Supergirls speak out, CLC offers new courses
Nathan Caldwell
Editor-in-Chief
On Wednesday, April 14, the author of “Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crises of Overachieving Girls,” Liz Funk to helped kick off the Sociology department’s new gender and sexuality studies program that starts in the fall.
Chair of the Sociology and Gender and Sexuality Department, Suzanne Pryga, said the program came about for a variety of reasons.
“There has been demand among the student population, considering the enrollment in the current courses,” Pryga said. “Many four-year universities already offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field, so we thought that this was a great way for CLC students to get a head start. CLC is one of the few community colleges to offer such a degree.”
Pryga said courses will be offered in summer and fall. Core classes will include Introduction to Gender Studies and Theories of Feminism with a number of gender-themed electives such as Psychology of Women, Philosophy of Gender, Women and the Arts and History of Women.
CLC Academic Operations Manager Stephanie Gray explained that the program leads to an associate’s in art degree with a concentration in gender and sexuality studies, similar to a concentration in psychology or sociology.
Gray explained that a background in gender and sexuality studies makes students better rounded and equipped to deal with diversity in the world.
Gray said the program doesn’t exclude males. To the contrary, she encourages men to enroll.
“We chose (the title) gender studies to make it more inclusive,” Gray said. “We don’t want to just focus on femininity and women,” Gray said. “Historically, one of the criticisms of feminism has been that it has been upper-class white women fighting for right. The current feminism is much more diverse and includes men. We can’t separate ourselves, we need to work together to change society.
“And you can meet babes,” Funk said.
Funk, a self-proclaimed recovering supergirl, gave a lecture on the pressures on girls and young women to over-achieve while conforming to a new social norm based on a year’s worth of research she conducted for her book.
“A supergirl is a young woman who feels that she needs to be constantly improving herself to be loved,” Funk said. “She perceives that she needs to be a perfect 10 in everything in which she excels. Yet when she achieves something, it’s never good enough.”
“That constant striving for something more is what really marks the modern day supergirl.”
Funk’s inspiration for the book came from her own experiences.
“I always observed a lot of pressure on young women in high school and college to adhere to a limiting and demanding female ideal,” she said.
That ideal is the sum of cultural influences that push girls to be skinny, beautiful, tan, and simultaneously, effortlessly smart.
“I was very aware of this demanding role for girls in high school,” Funk said. “In college I noticed similar but different pressures on young women.”
This awareness led Funk to investigate the issue.
Funk followed five young women between 15 and 27, spending between a couple days and a few weeks observing their daily lives. She also interviewed approximately 100 other young women who were everything from sociology to engineering majors.
She found a combination of internal and external pressures that drive young women to be supergirls that come from the media, peer groups, themselves, and parents to a lesser degree.
This pressure on women to achieve, even to a fault, has changed the landscape of higher education.
“It’s been statistically shown that women outnumber men at the majority of colleges today, Funk said. “To a certain extent girls are progressing beyond men in academics.”
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing guys don’t put pressure on themselves. If girls felt that they could go home and play videogames for two hours and not feel like they were wasting time or that they should have been exercising or working on extra credit projects in that time. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
Funk said men feel pressure but the idea of the idyllic male had changed.
“The male ideal has changed from being this badass guy who fixes up Mustangs to this guy who’s supposed to be a forward on the soccer team, get fives on AP exams and go to Dartmouth,” Funk said.
She has also found the image of idealized beauty has changed. The society has moved from Marilyn Monroe’s voluptuous figure, to Jane Fonda’s near masculine dearth of curves, to Megan Fox.
“Today we have the most difficult physique to achieve. In the eighties you could look like that (Fonda), you just had to be skinny. You need plastic surgery to achieve the ideal today. Today girls are playing with Bratz dolls, which have teeny, tiny waists and huge hips that give girls this idea that they need to have curves in the right places and protruding bones in the right places.”
This perceived necessity for unachievable multi-faceted perfection can lead to what Funk called a “lack of intrinsic worth.” This can lead to increased vulnerability to pressure, media, society and community and is a major aspect in the supergirl trend.
Funk said to prevent this lack of intrinsic self-worth, girls should develop hobbies.
“Many young women today don’t have any self-esteem building leisure activities,” Funk said. “That’s the biggest thing they can do, whether it’s making collages, playing instrument or taking up cooking.
Young women also need to reduce the amount of technology they use. Turn off their Ipods and Iphones and focus on spending time with themselves. They really need to get in touch with their internal monologues and develop a relationship with themselves.”
Funk enjoyed her time at CLC and was impressed by its students.
“I was very happy to have the opportunity to speak here and meet the great faculty and students. I was really impressed by the level of student discussion at both of these events – by how cognizant and enthusiastic everyone was. Usually having student discussions is like pulling teeth, but these kids were raising their hands and totally into. I was glad to have been a part of it.”
