Author: Srijana

Srijana Bhandari_Final Portfolio

Gender Interpretation

Today, people decide the gender of a baby even before they are born. When we ask what gender is to people, there will be the same answer of either of two sexes, male and female. But is it true? What is the gender of a person who likes both pink and blue, or the one who loves both Barbie dolls and toy guns?  Binary gender is a classification of two distinct genders, male and female. It has been the most significant issue, especially now when people deny following the social construct and move on to find themselves.

I was born into a huge family. With five sisters, including me and only one brother, anyone can imagine the importance of him, the only male bloodline after my father. Son or male bloodline was very important in my country; a son was someone who can send their parents to heaven; someone who runs the home. In our culture we burn the body of dead ones and according to the “holy book” you can only have a peaceful afterlife if your son is the one who carries out the ritual of your funeral, including burning, or if you don’t have a son any male member of the family can do and woman are not allowed to take part in any of this rituals. We can see the cultural aspects of gender as a social construct, you will need to have a son for a peaceful afterlife. Not long-ago women were also considered as an underprivileged group in our society, which brings out the social aspect of gender construct. The only thing a woman could do was grow up well and get married and leave their house so the male member or son was the future of the family, someone who will support you in your old age and someone who runs the household. We can see how the roles of two genders have been clearly divided in the name of culture and social factors of the society, most of which have ignored or have shown female deficient in comparison to males. Even in the family when our brother is not around we often have to listen to people’s questions like, “so all sisters no brother?”, “you have many daughters, it must be hard without a son”, “after all daughters are gone(married) it would have been very lonely, thankfully you have a son”. Although my family did not make us feel like we are any less important than him, our society has a clear idea of where male and females stand. With all these divisions in roles and how clearly it has been taught since childhood, we can clearly see the birth of my only brother was important.

Among all the other sisters, I was always considered a different one—someone who does not like to follow the social construct. The social construct, in this case, was gender. The social construct of gender is the theory of the cultural origin of masculine and feminine character in people. Mostly girls are expected to have feminine nature, good at cooking, cleaning, crying, or having too many emotions. I never fell into those categories. At a young age, I started living in a city with my brother; he was the only guardian I had. I do not know if it was the influence of my brother, but I was “tomboy” during my schooling years. I loved basketball, so skirts were not my thing, had more male friends than female, and was not good at expressing my emotions. I was always someone who wanted to take the lead and show myself as a strong person, which usually falls under being masculine. Even after I came to the United States of America, there was a phase in my life where I had short hair. One of the most asked questions to me at that time was whether I was into girls. I was not offended by them for asking if I like girls but annoyed by the prejudice because of my appearance. Now when I think of it nothing has changed in me except that now I wear more skirts and play less basketball, have long hair, and without any doubt, I am a woman now.

I am a woman now just by the fact that I am wearing a more feminine dress. I liked the fact that men had so much power and control. I had always seen my dad solving problems for my mom or my dad taking the lead. I wanted to be someone who can take the lead for my family, especially for my mother. And for me, as a child, it was only possible if you were a man, strong. The fact that our society is built so deeply with the concept of binary gender, that me someone who likes taking the lead and wearing pants was always thought of as being a semi-boy.

We people concentrate so much on creating categories for people who do not fall under the construct, the constructs of masculine and feminine. The gender you have been classified as during your birth also, by default, has a specific role in society. Like my father brings food, and my mom cooks. My sisters get married right after they finish their studies, but my brother looks for jobs and opportunities for self- development. Socially taught gender lines to have much influence and power over who we think we are and our gender.

A gender role, gender identity never stopped me from self-identifying myself. I was someone who decided for myself instead of falling under the social construct of gender. As a girl, I was expected to stay at home until I finished my studies and then get married. But instead, I challenged myself and applied for the United States without telling my family. It was one of my many steps to challenge the gender construct within my family.  I got into a good college and started my studies. Slowly without knowing, I became the so-called “male” of my family. I began to take responsibility for my family, and I did that, sometimes wearing pants to my work and sometimes wearing a skirt, sometimes writing with my pink pen, and sometimes carrying my blue coffee cup. Gender is a social construct that will take a very long time to change, but what we all can do is identify yourself and march towards a genderless society challenging the binary gender concept.

