Author: Thurmya Davis

Institutional Artifact Project (Sports Edition)

“I have often been asked if I am a woman or an athlete. The question is absurd. Men are not asked that. I am a woman and an athlete” – Billie Jean King. Sports are dominated by men. Basketball, football, soccer, baseball, race car racing, and more. Only 8 years ago (in 2012) it was announced that the first time in history all participating teams in the Olympics would have female athletes. In 2013 it was announced that fencing was the only sport that women outnumbered men; only beating them by 2 people. This is an ongoing problem in the sports community. Women in sports are overlooked and shadowed by men. The NFL was created in 1920 vs the WPFL was created in 1999 (almost 80 years later). The NBA was created in 1946 vs the WBNA being created in 1996 (50 years later). Inequality against women in sports can not be justified. Why is there is gender label on having fun, and having athletic skills? It is discrim-inatory behavior that men are automatically given access to enjoy sports, yet women have to fight for that luxury. Is this because of biological theories, brain development, psychological theory, or just biased ways?

When a couple birth’s a little boy, as the boy reached grade school is it immediately sports time. The little boy will be in little league sports such as baseball, basketball, football and more. As the little boy reaches high school, sports are supposed to fund college tuition and hopefully even become a professional career that turns the little boy into a millionaire. It is the opposite for little girls. Little girls are expected to get college scholarships by earning the best grades. A very small percentage of girls can become dancers, cheerleaders, or tennis players. Women’s basketball scholarships became available decades after men. In 1972, the Education Amendment is what made sports scholarships for women possible. This amendment states, “Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a federal law that states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance”. This was in 1972, for decades women were struggling to pay for college while men were able to receive free aid for playing sports.

 

Even though women are still struggling to get more media coverage in sports entertainment, we have come a long way. Women in sports entertainment now have women basketball, football, baseball teams and more. While women do deserve the same sell out arena’s, screaming fans, and tv coverage the main issue is the pay gap. According to Forbes, a male athlete can earn up to the least on thirteen thousand dollars per game vs the female athlete earning the least of four thousand dollars. That pay gap is nine thousand dollars, nearly ten thousand dollars which is totally unfair. Just last year Forbes released an article titled “Why Females Athletes Earn Less Than Men Across Most Sports”. According to this article, tennis is the only sport that women earn the same amount of money, sometimes more. As stated previously, remember that tennis is typically looked at as a feminine sport (in society). In 2018, nine out of the ten highest paid female athletes were tennis players. Another piece of evidence that tennis is sought out to be a sport for females; what about women who play professional basketball, football, baseball, swimming, track, and more? The average salary in the WBA in 2018 was a hundred thousand vs the NBA being thirty million dollars; completely insane. The media’s reason for this is because society prefers to watch and spend money on sports that have male athletes.

It is true, is it not much sports companies can do if society prefers male athletes. So this is in issue in society. I believe this is a mixture of biological theories, brain development, psychological theory, and just biased ways. It is true that biologically men are typically more aggressive and competitive which are both required to play professional sports. Brain development plays a role in this discrimination because since men typically have these biological traits, women are were used to forcing themselves to not like certain activities because it wasn’t “lady like”. Similar to brain development, psychologically women will subconsciously think they would not enjoy a sport because of the aggression, competitiveness, or even getting dirty. All three of these theories caused bias ways, and gender discrimination within sports. Even though we have mad great progress, we still have so much work to change the bias way of thinking to give women athletes the attention and pay they deserve.

Discussion 6

I watched the interview with “Free CECE”. It was great here from a perspective of a trans person because I got to understand the emotional part, mental thoughts, and just overall the feelings of trans people. I want to start talking about how Cece said she did not know what activist was at one point. Admitting this conveys that knowledge is power. Lack of knowledge or lack of wanting to understand different perspectives/ideas is what the problem we have in society. I also love Cece’s story because it shows why black people, and specifically black women are afraid to protect themselves. So we live in world that doesn’t protect us, and we cant even protect ourselves or else we go to jail. This is a big issue in society right now.

