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Unit 4 Post

Universal Design. This phrase is something that took a whole new meaning for me throughout our readings and discussions in unit 4. When we think of design we think of efficiency, modernity, usability, and design aesthetic. We think about making the function of something easy for users. But what is almost never taken into consideration within design is disability. This can mean for our architecture, our vehicles, and even objects we use on a daily basis. In this unit we read about universal design as it relates to architecture but we also read and discussed how public transportation can affect disabled people and prohibit them from just generally getting from point A to point B. How our infrastructure is designed as a whole segregates able bodied people from those who are disabled.  As a design major, I always thought I saw the world through a different lens and took into account things like usability and functionality. Having taken this class, I now see the world through a new lens and am painfully aware of the injustices disabled people face in their daily lives. The world is designed for able bodied people while one third of our population is made up of people that face huge issues with these very designs. It shuts them out, and makes it impossible to do things as simple as going to work or eating at a certain restaurant. This takes away their freedom and their right to all of the things an able bodied person has access to.

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Prison as it relates to disability. This is a topic that I never really thought about or discussed about in length. After having a few readings relating to this topic, as well as watching videos about the prison system in class, I have learned a few very important things and began to consider more deeply the implications that schools and prisons are having on people with disabilities. In the reading entitled Annamma Pedagogy of Path the author draws parallels between school systems and imprisonment as it relates to kids with disability. They share about their brother, and how school systems shaped him. He had problems with authority, trouble focusing, and was constantly suspended and punished for this behavior. The author then goes on to explain the similarities between our school systems and our prison systems, concluding many things about their own experience. In the video we watched in class, we learned about the prison system and how those with disabilities are taken care of. There is an obvious cycle of men and women living in poverty, self medicating because they can’t afford their necessary medication, and then falling back into the prison system. Many of them have no home, no way to get their meds, and even admit to not necessarily wanting to get out of prison in fear of where their next meal or roof over their head will come from. There is an obvious problem with this system if people are being imprisoned because of access, or lack thereof, to medications. And there is an obvious issue with the school system and how it treats children with mental and physical disabilities. As I have learned how these two things can be linked, I have become more aware of the ways in which disabilities and how they are treated shape our society and the systems that are in place. 

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The word from this unit I have chosen to discuss is “ableism.” By definition, ableism is “the descrimination in favor of able-bodied people.” Before taking this class, I was not familiar with the term “able-bodied” or the term “ableism.” Having taken gender women’s studies classes in the past, we talk a lot about discrimination and the way that plays into intersectionality. After learning the meaning of ableism and able-bodiedness, I was taken aback that I have never thought of disability as a part of intersectionality. Eddie Ndopu touches on disability and intersectionality saying, “Globally, disabled people, most of whom are bodies of color, experience structural violence, monstrous neglect and economic disenfranchisement in ways that render such conditions normal.” He continues stating, “we as disabled segments of society personify the bottom rung of otherness.” As one of our first readings, this was a big eye opener for me. I have never thought of disability in this way before, and beginning to understand and scratch the surface on the way disability is viewed, treated, and discussed has given me a new perspective on many things. I am able bodied, though I have never thought of myself as such. And this is because I, for so long, have been completely unaware of such a huge part of society, the world, and the people around me. We learned one of the first days in class that disabled people make up one third of the population. Through these class discussions and readings, I am beginning to understand just how screwed my perspective on disability has been for so many years due to society and the way it paints the picture of disabled people.

#gws300

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In recent web surfing, I came across this article written about a transgender women’s speech at the Women of the World Festival that happened this past March. Munroe Bergdorf, a 31 year old model and transgender activist, made a point about the toxicity of media and cis women feeling threatened by the growing and outspoken trans community. The WOW festival supports and celebrates women and confronts issues of inequality. Bergdorf expressed her feelings of hesitancy coming to the event in light of experiences and situations where she felt that things has been portrayed in a light where transgender women (and people) are a threat to cisgender women. She added that this atmosphere came from women in the media “writing articles which are having a real effect on the lives of trans women especially, and trans people period.” I thought that her point in this subject was and is important, and lined up with some of the things we have been discussing in class. Trans people face these unfair stereotypes and often have narratives written about them, assumptions made, and accusations thrown at them that aren't true or can even be backed up with statistical evidence. In Susan Ryker’s article entitled De)Subjugated Knowledges: An Introduction to Transgender Studies she gives multiple examples on how she has felt misunderstood or had her “narrative written.” She begins the reading with a story about a man that basically said trans people have no place in queer politics, and that everyone knows that “transsexuals were profoundly psychopathological individuals who mutilated their bodies and believed in oppressive gender stereotypes and held reactionary political views.” I can't speak for experiences of others, but I think that oftentimes there is this unspoken hierarchy where straight people feel superior to gay people, and gay people feel superior to trans people and this cycle needs to be broken. Ryker brings up important points on this issue, and I feel that Munroe Bergdorf is getting at some of the same things. She doesn't want to feel like in world that is becoming more fluid and less hetero, she is still unsafe or misheard.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/munroe-bergdorf-women-of-the-world-cisgender-safe-threat-transgender-a8817366.html