To hear the interview with Liz Funk in its entirety, visit drop.io/clcradio#
Editor-in-Chief
On Wednesday, April 14, the author of “Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crises of Overachieving Girls,” Liz Funk to helped kick off the Sociology department’s new gender and sexuality studies program that starts in the fall.
Chair of the Sociology and Gender and Sexuality Department, Suzanne Pryga, said the program came about for a variety of reasons.
“There has been demand among the student population, considering the enrollment in the current courses,” Pryga said. “Many four-year universities already offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field, so we thought that this was a great way for CLC students to get a head start. CLC is one of the few community colleges to offer such a degree.”
Pryga said courses will be offered in summer and fall. Core classes will include Introduction to Gender Studies and Theories of Feminism with a number of gender-themed electives such as Psychology of Women, Philosophy of Gender, Women and the Arts and History of Women.
CLC Academic Operations Manager Stephanie Gray explained that the program leads to an associate’s in art degree with a concentration in gender and sexuality studies, similar to a concentration in psychology or sociology.
Gray explained that a background in gender and sexuality studies makes students better rounded and equipped to deal with diversity in the world.
Gray said the program doesn’t exclude males. To the contrary, she encourages men to enroll.
“We chose (the title) gender studies to make it more inclusive,” Gray said. “We don’t want to just focus on femininity and women,” Gray said. “Historically, one of the criticisms of feminism has been that it has been upper-class white women fighting for right. The current feminism is much more diverse and includes men. We can’t separate ourselves, we need to work together to change society.
“And you can meet babes,” Funk said.
Funk, a self-proclaimed recovering supergirl, gave a lecture on the pressures on girls and young women to over-achieve while conforming to a new social norm based on a year’s worth of research she conducted for her book.
“A supergirl is a young woman who feels that she needs to be constantly improving herself to be loved,” Funk said. “She perceives that she needs to be a perfect 10 in everything in which she excels. Yet when she achieves something, it’s never good enough.”
“That constant striving for something more is what really marks the modern day supergirl.”
Funk’s inspiration for the book came from her own experiences.
“I always observed a lot of pressure on young women in high school and college to adhere to a limiting and demanding female ideal,” she said.
That ideal is the sum of cultural influences that push girls to be skinny, beautiful, tan, and simultaneously, effortlessly smart.
“I was very aware of this demanding role for girls in high school,” Funk said. “In college I noticed similar but different pressures on young women.”
This awareness led Funk to investigate the issue.
Funk followed five young women between 15 and 27, spending between a couple days and a few weeks observing their daily lives. She also interviewed approximately 100 other young women who were everything from sociology to engineering majors.
She found a combination of internal and external pressures that drive young women to be supergirls that come from the media, peer groups, themselves, and parents to a lesser degree.
This pressure on women to achieve, even to a fault, has changed the landscape of higher education.
“It’s been statistically shown that women outnumber men at the majority of colleges today, Funk said. “To a certain extent girls are progressing beyond men in academics.”
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing guys don’t put pressure on themselves. If girls felt that they could go home and play videogames for two hours and not feel like they were wasting time or that they should have been exercising or working on extra credit projects in that time. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
Funk said men feel pressure but the idea of the idyllic male had changed.
“The male ideal has changed from being this badass guy who fixes up Mustangs to this guy who’s supposed to be a forward on the soccer team, get fives on AP exams and go to Dartmouth,” Funk said.
She has also found the image of idealized beauty has changed. The society has moved from Marilyn Monroe’s voluptuous figure, to Jane Fonda’s near masculine dearth of curves, to Megan Fox.
“Today we have the most difficult physique to achieve. In the eighties you could look like that (Fonda), you just had to be skinny. You need plastic surgery to achieve the ideal today. Today girls are playing with Bratz dolls, which have teeny, tiny waists and huge hips that give girls this idea that they need to have curves in the right places and protruding bones in the right places.”
This perceived necessity for unachievable multi-faceted perfection can lead to what Funk called a “lack of intrinsic worth.” This can lead to increased vulnerability to pressure, media, society and community and is a major aspect in the supergirl trend.
Funk said to prevent this lack of intrinsic self-worth, girls should develop hobbies.
“Many young women today don’t have any self-esteem building leisure activities,” Funk said. “That’s the biggest thing they can do, whether it’s making collages, playing instrument or taking up cooking.
Young women also need to reduce the amount of technology they use. Turn off their Ipods and Iphones and focus on spending time with themselves. They really need to get in touch with their internal monologues and develop a relationship with themselves.”
Funk enjoyed her time at CLC and was impressed by its students.
“I was very happy to have the opportunity to speak here and meet the great faculty and students. I was really impressed by the level of student discussion at both of these events – by how cognizant and enthusiastic everyone was. Usually having student discussions is like pulling teeth, but these kids were raising their hands and totally into. I was glad to have been a part of it.”
To hear the interview with Liz Funk in its entirety, visit drop.io/clcradio#
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