Author: Ligia

Ligia Urdiales Discussion 8

  1. How has your perspective changed since the beginning of the class?

My perspective has changed. When we first started the course I didn’t realize how much we were going to communicate through our discussions. I have taken online classes before that had discussions but never like this. The discussions allowed for everyone to express their opinions and read others as well to see a different opinion/perspective. What I loved the most is learning more about microaggressions and privilege. Microaggressions because at least I personally didn’t realize how much this happens. Privilege was very interesting because I got to go more into depth. Privilege didn’t only have to do with race privilege but the privilege of not being judged or called names based on my sexuality or my gender preference. The reading opened up my mindset and see things differently.

2. What will you take away fro the course?

Everything in this course has been crucial and Important. What I would take with me are the discussions. Like I mentioned before it is very helpful to see and be able to give opinions on other discussions. The discussions are a great space for us to grow, although we are all reading the same things I realized that sometimes my classmates mentioned thing I completely ignored. Reading the feedback of classmates on how to improve was great.

3. How did the format of the class affect your learning and your motivation?

The class format was great and I wouldn’t change anything about it. The reading journals allowed us to express ourselves based on the reading/videos provided which were very helpful because we all see things differently. The discussions were also great because unlike the journals we were able to share with classmates and read their thoughts on those reading. The assignments were challenging and fun. The professor was very helpful and understanding. Overall I want to thank the professor and classmates for a great semester.

Ligia Urdiales Institutional Artifact Project

There are certain customs that we never leave behind and for most people it is very important to continue with that mindset. Gender roles has played a big part in people’s lives. When we talk about gender roles we refer to the behavior or role that a person must follow based on their gender, in this case women have always been seen as sensitive and caretakers and as someone who needs a man in order to be stable, while men are the leaders as the ones with an important job or position in society and they are the ones who are supposed to provide for their families. An important artifact that I believe is important and needs to be analyzed is the show Friends. There are many events that take place that are very important and could be analyzed since this shows how gender roles, privilege and objectification play a big part of the 6 friends in this show. I will mainly be focusing on Rachel and Ross since these characters evolved through out the show.

As a woman I believe this artifact is important because the idea of woman needing a man or even a male figure in general to be successful is not always true woman can achieve great things alone and be even more successful. I do believe that in some cases race privilege allows woman or any gender to be able to have more opportunities to grow. In this case Rachel is a white privilege woman, meaning that as a white person she is seen superior than others and although she might not have the experience or the qualifications for some jobs she is definitely handed opportunities. Although Rachel’s white privilege helped her a lot she did work hard to keep her job and prove that she is capable of accomplishing things alone.

In the show Rachel was portrayed as a woman who depended on her families money, and she was going to marry Barry who was wealthy without loving him, when she made the decision of not marrying Barry she finds herself lost because she has never been on her own. She than proceeds to get a job, she finds a job as a waitress which is not a very professional job for her, its a low paying job for her or any woman, and its usually the men who get the high paying jobs, and we see this change when Rachel evolves with her jobs and even gets an offer in Paris. However Ross expects her to stay in NYC for him, after he finally realizes he loves her she must give up on her dream n order to stay with the man she loves however the question rises to me is why didn’t he move to Paris with her in order for her not to give up on her dream job?

Another great example of gender roles Ross and Rachel are trying to find a nanny for their daughter and Rachel wants to hire Sandy who is a man as the nanny and Ross is against this because he does not believe a man should be a nanny and he does not agree with the fact that Sandy is very emotional. Ross believes that man don’t cry. In the show Ross tells sandy, “I’m not comfortable with a guy whose as sensitive as you”. He also mentioned that he isn’t comfortable because of his father since while he was growing up his dad was a tough guy. This shows that Ross’s way of thinking man should never cry and be tough because that was the way he was raised. After  Rachel ends up not hiring Sandy because of Ross, this comes to show how man can have certain control over the decisions women make.