 

 

Gender Analysis of an Institutional Artifact

 

A social institution is a set of norms that are distinct and independent of individuals. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy, according to Seumas Miller, “the term institution and social institution are used to refer to a miscellany of social forms, including conventions, rules, rituals, organizations, and system of organizations.” Institutions are patterns of social orders focused on meeting social needs such as government, education, family, religions. Among various institutions found in all human beings, a family is one of the most important, created by blood, marriage, or adoption. Family is deeply rooted in human nature and exists everywhere. It is essential for the development and maintenance of order. Order here can connote the way things work in society, different rules which are followed, or should follow. Family plays a vital role as they shape our first step into the world.

I recently watched the movie “Little Women,” directed by Greta Gerwig. It was a big screen adoption of the novel by Louisa May Alcott with the same name, “Little Women.” This movie is a story about march sisters- four young women based in the 19th century Massachusetts. When their father is away serving in the civil war, the mother and four daughters Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth are left alone faced with poverty. In this movie, Jo March, played by Saoirse Ronan, is the protagonist, who reflects on her life, telling the story of her family and shows the present scenario of all four sisters. In the movie, Jo struggles to make a name for herself as a writer in a male-dominant New York city. The movie starts with Jo going into a publication office full of men. She introduces her writing as someone else’s to Mr. Dashwood, who sits with his leg up on the desk smoking. He takes her story after she agrees to alter things to which he later suggests that “if the main character is a girl, make sure she is married by the end. Or dead, either way.” Jo is an ambitious tomboy whose primary goal is to support her family until her sister Amy marries, someone wealthy. Amy, one of the youngest, is learning to be a lady to please herself and others around her. She is opposite to Jo, who does not like to fall under the ladyhood. Amy, accompanied by her aunt, is expected to marry someone wealthy to support her family. The oldest March sister Meg shows the character of a stereotypical woman, someone who gives up her liking for the family. She is a traditional wife who is struggling to adjust her life under her husband and children. The youngest daughter Beth, who was severely ill, dies later in the movie. The story shows the struggle of the March sister in converting from a girl to woman while Meg then finds her love and marries a professor. Amy finds her love in Laurie, Jo’s best friend. And Jo herself, who rejected Laurie being a tomboy and ambiguous, married a German professor.

The movie not only shows the character falling under gender stereotypes, but it also shows each of them directly or indirectly coming over it. The stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a category of people. They generally conform to a fixed or general pattern. A gender stereotype is an over-generalized belief of male(masculine) and female (feminine). The protagonist, Jo, is shown as a rebellion to the norms of what women should do. Her name or even the way she dresses challenges the stereotypes. Her full name is Josephine March, which gives a feminine side to her, but she prefers the name Jo which gives a masculine touch. Throughout the movie, Jo wears more of male clothes like vests, button-down shirts, blazers, and neck-scarves — a typical dress for boys in the 19th century.  Which goes against the usual dress up girls in the 19th century would do (represented through her sisters). Some of the scenes in the movie show Meg accompanying her sister Jo and asking her to behave in a certain way, do not shake a hand, do not stare, and more.  Meg was pretty and enjoyed dancing; her only dream was to get married and have a family that was different from what Jo wanted. Jo explains her feeling of regretting being a woman as she could not accompany her father in the civil war. Throughout the movie, she is someone who does not fall under the stereotype of what women had to do, job, working alone away from the family, and staying away from love and marriage. On the other hand, Theodore Laurence, Jo’s best friend and later Meg’s lover, is more into music, mostly linked with the female profession. He hangs out with all four March sisters and joins their drama club, hanging with females more than his male friends.

In the 19th century, women’s life was limited at home. The only goal in their life would be to get married and form a family, which has been taught in the family since you are small. The March sister had seen their mom living at home taking care of them while their dad was away in the war. They are said to look pretty and attend many parties where they will be able to meet boys from upper-class families and marry them. That is how I relate Little Women with gender stereotypes and with my life. Directly or indirectly, there were a lot of limitations in my life as well. I learned a lot of things through my family. Seeing my mother giving up her needs for the family’s needs has shown me the limitation I have to face being a wife and a mother. I will be expected to marry before 25 or convince my family until 27. All the incidents that I have seen in my family time and again reminds me of the limitation I must face being a woman. Stereotype also welcomes certain inequalities. Having gender stereotypes also welcomes gender inequality. Gender stereotypes like women should be working at home while males go outside to work leads to males having more opportunities in the workplace than women. Even in the movie, we can see Jo struggling to support her family and working, or even Amy struggling to make herself a lady like to marry someone rich instead of working and supporting her family. We can even talk about Meg who is worried about spending money on her clothes and worrying about finance but not working to support her family. My family not supporting my decision to study abroad and getting happy when my brother decided to move abroad shows inequality supported by gender stereotypes. I personally can also relate to the protagonist Jo, as coming from a family having five sisters, I have always been someone who reacts with impatience to the many limitations placed on women. I am ambitious and have a great sense of helping my family. I can easily compare myself to Jo as someone who is always told by my sisters to behave in a certain way.

