I thought this news came in at a fantastic time for my research:
First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language College (EGA), a secondary school for girls in North London, in Christ Church. The girls visited Oxford University and listened to a speech made by Michelle Obama http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2011/112505.html
Her trip to Oxford University was part of President Obama's European trip leading up to the G8 Summit in France.
I thought Mrs. Obama's visit to Oxford complemented my research so well in terms of analyzing women in Britain. During the Q&A session (http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_exclusive/20110526/pl_yblog_exclusive/michelle-obama-on-her-cute-husband-hillary-clinton-and-how-she-raises-her-daughters), Mrs. Obama really emphasized the importance of reading and education. I think it's fabulous to have the First Lady speaking to a group of very diverse girls from EGA, a school that focuses on education young women, which was named after the first woman to gain a medical qualification in the UK.
These sort of emphasis on women power really gets me excited. Women in the sciences and eventually in medicines, you are constantly being overshadowed by men. Regardless of the advances in gender issues, women are still part of the minorities in these fields. So, it's very exciting to hear the First Lady to encourage more girls to continue in higher education and professional schools and to pursue their dreams.
I just thought the news was a perfect setting for my research, First Lady Michelle Obama at Oxford speaking to a group of young girls about eduction and women.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Research Topic---All about women!
The time has come for us to think (more) about our research topics on millennial Britain.
Having just completed the Undergraduate Research Symposium with my work on bacterial conjugation (don't worry if you have no idea what this is, in essence, it's gene transfer), I am excited to begin a different kind of research.
One thing that I am particularly interested in is Britain's view on women. Her rights and the social, economic and political emphasis on women. Th reason why I want to learn about this is because at various times in British history, there were many Queens, most notably were Mary I, Elizabeth I, Victoria, and Elizabeth II. On top of having female monarchs, Britain also had the one and only female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher!
To me, it is pioneering and shocking that Britain would accept female rulers so early in the history. But I began to wonder how much power these female monarchs actually have or if they were highly controlled by males around them. My thought is that if Britain was acceptive of having female monarchs, the country and the monarch would focus more on women's rights earlier than other nations and would continue till now.
Therefore, I am hoping to examine current British views on women from both male and female perspectives by looking at (one or more of the following):
1. governmental laws on gender equality
2. women in job markets, her paid against the male counterpart, job stability, types of jobs
3. social independence: is marriage necessary? single parenthood?
4. British women on their dreams: career driven? family oriented? both?
5. attitudes toward women: does sexism still exist? (probably, but how sexism sill perpetuates when the head of monarch is female?)
So, these are very broad questions that I am wondering. Hopefully, I can narrow down my lists :)
Having just completed the Undergraduate Research Symposium with my work on bacterial conjugation (don't worry if you have no idea what this is, in essence, it's gene transfer), I am excited to begin a different kind of research.
One thing that I am particularly interested in is Britain's view on women. Her rights and the social, economic and political emphasis on women. Th reason why I want to learn about this is because at various times in British history, there were many Queens, most notably were Mary I, Elizabeth I, Victoria, and Elizabeth II. On top of having female monarchs, Britain also had the one and only female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher!
To me, it is pioneering and shocking that Britain would accept female rulers so early in the history. But I began to wonder how much power these female monarchs actually have or if they were highly controlled by males around them. My thought is that if Britain was acceptive of having female monarchs, the country and the monarch would focus more on women's rights earlier than other nations and would continue till now.
Therefore, I am hoping to examine current British views on women from both male and female perspectives by looking at (one or more of the following):
1. governmental laws on gender equality
2. women in job markets, her paid against the male counterpart, job stability, types of jobs
3. social independence: is marriage necessary? single parenthood?
4. British women on their dreams: career driven? family oriented? both?
5. attitudes toward women: does sexism still exist? (probably, but how sexism sill perpetuates when the head of monarch is female?)
So, these are very broad questions that I am wondering. Hopefully, I can narrow down my lists :)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Switching blog
So, I have a blog at tumblr, but tumblr doesn't really allow public comments, which makes it very hard for everyone to comment on my blog. I have decided to start a new blog using blogger, so people can comment on my blog easily. But I will still keep the other blog.
Sorry for the previous inconveniences!
Sorry for the previous inconveniences!
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