Objectification refers to the action of degrading someone to the status or being more of an object, and to be used for certain things. We see objectification occur with Rachel since men are only interested in her beauty and only want sex with her. Although she worked hard to accomplish her goal she was always seeking male attention. When Chandler tell her coworkers Rachel only wants to have a fling multiple are interested, but when he told his coworker Patrick that Rachel was actually looking for a serious relationship, Patrick ended up breaking things up with Rachel. Through the show Rachel never finds a serious relationship other than with Ross.

After going into depth and analyzing the show through gender and privileges it made me realize things that I personally did not even realized when I first watched this show. After watching and discussing gender roles, sex and gender in general it made me see certain episodes and really see the meaning behind them. Every women in this show either had a low paying job meanwhile the men had jobs such as an actor , office, and paleontologists. It was interesting to see the roles be reversed in the show when Rachel finally gets her dream job, Monica gets a job as head chef, while Ross is on temporarily leave due to his behavior and anger, Chandler loses his job and does not like the fact that now Monica is the only provider at home. This show evolves and it shows us different aspects of how gender roles are implied and it breaks that, like I mentioned Sandy is a very emotional man, Monica becomes the provider and Chandler is at home cleaning and Rachel who was always very dependent on her families money is evolving with getting a job I the fashion industry which is what she always wanted.

 

Ligia Urdiales Discussion 7

I will be focusing on gender roles. Men are always seen as the dominant person, the head of the household meanwhile women are expected to depend on men and be a stay at home wife who only enjoys the money  and socializes with friends.

The artifact for analysis that I will be using is the show “F.R.I.E.N.D.S”. I will mainly be focusing on Season 1 and a little on Season 8. I will be focusing on how Rachel was someone who did not work, was not independent and who was going to marry Barry simply because he was a professional and wealthy. At some point in the show Rachel’s sister Amy talks about marring and older guy because of his wealth. When Rachel decides not to get married her father makes it seem as Rachel wont make it out alone without his money. Rachel is forced to live without the luxury she was used to and is forced to live with Monica and get a job. Through out the seasons Rachel evolves and she gets her dream jobs. Another example of gender roles in this show is when Rachel gets pregnant and Ross offers to marry her because he does not believe she would be able to do it a lone without him by his side. This is a great example as to how men feel as if women will not be able to accomplish being financially stable for their children without their help.

Ligia Urdiales Journal 7

There are many different ways in which we can communicate and how our communication  and expressions can be interpreted. When it comes to talking about sex and what we consider to consent or refuse when it comes to sexual situations there are many ways in which things that are said can be misinterpreted. According to the article consent and refusal are not the only talking points I realized that indeed sometimes even when we consent into exploring different things during sex , we can consent because that what we truly want, or because we are afraid that our partner might leave if we don’t consent into trying new things or simply because we want the sex without necessarily liking or agreeing to the terms. In the article it mentioned that “we can autonomously consent to all sorts of bad sex, for terrible reasons”, and like I mentioned this is true but as we grow we learn that as women we must consent to things we truly want to and not feel obligated to accept if we do no want to, woman can be left to feel as if we are objects whom can easily be replaced if we don’t accept to the terms men want and that is not right or true.

Also as it was mentioned the way we say things may be interpreted in the wrong way, for example if a smile or really talkative conversation might make someone think you are flirting with them, or sometimes that way you say something might make it seem as if you’re questioning, screaming or even doubting. This takes me to the YouTube video your behavior creates your gender when Judith Butler mentioned that someone shouted out their window “Are you a lesbian” but it wasn’t clear if it was a question or if the woman was looking to harass her or just curious and wanted to be sure. We must be careful in the way we approach or even say things because they can easily be misinterpreted.  Another topic that is being discussed which is of major importance to what we have been talking about through out the semester is the way gender is interpreted, Judith Butler mentioned that we tend to act as if being of a man or being a woman is an internal reality, which is very important because its not something we must act upon but we must act upon on the gender we feel most comfortable in.

Ligia Urdiales Discussion 6

After watching the YouTube interview with Cece Donald “Free Cece” and also watching the documentary “Free Cece ! it definitely made me very emotional because of all the events that took place and how they were handled.