The movie Little Women shows the struggle of gender stereotypes that remained in the 19th century but still in today’s 21st century. Through different characters, the movie shows the struggle and inequalities women face due to the stereotype of various institutions and families, which every woman can relate to. The way of how a woman is seen and what women should do always comes from the family. I was told not to wear shorts or show skin, speak softly, and help my mother in the kitchen while my brother will help my father with his work and laugh with his friend. Although I have seen most of my sister and other women falling under this institution and following the so-called rules of being women, I have always tried to challenge myself. I have helped my mother in the kitchen but also my dad with his work, looking after finance. I am outspoken and confident about myself but also have my values within me. It is up to us whether we want to follow the stereotype and forget our actual dream-like Meg or Amy or to do what you wish to and devote your time to yourself like Jo.

 

 

Informal Writing

Society has always been divided whether it is by race, gender, or class. These divisions are promoted in society and exist to show the superiority of a group of people. It has been a long-existing social construct, a division based on sex. When we say gender, everyone has the same answer, “male and female” but is it just this binary gender? Binary gender is one of the most promoted social constructs. For people to believe it and implicate it in their day to day life social institutions have created certain stereotypes and rules. The concept of “binary gender” is taught even before the baby is born. Having a gender revelation party and using specifically two colors (pink and blue) is the start of creating the loophole of binary gender. It starts from family then you go to school learning certain characteristics of what your gender should be and like and with adulthood you see and learn it in your work, which ultimately is taught to our babies later. We can see how social instructions create a loop, connected to the beginning.

Today gender has been a controversial topic. Many movements have challenged the binary concept of gender and stereotypes. Females are fighting for

equal rights and are creating their individuality in the men’s supremacy world. As mentioned in the reading Feminist Philosophy of Language, even sentences like, “Man breastfeeds his young.” claims to be gender-neutral sentences when using “man” and “his” does not make sense in the sentence. The term like “he”, “man” makes females invisible as we think of males as females when used in a sentence. Even now it is very normal to use him or he or man in a gender-neutral sentence we make rather than using her, she, or woman. You need to know the gender

of an individual to call them or talk with them, she, or he, but what about the ones who do not fall under the category?

The controversy of gender is not only created because of binary gender and its stereotype but also how that has affected the people who do not fall under this social construct. People who do not identify themselves as men or females or who do not fall under the “normal gender” category has always been suffering to know their identity in society. As stated in the reading Why Intercultural Communication Needs Transgender Studies, the term male and female are so common that trans* are always looked as an outsider. Within the binary gender female are seen less than males, but when it comes to someone who does not feel comfortable with the sex (male) they were assigned by birth are seen less than females ( who are supposedly less powerful than men ). Here we can see how the divisions in the society are created to feel supremacy and misuse the privilege of falling under the majority. Identification of yourself is more important than falling under the loop of social constructs, it is the only way someone can challenge the social construct and institutions. People were, are, and will always fight against the long-existing gender system and other constructs which is not going to abolish anytime soon, but we also cannot forget the fact that we have come a long way from it being illegal to vote by a woman or raced people to them fighting for the presidency and winning it or tans* being a disease to them having their rights and identity. The long fight of race, gender, or class will always exist, but we will always achieve something good with every step we take.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Miller, Seumas. “Social Institutions.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 9 Apr. 2019, plato.stanford.edu/entries/social institutions.

