Disclosure reminded me of one of the first texts we were introduced to for this course, “Beyond the Gender Binary” by Alok V. Manon in the sense that as individuals who do not necessarily identify with the gender binary that society has set as the norm, are constantly perceived in all sorts of ways except for who they are and respecting their identities. Nancy Susano’s snapshot, which is from DISCLOSURE if I am not mistaken, serves as a quote that awakens the idea that others have always wanted to tell the story of trans individuals without pausing to ask what their narratives truly are.

I too have witnessed both examples of myself and distorted narratives of those who share how I identify. I think the entire concept of visibility and aiming to reveal the true narratives and stories of people triggered a memory for me. It reminded me of the many films I had seen as a child that did not portray the immigrant, undocumented, individual with indigenous features in a positive light, even when the producers were from those very same countries. I saw myself in these media stories as the child of the unfortunate immigrant who even in the “land of opportunity” cannot get ahead in the socio-economic aspect of life. It made me question what types of media was considered acceptable for my family and I to watch, to laugh about, and to never question or think about in any critical manner. 

Those who are determined to conserve social norms and identify with them benefit from the problematic depictions of transgender people as it gives them the power to dictate how the general public perceives them and how they should feel and act around them. They remain in some sort of control this way, similar to how individuals who strongly identify with patriarchal norms or enforcing discrimination, remain in control by dictating narratives and fear that they will lose this societal advantage. Although entertainment media can create positive change, simple actions that we can take to challenge misrepresentation, erasure, or invisibility is to educate oneself especially in a time in which there are plenty of resources in the form of texts, art, and video that are accessible. One has to put aside any preconceived narratives about a community and help amplify their stories and experiences. Recognizing the privilege that one may hold is another form of taking action to help amplify other voices. Media has influenced my own perception of my gender through its usual tropes — girls must be virtuous, delicate, and only lean towards female intended activities and colors. To go against any of this would mean that I would face many consequences from family, friends, and society. I have felt judged when expressing gender nonconformity at a very young age because I became aware of my own sexuality and feelings very early on. My mother would question my ever-changing choices in clothing and style, my friends would question my interests and hobbies and my teachers would force female activities and roles in plays onto me. I felt that this would continue in my life but I am grateful for the progress society has made although not everyone is accepting of it.

The 1977 Combahee River Collective Statement, expresses the concern for the rights of black women as they have been continuously excluded from reaping the benefits or being included in the fight for rights. In the text they state, “Our situation as Black people necessitates that we have solidarity around the fact of race, which white women of course do not need to have with white men, unless it is the negative solidarity as racial oppressors. We struggle together with Black men against racism, while we also struggle with Black men about sexism.”. Jaisely Dominguez’s snapshot captures the essence of having to fight multiple oppressions as the crowd fights against racism, sexism, sexual orientation and overall identity. The 1990 documentary film, “Paris is Burning”, also depicts the struggle of living life as black individuals with emphasis as black individuals who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Both Jaisely’s snapshot and “Paris is Burning” depict the importance of creating community and supporting each other through solidarity. Both racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia are captured in the scene of the snapshot and the documentary film, without community and their solidarity the struggle would be greater and safe spaces would not exist had they not created them for themselves and each other. In the same way the Mothers house the children, black individuals who share a common struggle had to be “homes’ to the younger and set an example.

The Combahee River Collective Statement, quotes Michele Wallace in “A Black Feminist’s Search for Sisterhood, which mentions, “Michele Wallace arrives at this conclusion: We exists as women who are Black who are feminists, each stranded for the moment, working independently because there is not yet an environment in this society remotely congenial to our struggle—because, being on the bottom, we would have to do what no one else has done: we would have to fight the world.”, which resonates with “Paris is Burning” in a more dream-like, hopefully manner when Venus and Octavia are expressing their yearn for more from life as they express wanting so much more and acting on it despite the dangers and obstacles they face which can end in facing violence. They once again express, “Many Black women have a good understanding of both sexism and racism, but because of the everyday constrictions of their lives, cannot risk struggling against them both”, further emphasizing the notion that the oppressions that black women face are overwhelming and despite having many, cannot fight them all at once even though they all affect them. The death of Venus Xtravaganza tragically depicts such obstacles. Although Venus was secure in herself for the most part and was light skinned, she still faced sexism and transphobia by the same people requesting to meet her, white men.

In Pat Mainardi’s, “The Politics of Housework”, Mainardi presents a plethora of assumed responses or excuses that a man or partner with a “stronger personality” would present to express why they are dominant and must not be the one to take on tedious housework tasks along with their hidden and honest meanings. Anne Koedt’s, “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm”, presents the Freudian ideas that a woman must reach their orgasm through the vagina and penetration only and if one does not, there is a psychological issue that must be addressed as soon as possible. The excerpt from Betty Friedan’s, “The Feminine Mystique”, addresses the concept of what a man would expect the perfect woman to be like, to define her purpose and limitations in life. I noticed something that these texts shared in common and that is the fact that many things that a woman does and is affected by has been established by men and yet these men are not familiar with the female body or psyche and fail to ask women what their needs and wants are, thus keeping women categorized and treated as second class citizens, dismissing everything that women have to say for themselves in their defense or comfort simply because a man has established these behaviors as society’s norms. I believe MeiQi Chen’s snapshot depicts the expectation of a woman, the feminime mystique very well. The color pink being dominant expresses just how feminine society expects women to be and how she should not have any interests in the interests of male activities. Her many arms depict the many mundane tasks she must take on and only worry about these activities, although it can but assumed that the cigarette is something she took up as her only leisure to decompress. Although she seems grounded in her position and peaceful, she does not seem as if she willingly wants to be there but rather was placed there as it seems that she may be frowning.

