Welcome Letter

Hi there!

My name is Jamie Crenshaw, and I am a sophomore at UCF, although this is my first year on campus. I am a nursing major, and am taking Women's Studies because I am particularly interested in possibly pursuing a career in women's health.  

I think that Women's Studies is an important topic to study because I feel as though it is an area that needs to be highlighted and discussed more in our modern time. The girls of my generation are now reaching the point where they become the women of my generation, and for the most part we are ignorant of the freedoms that we have that have been given to us by the women before us. By exploring the idea of what it means for us to be a woman or man, I think helps us more fully develop our identity as an individual.

I think that our society is mainly what dictates the difference between men and women, aside from the obvious anatomical and hormonal differences. Culture tells us what is "apropriate" for women and for men in our society, and when individuals or groups dispute these formed classifications, fear is the result. From an early age, boys and girls are treated and primed differently by being exposed to what our cultures, almost unconsciously, deem gender appropriate; Boys grow up playing with toy trucks and dreaming of becoming soldiers while little girls are often put in pink ruffled dresses and dream of becoming princesses.

I value being a woman, find that a lot of the characteristics of being a woman that are seen as weaknesses, such as childbearing, should actually be viewed as values of strength. I think that men and women should be viewed as equal, but certain qualities of each should be celebrated. That being said, I believe that anyone should be able to act in anyway that he/she pleases without the restraint of gender roles, and as soon as we learn to accept differences in our culture, then we can celebrate a more welcoming humanity.