Saul, Jennifer, and Esa Diaz-Leon. “Feminist Philosophy of Language.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 21 Aug. 2017, plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-language/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Srijana Bhandari_Discussion#8

I am a girl, who has faced a lot of challenges since my childhood especially when it’s about gender equality or getting my right place at my family, among friends. I always wanted to create my own identity. So, when I had to take a writing-intensive class and got the option for the “Gender and Communication” class in this term, I was really interested in the very first place. But I had no idea how the classes would be. I still remember our first discussion of our class which was about our own introduction, that very first discussion developed a lot of thoughts in my mind. I mean all my life the way I had known who I am maybe little bit illusion, a little bit of truth, had a little bit of fact on it and more place to explore myself to create my own identity.

I have learned this from my own experience that if you enjoy what you are doing than you do not feel pressure and you actually love what you are doing that what happen to me during this class. I didn’t feel any pressure like any other class to pass or fail, instead of in every discussion post, or journal, either it’s the reading journal, or going through the discussion of my friends or writing my own discussion/journal I was exploring more of me, I was getting chance to know my classmates through their story though we physically never met. I learned as a girl we face a similar problem, as a colored people we go through different life experience, as some of my male friend’s post, I came to know that not all men mean to be same, they struggle but still remain strong. I came to know it’s not only me who had to develop this feeling of unsecured but there are individual like me who had to develop similar feelings but had to keep fighting so it motivated me to remain strong and remain who am I with proud and fight for my rights, fight for what is right and treat everyone equally. I didn’t realize until this class how unintentionally who could be making other people feel bad or make other unsecured. So, I learn to be more careful with what I do, or what I say.

My all first two paragraphs explain what I learn and that’s what I am taking from this class but one thing in particular that I had taken away from this class is to create my own identity. I learned that its vast to know yourself, but you will know in different phases, your different rule and most importantly you need to humble with everyone. Create mutual understanding either it’s male or female, colored or non, privileged or unprivileged, treat, and get treated as human. You are born as human and you have full rights to live as a human. No one can take away your identity.

This class, we have people from different backgrounds, different countries but yet we came with similar norms and values when it came to creating our identity. We shared the value of being equal, shared the thoughts of treating yourself right and other people right. Like I have mentioned earlier and also, I have made these comments on most of my colleague’s discussion posts that everyone stories have given a new lesson to learn. Has given to know-how on the same thing we can have a different perspective but still, we come to the same conclusion.

Lastly, I would like to thank you Professor Brianne for being very supportive and making us the work that helped to develop our thoughts and create our own identity. Thank you, all my classmates, for sharing your stories, which were personal and very touching. I guess I have not to share any of my fears, or what I felt even to my close friends and family but was able to do here through the discussion post and journal.

 

Srijana Bhandari_Institutional Artifact Project

A social institution is a set of norms that are distinct and independent of individuals. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy, according to Seumas Miller, “the term institution and social institution are used to refer to a miscellany of social forms, including conventions, rules, rituals, organizations, and system of organizations.” Institutions are patterns of social orders focused on meeting social needs such as government, education, family, religions. Among various institutions found in all human beings, a family is one of the most important, created by blood, marriage, or adoption. Family is deeply rooted in human nature and exists everywhere. It is essential for the development and maintenance of order. Order here can connote the way things work in society, different rules which are followed, or should follow. Family plays a vital role as they shape our first step into the world. 

I recently watched the movie “Little Women,” directed by Greta Gerwig. It was a big screen adoption of the novel by Louisa May Alcott with the same name, “Little Women.” This movie is a story about march sisters- four young women based in the 19th century Massachusetts. When their father is away serving in the civil war, the mother and four daughters Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth are left alone faced with poverty. In this movie, Jo March, played by Saoirse Ronan, is the protagonist, who reflects on her life, telling the story of her family and also shows the present scenario of all four sisters. In the movie, Jo struggles to make a name for herself as a writer in a male-dominant New York city. The movie starts with Jo going into a publication office full of men. She introduces her writing as someone else’s to Mr. Dashwood, who sits with his leg up on the desk and smoking. He takes her story after she agrees to alter things; he later suggests that “if the main character is a girl, make sure she is married by the end. Or dead, either way.” Jo is an ambitious tomboy whose primary goal is to support her family until her sister Amy marries, someone wealthy. Amy, one of the youngest, is learning to be a lady to please herself and others around her. She is opposite to Jo, who doesn’t like to fall under the ladyhood. Amy, accompanied by her aunt, is expected to marry someone wealthy to support her family. The oldest March sister Meg shows the character of a stereotypical woman, someone who gives up her liking for the family. She is a traditional wife who is struggling to adjust her life under her husband and children. The youngest daughter Beth, who was severely ill, dies later in the movie. The story shows the struggle of the March sister in converting from a girl to woman while Meg then finds her love and marries a professor. Amy finds her love in Laurie, Jo’s best friend. And Jo herself, who rejected Laurie being a tomboy and ambiguous, married a German professor. 

