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Final Portfolio

Hello everyone, My name is Kulah Love Massaquoi, I am currently attending the Borough of Manhattan Community College majoring in Business Financial Management. I anticipate gaining my Associate Degree in Financial Management and transfer to a four-year college for my bachelor’s in Business Administration. The reason I want to earn a bachelor’s or a master’s degree is to gain a better understanding of what it takes to manage a business and help me at being successful. I am originally from a West African country called Liberia.   My goal is to be an international business owner and banker. I decided to study business because growing up as a little girl I always had to take things to sell. When I sold those things, I realized that my products were meeting people’s needs and I was rewarded for it so I fell in love with the business, and nothing has changed since then. I also choose this job because as a business owner you can be the one in control to build things, help people, change the world, and have a good and flexible lifestyle and to manage in selling and buying goods as the owner of a business or banker. I graduated from the class 26 Year Up program. I join the program to build my professionalism and learn more about the business world since I am a business student and want it to be a part of my success in life. I register for this class to be able to have good communication skills and to know about the different types of gender. Additionally, I was told by my advisor to register for this in order to have all my requirements for graduation this summer. Watching the video was very important because it makes me understand that when we hear about gender and communication we should not always think of sex, but race and ethnicity, and then to have a love for each other no matter what partners do to one another. 

I really enjoy the videos that I watched and the readings I learned that everyone has a different identity. It’s very important that we take life interesting and significant. As the first video “Be a Man”  talks about the type of level that lives have to offer to each and every one of us. According to some of the readings that were assigned I learned about the importance of women’s gender, sex, and sexual identities. When a person is born, they are characterized by chromosome me, organs, or hormones. It is important that we know that whenever the doctor is referring to the sex of a person, we should always know that he is talking based on physical appearance. Gender identifies us as male and female in social life. Identity has automatically been assigned during childbirth. We are assigned labels as girls or boys based on genitalia. While the term “sex” refers to someone’s sexual anatomy and has a biological distinction between male and female. Such genitalia and genetic differences tell us when a baby girl is born that she is female or a baby boy is born male. Gender is based on fact or condition of belonging to or identifying with a particular gender. We can express our sexuality through our thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behavior, practice, roles, and relationships towards people. It varies based on identity physical, emotional, and romantic attraction. I believe sexuality can be identified in so many ways like homosexual, heterosexual, pansexual, demisexual, bisexual, and straight sexuality are a part of a massive spectrum and can’t truly be minimized by society’s idea of it. All of these tell us about the sexual orientation of a person. The binary makes us understand that these identities are not the same for everyone. It is important to know the difference between when and where to use the proper terms and how to respect gender, sex, and sexual identity. Though my understanding is limited, I plan on learning to express the perspective view of how sex, gender, and sexual orientation is important. I personally identify with my physical sex and gender-based on societies view on what female is. In the beginning, my idea of gender sex and sexual identity was all interchangeable and I really had no distinction. I have a feeling that this class will help me see the difference and help communicate and understand the complexity and spectrum of such. Another article discusses western culture views on body types and stereotypes that are associated with them. From what I understood it seems the concept of the female body is political. Because of social policies, the power in which our bodies hold is regulated by the standard of beauty, weight, race and etc. These regulations give us an unhealthy idea of what the human body is to look like. Society has a standard of the “ideal beauty”. As humans, we struggle over the degree of individual and social control of our bodies. The body can be socially and is physically strong based entity and inequality. Social constructs create the norms of our culture and can be determined through our looks, expression, impressions, and really discipline before it reacts to things. According to professor “Rosalind Gill” in 2007, she stated that men have joined women in what she calls the “body culture” – an obsession with shaping “the body beautiful”

Throughout the readings I see both genders deal with unrealistic body expectations. Men deal with it differently and often question their own masculinity because of these ideas. Both men are constantly looking for validation or their beauty to be recognized. “Men, like women, increasingly define themselves through their bodies. and gay men tend to be more aware of this than straight men (Gill, 2017). men’s bodies were barely (pun intended) noticed by critical researchers. but they are increasingly being used in advertising to sell products. Although men’s poses differ from women’s (Gill, 2017; Jhally, 2009), all tend to represent idealized young adult images of binary masculinity and femininity, and all are increasingly eroticized.” For women specifically, we’ve been conditioned from the womb to look “sexy”. It’s advertised from childhood on up. “Girls do not have to be in a beauty pageant to internalize sexualization girls’ group of606- to9-year-old girls in the Midwest found the sexualized paper doll as their ideal self (68%) and the doll that would be popular (72%: Starr & Ferguson, 2012). Researcher Christy Starr said, “Although the desire to be popular is not uniquely female, the pressure to be sexy in order to be popular is” (cited in Abbasi, 2012, paras 6-7). Not all the girls chose the sexualized doll as their ideal self: Girls who took dance classes, had maternal influences that did not self objectify, had been taught to view media critically, and/or were raised with strong religious beliefs were more likely to choose the doll with more clothing as 

their ideal self.”  This destructive structure needs to be restructured in every way possible to make it all-inclusive and accepting. Growing up in my culture body-shaming is normalized. The subtle jabs cut like. A knife but I just power through. Comments like “Oh, you put on weight” or the backhanded comments “You look good you just need to lose the gut” made me cringe but I saw nothing wrong with it. I hear those comments being said to other women. I see this personally and I’m learning daily that it needs to change.   Me being part of this class l understand that word privilege is described in so many ways. According to  Oxford, dictionary privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. While watching the video the word privilege is described to have advantages and disadvantages that identify each and every one. The video stated that some people have a privilege to be born with wealth, while others struggle to be better people in society. I know from the video that some people may not have full control over privilege. I believe people should always find a way to make the impossible to be possible.  I also understand that privilege has had an impact on my life and I remember as a young child going through a lot of setbacks. For example, when I first entered this country people took advantage of me. I didn’t have the same upbringing and cultural understanding as my American counterparts. I have an accent that sounded different which at times made communicating a little difficult. There was a vast difference between me and the Americans I went to high school. I had to assimilate to the way things were done here. I didn’t get the slang so I was made to feel different. Aside from being born in Africa, I had to deal with racist behavior from uninformed white people. I had to deal with the stem of certain opportunities that I was passed over. I am now starting to understand the line of disparity between rich, middle class, and poor. Opportunities I have worked hard for were belittled do to people speaking of “affirmative action”. This was when I understood that certain social privileges I  thought I had I didn’t. What I now understood is I have to work 2x as hard to be given privileges that some people are not afforded and yet still it’s not a privilege. What I have gained on “privileges” is that the only privilege I have is moving to America to better my life. I believe I have to travel, educate, finance, and increase my experience as a Liberian American woman in order to understand what privileges I have to use and better my country. I always try my best to be independent and a better person. I put full effort into everything I do. I know that I don’t have privileges but I will take opportunities otherwise not given to me. Furthermore, I will be discussing how the media influences people and how individuals perceive themselves and the world at large. The different types of media include movies, radio, and television shows. The media influence people either consciously or unconsciously regarding how they should view and interact with the male and the female gender. This essay examines gender representation in movies by looking at the portrayal of characters in Sex, and City season 1 and 2. The results reveal that male subordination is evident in today’s films and following the notion of social constructivism such images of gender representation are affecting the perception of viewers on what a woman or a man is. The term Social constructivism is the idea that concepts, definitions, social order, and what is the right or wrong change from time to time as meaning are created through interactions and relationships between people (Popa et al. 1103).  Representation of gender in the media is the use of language to depict men and women differently and in a way that conforms existing statements about gender and proper rules of talking about gender (Scharrer 442).  Gender traits and gender stereotypes are socially constructed and generalized beliefs about what it means to be a man or a woman (Popa et al. 1102). A gendered film depicts women as having acceptable feminine traits such as submissive, physically weak, dependent, nurturing, follower, physically attractive, accepting advice, and ashamed, while men are physically strong, give advice, with a higher economic status, perpetrator, problem solver, leader and independent.