I believe there still is a major failure to truly ask and listen to women’s needs as these texts also express the idea that men share when women speak up on their liberation which is to “beware of the double whammy. He won’t do the little things he always did because you’re now a “Liberated Woman,” right? Of course he won’t do anything else either.” (Mainardi, 6). Women have been expected to contribute to a man’s success by taking care of basic housework, which is work that anyone can and should do for themselves but this would take time to unlearn the behavior of catering specifically for men and learning to put one’s priorities first, especially in today’s time. Despite there being a time when women may have felt comfortable in achieving the feminine mystique for the sake of the male gaze and men’s success, women have decided to achieve bigger dreams with or without the support of men. There is also nothing wrong with finding happiness in being a housewife as long as one does not contribute to self sabotage and falls back on the ideas put in place by men to oppress women.

The video, “Triangle Returns”, although it was about the tragic incident known as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, made me feel grateful for those that were motivated to fight for labor laws and demanded safer working conditions. Charles Kernaghan states that “by 1938 there weren’t any sweatshops” and states some of the new labor law that had passed yet this made me think of my immigrant mother who arrived in the United States in the year 2003 and her stories about working in factories that produced and washed heavy bedding material and cloths and was located in Brooklyn. Although these were not necessarily sweatshops, the ways in which she describes her working conditions made it seem like they were. Due to her status as an immigrant, she was paid much lower, worked longer hours, was not allowed to take breaks at times, the air quality was low, and she was exposed to dangerous working conditions due to some of the machinery that she would have to handle there. To our knowledge, many companies have allowed such work conditions because it is cheap labor and immigrants easily fear law because they arrive with no knowledge of it. I no longer remember or see these factories due to the gentrification and growth of businesses that has taken over, over time in Brooklyn but I wish I had been just a bit older to understand that despite her immigration status, she did not deserve to be treated as anything less than human and exposed to such working conditions. I am thankful that she has sought ways out of those conditions and is now earning a better wage at a much healthier and beneficial workplace. In the same video, we see how just in 2010, there was another incident that risked the lives of individuals earning a lot less and although it occurred outside of the United States, it occurred and is still occurring in modern times, but we would think that it is not something that is still taking place. Simply because sweatshops are no longer located in the United States, it does not mean that they are not still functioning and risking the lives and health of others in need. The excerpt, “Virginia Just Became the 38th State to Pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Here’s What to Know About the History of the ERA”, by Tara Law also makes me think of women in the United State who are classified as citizens but treated as second class citizens nonetheless and still find themselves fighting to be acknowledged as any other individual, such as their male counterparts.

Erick Luevanos’ post about Amazon employees protesting the company makes me think of the quote, “My boss earns a dollar, I earn a dime” which does not seem to be the case with many companies worth millions or billions of dollars, because if that were true, these companies and CEO’s would be able to afford paying their employees much more over minimum wage and provide many more benefits. I think many retail companies have grown selfish and we as mass consumers have grown desensitized to their inhumane acts because if they can afford to sell a product for many times its production, they can afford to be held accountable to pay employees fair wages, wages beyond cents.

The subject of abortion can seem very delicate to some while it may seem like a very simple and straight forward topic to others. The topic usually seems to be two sided, one’s decision seems to lie between either getting an abortion done or not. As someone who has benefitted many times from a reproductive health care organization, it can be quite upsetting to observe how religious protestors, in a way, harass individuals entering the clinic. I did however find it interesting to see both sides of this experience because as someone who grew up Catholic and being taught that abortion is a sin, other options may appear appealing to someone who would want to consider them but protest and what seems to be a form of harassment does not seem very efficient in my opinion. I think Karinys Carrillo’s snapshot does a great job at depicting the struggle between each side and the way these options seem forced upon individuals who may or may not want to bear a child.

In John Oliver’s take on Hobby Lobby, the explanation of how larger corporations want to pick and choose whether their finances support reproductive justice although they are not classified as individuals and therefore cannot enforce that depicts how even institutions like the Supreme Court should not have a say on whether individuals can have access to reproductive health services like abortion since it is not considered an individual — and as a joke, cannot part take in the annoyance of life like an individual has to. While watching the documentary, “The Abortion Divide”, I was impressed by Dr. George Isajiw’s initiative to house women who decided to keep their babies despite their identity or background because I have always thought about how the religious push the idea of abortion being murder but forget that children can just as likely end up harmed, neglected, and forgotten if a mother does not have access to the necessary tools to raise a child. My question is, if there are many religious individuals and doctors who seek to help mothers and their unborn children, why is there no talk or mention of programs or safe spaces such as the Mother’s Home in the documentary? I think religious individual also have to do their part to think about ways in which they can help prevent unplanned pregnancies to help reduce the number of abortions. I doubt that they will seek to compromise but if an end to abortions is what they seek to accomplish I think their fight has to include promoting the prevention of pregnancy. I myself am unsure as to how they would do this since many concepts of safe sex go against religion.

I think the world also has to stop seeing women solely as wombs or child bearers because women are individuals who should have the freedom to decide for themselves and seek guidance from whomever they feel is best. Oftentimes, it is the life and safety of the unborn that is thought about first but women also risk their lives in childbirth or during pregnancy. The public fails to recognize that even children can end up pregnant and that can put their lives at risk. Pregnancy can also be a result of traumatic events in women’s lives and they should not be forced to go through a second trauma. Reproductive justice and sex education is necessary in order to help everyone, not just those who can give birth.