Reading Journal 4

In today’s reading, one term that really stuck out to is cultural ideology. I like this term because it explains why the majority of racist people are racist or discriminate. In summary, it is all about how one is raised. If one is raised to be loving, fair, kind, and understand variety and differences than he will most likely continue to be that way. Racism and discrimination is usually taught. Racist come from other racist. People who discriminate based of sexual preference usually come from anti-homosexual backgrounds or cultures. Some examples of cultural ideology is children automatically expected to receive their dad’s last name, or football teams only for men. Cultural ideology also play a huge role in some microaggressions. In today’s second reading, I believe the reason the African American boy was offended because as an African American sometimes people are surprised how intelligent and articulate we are. The young man most likely thought the professor was mocking him instead of giving a real compliment or praise. Personally, I’ve experienced this kind of microaggression plenty of times. Growing up a lot of my peers would tell me I sound “white” or talk like I’m “white”. In other words, they were telling me I sound too educated or too articulate. As an African American woman it is sometimes degrading for someone to compliment my speaking skills because usually people don’t tell a white person how articulate they are because its expected.

Discussion 5

This video about privilege is very touching. I loved the physical representation that visually shows us what privilege is. Immediately when I thought about how privilege affected me, I thought well I am a black woman who comes from a poor family… not very privileged. When I watched the video and heard all the questions that were being asked, yes, I had to take a few steps back but there were plenty of questions that did not apply to me a well. I never realized that my mother having health insurance for her family because of her job (police officer) was a privilege. I never realized my mother buying me books, or taking me on vacations was a privilege. Even though I had to take out a student loan, I never realized that college was a privilege. This exercise definitely opened my eyes to being grateful for what we take for granted, and to be mindful that others don’t have these privileges. One example of microinvalidation that ive experienced is people telling me its no way I am fully black because of my hair texture, or always telling me I have “good hair”. This is a perfect example of a microinvalidation because is reflects on their self esteem which shows they are not happy or content with their own hair texture.

Discussion 4

I really enjoyed reading about Identity Terms because it is always interesting to learn different perspectives. Some of these terms are well known as being rude terms. Some of these terms I never guessed would be considered rude. The first terms that I found interesting was “people with disabilities vs disabled people”. These two terms being compared was not a huge surprised but it was new to me that disabled people is considered rude. It is normal for someone to correct another person when they say someone is disabled. Sometimes a response would be “He/she is not disabled, they are normal”. This response is tell others not to separate “normal people” and “people with disabilities”. Now I understand that calling someone else disabled is seen more harsh than saying a person may have a disability. The second set of terms that really shocked me were “Third world vs Global South”. Ive always thought “third world country” was just a general name for poorer countries. Poorer countries is never anything to make fun of, but the truth is they do have limited resources. Ive never heard of the terms “Global South”. Now I understand that terms like “Third world country” can be seen as saying the world “ghetto” which is not excepted in all societies. False gender neutrality is interested to me because feminist strongly a fighting for woman who are overlooked. When I think about it, what is the reason for referring to a woman as “man” or she as “he” when its just a matter of a few missing letters that can added to the word. One example of false gender neutrality is the word “Policemen”. Even though there are both women and men in police departments, the common term is “PoliceMEN”.

Gender Identity Project Draft

I just wish they would get to know me. I just wish they would of actually gave me a chance. Is it my fault that my presence intimidates them without me even trying? It is right to exclude me because I may be a tad bit different than the others? These are the questions I think about when I think about the experience that changed my life. I like that this class is not only about the scientific version of gender. I appreciate that we learn that factors such as race and social class can play a role in gender discrimination. This experience that changed my life includes me being discriminated against based on all of these factors.

My gender identity is one of being a young black women. I believe my gender identity is based on biological theories, brain development, and psychological theories. Learning that there are many other factors that contribute to gender roles has given me an appreciation for others ideas and feelings as it pertains to gender. I will be discussing how biological theories, brain development, and psychological theories are some of the top factors that influence my gender, and why I most likely experienced the discrimination that I have.

