#te102

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Mentor Plenary

The final plenary, for me, was the most interesting because it was controlled by students, and directed at students. I really enjoyed the mock presidential candidate panel because after each one, the discussion panel would ask a question about a discouraging pattern witnessed in the debate, mostly from “Ronald Clump”. It was an informal way to get everyone’s different experiences with topics such as micro and macro aggression to be shared, which instilled a sense of unity within (I think) all of us. Hearing the women in that room talking about their experiences only further proved how despite our differences, we all share some kind of societal disadvantage. While some women’s struggles are more prominent than others, we signify our unity by standing by each other and acknowledging the differences in our suffering, and by snapping in agreement after the deliverance of each person’s two cents.

It was a wonderful way to end a wonderful class. 

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Plenary 4: Intersexion

This week’s plenary about intersex people was very enlightening for me, as well as many other people who were in that room. I personally never knew that intersex people were as common as they are, and I never knew the horrors that happen to them as a result of ignorance on the doctors’ and parents’ part. I learned that assigning a gender for intersex people before they have the chance to choose what they want to be is very unfair to them. It is not only robbing them of the freedom of self-expression, but many times the doctors remove parts of them that would have otherwise created pleasure and make them harbors of pain, just so they can conform to a gender standard of a gender they did not choose. It is all so complicated and awful. They all said in the end of the documentary that they do not know a single intersex person who would have not wanted to keep their genitals the way it was before all the surgeries. If they are accepting of what they have, everyone else should be too. Especially their parents. Also, I thought the man wearing glasses was super funny and positive about the whole thing, which made everyone in the room feel more comfortable and not think of them as victimized, but rather as people who are there to teach us about themselves.

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Plenary 3

I loved this plenary because the speaker is someone who is relatable and honest. She talked about something that I’m pretty sure most of the people in that room at the time were suffering with, which is a lack of motivation and lack of trust in themselves. She mentions that while she was pursuing engineering, at one point after her first failures, she thought she could no longer do it, and was going to drop it and move onto something less time-consuming. Then based on good advice from a loved one, she decided to give it another go. And she’s been on that path ever since.  She pursed her dream to be an engineer and then eventually chose to leave her job for a while and raise her child. Everyone has different priorities in their lives, and being judged for preferring to take a hiatus and raise or not raise one’s kids (as their mother) should be one’s choice. And it does not make you any less empowered for doing so. So yes, I am terrified about the future. So is everyone else. And everyone feels that way at some point before they go on to do amazing things. I enjoyed this plenary very much because it was really a feel-good conversation I think we all needed to hear. 

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Break Free - Ruby Rose

I saw this video before, and my first impression was “well how she looks good both ways”. Now I see the immediate differences between her role as a woman and her role as a man. The video was brilliant. It speaks volumes about gender fluidity, and what it is to be gender fluid, with the imagery presented as she shows you her own interpretation of what it means to be non-gender conforming. The video starts with Ruby putting on heels, and then the camera zooms in on her nails and purse (seemingly feminine expressions). It fragmentizes expressions of femininity and masculinity, but not the subject herself. When she cuts their hair, she seems free of a weight on her shoulders, and the camera focuses on the hair on the ground, which to her, is the beginning of freedom. She is demonstrating what it is like to have an identity that deviates from the status quo, and what is expected. Since Ruby Rose herself is gender fluid, this was her way of using imagery to equate a sense of freedom with simple acts, such as washing off the tattoos, or taking off her fake eyelashes. 

In the end she’s saying "what the fuck are you looking at" several times when she is a man, and many people were slightly offended that her portrayal of men was aggressive. But I think it is there to point out the emotional outrage when being judged or stared at by people who don't understand it. 

Like in “Against me!”, this video does not objectify either one, or perhaps objectifies both but in a way that is subtle enough so viewers cant accuse the video of accommodating to the male gaze or the women’s gaze. It does not size her up, but it does fragmentize her breasts in the beginning and then the binding of it later, and also the penis in the end. But the purpose of that is to highlight the differences in her expression of herself.

(Note: I believe Ruby Rose goes by the pronouns “she/her” even though she is gender-neutral. If not please correct me)

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Is A Woman Not Enough of Her Own Nationality?

I know what it’s like to have the patriarchy control and define every thing a woman does. In Egypt (where I am from), Egyptian citizenship accompanies the father. My friend is both Palestinian and Egyptian (her father is Palestinian and her mother is Egyptian), so she was not given the Egyptian citizenship even though her mother is Egyptian. They can visit Egypt all they want, but she will never be more than just a tourist in her own mother’s country. She will never completely belong to America, and she also can never completely belong to Egypt.