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[drcknowledgeandpower]

Plenary #4

When I heard that we were watching a film about intersex I really wasn't sure what to expect. Before watching the film I knew that intersex was but had never gotten the chance to really understand what it is. The film did an amazing job and sharing many peoples stories who are intersex. What really stood out to me about the video was how many years ago when a baby was born and the doctors tried to change the sex of the baby through surgeries and hormonal medications they told the family to move away and never tell the baby that their sex was changed. That made me really upset because they were acting like being intersex is such a bad thing and is something to be ashamed about. People who are born intersex are just like everyone else and are wonderful people who deserve to have the right to be whatever person they would like to be. The video really opened my eyes to how much discrimination people who are born intersex go through. Some of them are forced to have many surgeries just so they can look like one specific gender. People should be able to make their own choices about if they want to have the surgeries or not and being born intersex should not be thought of as something to be ashamed of. I really enjoyed watching the film because it opened my eyes to seeing how people are not just born male or female and that everyone should have the right to be whoever they want to be. 

[drcknowledgeandpower]

DRC Wellness 360

Yesterday I went to the Douglass wellness 360 event and it was so much fun! I got to go around and get some free stuff while learning about some programs that are on campus such as the scarlet listeners and The Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities. 

The best part was the breakout sessions. The first one I went to was about partying and the things you should do before, during and after the party. It was really helpful and told me about a lot of things to do and look out for when I go to a party. 

My second breakout session was ran by Jeremy and was about LGBTQA. I was so excited for this breakout session. We watched a daily show video about the LGBTQA community but it was specific about people who identify as Transgender. It really made me angry  that people are so against people who identify as transgender to use the bathroom that they want to identify as. They want to force them to use the the bathroom that corresponds with the gender on the peoples’ birth certificates. Some people think that people who identify as transgender are people who are perverts and are trying to attack the people in the bathroom that they want to identify. This makes me so angry because people should be  allowed to use which ever bathroom that the feel most comfortable in and which gender identity that they want to identify as. People take for granted how much of a privilege it is to be able to go to the bathroom without being questioned. It is so wrong that people get questioned or stopped if they try to use the bathroom of the gender identity that they want to identify as. It also makes me angry that Kansas is trying to pass a bill saying that students will be paid $2500 if they encounter someone who is transgender in the bathroom. This makes me so upset because they are teaching the students the opposite of what they should be teaching them. They are promoting discrimination towards people who identify as transgender instead of teaching them that transgender people are wonderful people who are just like everyone else. Why can’t everyone have the right to identify which ever gender identify they feel comfortable in without getting questions!!!!!!!!! 

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Plenary #3

I loved this Plenary!!!! I was so excited about it when I heard the speaker was an engineer but it was even better than I thought it would be! Bobbie Ridgely first started telling us how she has her bachelors and masters degree in mechanical engineering. She explained how she worked in the Telecom industry for about 25 years and that she got her first management job when she was about 30 years old. I was really happy to hear that she got a management job as an engineer because women especially in the STEM fields have difficulty getting leadership. 

Then she went on to tell us all about the Future of Hope organization which she is the executive director for. I thought it was really cool that the organization goes and helps rebuild homes and helps families that are low income or disabled people that were affected by hurricane Sandy.

 My favorite part of her speech was when she was telling us about the 2 key non-technical skills she learned that she needed for everyday life. The first one was to engage in the community around you. She was explaining how everyone should really get out and experience different things and get to know people around them. 

 The second key non-technical skill really inspired me which was the idea of grit. She explained how when something brings you down you got to find something that will help you get back up. It really touched my heart when she said this because I could totally relate to this. She explained how when she was in school and she would get a bad grade she would call up her dad and her dad would ask her the two questions: Is anyone hurt? Can you keep going? She would respond no to being hurt and yes to keep going. This shows how in life many people face big obstacles that bring them down but the most important thing is to have the confidence in yourself to get back up.  

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Formation and Black Power

Beyonce’s music video of Formation shows how Beyonce is advocating for equality for all races. The music video starts off in New Orleans where Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. New Orleans I believe is a city with a high population of blacks. The music video is trying to show how the Blacks struggled because of inequality even in time of disaster. She uses her own personal experiences to show how she  is trying to get others to realize that there needs to be equality among all races. In the song she talks about her “little baby hairs with afros.” She states this example because many people think that the stereotypical “pretty” person is a tall white female with straight hair. Beyonce is showing how she is proud that her baby is black and has an afro. Many people think that afros are not “pretty” but Beyonce is showing how blacks are just as pretty as any other people of other races. She also uses the example that Michael Jackson got his nose more narrow because he didn't feel accepted in society. Michael Jackson bleached his skin and made his nose narrower so he would look like a “white” person and be more accepted by society. Beyonce’s video is attempting to spread the need of equality for all races. Popular culture, celebrities, and media play a big role in social justice activism because many people follow and pay really close attention to these things. Media is payed a lot of attention to by many people so it helps in social justice activism because allows many people to be aware of social justice and how society needs to have equality for all races. If people hear songs or see shows that convey message about equality of all races it may cause them to think more about equality and try to do something about it. 

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Racial Caucus Discussion

I think that our class discussion was very helpful and eye opening. It was cool that at first we were split up into our individual caucus groups based on what race we were. I was part of the white caucus group and we talked a lot about white privilege. We talked about how young everyone was when they realized what white privilege was and when they realized they were white. I think I learned that I was white when I was in kindergarten when I went to school and how most of the people I went to school with were white like me. While in the caucus groups we answered a bunch of questions about how we have been privileged and how to what we want other caucus groups to know about the white caucus. 

I really liked how everyone in the group was talking about how they have been more open to people of other races. While in the group I explained how I have some friends that are different races and one of my close friends is hispanic and is from a different country. While being close friends with her I have learned a lot about what life is like to be part of that minority. She has explained to me the struggles about the disadvantages she has being hispanic and how much life is harder for her sometimes. Her explaining everything to me has really opened my eyes about realizing how minority groups are treated in America. I know I can't totally relate to some of her experiences but she has got me to realize that society needs to get rid of white privilege and start treated ever other race just as good as whites. The people of the minority groups are just as good of people and deserve to be treated fairly. 

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Feminism

In Baumgardner’s Day Without Feminism, Something that stood out to me was when the author stated, “Women tend to major in teaching, home economics, English or maybe a language-a good skill for translating someone else’s words”. Many people, especially during the late 1900s, thought that women could never major in math or science related majors. Most women only majored in languages or not math related majors because people didn’t believe women were smart enough to major in math and sciences. It stood out to me that the author of the essay said that women majored in those specific majors because it gave them skills for repeating/translating other people’s words. This means that especially during this time, Women were not allowed to have their own opinions and thoughts about things. Women were forced to believe in whatever the men thought and believe in. Now a days, women are able to believe in whatever they want to believe in, but we are still trying to resolve the issue that men get paid more and have higher positions in jobs than women.