I like to wear my hair in a variety of ways. Different textures, colors, and lengths. I like my nails long most of the time, sometimes I want neutral colors, sometimes I want bright colors. I naturally have a strong presence, yet I am balanced. I am confident. I speak up, I am the person to raise my hand when no one does. I stick up for myself, I do not let people run all over me. Unfortunately, all of my qualities stem from being a black woman. I say unfortunately because these qualities should not be assigned to only black women. Because of our oppression, these qualities are then considered ghetto, or intimidating. So, on top of me being African American I’m a woman as well? What a double threat, not only for others but for me as well. Because of this I have to conform to others idea of what professional looks like. I have to mellow out my personality to fit in with others. I am the outsider when I am in environment that usually do not accept many of my kind.  This type of environment do not accept different personalities, and creativity. Yet this type of environment promotes diversity, and inclusion.

My biological make up says I am a woman of African decent. So I do things that girls do with the influence of black culture. I wear cornrows, I embrace my curl pattern, I cant help that my lips are big or my hips spread. The walk I have is strong, it comes from my black mother. I cant help that either. My brain development comes from what I grew up around. Growing up in the time of 1998-2020, times did drastically change in front of my eyes. Ideas of gender, racism, technology, and more grew drastically as I grew into a young woman. I’ve watched same sex marriage become legal (which is great for equality), I have watch flip phones turn into smart phones. Because of smart phones, I’ve watched along with millions of other people live footage of racism. My generation have seen the ideal body type change from slim and tall to thick, very thick. Even facial features have standards; big lips, small noses, chiseled cheek bones, perfect teeth and more. It is so easy to be influenced by society’s standards, this is a mixture between brain development and psychological theories.

“Gender identity is our internal experience and naming of our gender. It can correspond to or differ from the sex we were assigned at birth…This core aspect of one’s identity comes from within each of us. Gender identity is an inherent aspect of a person’s make-up. Individuals do not choose their gender, nor can they be made to change it. However, the words someone uses to communicate their gender identity may change over time; naming one’s gender can be a complex and evolving matter. Because we are provided with limited language for gender, it may take a person quite some time to discover, or create, the language that best communicates their internal experience. Likewise, as language evolves, a person’s name for their gender may also evolve. This does not mean their gender has changed, but rather that the words for it are shifting” (Gender Spectrum). I really like this piece of writing from Gender Spectrum because it conveys to its audience that a persons identity is to be respected. This piece of writing recognizes the shift that is happening in this world due to gender identities. Just as I expect respect because I identify as a black woman, the same goes for anyone no matter how they identify.

Legs Need to toned, but also needs to be thick. Need to be shaved. Used for walking, walk with purpose. Hate cuts or blemishes on them, want them to look flawless.

 

 My feelings that my legs need to be shaved definitely come for society’s norms! Me not wanting blemishes on my legs is a preference but I also feel like it’s not lady like (which stems from society norms as well). The way I envision my goals for my legs is preference. I am body positive and appreciate all body shapes.

 

 Biological theory. Social learning, cultural elements.

 
Hands Want them to be smooth. Nails always have to be done. Strong but not masculine.

 

 I absolutely love having my nails done because I like them to look good but I also feel like it’s very lady like to always have your nails down (which again comes from society norms). However, I do feel like it’s important for men to groom their nails as well. I also want to have strength but I don’t want my hands to looks masculine because I want to remain feminine.

 

 Biological theory. Social learning, cultural elements.

 
Butt Want it to be a nice size, but not sloppy. Need to get rid of cellulite, also want my stretch marks gone. Want my muscles to be toned but not hard like a rock.

 

 These are just preferences of how I want to look.

 

 Biological theory. Social learning, cultural elements.

 

Majority of my embodied communication does not comply with the command purpose because all of my reasoning are superficial. One example of me refusing a command purpose is when I work out without gloves and calluses begin to form on my hands. I do not like the look and I think it is not lady like. This is an example of cultural elements and biological theories that shaped my way of thinking. Mainly cultural elements because it is based on preference.