Representation of Female Characters

Analysis of the personalities of men and women as depicted in Sex and City 1 and 2 is instrumental in understanding how language is applied to create different representations of men and women. Carrie is the central character that falls in love with Mr. Big after coming to New York to look to big love. Another character, Charlotte, is depicted as a woman who is on the lookout for a perfect husband and family. She is also shamed for openly talking about sex. The third woman, Miranda, struggles with maintaining balance motherhood, wife, and having a successful career. Another character, Samantha, is depicted as a woman who doesn’t care about how other people perceive her and doesn’t shy away from having open discussions about sex. However, she is concerned about looking young, and despite being successful, she can do anything to keep her youth.

Overall, women in Sex and City 1 and 2 are represented to have an obsession with their physical appearance. They work extremely hard to look beautiful by applying makeup, wearing styled clothes, and having styled hair. Also, women in the movie are portrayed to be always on the search for husbands or boyfriends to fulfill their love life. the portrayal is informed by the stereotype of women as dependent on men.  Representation of Male Characters Mr big is described as a very rich man who remains in a relationship with Carrie for about ten years. The masculinity traits of men as being more financially stable and problem solvers are evident in how Mr. Big buys Carrie expensive clothes and help her in finding solutions to her problems. Another character, Steve, the husband to Miranda, is very much bothered my Miranda being too focused on her work instead of concentrating on her role as mother and wife. A third character, Harry, is a perfect husband for Charlotte as he is economically stable, independent, and ambitious and financially takes care of her and their daughter. The fourth man, Samantha’s boyfriend, Smith, receives a lot of support from Samantha. Smith is always at work and has little time for Samantha, which annoys her and makes her feel trapped.  Overall, all the male characters are represented as independent and having a strong economic status. It is apparent to a large extent that female characters depend on the male characters emotionally, physically, and even economically. The male characters also wear male clothes to emphasize their masculinity (Scharrer 442). Vitally, the males in the movie receive support from their women, and they are not concerned with looking attractive and young as the women. Steve is the only male character who depicts feminine traits of having emotions. Impact of the Message on Creating, Maintain, or Changing Understandings of Gender

The gender-specific features explored in the movie reinforce the existing gender system about what a woman and a man are and serve as examples of how men and women should behave while relating to each other. For instance, women are represented as working towards attaining the highest level of beauty, and such reinforces the socially constructed view that physical appearance is critical for women. Again, Sex and the City also create understandings about how modern women should behave. Despite being an independent woman, Samantha does not challenge the gender power structure in some aspects. For instance, she still depends on a man for love and even supports Smith in his career. The movie shows that the modern woman though economically independent should still uphold the traditional female traits of being supportive to men, dependent and emotional, and should feel ashamed if their relationships do not work. To some extent, the film challenge existing stereotypes by portraying women as financially independent and Samantha as taking control of her sexuality. The depiction of Steve as having feminine traits of having emotions shows that men as well can be feminine. Possibilities from the Findings and their Meaning. Although the movie depicts women as having some similar characteristics with men such as being employed and financially independent, men are still represented as the subordinate gender. Despite the progress on an international level regarding the acceptance of women’s rights, the same is not presented in its full potential in the movie, Sex and the City 1 and 2. It means that gender roles that viewers are presented with on a daily basis are lagging behind in showing improved images of gender equality. Furthermore, Artifact for analysis is a television sitcom “Sex and the City” that premiered in 1998

My focus is on season 1 and 2 and I have picked three concepts from the readings on gender in institutions that I believe apply to this draft are:

  1. Social Constructivism
  2. Gender representation
  3. Gender stereotypes 

The concepts help highlight how women are perceived in society. Although I initially thought that the artifact was a source of entertainment, looking at it again from the eye of the identified concepts helps bring out the societal problems regarding the portrayal of women in society. As a television series that gained a large TV audience since its first airing in 1998, it became clear that such popularity is also closely linked with how it represents our understanding of gender.  The level of promiscuity of the women, obsession with beauty, and the urge to depend on no man show the struggles to shake away social constructs on what a woman should or should not do. The men in the television series are also seen to be domineering over women, a fact that brings out the stereotype as well as the gender representation in the society. The gender relations, which only served as entertainment, was actually demonstrating how men should be in control, with the women being beautiful to seek approval from men. Overall I couldn’t really relate or find me nor the people around me in these terms except for maybe one. While others might identify me using one of these terms when it comes to my race and county of origin, I have never personally done it. Although black people here in the United States are often referred to as Colored, People of color, or even African American, I do not refer to myself as such nor do any members of my community. I am originally from Liberia and take a lot of pride in my origins. I consider myself African, Liberian to be specific nothing less, and nothing more. It has always struck me that there is even this need to separate people here into so many groups, that often instead of uplifting, belittle them. Growing up in Liberia, I did not pay much attention to the color of my skin or what it could mean somewhere else. I was just me but as soon as a person is here in the United, they must fit in a box. Not a box that brings people together but rather marginalizes them. When we categorize people back where I’m from, let’s say with tribes, it’s to highlight and celebrate the difference in culture, never to bring one human lower than another. Before any separation, we see ourselves as equal humans and African. One of the theories of the “Critical work on language and the philosophy of language” in the reading about the “ Feminist philosophy of language “ that caught my attention is the Metaphor. It is an aspect of language often without foundation that is constantly used to belittle

women and justify sexist behaviors. I have for the longest seen a post on social media, translated in many languages, rewritten as a meme or simply a status, that has been widely accepted for the

sexuality of women compared to men. Although without any logical sense, this metaphor encourages distorted views regarding women and the majority doesn’t even question it. A lot of people find this as a justification for men to be promiscuous or it’s used to shame women’s sexuality. Human genitals have very little to do with a lock and a key, how can we base a conclusion about us from two objects I asked myself. Gendered metaphors are used daily by men and women alike from more sophisticated discussion to the most common ones; direct or indirectly. The take away from them is that they hurt us. They encourage bigotry and sexism!