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Upon reading Heather Switzer’s article entitled Post Feminist Development Fables: The Girl Effect and Production of Sexual Subjects I seeked out a few articles that relate to it to form a better understanding. Before reading the article assigned in class, I had never heard of “The Girl Effect.” Learning about it through Switzer’s writing and also a New York Times article, I’ve realized it’s very important we don't take this at face value, and understand the issues within it. Yes, we know that poverty and health in other countries are huge issues but this movement and the way it treats women as disposable while over here in America we are the “white saviors” is demeaning and almost hypocritical. The whole point of the movement is to give girls and women the opportunity of an education, which will make them successful, which will prohibit healthier relationships and healthier populations, and in turn will show others that women can be powerful and successful too. This is what the Nike foundation wants people to see, yet in reality they are covering up their own mess and not recognizing poverty in their own country. I think this article brings up important points on gender norms/stereotypes, sexism, and poverty, yet also puts a lot of pressure specifically on women to fix this issue. These women have fallen into a seemingly unbreakable cycle of conforming to the gender norms seen in third world countries and it doesn't only start when they are 12, but Nike acts as a savior and as if the only way to fix this problem is with their help. I think that Narayan Uma put it well in our reading Chapter Three: Cross Cultural Connections, Border Crossing, and Death by Culture, ”Rather,the central objective of this essay is to call attention to two sorts of problems that often beset the general project of "learning about Other cultures.” I am specifically interested in how these problems affect the feminist commitment to attend to the problems of women in a variety of cultural contexts.” Feminism is different within different cultures, and it is important to not only learn about this but realize that our issues with feminism don't lie only within our individual lives, cultures, and homes. #gws350 https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/giving/11VIDEO.html

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http://forumonwomenblog.cartercenter.org/2017/03/15/understanding-the-feminization-of-poverty/

The first GWS class I took at the University of Kentucky shed light on the overwhelming impact of poverty on the world's female population. I first learned about things like the second shift and pay disparity upon taking my first class and this article I recently read reiterated many issues with world poverty, specifically on how it is gendered. The burden of working, and caring for children most often falls on women and “leaves less time for paid work as well as possible exhaustion causing a lack of quality in work as compared to male colleagues who have fewer outside-of-work responsibilities.” This article brings up important points such as women feeling overwhelmed with the responsibilities of motherhood, being forced to forego their education, disease and death due to lack of healthcare, and more. If women are losing opportunity or not even being presented with it in the first place, we lose active members of society and people who could actually help to make a difference in the world. Adair brings up the bodily effects of poverty, criminal effects of poverty, and legal discrimination of homelessness. She makes the point that it is designed to keep people within a certain class. Those who suffer often won’t be able to break the cycle. They have no resources, no privacy, and no one to advocate for them. Their invasion of privacy is justified because they are poor and struggling, and it is seen as lazy or indecent. Poverty is intertwined with race and class, and Crenshaw brings up oppression and discrimination in the article we recently read for this course. The growing and staggering issue of poverty is intersectional and should be treated as such when learning about, discussing, and coming up with new solutions to issues we can one day hopefully resolve.  #gws350

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https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/sex-education-netflix-aimee-lou-wood-aimee-gibbs-female-sexuality-pleasure-women-a8748006.html

I recently started watching the netflix original series “Sex Education”, and have come across an article that points out many strong themes within the series that I didn’t necessarily think about or pick up on while watching it. While reading this article, I realized that many of these themes relate back to our Butler and Fausto readings. The series follows several high school students navigating relationships, family issues, friendships, and sex. In the article, Aimee Lou Wood, who plays Aimee Gibbs, speaks about her character. Aimee Gibbs is seen as a very sexually liberated character, but when analyzing her character further the actress concludes that sex to her is more about her partners. The article reads, “She references one scene in particular when the male protagonist, Otis, asks Aimee what she wants when she’s with her partner Steve, to which she earnestly responds: “No one’s ever asked me that before”. Thinking back to Judith Butler’s article about gender performativity, I think this is a message girls get often and they feel the need to “perform” this in a sense. Growing up, women are never told that sex is supposed to be good for them as well, so we perform in the way we think we are supposed to. Which usually means focusing on pleasing the male. If we can’t do that, there is a sense of failure and embarrassment that comes along with it. A lot of what Wood’s character does and how she acts is performative, and in this interview she recognizes it and hopes that she can teach young women not to grow with a distorted perspective on sex. The show also follows a homosexual student named Eric who struggles with his identity and gender roles. Fausto’s discussion on sex versus gender comes to mind when reflecting on Eric as a character in this series. He struggles to please his father, who is traditional and does not agree with his lifestyle, and himself at the same time. This brings up questions referring to sex vs gender, and how others see it biologically. I think Eric’s character also makes viewers think about gender as a performance, as he acts differently around his family than he does with his best friend. This show sheds light on important topics, and can relate back to many of the things we’ve been discussing in class regarding performativity, sex, and gender. #gws350

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     I recently read an article about Emma Watson’s 2014 speech at the United Nationals, where she served as an advocate for a U.N. Women's gender equality campaign called “HeForShe.” While this speech was made years ago, I found it insightful and still very relevant. This specific quote stood out to me; “We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes, but I can see that they are, and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence. If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive.” Thinking back to Bell Hook’s article on feminist theory, she speaks to what feminism means to all of us. She describes it as “how we pick eachother up.” She speaks on how we can use feminist theory as a space to recover and heal, and this entails building each other up instead of using the momentum of the feminist movement to break down men in order to build up women. Watson remarks that if men can break through gender stereotypes, women can consequently do the same. Together, both genders can begin to heal. Much like Hook’s description of feminist theory as being something that’s learned and taught by life experience, Watson goes into detail on how she came to be a feminist and why. She poses the question “why has this word [feminism] become such an uncomfortable one?” By recognizing her experiences and questioning them, she came to the understanding she has now. As said by Sara Ahmed, to live a feminist life one must bring everything into question. Watson’s points on masculinity, freedom from gender stereotypes, and the way we can effect change all brought me back to previous discussions we have had in class. I appreciated her passion, but also her honesty on how apprehensive she was to deliver this speech. I believe it’s important for all of us to have the mentality of “If not me, then who?” #gws350

https://www.thoughtco.com/transcript-of-emma-watsons-speech-on-gender-equality-3026200