My name is Emily Leiter. I’m from Fort
Lauderdale and I am a junior here at UCF. I am majoring in Psychology, with
minors in Women's Studies and Sociology. I love the beach and going to
the gym, and I am addicted to coffee… My parents always tell me that I am the
reason Starbucks is still in business.
After receiving my bachelor's degree, I
hope to get my doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology and work with young
women who are suffering with eating disorders. Eventually, I want to open
my own rehabilitation center where these young women can stay for an extended
period of time, and receive any treatment they should need.
I decided to minor in Women's Studies
(which requires this course) because I feel like having a greater knowledge and
understanding of women will benefit me when it comes to achieving career goals.
I think that gender influences all of
our lives, whether we realize it or not. To fit into society, we all follow
societal norms, which are typically defined by gender. For example, women take the
kids to school and make dinner, while men go to work and are considered the
"breadwinners" of the family. While things in our society have
certainly changed in respect to women and their societal roles, these gender
norms are still very apparent in every day life. It is true that women are much
more accepted in the work force than in previous years, but they still face
challenges when it comes to the prestige of jobs, receiving lower salaries and
difficulties receiving higher rank in companies. The typical “woman”
occupations are nurses, teachers, secretaries, etc., while men have the higher
paying jobs, such as doctors, lawyers and CEOs. This is not saying that women
are nonexistent in these work fields, but it is statistically proven that women
will receive lower pay than a man, for the same job.
Still on the topic of gender in
everyday life, children are brought up believing that girls’ rooms are pink and
that they must play with dolls and boys’ rooms are blue and they must play with
trucks. These gender stereotypes are programmed into babies’ minds the second
they get wrapped in a pink blanket or a blue blanket at the hospital. This is
just the standard for our society. Who is to say that a boy cannot have a baby
doll or that a girl cannot play outside in the dirt with the boys? Society has
molded our views and beliefs about gender and how the two genders should act.
As a society, we find is extremely peculiar when one of the genders are
following the gender norms of the opposite gender; we do not like change, or
anything out of the norm.