Jhulio Vargas Final Portfolio

Jhulio Vargas Gender Identity Project

I was brought up in a typical Hispanic family, with both parents and two siblings; however, I feel that my family was more of a conventional one, where certain things, and tasks were obviously reserved for men while others were meant for women. For instance, my father was seen as the breadwinner and my mother as the homemaker. While both parents were actively involved in family matters, I mostly viewed each one of them based on their respective roles, authority and the differences which they had. Looking at this, I believe that the manner in which my family is structured is partly responsible for the development of my unique gender identity, right from childhood. Also, I believe that since none of us had a choice on how our genders will turn out to be, the society needs to understand that being male or female is all about the social forces involved in identifying with a certain gender (Foss et.al, 5). With todays’ civilization, it’s unfair to still use societal stereotypes that have been constantly passed from one generation to the other to determine one’s gender. Instead, people need to understand that gender can be constructed through factors such as race and social class, and still influence the experiences and expectations of someone.

Thanks to my educational exposure, I am in a better position to understand the subject of gender formation. For instance, I now realize that some of the experiences which I had as a child were clearly meant to help me understand myself. It is funny but I remember my mother telling me things like; ‘Stop crying, and be a man!’ but I always thought that she was teasing me; however, I Recently realized that such words were not just a consolation, but they were meant to indirectly communicate something to me-a man is not expected behave that way. Then when I look at how some girls my age were treated whenever they hurt themselves, I realize that how people see themselves is clearly dependent on their experiences as children (psychological theory). For instance, people grow up observing how girls were reserved to do certain things while boys were to do the other things (Social learning). They include how to walk, the clothes to wear, the sports to associate with, how to talk, how to sit, the movies to watch or even the music to listen to. In short, it’s not always about the biological characteristics; it’s also about the cultural and social factors that affect how one’s gender is constructed.

Personally, I never got to understand that gender is not always about being male or female till I was all grown. The subject of gender binary is something that most parents have failed to educate their children while they are growing up. When it comes to sexuality, people should be free to say they fall under the ‘others’ because they do not identify with being male or female. Still, children need to be exposed as early as possible to enhance their sexual orientation in a way that they can grow up feeling comfortable with themselves (Foss et.al, 12). Through the same exposure, children can perceive gender and sexuality in the most appropriate ways. Apart from that, the theories of gender/sex also have an impact on how a person can identify with a certain gender, including justifying the features that they have. For example, theories help people understand that one is either born male or female; they go through different experiences that trigger internal development and based on their culture, their genders are viewed quite differently. Even with that, I feel that in order to create a better world, children should be raised knowing that being male or female does not restrict one to behave in a certain way.

Works Cited

Foss, Sonja K., Mary E. Domenico, and Karen A. Foss. Gender stories: Negotiating identity in a binary world. Waveland Press, 2012. pp. 1-29

Sue, Derald Wing. Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

Institutional Artifact Project

The marriage institution allows for a platform to analyze the subject of gender. When it comes to marriages, therefore, most people prefer making it official through a sacred ceremony and special ritual commonly referred to as a ‘wedding’. The religious wedding ceremony is an artifact that has existed within us for decades, probably one that often illustrates the meaning of sexual relationships and behaviors among humans. Nonetheless, while the manner in which religious wedding ceremonies are conducted has dramatically changed over the years, they still offer the opportunity for people to reflect on the topic of gender in general. For instance, this is a ceremony where both men and women play different roles; they put on different attires and they are each expected to behave in a certain manner. When one looks at gender, in reference to anything, it does not always mean just the women, it also means looking at how different things are done out of the experience of being a man or a woman (Kang 11).  For instance, in a gay wedding ceremony couples of the same sex who play quite the same roles; they put on almost the same attires and they are assumed to be the ‘same’ since they are of the same sex. When one looks at gender in reference to such weddings, it does not always mean being a man or a woman, it also means looking at how different things are done out of the experience of being a man or a woman (Kang 11). In that light, this essay provides a sexed/gendered analysis of the ‘religious wedding ceremony’ as an institutional artifact. Applying gender lens to the artifact of the religious wedding ceremony illustrates that men and women are socially accustomed to occupy dissimilar roles, expectations and challenges that allow them to be treated differently thereby creating biases, barriers and indifferences, lessons that people can learn when it comes to redefining gender roles

The artifact and its context

A religious wedding ceremony is an artifact that remains quite symbolic for different people and regions across the world. Traditionally, it was said to be a ceremony that was more of a spiritual celebration meant to bring the people together as a symbol of sharing life forever. For such a ceremony to happen, the couple must not just be strong in faith and religion, they are also required to enroll in pre-marital counseling and attend services occasionally before the actual wedding day. Usually, such weddings are associated with artifacts such as a white wedding dress, music, an album, vows and flowers. The selection and meaning of these particular artifacts in any typical religious wedding make the event appear quite sacred for those involved. In such a wedding ceremony, the couple is also expected to say the ‘Till Death Do us Apart’ wedding vows, exchange rings, unify the event, sign a marriage license, declare that they are officially married and then head out to the reception. So, during the entire time from the ceremony to the reception, a religious wedding is one that is fully governed by certain traditional customs that are often handed down from generation to generation.

For gay couples, a wedding ceremony as an artifact remains quite symbolic for different people and regions across the world. Same-sex ceremonies often come up with different ways to change what the crowd thinks when it comes to a traditional ceremony. Such ceremonies do not always do things the same way as opposite-sex couples’ wedding, particularly when it comes to walking down the aisle, choice of song, speeches, labels and displaying affection to the crowd. Whereas there are those who think that planning such a wedding can be reasonably difficult, this is one ceremony that always turns out to be beautiful right from the procession to the reception.