The movie not only shows the character falling under gender stereotypes, but it also shows each of them directly or indirectly coming over it. The stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular category of people. They generally conform to a fixed or general pattern. A gender stereotype is an over-generalized belief of male(masculine) and female (feminine). The protagonist, Jo, is shown as a rebellion to the norms of what women should do. Her name or even the way she dresses challenges the stereotypes. Her full name is Josephine March, which gives a feminine side to her, but she prefers the name Jo which gives a masculine touch. Throughout the movie, Jo wears more of male clothes like vests, button-down shirts, blazers, and neck-scarves — a typical dress for boys in the 19th century.  Which goes against the usual dress up girls in the 19th century would do ( represented through her sisters). Some of the scenes in the movie show Meg accompanying her sister Jo and asking her to behave in a certain way, don’t shake a hand, don’t stare, and more.  Meg was pretty and enjoyed dancing; her only dream was to get married and have a family that was different from what Jo wanted. Jo explains her felling of regretting being a woman as she couldn’t accompany her father in the civil war. Throughout the movie, she is someone who does not fall under the stereotype of what women had to do, job, working alone away from the family, and staying away from love and marriage. On the other hand, Theodore Laurence, Jo’s best friend and later Meg’s lover, is more into music, mostly linked with the female profession. He hangs out with all four March sisters and joins their drama club, hanging with females more than his male friends. 

In the 19th century, women’s life was limited at home. The only goal in their life would be to get married and form a family, which is taught in the family. The March sister had seen their mom living at home taking care of them while their dad was away in the war. They are said to look pretty and attend many parties where they will be able to meet boys from upper-class families and marry them. That’s how I relate Little Women with gender stereotypes and with my life. Directly or indirectly, there were a lot of limitations in my life as well. I learned a lot of things through my family. Seeing my mother giving up her needs for the family’s needs has shown me the limitation I have to face being a wife and a mother. I will be expected to marry before 25 or convince my family until 27, which is the limitation I have to face being a woman. These are the things which I expect to happen as I have seen it happening in my family. 

I can also relate to Jo, as coming from a family having five sisters, I have always been someone who reacts with impatience to the many limitations placed on women. I am someone who is ambitious and has a great sense of helping my family. I can easily compare myself to Jo as someone who is always told by my sisters to behave in a certain way. 

The movie Little Women shows the struggle of gender stereotypes that remained in the 19th century but still in today’s 21st century. Through different characters, the movie shows the struggle women face due to the stereotype of various institutions and families, which not only me but also every woman relates to. The way of how a woman is seen and what women should do always comes from the family. I was told not to wear shorts or show skin, speak softly, and help my mother in the kitchen while my brother will help my father with his work and laugh with his friend. Although I have seen most of my sister and other women falling under this institution and following the so-called rules of being women, I have always tried to challenge myself. I have helped my mother in the kitchen but also my dad with his work, looking after finance. I am outspoken and confident about myself but also have my values within me. It’s up to us whether we want to follow the stereotype and forget our actual dream-like Meg or Amy or to do what you wish to and devote your time to yourself like Jo. 

 

 

 

Srijana Bhandari_ Discussion 7

I believe we learn everything from family. To observe, to love, hate, developing feelings, or any kind of activities starts from where we grew up (Family). It’s not other factors that are going to teach us but who we are, we start to learn (Our Base) is from family. So, I have decided to choose the “Family” as a social institution for my “Gender Analysis of an Institutional Artifact”.

More or less, I believe what I have learned, or how to be treated or act, I have learned from my family. I grew up seeing my mother, grandmother, or my aunt living their life on my father, or grandfather or uncle’s decision. They all were housewives. Females in the family were supposed to cover their heads all the time in front of other males (Not included daughter though). There were thousands of rules for women but not for men in my family. Either it was a small step or big step, rules were only made for women, for example, my grandfather had 4 wives, but the rules were that all the wives were supposed to live together under my grandfather’s order. My mom gave birth to 6 of us which she didn’t want but my father and his parents wanted to have a son so my mother could not hear herself. There was a major restriction for women in my family that because of which I felt there were not themselves. Other minor rules and restrictions for women in the family were that they were not supposed to be speaking out loud, they were not supposed to eat before males in the family finish eating, women were not allowed to go to the kitchen when they have periods. But when it came about men, there was always freedom to do anything, to say anything.