In the interview something was said that caught my attention and that is “A beautiful day in the park is different for a black trans woman”. Hearing this made me really upset because it true to some extend. How unfortunate that this society makes people feel unsafe. Also it was said that when we see injustice we have the power to take action, which is true but like Cece mentioned she was worried for her supporters because they could experience the same situation she was experiencing just for supporting her. I definitely believe that as a group we do have power to change and injustice. Now while watching the documentary made me mad at some point because of people’s ignorance and making Cece seem as she was at fault. In this documentary there were a lot of things that were said that really makes you think “wow we really live in a messed up world” well at least that’s what came to my mind. Cece mentioned her attacker seeing the fear in her eyes and it was as if her fear made him validate his white supremacy ( privilege), this is very sad because the fact that a person can literally see someone in fear and still have the audacity to feel superior and keep harassing that person because they know they can get away with it’s ridiculous and cruel. “Black bodies transgender or not are assumed to be criminals” it also a very good point because in this situation it was not only about being transgender it was about being a woman of color that triggered these racist people who knew exactly what they were doing and because of their stupidity of being judge mental and feeling so superior a person was killed not intentionally but for self defense. If they didn’t start calling names or even putting their hands on Cece and would’ve let her go her way a lot would’ve been prevented.

Michael O. Freeman who is a county attorney said things such as how Cece had other alternatives than stabbing him with a dangerous weapon on his cheast and he also said something about if you want to be successful avoid the conflcit and flee. His words made me feel anger because it doesn’t mention how the white group of people should’ve kept quiet and not be racist or how they should’ve never hurt Cece with a beer bottle. There are a lot of things that must change in society in order to live in peace, you may not like something but as long as it is not affecting you personally then its best to be quiet and live your own life. We as human being should be protecting each other but instead we are destroying humanity with the thought of others being more privileged and superior than a certain sex or race.

Journal 6

When we hear the word “transgender” we know it refers to a person whose gender identity is not aligned with their assigned birth sex and who may have or have not changed their body and identity though surgical procedures. There have been many events that have taken place against the LGBTQ community and it is very unfortunate. It is crazy to see how we live In a society where if your black, Hispanic, gay, lesbian , trans you will face discrimination and wont have privileges as a straight or white person would. I don’t consider myself as having any privileges but this reading made me realize so much more such that transgender people have the fear of going outside or cant even walk outside without being attacked meanwhile I can walk outside with my significant other freely without people yelling out names or trying to physically hurt me.

The story being told in the reading is very tragic and so nasty because people are so cruel against others. Whatever someone else’s preference is, its their business they can do whatever makes them happy , how does their happiness affect those attackers. “Cisgender privilege, intersectionality, and the criminalization of Cece Mcdonald ..”‘by Julia R. Johnson talks about the story of Cece Mcdonald. Once I started reading it made me so mad at those who attacked her and she was the one to be arrested for a situation that could’ve been prevented if those attackers would’ve mind their own business. This situation was not only gender discrimination but also racial discrimination since Cece along with her friends were African American. The attackers screamed out horrible names such as “Faggots” and “niggers”. As much as Cece tried walking away from the situation the attackers got physical and by trying to defend herself, someone got hurt and killed and yet the attack against Cece was overlooked and she was charged with murder. Something that shocked me and upset me a lot was the fact that Schmitz one of the attackers stated that a real man cant be black and that Cece was dressed as a woman to rape him. Discrimination in the society we live In is unbelievable, and the calmness in which these people talk about transgender and black people is as if it was completely normal and okay. This society has a lot of changes to make or else things wont get any better and crimes will be overlooked.

Discussion 5

Microagressions plays a big role in our lives. It refers to our daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental communications intentionally or unintentionally to in a way transmit negative messages against a group of people because of their skin color or even their gender. As a Hispanic/Latina I have been experienced discrimination and prejudice. I remember one time going to Manhattan into the Michael Kors store and there was another white lady with her daughters who came in after me and my sister in law but the sales lady would only be following me and my sister in law. She welcomed the other ladies but only kept an eye on us as if we were going to steal, which pissed me off because she made it seem as if I didn’t have the money to buy expensive things and the white women were free to look around and touch anything without being followed around.