How the artifact helps understand the aspect of gender

While attending a religious ceremony, irrespective of whether it is a gay wedding or one between a man and a woman, it is easy to notice how certain things that actually happen in the event reflect on the aspect of gender. Traditionally, weddings between a man and a woman were said to be highly-gendered when it comes to the expectations and roles played by both genders. For instance, when it comes to stereotypical gender roles, the bride is expected to wear a white dress, carry a bouquet of flower and take her husband’s name, while the man is expected to wear a suit and ask the bride’s father’s permission (DeFrancisco et.al, 133). These practices have grown tremendously, and are now very common among people; this is so, that they tend to be assumed as very important and necessary in the ceremony. It is true that there are alternatives to most of these conservative wedding artifacts, ones which people need to consider. For instance, while the white dress might currently be a standard artifact, it was just introduced by Queen Victoria back in the 19th century and does not have to be a norm. Customarily, the bride is expected to wear white as a symbol of purity and innocence on her wedding day, a color that may not necessarily portray who they are. Then there is also the aspect of handing off the bride to the groom by her father that often happens in conventional weddings till date. Men often find it respectful to acquire the bride’s father’s blessings before legalizing the marriage, but others would rather view it as an outdated practice that needs to stop. Interestingly, the same weddings are said to be the ‘bride’s day’ as though the man is not to be fully involved or honored as much as the woman.

On the other hand, in a gay wedding the ceremony portrays the values of the couple, including who they are. This makes same-sex wedding ceremonies different; not just because they are based on the couple’s creativity, but also because they lack a specific guideline to be adhered to.  Whether it is a lesbian or a gay ceremony, there are a number of ways in which the couple may decide to walk down the aisle. For example, the couple may walk together, one partner may do it first then the other follows or the couple can have more than one aisle. So, with the gay-wedding ceremony, who walks down the aisle, who waits for the other or who makes the speech may not necessarily matter.

By viewing the artifact of religious wedding ceremony using the aspect of gender, I realize that most of the things which happen in weddings remain intensely gendered. Arguably, weddings are good, but they tend to portray different genders in a certain way. For instance, feminists would argue that certain traditions need to be done away with, to reduce the many barriers that are created in the process. Through the traditional wedding gown, a woman is restricted to wear white on ‘her day’ even though it does not reflect on her personality. Still, the same woman is handed over from her father to her husband as though she is a burden or property (Foss 16). While the other traditions such as the standing ovation and the ‘first look’ appear to be moderately harmless in wedding ceremonies, they often paint women as ‘romantic’ objects that need to be admired by everyone. While looking at the crowd, they want to attend weddings to witness how beautiful the bride is or how the groom stares at her or to know who catches the bouquet and garter.  As a result, I hold that the religious wedding ceremony is an artifact that implies that there is only one way of saying ‘I do’ and that it is the only wedding custom that religious people should adhere to. Some practices and artifacts are sweet, others are mystifying, yet others are just bizarre. Thanks to same-sex weddings, a lot has changed ever since they were legalized. These ceremonies have taught the world that gender roles can be re-defined, and that it is not always about ‘who the bride is’ and ‘who the groom is’.

The gendered nature of a religious wedding often portrays itself even before the wedding day, usually through the proposal that is mostly done by the man. More gender distinctions begin to reveal themselves throughout the planning process and on the day of the wedding.  A couple of examples make it easy to comprehend that religious weddings are full of gendered practices and traditions that often promote the continuity of gender inequality and sexism. It is the perceptions that people have towards masculinity and femininity that determine the roles that both men and women play within weddings. When certain things such as throwing the bouquet or the bride walking down the aisle are omitted from the wedding, then it is seen as less traditional. In other words, a religious wedding ceremony is an artifact that illustrates that gender inequality is propagated through the presence of gender unequal roles, sexism, stereotypical beliefs and the gender differences linked to certain wedding practices.

Works Cited

DeFrancisco, Victoria Pruin, Catherine Helen Palczewski, and Danielle E. McGeough. Gender in communication: A critical introduction. SAGE Publications, Inc., 2014. Pp.129-137

Foss, Sonja K., Mary E. Domenico, and Karen A. Foss. Gender stories: Negotiating identity in a binary world. Waveland Press, 2012. pp. 1-29

Kang, Miliann, et al. Introduction to women, gender, sexuality studies. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries, 2017. pp. 9-42

 

Discussion #5 Jhulio Vargas

If you think about it, no matter who you are or where you come from, we all have privileges even within our own culture. Privileges is a specific right, advantage, or immunity given or available only to a particular person or group. Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that it is not an issue; some people have more privilege than others.  Privileges have caused unfair moments in history that has even impacted the lives of many in a very negative way. To get more into detail, let me explain with this example. For example, I could be considered privilege if I, as a Dominican man, attend a Dominican restaurant, and the service I get is better than a white male that attend. That’s not always the case, but it can happen. I personally had experience that situation where I was treated better than other. That is something I can consider as my privilege. Another example is a white male who could be considered a privilege if he attends Harvard University vs. a Hispanic male. This example demonstrates how two people from different groups could have privileges on different occasions. Furthermore, to tap into it, the more in-depth compound privilege could have a tremendous impact on social groups. For example, the minorities groups especially, the black community has been oppressed for many years causing a gap of inequality; That is why on our demographic and data  we see how there is a lot of black people who are uneducated, and not able to sustain a “good life”.

I also experienced micro-aggregation because I am a man and sometimes, I help out my mother with the house shores. My cousins always made fun of that, they said “that’s for girls man. Or aren’t you supposed to be the man of the house?” I always tried to help out around the house because I know that gender does not limit people to help out and still be useful. Stereotypes always play big roles in this situation’s, it is our job to break those ignorant thoughts.

DISSCUSSION # 4

After reading “Identity Terms” the term that most describes me is “Latino,” “Latin American,” “Latina,” “Latino/a,” “Latin@,” “Latinx,” “Chicano,” “Xicano,” “Chicana,” “Chicano/a,” “Chican@,” “Chicanx,” “Mexican American,” “Hispanic.” I arrived in the U.S  from the Dominican Republic when I was seven years old. I immediately saw how my identity completely change; Back in the Dominican Republic, our population is not as diverse as the U.S, and coming to the U.S completely change the way I perceive my identity and others. Here in the U.S, my identity went not only from being a Dominican but being Hispanic or Latino; That what people call me. These were terms that I was not exposed back in the Dominican Republic. Also, experience a lot of people confusing my country of origin, saying are you Mexican, Colombian, and sometimes even white. I remember people saying, “you don’t look Dominican because Dominican are of dark complexion; Are you Puerto Rican?”. That’s when I realize that Americans had an stereotypical way of identifying individuals base on how they look.

