"The Sexualized Woman" by Donna Penn

This reading was by far one of the most interesting readings I've read throughout this semester. It was a bit surprising for me to see that lesbians came about in the 1950's. Prostitution and homosexuality were looked down upon from society. Lesbians were referred to as "sexual deviants," but they strayed away from society's norms. They were both grouped together because they were different from the norms of women in the 1950's. Lesbians and prostitutes were outcasts and that is why they were thought of together. As I kept on reading I understood why that was. Both lesbians and prostitutes did not have any attraction to males. Also, they lived a very promiscuous life. Both of these ways were not what was expected from women. These women did not want to get married or have children. Lesbians were also called "butch." These women changed their image to look more masculine for their feminine girlfriends. Everyone tried to figure out why it was these women were going against the norms including police, doctors, and psychoanalysts. Towards the end of the reading, it was interesting to know these women stood up for what they believed in and kept their freedom in a way. Homosexuality have come a long way and in almost every state now a law was passed for same sex marriage. There is still some improvement to be done, but legalizing same sex marriage is a start.

"Sex and the Single Girl" by Hellen G Brown and "Kinsey Report" by Alfred Kinsey

BROWN:   

     In the 1950's women were suppose to get married and have children. That was society's norm. However, this reading shows this particular women had many relationships before finding her Mr. Right. She explains a lot about being single and the advantages it has. She also spoke about being with men, single or married. I honestly believe what she says about dating married  men because I know people who have dated married men and women and all they wanted to do was be with that other person. They wanted to spend that time with that other person rather than fixing their marriage. Even movies that show on television emphasize that.

     I found it interesting when she spoke about how single women's sex life is much more exciting than a married women's sex life. Single women have variety. Men view single women as sexy, seductive, mysterious, smart and independent which makes them want her more. It looks to me that with her being single it gave her life meaning. She was able to gain some confidence, find her identity and have experience before finding her husband.

KINSEY:
     The Kinsey Report was very interesting to read especially in 1948 and 1953. The age that males were engaing in coitus was younger than females. Another interesting one was bisexuality. Males were engaging in that way more than females were. I assumed that females would have been more becasue they would want to practice certian things before actually engaging in sex with a man. In extramarital sex males were engaging in affiars a whole lot more than females were. Their numbers were so much more higher than females. In the oral sex category females at 19.1% performed oral sex to a male before marriage and males were only 10%. If a report was done like that now in today's society im pretty sure the numbers would vary just as they did here in this report. Although, it would be very interesting to see what the numbers look like.

"Howl" by Allen Ginsberg & "How I Became Hettie Jones" by Hettie Jones

       Howl is a poem taken place during the Beat rebellion. At first, the poem seems disorganized and Ginsberg is just ranting, but then it gets more interesting. It showed the mentality and the lives the Beats lived. The poem talks about how they did drugs and drank alcohol all the time. They also spoke about being homeless and going place to place.  It showed the Beats were very carefree and did whatever they wanted to do at the spur of the moment.
      How I Became Hettie Jones was about a white woman who was married to an African man, Leroi Jones. It was about their lifestyle during the Beat rebellion. She talks about her how she helps her husband with his work while working herself. Hettie explains as their first child, Kellie, came she felt alone because Roi would leave her alone and go about his business with other women. Beats are suppose to keep "cool" and not show any emotion at all. Roi loses his cool when finds Hettie at another guy's house, Mike. Roi was yelling and calling Hettie inappropriate names. They both had extramarital affairs, but still remained married and had their second child, Lisa.
      Both of these readings give us more information of how people lived their lives during the Beat rebellion. It went into further discussion of what we discussed in class.

"Early Rebels" and "Beat Rebellion"- Barbara Ehrenreich

These readings were very interesting to read. "Early Rebels" is similar to "The Problem That Has No Name." Instead of the reading focusing on women, it focuses on men. They describe everything as a conformity.They took white collar jobs and got married because that's what they were suppose to do, not what they wanted to do. The men who were married were annoyed by their nagging wives. Men of course, blamed the wife for the way they felt. So, they would go to work to escape that. They felt like their wife pressured them into living this certain life and keep up with latest things the neighbors had. In "The Beat Rebellion" these men did pretty much what they wanted to do without a care in the world. They did not want to get married or have children. They went through plenty of women and ran away from whatever responsibilities they had. If they got married they felt like they would be enslaved. They were just completely over the American dream and life.This reading was also related to "Sexual Puzzles" because it deals with the good girl, bad girl, playboy and the beat. Just as women felt pressured to do certain things, men did also.