Being a woman is not easy either. You are easily judged based on how you look dress and what you really are capable of. For example I remember in the summer girls myself included being called hoes because of the way they dressed and it made me so angry because they were being called names just for wearing dresses or shorts and I thought to myself, what are we supposed to wear in such hot days? are we supposed wear sweaters and sweats in order to please men, and not be called names?. I remember being told by a customer where I worked at, “why is such a beautiful girl like you working, don’t you have a boyfriend? situations like these are always uncomfortable why do women have to have a man on their side to be financially stable and be someone. I love to work and get my own money and be successful and my boyfriend is very supportive of it unlike other men with different views.

I personally don’t feel like I have any privileges, being from immigrant parents. It was never easy but my mom always made it happen, always worked hard to give my siblings and I a better life, and I love and appreciate this about immigrant parents and all parents because they come into a new country without anything but always make it work. One thing I can do to help other is that during protest for George Floyd white people were able to help because they would be hurt etc and the way I can help is also by taking part of it since many immigrants were also in the protest at risk of being detained and be affected while me being a U.S citizen can protest without having those consequences such s being deported.

Journal 5

The readings assignments assigned for this week were very interesting. We go back to discussing how our gender is influenced by many other things besides ourselves. Our gender is shaped and created by schools, religion , the economy and the state. All of these have influenced our experiences in life.

Every institutions influence are categorized between micro politics, meso-politics, and macro politics. To start of micro politics refers to the negotiation over power in our everyday life’s. Macro politics on the other hand refers to the negotiation over power but by groups weighing institutions and like I mentioned before these institutions can consist of school, religious sources and even our workplace. Macro politics refers to laws, policies, and cultures power to influence and re enforce social norms into people. These institutions have impact our life’s since it shapes people from different genders or even races differently. For example we have institutionalized discrimination which in a way influenced beliefs and prejudices people which leads to systemic inequalities. Another important point I found in the reading is that institutions use cultural ideology. Cultural ideology refers to the use of ideas , values , beliefs etc in order to guide their behaviors.

The reading “The manifest of racial, gender and sexual-orientation micro aggressions” is very interesting and it caught my attention greatly. It explains how our daily life implicated intentionally or even unintentionally discrimination against different groups of people by behavior, verbal acts and even environmental acts which is micro aggression. There are various ways as to how this can happen and the example that was talked about in the reading that I found really interesting was Kathleen’s situation. This specific example refers to her as a woman and the discrimination that was unintentional. At her job interview men were treated with respect and called Mr. which is a sign of respect and the importance of that person but with women they were called my their name as if they weren’t treated professionally. Also she was told that she didn’t need a job she needed a man which was once again very disturbing since women are seen as depending on a man and not having any successful jobs. We live in a society where women are not always treated with respect or according to their job position and where they must depend on men rather then having their own professions. Men are always seen as powerful and dominant.

Discussion 4

There are many identity terms to describe people from all over the world, and most of these terms to some extend are rude or racist in a way. We come to a country to have opportunities and equal rights but is that really what we are getting ?.

After reading “Identity terms” I can cay that the terms/ category that best describes me in certain is “latino, latin america,latino…”. I am Latina/Hispanic woman and it is not easy being of a Hispanic background becuase people are easy to judge, especially in the U.S, in most cases as soon as someone sees a Hispanic/ latino the question of this person being legal or not rises. I love being Hispanic/Latina but people most of the time mistake where are we from for other latin countries which to some point is frustrating because it is not said in a polite way. For example my family is from Ecuador and most of the time I get mistaken for being Mexican and my friend who is Mexican is told that she looks Ecuadorian. Being told I look Mexican does not really bother me what bothers me is how some express themselves towards these countries. For example some say “all Mexican girls look the same” or Ecuadorian people and Mexican people are the same thing”. Just because we are Hispanic does not mean we are all the same, look the same, do the same. Like I mentioned every country is unique.