One of the theories in the “Feminist Philosophy of Language” was “ 2.5 Generics” it really caught my attention. For example “Generic statements are ones such as “cats are furry”, or “a cat has fur”, which are neither universal generalizations (there are furless cats) nor existential generalization (the claim being made is clearly stronger)”.  This demonstrate that we as individuals speculate or even categorize individuals or things creating an illusion that because humans have hair all human need to have hair. This exclude those that does not have hair is creating the illusion that everyone need to have hair and if you don’t there is something wrong with you.

Jhulio Vargas Journal 1

Reading the article was eye-opening, and it helped me understand a few of my behavior and how other people think and perceive sex and gender. In society, the programing of sex begins even before a baby is born, you see parents say things like if I have a boy, he will be treated like a king or if it is a girl she will be treated like a queen. This picture the mindset that immediately is created when we think of a specific sex, and we start to quickly attach the different ways we should be treating a human base on sex. Don’t get me wrong is not like we are not supposed to be handling it differently; it is how some people or cultures treat human base on sex. Attaching different stereotypes; Is like society creates particular requirements of how a male or female should be perceived or treated.
Now, as society focuses more on studying gender and sex, we have come to understand better that it is okay to identify as a man or a woman, depending on how you see yourself as. Self-identity is very important, rather than how society perceives you. In the first chapter of the reading, it talks about transgender. According to the article, a transgender person is a person born of a specific sex and grows older to discover that they feel like the opposite sex. When this happens, the person chooses to operate and physically become how they feel inside. For example, I met a woman who was born a man but identified as a woman and decided to replace most of her body parts to look like one. Now her transgender boyfriend is pregnant. This concludes that identity is developed within ourselves.
Furthermore, some cultures dress and tell their kids that a boy has to dress like a man, with hats, dark neutral colors, that pink is for girls and blue for boys. Yet those are standers and requirements created by society and is delivered by how we communicate. In reality, what you wear does not define who you are or your gender. As the community continues to study gender and communication, we can continue to progress and have a better understanding of human sexuality and gender.

Shamarra Ivey Final Portfolio

Gender Identity Draft

My culture and background had a huge impact on my gender identity. I am a black middle class woman, born and raised in Jamaica. I am a cisgendered heterosexual woman. Being Jamaican I was sheltered from the idea that there could be other genders outside of male and female. When sexuality is spoken about in my country anything that is not heterosexual is looked down upon. Growing up around Christians I was taught that homosexuality is a sin. Even around non Christians they I found that they would cite the Bible as an excuse to be homophobic. Coming to America was an important way for me to unlearn these harmful rhetoric. 

My first learning experience was meeting a gay person in middle school. We became friends and I was able to ask as many questions as I needed and I learned so much. My assumptions were quickly disproven and I was able to become open and accepted. What was really sad was that although I saw that homosexuals were becoming more accepted transphobia wasn’t as easily accepted. I soon learned to be an ally to all members of the LGBT+  community. I used resources such as social media to learn more about these marginalized groups and accept them for who they are.

Growing up Caribbean there were gender roles placed on me from such a young age that I couldn’t handle. I was expected to know how to cook and clean. My family preferred that I spent more time inside than outside. I was told that it wasn’t ladylike for wearing pants to church or to sit with my legs open. I remember an elderly woman in Jamaica telling me it was a sin for a girl to whistle. A lot of these things really bothered me as a child especially seeing the boys in my family get the freedom to really express themselves. Even during school I experienced this hardship. I was very outspoken and liked to talk a lot a a child and I was often punished for it because it isn’t ladylike. As I grew older I started to rebel against these stereotypes until my parents finally saw how unfair these expectations were.

I believe that a number of things contribute to ones gender identity. How they grow up and the culture they see around them can influence this. One thing that I strongly believe that someone should be able to express themselves however they choose to. I hope we get to the point where society accepts everyone for who they are. I plan to continue to learn and teach others around me so they can unlearn their ignorance and accept people for who they truly are.

 

Discussion Board #1

Hello class! My name is Shamarra Ivey. My major is Communication Studies. I will be graduating from BMCC in Fall 2020. I hope to attend a four year college after this and earn my bachelor’s degree in Communications eventually moving on to a master’s degree. I was born in Jamaica and lived there for about half my life.

I really enjoyed watching these eight videos. I think a lot of them shows how society influences us ad shapes our perspective on a lot of topics from a young age. The video that resonated with me the most was “Young Soul”. As a Jamaican woman I was taught the harmful thing that is homophobia. Growing up in Jamaica gay men were especially despised. I would often hear that it’s because the Bible said it is a sin especially from people who weren’t religious. As a black woman I know what it is like to be marginalized. Thankfully as I got older I overcame the hateful ideologies that were enforced upon me and learned to love, accept, and embrace the LGBQT+ community.

My personal experience with gender is growing up in a Jamaican household I was always expected to learn how to cook because I’m a woman. I was told crazy things by some Caribbean people I encountered such as: I’m not going to be able to get a husband if I can’t cook, or that my husband would cheat on me for not being able to cook, or even going as far as to say I would get abused for not being able to cook. People expected me to fit into traditional gender roles as a woman such as doing the cooking and the cleaning. My mother and grandmother tried to instill a lot of these things in my. My sister and I were expected to do the inside work while my brothers were supposed to do the outside work. However, I protested this and luckily I was able to escape from these stereotypical gender roles. Putting up a fight against this allowed me to grow so much and experience new things outside of my gender. I never learned how to cook because of this but I’m still happy I stood my ground. The day I learn to cook it will be for myself and not for the purpose of finding  a husband. For the past few years my family members has not suggested any of these stereotypical roles to me which I’m grateful for and can only assumed they’ve also grown along with me.

 

Reading Journal #1

I understand the concept of gender as evolving as the text mentions. Prior to 2016, I never would have thought there could be more than two genders. Luckily I grew and learned to accept things. I don’t think that gender should just be two categories or that “traditional gender roles” should be something normalized.

The text mentions different conceptualizations of gender. The one that I grew up on is Gender as Equivalent to Sex. Before I started to understand more I was taught that your sex is automatically what your gender is. If you are born with one thing then that defines your gender. As I started to become more educated I started to agree with the conceptualization of Gender as Separate from Sex. This is how I was able to understand how trans gendered people are able to identify themselves. It makes a lot of sense to me that you can be born one sex but identify as a completely different gender. “Gender is a social construct” has been a statement that has been drilled in my head for the past four years and I believe it is 100% true. Our perspective on gender in the beginning is shaped by the society we grew up in. As the world gets more progressive I do believe that it is our responsibility to educate ourselves further and to accept people for whom they really are.

