Aug 13, 2022
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Pam Fessler
The plenary with Pam Fessler made me realize how each plenary ties into each other. The first plenary spoke about womens’s health issues and how we may be deprived of our reproductive rights, the second plenary spoke of women in the workplace and getting to the table, and this last plenary tied it all together. Many may be asking themselves right now how do these even relate? But they indeed have everything to do with each other. Without women like Pam Fessler who “made it to the table” and have made it their job to shed public attention on these issues then nobody would be talking about them. The moving podcast she shared about the lives of 15 year girls in El Salvador brought attention to a huge issue thats currently being overlooked and that I myself had no knowledge about, but imagine a world without journalists like her? Wendy Cai Lee preached getting into these positions that empower women to share stories and experiences like these, and Pam Fessler served as a direct example of that. I was truly inspired by this plenary.
Miss Representation
Okay so I just finished watching this film and woah. I am truly at a loss for words. I can not believe how these men openly humiliate and completely verbally assault women on national media outlets. I mean really? Referring to women as sluts and creatures who are incapable of making decisions of importance because of our bodies ability to PMS? And above all, the ratios of men to women in the media, and in office are just insane. How can women make up 51% of the American population and yet barely have any representation in these authoritative positions? This film at first made me beyond sad, but now I can’t help but feel angry. Achievements made by women are openly belittled and trivialized. “She's great but how about those legs”. When will the objectification cease? Is it not enough to watch our young girls break down in tears because they feel that they are not enough? That their voices and concerns do not matter? Or is that just some more “complaining” we naturally do as women? Yes, we’ve made big accomplishments but it is not enough. We really have such a long way to go, and thankfully films such as this one reflect just how much work there is to be done.
Plenary 2: Wendy Cai Lee
As I reflect upon our plenary with Wendy Cai Lee I am further convinced of how truly important it is for more women to “get to the table.” This concept of getting to the table can be very easily disregarded and many may become discouraged to even get there. Yet, listening to her share some of her struggles as both a woman, and a minority I became convinced that nothing is impossible and that these “disadvantages” can be used to our full advantage. As she stated, “so what?”. So what that you’re hiring me simply because I am a woman, or simply because I am of color, or because you are obligated to meet a quota, if that is what is going to get me to the positions of importance then so what? I believe that we should not allow these factors to disillusion us, if we do not get to the table then our voices may never be heard, and progress may never be made. Rather than allow ourselves to be victimized by our circumstances, we should embrace them and transform them into something of great power, as did Wendy Cai Lee.