Response Post 4.27

The introduction chapter of Enloe’s book was a great way to end this semester of women’s studies. She does a great job of touching on many different topics that we have discussed throughout the semester, all in the introduction to her book! As a psychology major, I was especially interested in the first paragraph of the introduction, where Enloe discusses how humans like to “save mental energy”. She mentions that it takes energy to be curious and to question things, but it’s natural and easier for us to take things as they are, and not question them. I am currently taking a psychology class called Human Cognition, and we have learned about heuristics. Heuristics are “short cuts” that we, as humans, use in our daily lives. Heuristics provide a quick and easy way to solve problems, although the answers that we derive from heuristics are not always correct. While heuristics are useful, they are also partially to blame for stereotypes, racism, and sexism. As people, we have a natural tendency to categorize. Therefore, we make assumptions about people who we know nothing about.

This discussion of heuristics is directly relatable to Enloe’s introduction chapter, because she recognizes that it takes a lot of human effort to question what exists in our cultures. However, this is not an excuse, and we must continue to push ourselves out of our comfort zone. Enloe urges us to think about where “cheap labor” really comes from, and how our expensive Nike sneakers are made. We cannot settle for what is wrong with our society, and we must strive to change it.

In “The Surprised Feminist” chapter, Enloe discusses that it also takes a great deal of courage to admit to being surprised by something. Many people don’t like surprises because we don’t like things that we cannot control. She admits that, as a professor, it takes a lot of stamina to admit to being surprised about something her students have said. My favorite quote from this chapter is this one: “Being open to surprise, being ready to publicly acknowledge surprise, may be among the most useful attitudes to adopt to prepare one’s feminist self for what now lies ahead.”