The gender binary definitely is something that limits us in my opinion. I think it stifles opportunities and mental wellness for people of all genders especially those who do not fit into the two sexes.  There is a lot more to learn when it comes to gender and I will do my best to get more knowledge this way I can accept people for who they are.

Lisa Blamfort “Final Portfolio”

Artifact

             As someone who grew up in a Catholic family and who went to a Catholic school since my kindergarten year to senior high school, I am confident that religion is among many important characteristics associated with the differentiation of gender inequality in society since the beginning of the world and all over the world. The role of a woman in religion nationwide  especially in a Catholic religion is in the household by being mothers and wives, it is also granting on the respect for women and their vital role in family life, but Catholic Church does not promote emancipation a complete equality with men because the opinion of women most of the time is hardly hearing. The artifact that society uses to apply its norms to people is the story the twelve Apostles picked by Jesus to carry on His mission in the New Testament.

Jesus selected twelve people from his circle to turn to his disciples. They would have taken care of ordinary men. The 12 apostles were Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Jesus taught them about the kingdom of God, and in return he learned much from them about the kingdom of men. The reason why he chose them is to spread the brilliance of truth, and the brilliance of truth will be scattering around the world and will continue to shine in the process of pursuing. He chooses and uses these guys to calculate his outstanding plans. After a complete discipleship journey and following his rebirth from the dead, Jesus fully commanded the apostles (Matthew 28:16-2, Mark 16:15) to advance God’s kingdom and carry the word of God to the world.

This story that affects equality issues in the society because Jesus did make a contrast of gender in the Bible by choosing only 12 Jewish men as apostles that means for a religious person that women are valueless and unequal to men. Because of that theory in the Bible, women are barring from becoming pope, priest and cardinal, the catholic church argues that “If Jesus wanted women to be priests, he would have called them to be his apostles.”  Women were not allowing to aid in the revitalized diaconate by Pope Paul VI in 1967 and the church refuses to admit women to the priesthood, the catholic delivers a message to the world: women are inferior to men and they are still going be and nobody cans anything about that in the Catholic Community.

Social Constructionism is a theory of knowledge that study how socially situated and knowledge work well-adjusted in the arrangement of inequalities where a group of people in power decides to produce racial, sexual and gender affairs only to be categorizing and valued another group of people over another according to “Miliann Kang, Donovan Lessard, and Laura Heston”. This theory plays a big part also in gender aspect because this story from the New Testament, all the powerful minister of religion were straight male, all of them were white with green or blue eyes like Jesus who is describing as a blonde hair and green eyes man. This theory helps the feminist movements how to end bias in our society.

It is evident that a simple story affect of the rank of women in the religion also affects the status of women in society as a whole that’s the reason I choose this tale from the Bible. The Catholic religion is there to oppress a woman in every aspect in their life simply because Jesus chose men only to be his closest friends, it lifts men up and women down only for their own self-esteem. The issues with the exclusion of women and girls make our society unhealthy and unbalanced. We need to educate each other how to love and respect others for a better world.

Gender identity

               My gender is constructing for my person based on the gendered interactions that I have in my childhood and my teenage years with my family, teachers, classmates and friends, as well as, other identities or roles I may hold. Another influence of my gender identity is how I feel inside and outside and how I know myself to be when it comes to gender.

When I was born, the doctor looked at my body and told my parents, “It’s a girl.” That doctor was socializing to believe, as if most of us are, that you can determine gender by physical anatomy at birth. I remember when I was 5 years old, I grew up seeing myself as a little girl wearing dresses and skirt and boys wearing pants and playing football in my neighborhood. But everything change when my mom had a full time management job in a restaurant, she didn’t have time to care of myself, so she asked my uncles and my brother to do it for her because she was the oldest and the main provider of the household so everybody had to follow her rules. I was raising by 3 uncles, a brother and a step-after/father, those guys did everything in the house such as: cleaning, cooking, laundry, comb my hair, teach me how to dance, study, play chess, tic tac toe, domino, video games and play sports like soccer, basketball and tennis etc.

In spite of the fact that my household was an only man one, my school was the opposite. I spent all of my childhood and teenage years in a catholic school that accepted only girl. The nuns of my school taught me how to eat, dance, sing, talk, act, walk and think like the sweet gentle girl. I had only one girlfriend because the other girls said that I was insane and I acted like a boy, I was confused because this event is how my uncles taught me how to talk and act, the nuns didn’t like my behavior either, and they were constantly fighting with my male care givers because my uncles always dressed me like a little boy when the nuns are having schools’ activities and the evil nuns weren’t feeling it and they always kicked me out from those activities sometimes. I remember that I was late for school and 2 of my uncles were fixing my hair, they decided to do a high ponytail with my hair but they could not find any elastic band or rubber band to do it so, they decided to use an electric cord to attach my hair and they did it and send me to school, and the nuns send me back to my house.

I spent my whole life trying to balance those two mutually exclusive categories of gender that society creates called binary gender, but it was unsuccessful, so I decide to blend them, and I get in return the perfect combo. This issue is 3 important concepts that I learn from the course that help me with my identity. The first one is the “Theorizing Lived Experiences” that disclosed how inequality of race, class, gender, and sexuality drives to numerous problems to a micro, meso, and macro/global level of every day. This theory is an important detail to the feminist analysis is allegiance to the formation of person’s understanding base in the experiences of people belonging to disempowered groups. This theory makes me realize that my childhood has a big impact in my gender identity perhaps if I was born in family includes father, mother and sisters or grew up with my aunts only I would be different and loss.

The second is Psychological theories incorporate psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic feminism that our conscious or unconscious thoughts and memories don’t have an affect to our gender identity, but our emotional experience during our childhood does. I grew up in memories that men and women aren’t different at all my uncles and brother did everything and anything that a woman can do

Discussion

My perspective has changed because of the assignments that I completed in Open labs, these homeworks were nothing like others I had been assigning in the past, at first, I was scared of these works but now I feel confident to do them. They unfolded my critical thinking about myself and took me out of my comfort zone. I definitely needed this class to identify myself and needs because I was losing. Once I started putting myself into those assignments, I was able to identify my gender and who I am. I wanted to do more and more I wished this class was a little longer. The professor and my peers who always commented on my posts made me want to learn more about myself, others and my future.