There are two theories that really caught my attention and interest in the article, “Feminist philosophy of language”. The first one is invisibility of women, this one stood out to me because in many cases the use of language does make it seem that men are superior than women, or even that they have accomplished more when in reality women have accomplished great thing if not more than man but the way things are said does not always benefit women. The second theory that stood out to me was sex marketing. Sex marketing stood out to me because it connects back to making women invisible and men superior, but in this case it goes a little beyond that, the example that Is used is great because it says that if someone wants to write a book review is it necessary to know, the gender and for most is no but if we make gender such a priority when it comes to these cases, if it was a man who wrote the book then the review would be great, not because the book was great but because I man wrote It, meanwhile if it were a woman then the review might not be great although the book might have been amazing.

Gender Identity Project

Gender identity Is something that has been a topic of importance for such a long time. We are assigned a sex the moment we are born, we are either born with a penis or a vagina and are consider to be a male or a female based on our body’s anatomy. From this point on society and even religion already have gender norms for men and women. Each gender has to behave and do certain things. Everyone is different some are happy with their gender either male or female while others feel like they are born in the wrong gender body and this is where gender identity is very important because it is a personal and you express those feelings by showing who you truly are and feelings comfortable with who you want to be.

Gender identity can influence everybody in different ways. In my situation I believe that what has influenced me the most is society, family  and their religious/cultural beliefs on certain norms, and my social life. Personally my gender identity is female I am considered to be cisgender because my personal identity and gender correspond with my birth sex. My sex at birth was female and I accept, love and feel comfortable with the sex I was given.

My family has influenced me because of their cultural beliefs. When it comes to cultural beliefs it is basically families customs and their views on different things. I grew up in a house hold where my grandparents had the same perspective as society has which Is that women are house wives, care takers while men are the head of the household, hard working and superior. My mom and my aunts were expected to do everything meaning, clean cook take care of younger siblings while my grandpa and their cousins went to work and everything had to be ready for them and they had to serve them. The moment my aunts wanted to work in order to pay for their education it was seen as bad and they weren’t allowed. My younger aunts had the opportunity to get an education, unfortunately my mom could not. Although my grandparents norms were very precise and strict, my mom  has shown me that women are capable of more than that. My mother is the head of the house hold and has been ever since my dad passed away and she has worked hard and cooked and clean for her kids in order to give us a better life and education. She has inspired me because now I work hard for what I want, and do and dress how I want as long I feel comfortable with myself.

While growing up, I was not only taught but also by choice to be in way “girly”, I played with dolls , my favorite colors were purple and pink which was what girls were expected to like. Meanwhile boys needed to play with cars and whose favorite color was blue. Now growing up with my brother things changed and in a social way. Since we both played whatever we wanted, for example I liked playing basketball and soccer with him and he would play with me when I wanted to play with dolls etc and this in other peoples eyes would not be right because my brother shouldn’t be playing with dolls and I shouldn’t have been playing basketball. Being judged for playing ‘boy games’ always made me feel upset because it made me happy to play those games and to be judged for it was not right.

Social life has influenced me a lot throughout the years since I have met a lot of people. Social learning theory refers to behaviors that are acquired by observing and imitating others for example I went from being “girly” into wanting to be in oversized t-shirts and sweat pants and barely putting makeup on which isn’t a bad thing but I like dressing both ways and dressing up whenever I feel more comfortable. Gender identity is said to be developing in infancy since it is parental expectations and the concept of mimicking behavior. According to Theories of sex/gender it states, “When children are positively rewarded for mimicking preferred behavior, the behaviors attached to prescribed social roles become internalized habits” . To a certain extent this Is true because kids learn when they are rewarded for behaving good and they realize that what they were punished for shouldn’t be done, but when we enter to our teen years and adulthood we socialize with other and we start liking different thing or experimenting with different things.

Societies expectations on gender roles and identities has not gotten in the way of me doing what I feel best doing. I have a boyfriend who supports me greatly and whom I help around since we live together and this to my grandparents was a surprise because they expect my man to take care of me financially and for me to do chores at home. Being able to break cultural and social norms has made my relationship stronger because we share things and have fun doing chores together and having our own personal life when it comes to work. I love being able to go to work, workout, dressing in sweats and long t-shirts no makeup or hair done sometimes, and then other times I love getting my makeup done and wearing something nice out and that all depends on what I feel most comfortable at the moment not depending on what society thinks a women should look like everyday.