I believe I have always mentioned in all my paper or discussion that the reason I wanted to be like boys despite I was born with girl sex because I learned from my family that boys are male figure is superior, they are allowed to do the stuff as they wished to and no one was really against what they wanted to do. So, I got the concept that males and females are not treated equally from my family only but nowhere else.

I have been asked not to wear shorts since I was in grade 6 because my father believed that it will drive boys attraction, I remember me wearing shorts hiding from my father whenever he used to visit us and if I happen to not aware about it then it uses to be a bigger issue. But my brother was different than what male figure was in my mind. He has proven that not every male is the same. I was in grade 12(my last year in high school), I was offered to participate in International Youth Exchange program in Malaysia but my father denied the permission but my brother supported me, paid my all the expenses and hide from my father for 14 days that I was in a school trip to a different place in Nepal (As he was a school principal) but in reality, I had flown to different countries. The reason where I am is because of my mother and my brother. My brother is 12 years older than me, so he always acted like a father figure to me. I was not restricted to play basketball in high school, I was given the choice to choose my major after my high school and so many other activities that I would not able to do if I had grown up with my father along with his family.

So, choosing a family as a social institution, I would like to talk about the issues of gender equity and gender stereotype.  I would also like to talk about the movie “little women” and its gender stereotype presentation on my  Institutional Artifact Project.

 

 

 

 

Srijana Bhandari #Discussion 6

I cannot even imagine what McDonald CeCe went through. Watching her interview and movie “Free CeCe” made me angry, towards the “Justice Systems”. For myself, I would not be as brave as CeCe if I had gone through what she had.

In the movie “Free CeCe”, when actress Laverne Cox states that” CeCe was attacked because of her race and gender. Gift for her survival was a prison sentence when she was defending herself” and she has also stated, “Anyone could be CeCe McDonald”. How strongly and clearly, she has stated how brutal was the justice system and what CeCe has to pay to defend herself. And this is true there are other hundreds and thousands of CeCe walking all over the world and anyone could be the victim for not being the gender or color or race of what actually our society has approved for.

Another thing that touched me was, being a transgender of black color was a very strong reason to make them criminals. How is that fair? And even when CeCe was being interrogated, the officer was not trying to focus on the fact that CeCe was just defending herself. And the best reason for that was it was a fight that between whites and black(transgender), the reason for fight began as white groups began with assault and whites were a privileged group so of course it gave the solid reason to anyone to make a CeCe(black transgender group) to be the criminal.

In the movie, how CeCe has explained coming from the privileged group, enjoying the places where people were murdered, or raped or punished (Especially people of black or underprivileged community) but it’s not okay for the one who has become the real victim of discrimination, being judged just because of their color or race and it’s not okay without knowing the history or what was the reality, (privileged) people enjoying those places.

In my point of view, discrimination was there in the past and it’s in the present, but this must be eradicated from our society from its root. No colored or transgender should go through what CeCe went through. No color or transgender should be given the title of a criminal. Underprivileged should not be treated with inequality. They deserve every right as a human. They deserve to live a free life. They deserve to live a respectful life. And lastly, they deserve to have their real identity.

 

Srijana Bhandari_Journal 6

Usually transgender refers to a person whose gender identity is not aligned with their assigned birth sex and seek surgical producer. In this reading, Jonson considers transgender as an umbrella term for a person who challenges long-run gender constructs. The umbrella can be defined as a power for people who identify themself as transexual, cross-dresser, same-gender-loving, intersex, and more, so she comes in an agreement that she will use trans* to represent all the people who do not fall under the gender normality. Transgender is mostly viewed as different from the binary gender. So to disrupt the normality of gender, male and female, the concept of cisgender, and cissexual are sketched. Cisgender is when a person’s assigned sex at birth corresponds with their gender identity(when the sex morphology aligns with their gender identity) and cissexual is when a person’s gender identity matches their morphology.

