The Reading journal

The story “Factory as Home and Family: Female Workers in the Moroccan Garment Industry” reflects on the different ways Moroccan women in the garment industry worked to make the environment a place of comfort, close to that of the home environment. In this essay, the author primarily criticizes the lifestyle choices made by these women in order to earn a living and survive comfortably. The author claims that women left the comfort of their homes to seek a livelihood for their families, thereby ensuring a more comfortable life (422).

The main impact of this argument is to bring out the fact that, just like men, women can also partake in various tasks to help build their lives as well as the society. Also, it helps one understand how women decided to embrace the spirit of liberation and seek employment, rather than stay at home.

This piece of reading relates to Sharon Hicks’ “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” readings in that it focuses on the efforts put by women in an attempt to make life better for the rest of the society. The women, as portrayed by this author are very industrious and seek to better themselves by taking part in the workforce of the nation.

The main quotation from this reading that sums up its contribution is “…The people here are nice; it’s like a family. There are hardly any men working here…” (426). This quotation mainly signifies the willingness of the women to make their town a better place by working as hard as possible. Also, it shows that no matter what the females embark on doing, they do not forget their roles as caregivers of the society.

In my opinion, this reading is compelling in that it encourages the modern day woman that they also can decide to be productive members of the society. Also, it reminds them not to forget their role as women, which is to make every environment safe and make people feel at home.

“Between a Rock and a Hard Place,” in Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Sharon Hicks Balett

The main idea brought out by this author is how the people struggled to live a modest life despite the difficult situations they were facing. In her reading, the author focuses on the several activities the residents of Meadow Valley strived to do, to earn a living thus lead better lives. She outlines the fact that life was a struggle, the women still tried their best in an attempt to keep roofs over their heads. However, she considers this move quite risky as the places of work were no entirely safe for people to live (291).

This argument is relevant in that it helps people understand the importance of putting safety first. Also, it opens one’s scoop of understanding on the effect of abject poverty. It is quite vivid that these women mainly incorporated this plan of life due to the poor conditions of life they faced. Also, it helps one understand the various efforts employed by women in an attempt to lead better lives.

This piece of reading relates to the reading ““Factory as Home and Family” in that they all focus on the various efforts used by women in an attempt to lead better lives. Meadow town was considered one of the poorest towns in the area due to its large population and limited resources. However, the women working in the garment industry did their best to ensure that the status did not remain the same by incorporating methods such as living in the workplace to save on space, among several others.

The quote that sums up this reading is “Family is the key to survival.” This mainly shows the willingness that the family members had to help each other, especially mothers. Throughout the reading, several women have given up most of their pleasures so that their children may lead better lives.

In my opinion, I find this reading compelling in that women are willing to go the extra lengths to ensure their families live comfortably. A woman should be the protector and nurturer of the household and ensure that the rest of the family members live comfortably.

“Resignation and Refusal: The Moral Calculus of Lesbian and Gay Parenthood in the US,” in Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Ellen Lewin

Ellen Lewin in the article “Resignation and Refusal: The Moral Calculus of Lesbian and Gay Parenthood in the US” draws on the narrative of gay and lesbian families to articulate on their moral calculus of being parents and providing a good life to their children: Having children provides gay and lesbians access to moral goodness not available in any other avenue of their lives.

The author sheds on the gay/lesbian parenthood to demonstrate the biased perspectives that the society has on them. However, as she shows, as soon as gays and lesbians become parents, their social lives moves from the stereotypic presentation of them to a more connected parenthood that is akin to the one of heterosexual relationships.

This article is comparable to Nancy Scheper-Hughes article that focuses on the difference in gender roles affect the society. The stereotypic views on lesbians and gays is due to their sexuality. They however overcome it through parenthood and are good at it.

Ellen Lewin says that “Both lesbians mothers and gay fathers find their social worlds moving away from exclusively gay/lesbian associations, towards more connections based on parenthood and towards kin-based relationships ” (317). The author gives a general idea of the moral grounds behind gay/lesbian relationships and how their react to parenthood. She demonstrates that the gay/lesbian lives are abandoned to a more connected parenthood relationship that resemble other parents as well as them.

The reading sheds some light on the gay/lesbian parenthood in a compelling manner. The way the author articulates on the lives of gays/lesbians as parents and their connections really dispelled all the stereotypic thoughts I had on them. With such as reading, the society is bound to change its thinking on the gay/lesbian relationship.

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Bibliography

Ellen Lewis. “Resignation and Refusal: The Moral Calculus of Lesbian and Gay Parenthood in the US,” in Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Pearson Education. p 311-317

M. Laetitia Cairoli . “Factory as Home and Family: Female Workers in the Moroccan Garment Industry,” in Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Pearson Education.p. 422-431

Nancy Scheper-Hughes. “Lifeboat Ethics: Mother Love and Children Death in Northeast Brazil,” in Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Pearson Education

Sharon Hicks Balett. “Between a Rock and A Hard Place,” in Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Pearson Education.p. 291-302