90 person class but everyone was really open to my opinions. They actually encouraged guys to be involved in the discussions to have a different perspective. It was totally nothing to be intimidated by.

As for "bull-dykes" there were a few, but they were far from raging. Our TA was a self-described "butch lesbian" (we went over the butch/fem. phenomenon) and she was so open and receptive. One of the most involved and helpful TA's I've ever had.

I would reccomend Sociology 312 with Becki Ross to anyone. As I said, I dunno if your class will be the same but from all the sociology classes I've taken, rarely has there been any crazy man hating going on.

[jono]

Originally Posted by yoko*

Well i'm sure that in learning about women you'll also learn about men, since both topics are interrelated and it's hard to "learn about" the experiences of one in isolation from the other. Also, I'm sure that there will be a lot of heavy discussion in your class. I think my old manager at Club Monaco T.A.'s one of the gender studies classes at UBC.. his name is Derek Wun, perhaps you'll run into him one day.

He was the TA for my Family Studies 316, Human Sexuality course. Seemed like a nice guy, although I didn't have much contact with him cause I didn't go to office hours. People got really upset at our prof. for having such rigid guidlines for our papers and Derek was able to help them out. I lucked out and was able to just wing the papers and do fairly well.

Dunno if Derek would remember me, but he might cause I got a little bit of a reputation for being blunt and open in that class.

One of my favourite memories was when the prof. asked for slang terms for the vagina and no one wanted to say anything. I got the conversation moving with bloody axe wound and hairy scar.

[sidekick]

Originally Posted by jono

I would reccomend Sociology 312 with Becki Ross to anyone. As I said, I dunno if your class will be the same but from all the sociology classes I've taken, rarely has there been any crazy man hating going on.

yeah it is the same class, but i have a different prof. becki ross is teaching the sociology of sexuality class that i'm trying to get into next semester. it's totally full right now, but i hope i land a spot in it!

glad you liked the class. i'm actually looking forward to it now.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Sidekick

yeah it is the same class, but i have a different prof. becki ross is teaching the sociology of sexuality class that i'm trying to get into next semester. it's totally full right now, but i hope i land a spot in it!

glad you liked the class. i'm actually looking forward to it now.

becki ross is a fuckin wicked prof, but shes completely sadistic with the amount of work she expects people to be able to complete on the final exam.

[miss.myra]

Jakey, what is on the reading list?

[sidekick]

books i bought for the class today:

1) Nightwork, sexuality, pleasure, and corporate masculinity in a Tokyo hostess club - Allison
2) Writing women's worlds - Abu Lughod
3) Romance on the global stage - Constable
4) Nisa - Shostak