We can also talk about the privilege of having the same gender identity as the one assigned by birth relating it with the incident with CeCe Mcdonald. The whole incident started with the privileged group of people representing themself as normal and calling CeCe and her friends for being different from them. The phrase “chicks with dicks”, or even “‘dressed as a women’ to rape” links with the normal definition of the construct. It shows how McDonald is kept in between what she was assigned by birth and what she wants which goes against the definition of cisgender. The whole fact that McDonald was a victim was never seen as a big deal, refusing to give medical treatment, her serving in men’s prison shows the ignorance and suffering of trans*(people of color). And on the other hand excluding  Schmitz’s history of violence clearly shows cisprivilege. 

We can never deny the fact most people are usually at a disadvantage due to their race, class, gender identity. People are looked down upon not being “normal”. 

 

Srijana Bhandari_Journal 5

Usually transgender refers to a person whose gender identity is not aligned with their assigned birth sex and seek surgical producer. In this reading, Jonson considers transgender as an umbrella term for a person who challenges long-run gender constructs. The umbrella can be defined as a power for people who identify themself as transexual, cross-dresser, same-gender-loving, intersex, and more, so she comes in an agreement that she will use trans* to represent all the people who do not fall under the gender normality. Transgender is mostly viewed as different from the binary gender. So to disrupt the normality of gender, male and female, the concept of cisgender, and cissexual are sketched. Cisgender is when a person’s assigned sex at birth corresponds with their gender identity(when the sex morphology aligns with their gender identity) and cissexual is when a person’s gender identity matches their morphology.

We can also talk about the privilege of having the same gender identity as the one assigned by birth relating it with the incident with CeCe Mcdonald. The whole incident started with the privileged group of people representing themself as normal and calling CeCe and her friends for being different from them. The phrase “chicks with dicks”, or even “‘dressed as a women’ to rape” links with the normal definition of the construct. It shows how McDonald is kept in between what she was assigned by birth and what she wants which goes against the definition of cisgender. The whole fact that McDonald was a victim was never seen as a big deal, refusing to give medical treatment, her serving in men’s prison shows the ignorance and suffering of trans*(people of color). And on the other hand excluding  Schmitz’s history of violence clearly shows cisprivilege. 

We can never deny the fact most people are usually at a disadvantage due to their race, class, gender identity. People are looked down upon not being “normal”.

Srijana Bhandari_Discussion 5

I was born a girl child in a middle-class family. So lost the privileged what boys actually get in my family, extra care, love, and freedom. But I had the privilege of being born in the Brahmin Family (Brahmins are taken the highest ranking in the social classes in Nepal) though I was a girl child, people used to give more attention and respect. Being good in Math and being helpful to my colleague I had the privilege of making more friends. I grew up with my brother, so I didn’t have the privilege like my other sisters to be around my parents and get everything done . So basically, I started doing my chores when I was in grade four. I went to the Boarding school (English Medium school), so I had the privilege to learn English and understand which most of the student in my country does not who goes to the government school where English subject is not their priority. Being an immigrant(student ) I definitely do not have the privilege of what every American has, right to vote, financial aid in the school, or eligible for any kind of government facilities (especially can be felt during this pandemic) but regardless of that, I got chance to be here in the state as I come from developing countries, the privilege of going schools in the states, living an independent life, and able to represent myself in this super-competitive world which majority of people in my country are looking for.

Microaggressions are defined as common daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental communications, whether intentional or unintentional, that transmit hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to a target person because they belong to a stigmatized group (“Microaggression.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Apr. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microaggression). Born as human beings, we know that microaggression has played a major role in our society. In my point of view, knowingly or unknowingly who are kind of racist or sexist or judgmental. And I am not talking here about highly privileged people of one who have less privilege but every single individual. The best example I can give here is myself. I work in the law firms as a legal assistance/consultant, I have been working for the last 3 years, and my best friend she recently joined and works under me and there is a group of 5 people who reports to me. So, I kind of get bossy (Either while taking in the meeting or assigning the task), and my best friends outside the office have spoken to me about this behavior that I kind of don’t make people feel good. As I have to get the work done, knowingly I have to be tough among my collogues. This could be just a very minor example.

