Chapters 6, 7, and 8

I agree with everyone about the chapter Authenticity. Wilson makes plenty of great points that portray how women conform to the “men” to become successful. Men have to get with the program while women change themselves; and that is exactly how I feel at work (Wilson 98). At work, I tend to be more timid and get emotionally involved when someone has a problem that is clearly out of my control. I had a meeting with my boss who instructed me that I needed to be more confident and seem more secure with my answers before I can work independently. I am timid when I give answers or instructions to people because I want to be sure that I am not hurting there feelings or that the information that I am giving them is correct. Now I feel as if I have to lose some of myself to conform to the “male role.” Wilson discusses this situation because she said that “women expand the definitions of authority, ambition, and ability, they begin to bridge disconnect between “leader” and “woman” (Wilson 99). I feel that I need to be more aggressive in work but not lose sight of whom I am and what I stand for. “We can be valued for the original we are, rather that the man we sometimes try to be” (Wilson 99). We, as women need to strive for excellence within ourselves and not the opposite sex. We need to continue being the strong women that we are meant to be. Without losing whom we actually are in that process.
I also thought that it is intriguing how the media influences the public. On the show 24, there used to be an African American playing the role of the President. The actor said that it feels great when people would approach him on the street and say “hi, Mr. President”. It is a coincidence that now we are actually having minorities that have a prominent chance in becoming the next leader of our Nation. People are more accepted to these candidates running for office because the media has provided a leeway for it to be accepted. Another example of how media influences that public is how Gloria Steinem turned fifty, and people talked about how great she looked. She received such a mass amount of praise that she decided that it would not be a bad idea to make a shirt that says, “This is what fifty looks like” (Wilson 136). If millions of women get motivated and show activism towards the equality issues that we face now we might be able to move up in society. What degree will it take for every woman, rich or poor to take a stand for an issue that is not being “pushed”? There is a problem and we can force it to be noticed if we get it out to the public. People notice things if it is in their presence; as women just need to push harder to be noticed because we cannot always rely on the media to do it for us.