I began investigating gender identity options, even ones that are slightly outside of my gender area. I started taking steps toward answering all the questions about who I am. I stopped ignoring what others think and say about me. After this class of empowerment, heartening, and learning ways to excel myself, I could not feel more ready to take on the next chapter of my life.

One of the assignments required dip into more about my gender identity was 2. This project was to create a visual image of my identity and made a list my personal, enacted, relational, and communal identity. This task was really helpful, because it gave me a whole new perspective on how to cross the next phase in my life, teach me things I didn’t even know about and how my childhood has a big impact in my identity right now. After doing this assignment, I couldn’t wait the discovery of myself with my family, friends and classmates.

The biggest takeaway from this course is that I can create use Open Lab, which is a thing I never did before, turn in assignments online, write, and so much more in one place. I am also very thrilled to have this tool to include into the hybrid learning setting, I wish more teachers that I am going to have are going to use it as well in the future. The format of the class affects my learning and my motivation in the way that the professor always gives me frequent, early, positive feedback that supports my beliefs that I can do well. The tasks weren’t too easy nor too difficult, but they made me confident I that I can succeed at anything in college. The learning atmosphere of the class was safe, open, and positive.

College is a place for expanding your mind and find yourself and this class definitely did most of the work. Thank you to some of my classmates for making my experience so amazing, but I would especially like to thank the professor for having such a wonderful impact on my life.

Journal

This text “Introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies” by “Miliann Kang, Donovan Lessard, and Laura Heston” uses Crucial feminist theories like discrimination and exclusion on the basis of sex and gender, objectification structural and economic inequality, power, and gender roles and stereotypes to explain us the creation of the social movement of feminism. The authors also show how personal experiences form by political, economic and cultural passions in the condition of history, institutions and culture, Conceptualizing Structures of Power impact and the limit of feminism. And how Social Constructionism and Intersectionality that is social categorizations including race, class, and gender applying to a specific group for the creation of racism and discrimination in the systems established and endorsed by rich and educate white men

The authors explain us in his introduction several factors that contribute to the creation of feminism movement. The first one was the Theorizing Lived Experiences that unfold how inequality of race, class, gender, and sexuality leads to multiples issues to a level of micro, meso, and macro/global of every day towards woman that cause them to develop organizations and protestations in order to break those dilemmas with other women who were experiencing the same economic, cultural, and social problems.

Social Constructionism is a theory of knowledge that study how socially situated and knowledge work well-adjusted in the arrangement of inequalities where a group of people in power decided to produce racial, sexual and gender affairs only to be categorizing and valued another group of people over another. This study and theory help the feminist movements and theories to analyze the fructification and recreation of social constructionism and how to deal with it.

Conceptualizing Structures of Power consists to keep or restrict someone or something within certain limits by the establishment of rules, norms, and procedures based of his or her gender, race and sex but like a human body this theory can crash by changing and by fighting inequality for the collapse of that system even if it is going to take time for the skeleton to collapse, and the feminism goals to accomplish.

The text makes realized that “man is a wolf to man” I thought everything like all those prejudices and discrimination was normal and they were nature work, I thought the color of my skin was supposed to be the change in order to be happy and loved by others, I thought I was supposed to be inferior to white people, that white is right, I thought God makes me black because I am damming, or he hates me. I  said several times when I was a kid I hate myself I wish I was white because of the injustice that was going on around me and still, but growing up I feel like the text said it is just Conceptualizing Structures of Power to make rich white men feel good about themselves band put themselves in the top of the pyramid and put down minorities. Now that knowledge, information and education are accessible to everybody I feel the system is starting to crack and a change is coming as if Sam Cook said in his song “A Change is Gonna Come.”

Worked Cited

“Quick Summary of the Twelve Apostles.” PDF Free Download, docplayer.net/23892700-Quick-summary-of-the-twelve-apostles.html.

 

 

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/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kianna Holm Institution Artifact Final Portfolio

We live in a country where there is a high demand for equal rights for all. But still today there are still many women treated unfairly in contrast to men.  Men tend to receive higher pay and better access to promotions. This reality of inequality has been portrayed in the movie, “What Men Want” directed by Adam Shankman. 

The movie, “What Men Want”, starring Taraji P. Henson, presents a scene where Taraji’s character, “Ali, is overlooked for a promotion she thought was hers” (Rosa and Radloff), but instead was given to one of her fellow male coworkers. Within the embarrassing scene, “Ali’s boss tosses a football to the man who’s getting the [promotion], but Ali intercepts it” (Rosa and Radloff). This scene within the movie illustrates a feeling that many women know way too well, it’s the feeling of losing an opportunity over male privilege. 

In today’s society, women are more likely to be ‘top performers’, but less likely to be the boss. Only 5% of Fortune 500’s CEOs are women as presented in The Women’s Leadership Gap. “Institutionalized discrimination refers to the unjust and discriminatory mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals by society and its institutions as a whole, through unequal selection or bias, intentional or unintentional, as opposed to individuals making a conscious choice to discriminate”. Women are more likely to be ‘top performers,’ but less likely to be the boss. Why is that? If women work harder why aren’t we getting the recognition deserved. For example, my mother works in a school and she wanted to get a promotion, so she worked really hard, probably harder than anyone else in her job, just to be promoted. And when the promotion was given, she didn’t receive it and a male coworker, who barely attended work, received it. She was mad, but not only because she didn’t get the promotion, but because when she asked why she didn’t get it they said because the male coworker is more dedicated to the job because he doesn’t have kids. This made my mother later realize that your color and gender has an effect on the outcome of your future. This shows that even though women tend to work harder than men they aren’t rewarded nearly as much as men. But not only are women rewarded less than men, they are also paid less. 

Women’s median earnings are lower than men’s in nearly every occupation, according to another report released this week from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a nonprofit think tank. For example, “In 2020, women earned 81 cents for every dollar earned by men” as presented by PayScale. The evidence provided by PayScale demonstrates the gender pay gap or gender wage gap, which is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working. And the gender pay gap displays that women are generally considered to be paid less than men. For example, my aunt works in a business firm, she has been working there for over 20 years. And she wants higher pay and bonuses, but they won’t give it to her although she has been working at her job longer than anyone else has. She told me that most males at the firm tend to get higher bonuses and pay than she does. She was so frustrated, but still continues to try to get more pay. This displays the idea that gender privilege is present still today. 