Journal Entry 3

Thurmya Davis

Gender Communication

June 4th 2020

 

Journal Entry 3

 

“People share common nature, but we a trained on gender roles”. I decided to utilize this quote for today’s journal entry in light of the fact that I agree that humans are trained depending on their sexual orientation. While I am still a believer in there being two genders, I do recognize that society has forced elements on human depending on your gender. Who said pink is for girls, and blue is for girls? There are many examples of this and it definitely makes it harder for parents and children as children start to develop their own likes and interests.

 

Predominately going off of facts, men brains are typically bigger than female brains. This chapter reminded us to not over analyze everything and to actually see things for what it is. Men are typically bigger than woman so that why their brains are a bit bigger, simple! However, it is not about how big the brain is, it is about how our brains are made to make us act certain ways and possess specific traits. Studies prove that women and men brains have differences physically and mentally. I think it is only right to acknowledge that two different species will act in two different ways. What causes the debate is the fact that a percentage of men and women act differently then what science say they should.

 

Regarding this chapter, the author enlightens us that the brain commonly develops in one of three ways: biological, psychological, or cultural. I totally agree with this because biologically the brain is going to cause a child to do certain things because of their chemical makeup. Psychological experiences can change the develop of a child’s brain because their brains are still learning and developing (this can cause change in a child’s interests). Cultural elements and experiences can also influence a child. For example, if a girl child is raised by two mothers than it is a strong possibility that she will accept same sex relations.

Journal Entry 2

Thurmya Davis

Gender Communications

June 1st 2020

 

Journal Entry 2

 

“Individually we are one drop. Together we are an ocean” – Ryonosuke Satoro. I chose this quote because today’s reading is collectively about how society norms separates us. I agree with this chapter because division is our number one weakness and oppressor at this moment, and actually since the beginning of time. We are not only divided by gender, we are divided by race, class, careers, and culture. While I do understand and agree with some parts of “division”- such as different culture practices- I do believe that it is absolutely wrong to divide people and treat them wrong because of how they identify (whether that’s gender, race, or class). Binary systems is a system that I do agree with because to me it is just evident that we all are different; men are different than woman, black is different than while, high class is different than low class but that doesn’t mean its okay to discriminate against each other!

 

Adding on to my idea of discrimination, I want to give an example on how I think. For example, I see nothing wrong with the idea of “men bring home the bacon” and women take care of the kids. On the other hand, I see nothing wrong with the opposite. The point is, why discriminate? Different things work for different people. In addition to that theory, I agree with today’s reading that discriminating careers are wrong. Men should be able to be elementary school teachers, care givers, etc. However, I still agree that it is natural nature for women to know how to nurture a child. Moral of the story is I am always going to look at most situations with a 50/50 mindset.

 

That same mindset applies to how I feel about gender. I believe gender is a part of a person that cannot be change. Just as a person cannot change their DNA make up (race), or what family they were born into. Yes, we can identify as different things, but facts are facts. If I wanted to identify as Indian, could I? Well now that I identify as Indian, am I considered Indian even though I may be a full blown Italian? In my opinion, I do not think so. I believe that there are somethings about ourselves that cannot be changed, and I am okay with that. I am also okay with others disagreeing and living their life in which ever makes them happy. No matter how one identifies we should not allow gender, race, class, or culture divide us. ❤

Discussion #1

I chose the Genderbread Person as what I would use to explain gender to someone. This is because I love the fact that is recognizes that gender is real, but love and how a person feels in their heart is what matters.

 

The two groups I am choosing to talk about that is on my picture is “Equality” and “Bold”. I chose equality because I am very expressive about being equal in every way shape and form (in our careers, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, and more). I chose “Bold” because I am known to be outspoken even if my view is an unpopular opinion.

These two characteristics influence how I act because I find myself having to stick up for myself a lot of the time.

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