But microaggression has affected the majority of people when it comes to the social practices in our society, differences in the culture, race, religion, or caste. We can even see the large group of people who actually become the victim, just because they are not whites, or they are not from a higher group, or not very smart, or have a poor family background(financially). So, I believe its almost impossible to get rid of microaggression in the human world. It was in the past, is in the present, and will continue in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Srijana Bhandari #Journal 5

In this reading, we learn gender in a social institution. A social institution is part of the society that teaches and controls the behavior and expectations of individuals. We have usually discussed that the main reason for the gender difference is due to the stereotypical definition of gender. Where do they come from? It is as if we have been automatically installed into knowing the stereotypes of gender. If we see the 12 patterns of social institutions by sociologist Patricia Yancey Martin, gender falls under all of these patterns. Gender has been in our society for a long period, it isn’t something that just came up in one’s person mind and made a theory about it, Gender has been determined also due to the factor of sex( reproduction factor) followed by almost all human race in this world and also has been internalized as the part of one’s identity, boy or girl.

This reading talks about how discrimination regarding race and gender is always kept at a macro level (institutional level through the law, policies to enforce social norms.) Different rules or culture brings a difference between gender. Back home in Nepal, in every public bus, there is a bold announcement that particular seats are reserved for females only, or even in our constitution certain amounts of seats in parties are allocated to females and underprivileged groups of people. Someone might see this as a way to encourage them but for me, it is a way of creating more gender differences. It is a direct or indirect way of showing them in less power. It is expected from males and other upper-class people to be in politics or even be a doctor or engineer but for women and other minorities, they have to separate seats for them. I am not saying that these steps shouldn’t be taken but on the other hand, it can also be seen as institutionalized discrimination.

In Nepal, there is a caste system. Particular castes are high and are considered as students of god while others are lower caste groups or so-called untouchable. The untouchable group wasn’t allowed to touch the water or food or even the place where the so-called upper caste people live. You weren’t allowed to be friends with them and if you were caught not the upper caste, but the lower caste was killed. It was normal for a long time in Nepal, especially in village areas until a new law was introduced. It was normal for untouchable people to die and it was normal for a male to hit their wives. Violence was normal for a particular group of people.

As said, nobody is born being racist or sexist but different factors and institutions play a big role in creating social norms that they are believed and followed by people all around therefore giving the definition of so-called normal.

 

 

 

Srijana Bhandari_Discussion 4

As suggested in the reading women take a normative concept, an ideal standard. When I decided to come to the USA, I had many people questioning me and telling me, being a girl going away from your family will you be okay? I was kept in the ideal standard of what a girl should be doing, living with their parents and after a while getting married. Also, I had a lot going to identify myself in this my place due to differences in race, culture, religion, and different languages I speak. I went to school in Iowa, where you don’t see a lot of immigrants like here in New York. I was “typical immigrants”. A girl with brown skin, short height was not common where I stayed and went to school. And I would take a pause to understand the conversation or lecture taught in class as English was not my first language, and it was difficult to cope. So, I used to find myself not existing in the group of people in Iowa. Truly speaking, I would not have thought a single difference or what I went through during my childhood or when I got an adult about my identity until I joined this class. Because I used to think, like every single individual that I am female, I act like one, I come from Asia, so Asian- that’s what my identity was in the new city of Iowa, but more I am going through the lessons in this class, I am getting myself in the position to question myself, what was my identity then? Was I able to convivence people who am I? Or all the time, they had known me for my physical appearance only?

“sex making” and “Invisibility of women” were two interesting theories that I  relate mostly to my day to day life.  English, like most—but not all—languages, requires a great deal of what Marilyn Frye calls ‘sex marking’ (Frye 1983)- “Sex making theory”. I could relate this as in my country We usually don’t use it as a pronoun but end our sentences with certain words denoted for the specific gender like “cha” for male and “che” for females. But the modern language, like the one we talk back home, only includes “cha” for all gender which I guess shows maleness as a norm, but we can also see as a revolution of neutral gender. Because then we do not need to know the sex of an individual to refer to them.  Next is about “Invisibility of women” where feminist has argued that terms “he” and “man” has made the women invisibility. Ans coming from the male dominant society, I could not disagree with it. Coming from a family, where my mom has to always work her hard but were not appreciated, coming from a country where a son is taken as an important bloodline for a family, who had this strong belief that he could create a way to heaven. Girls do not exist besides working for males and making child. So, it’s obviously coming from the society where I was born a girl child, and looking for my own importance and self-identity,  I accept the concept of “Invisibility of women”.