Systematic inequalities are “patterns of differential group treatment repeated across time even in the absence of overt discrimination”. Systematic inequalities are policies that keep people of color and women from gaining power, which are enforced through laws and etc. For example, CEOs or people in headquarters of a company are mainly men, white men to be specific. About 46.9% of the labor force is made up of women. And only 5% of those women are CEOs. Of the companies that made up the 2019 Fortune 500 list, only 33 of those companies had women CEOs. This illustrates the idea that there is a miniscule number of women in higher positions in businesses. 

In brief explanation, women tend to be treated unfairly in the business world. We are paid less and given less promotions, even though they tend to work more than men. And institutionalized discrimination and systematic inequalities can be used to demonstrate the ideas of gender inequality from all aspects. Women are strong and hard working, we deserve to be treated fairly. If we live in a country where there is freedom and equality then why aren’t 50% of CEOs women? And why aren’t men and women given equal pay? 

Works Cited

Rosa, Christopher, and Jessica Radloff. “Taraji P. Henson Hopes Her New Movie Inspires Women to ‘Keep Fighting.'” What Men Want. Glamour.com, 

www.glamour.com/story/taraji- p-henson-on-what-men-want. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.

THE STATE OF THE GENDER PAY GAP 2020. PayScale, 

www.payscale.com/data/gender- pay-gap.

The Women’s Leadership Gap. Center for American Progress, 

www.americanprogress.org/ issues/women/reports/2018/11/ 20/461273/womens-leadership- gap-2/

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Kianna Holm DB Final Portfolio

Hello, my name is Kianna Holm. I come from a large family. I have 4 sisters and 6 brothers. My dad has 10 kids and my mom has 5, 4 with my dad. We didn’t all live together but we were together often. I’m the youngest girl out of the group so that did come with some benefits but I also think that it has made me think differently about genders and their roles. Because of this I’ve gotten a sense of microaggression from young. 

Microaggressions is “everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.” Microaggressions may be based on socioeconomic status, disability, gender, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. I’ve had many experiences with microaggressions. I think the most common one that happens to me is my teachers failing to learn to pronounce or continuing to mispronounce students’ names after they have corrected you. From my experience the long, complicated, unique names usually come from black girls. It’s understandable that the name may be hard to remember or pronounce but intentionally or not it creates a bad environment for a teacher to keep mispronouncing a student’s name. 

During most of my childhood years I’ve been really skinny. I used to get teased for it but I had older brothers so it wasn’t often I’d hear the stupid “Do your parents feed you?” comment. But of course they can’t be with me all the time to defend me so I still hear it. When I got to high school I didn’t have my brothers. I was by myself. The girls at my school were thick, curvy and they’ve grown breasts and their bodies have formed and are still forming. Then there was me, still shopping in the kids department because that was the only thing that fit. I would wear a training bra everyday hoping to make them grow. I started to feel left out and just not the same. I started to question myself, trying to figure out if something was wrong with me. I was confused as to why haven’t I experienced any of these normal teenage phases.

I met a few girls at my school who were feeling just as insecure about their bodies as I was but in a different way. I didn’t get why some of them were complaining.  They looked great! They had everything I wanted plus some. But they didn’t like it. There were many reasons why, but the most common reason they all said was It brought them attention they didn’t like. They wanted what I had and I wanted what they had. I later learned that there isn’t a “normal” way to look. Everybody is different and everybody’s body is different. I realized that no matter how you look or what you do people would always have negative things to say to you.

This chart exercise really made me think about myself and how I feel about myself. In the first column I wrote my hair, my smile and my calves. My hair isn’t my favorite part of my body. I have coarse, think 4c type hair. My hair has always been a big thing for me and my family. My mom would take care of my hair and treat it so it would grow nice. I hated my hair when I was younger because I’m tender headed and my hair was always hard to comb  out. My mother made me realize that my hair is a part of who I am. She went on about how black peoples hair is always looked down upon but it’s actually beautiful. From the shrinkage to the unique curl patterns. So before my hair would make me upset but I’ve learned more about it and learned about what works best and I’ve learned to love it. I did cut my hair off but i still love it now. I look forward to doing different hairstyles and things because sometimes it helps build my confidence. My smile is my favorite feature on my body. I love how wide and bright it is. I love the effect it has on people. I’ve gotten complaints that my smile has made people’s day and the feeling that gives me is great. My least favorite thing on my body is my calves. I think I have huge, manly calves. I used to get teased about it when I was younger. I hated it. I still don’t like them but I think now that I’m older I’ve learned to just deal with it because i can’t change it. Looking at my calves or just having them exposed sometimes makes me really insecure. I feel like when people see me that’s all they see but I’ve learned to realize I may be exaggerating. While doing this chart after the readings i think that one of the theories that relate is the  psychological theory. “Psychological theories emphasize the internal psychological processes triggered by early childhood experiences with one’s body and interpersonal interactions with primary caregivers and close contact.” I think because I was teased and had so many bad experiences with my hair or calves, I think I’ve learned to dislike them. But because I’ve gotten so much good feedback on my smile that might play a part in my i love it so much. 

This is when I finally learned to just love myself and everything about me. Although I may not be happy with everything I have there are some people who are dying to look like me. I’ve learned a life lesson that you’re never going to be happy if you don’t love yourself. Self love is the best love, because if you truly love yourself, along with all your flaws, there’s nothing that anybody can say to take that confidence away.

 

Announcement 6/9 – Responding to Gender Identity Drafts

Thank you for those of you who posted your Gender Identity Project. If you didn’t post yours, please do so ASAP. For this period, ending Thursday 6/11 at 11:59 pm, you should complete the following:

  1. Respond to Gender Identity Drafts following the criteria below
  2. Complete the two readings posted in the schedule. “Identity Terms is a PDF” and “Feminist Philosophy of Language” takes you to a website.
  3. Post your discussion 4 post (remember to future-date for 6/11 23:59)
  4. All of these are due at 11:59 pm on Thursday 6/11.

GENDER IDENTITY DRAFT RESPONSE GUIDELINES

You will not respond to three as you normally would in a discussion. This is how we will respond.

  • If your first name begins with A through L, read and respond to ALL of the Gender Identity Drafts of those who have names that begin M through Z.
  • If your first name begins with M through Z, read and respond to ALL of the Gender Identity Drafts of those who have names that begin A through L.
  •  Do this by Thursday, 6/11 at 11:59 pm.

How do you find them? Use the “Learner Writing, Etc.” drop-down menu on the right-hand side to select their name. The Gender Identity Draft will most likely be at the top. If it isn’t, scroll through and you will find it.

Your responses should be about the paper and what they did well. Please also note an area that you would like to see them expand or make clearer.