Feminism Presented in Left Hand of Darkness

In the Socratic Seminar we just did, the subject of feminism aroused my attention. Ms. Fletcher made the point that Le Guin uses the people of Gethen's same sexness to show that females should be treated equally with men. However, I contend that Ursula wasn't trying to convince us that women should have the same jobs and that men should be equally responsible for childrearing, but was simply showing what a society would be like if we were all the same sex or had the opportunity to change gender roles readily. I do believe Le Guin is concerned about the treatment of females. She writes that men have a lot more freedom than women. However, while females do have less time to become CEOs or presidents due to childbirth and the constraints that brings, she misses the fact that while females have different roles in society, their roles are no lesser than males and should be kept in high regard.
If I were to follow Le Guin's logic, then I could contend that males are the ones with less freedom. Males have absolutely no freedom to bear a child, a privilege reserved only for their female counterparts, while females do have the ability to achieve anything a man can.  She, as well as many feminists out there, simply forget that childbearing is one of the most important roles in society and whoever does it should be applauded. She believes that a respectable women should strive for power and wealth and forgets that while women can do this, their natural role of Birthing isn't one we should see as lower than a running a company.

Some Feminists make the moral fallacy of  seeing the role CEO as more desirable and more honorable than the role of a mother. Obviously, being a mother is exponentially more respectable.

LHOD Questions

I'm just writing this to get my present thoughts down and to see if any of you guys have answers to them. I've been reading LHOD and some questions arose. I was wondering if anyone knows what Dothe is and what the mechanics of it is. From why I gather its a form of super strength (?) but I don't really understand when it can be used or what it actually does to the body. Also I was confused on Genly's movements. When he visits the foretellers, is he in Kharhide? Thanks in advance if you can clear these things up for me.

Braithwaites article talks about the way mankind see some animals as our friends but others as a way to pass the time. I don't think that this is fair to the "lesser animal". "Hooked on a Myth" says that there have been experiments showing that fish do show pain contrary to what some might think. Though the fish have been shown to have the ability to experience pain these are the kinds of experiments that show we need to change the way we conduct experiments in the science profession. In the article it states that the researchers injected bee venom into the fishes lips just to prove that they can feel pain. This procedure also proved that we should be treating the fish better even thought the experiment contradicted that. This may have proven that we should change but I doesn't prove that we will. Many fisherman wont change their ways because of an experiment and I don't plan on them to. they can do what they know they can this article was not written to be become a law but to simply shed light on the situation. 

Scientific research or animal abuse

In response to Rifkin's quote "all creatures that feel pain should have a basic moral status". I believe that most not animal testing is no longer necessary, note that I say most there are a few things in this world that might be used to research. In my anatomy class last year we had a class project where we had to research animal testing. Here is where I found out that I didn't support most of the tests that the animals were forced to be subjected to. Most of the tests performed were unnecessary for research since we learned about it a long time ago, one of them was pouring drops of bleach into a kitten's eye to see what would happen to them. These animals are also kept in containers the smallest possible size for them to survive or cages throughout all of their life. I believe that these animals should be treated better because these conditions are inhumane.

Rifkin helps show how similar these creatures are to us by using pathos when he gave the animals tested names almost making them seem human. He also goes on to explain how physically and emotionally they are similar to us. These examples help give his readers a way to connect with the animals by the characteristics that they also have. In the end if these animals can be called be superior to us in their brains and some of their senses why are they treated so inferior.

Yes, I Am An Agnostic

What is an agnostic or agnosticism, which a lot of you may be asking yourself right about now. Well I will save you the Google search. An agnostic believes it is impossible to know if gods exist or feel that the answer is not important in their life. Now for the reason I bring this topic to attention is because I consider myself a good person without having a religion. Yes, a person who doesn't know or believe in a god is considered good.No I am not "saved" or will I ever be, but does that make me a bad person? I know there are people who believe they need to be "saved" and I don't disagree with them, some people need a crutch in life. A crutch, meaning an idea of some sort to set standards for themselves to become a better person. As for me I don't need a crutch. I believe in science, I believe in my family, I believe in myself; my beliefs are in what I know, not myths, rituals, or symbols. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against any religions of any sort. I would love to learn about different beliefs, but that doesn't mean I myself believe in a higher power. The point to all of this is I think its wrong for people to be able to USE something such as, a higher power, to make it okay to judge someone. For example, myself, people will criticize me for not believing in a god to make judgement on my character, thinking maybe i do things that are not highely thought of just because I don't have a religion. I rather be where I am knowing I am a good person at heart rather than be something I am not and take precautions as to "if" there is a god because I know I'm a good individual and if the higher power is as holy as others believe they'd understand where I was coming from. Don't judge others, be considerate to all opinions and beliefs because no one knows everything.

Fish.

   Being an animal lover I was excited to read the article 'Hooked on a myth' by Victoria Braithwaite. In her article she  brings up the question "Do fish feel pain?" . Thinking about that question I got to thinking, yes it's correct that fish can't physically show pain. They can't tell you that they are hurting. But that doesn't prove that they can't and don't feel the same way we, as humans feel. Humans have a more complexed brain, therefore we can feel pain, both physical and mental, and we have the ability to express how we feel. Having the strong feelings I have towards animal rights, I feel that just because fish, or all animals , can't express how they feel they shouldn't be treated any differently than we treat others, because fact of the matter is fish can feel the pain. They just can't express it in the same ways we can. In Hooked on a myth Braithwaite goes on talking about how when she gets a headache she takes aspirin, she then starts to wonder what would happen if we put pain killers in the fishes water. Would that help them?  It turns out that the research she did about this shows that it actually helps an you can see a difference in the fishes behavior.
   I personally think that people take advantage of catching fish because it's easy, and they think that it doesn't hurt them. But  is taking a fish out of water the same thing as drowning a human? Think about it.  Do fish feel the same way when they get air in their lungs as we get water in ours? I wish I could make people change their minds about how they treat animals, but sady I can't force anyone to feel or think a certain way.
    Braithwaite's article will hopefully tell people that fish, just like dogs or sheep , can feel pain. They just can't show it the same way.