It is always much easier to write when you have a prompt telling you exactly what direction you’re going in..

So, I decided to write about the prevalence of gender stereotypes in famous children’s media. We see children’s shows start to teach the construct of gender and assign certain behaviors to the genders, so as to make it impossible to reach outside of these constructs (otherwise defying the norm and being persecuted for it or discriminated against). Male characters are often depicted as strong, emotionally restrained individuals while females are agreeable, virtuous, and obsessively concerned with their physical appearance. This allows our children to grow up and think that boys cannot cry and saying things like “don’t be a little girl” because they see a young boy crying. At gender reveals and in nurseries we see the color pink correlated with the arrival of a baby girl and blue with the arrival of a boy, and then teach kids that boys cannot wear pink because it’s a “girl color”. In princess movies, we see the princess’ purpose is mostly always to find true love in a heterosexual relationship, and going to the extent of sacrificing many things to be with said man. We teach girls that they have to marry a man and be pure and beautiful for men, but then shame them for being promiscuous and wearing revealing clothing or too much makeup. There are so many double standards in our society and it just makes everyone kind of the same person with the same values and same goals in life and no one can truly be themselves.

Activism can be defined as the act of speaking out and rebelling against injustice in one’s society to reform the practice or practices that may oppress certain groups in that society. I chose to watch “Girl Connected”, in which five young girls used their voices to battle against discrimination of women in their communities. The teenage girls spoke out against the ways in which young girls in their communities were mistreated by standard practices in their societies, such as forced marriages, and encouraged others to speak up against these practices as well. One of the young women, who stood out to me very much, taught other girls self defense to fight against men who would try to take sexual advantage of them or even commit violent acts against them. I thought this was very important as women are naturally unsafe even walking down the street and are constantly lured by predators. These young girls are seen as prizes by these older men with no remorse for their actions. It is also very important that girls know self defense because it is a strength to obtain that skill. Usually, men are thought of as the “strong” individuals, but it is very important for women to also know how to use their bodies to protect themselves. The one girl who spoke up against forced marriages noted the importance of one’s childhood and the ability to create your own future. She stated how their lives are predetermined for them when they go into forced marriages at such young ages and have children, further oppressing them and not letting them advance in life. One way which I can engage in speaking out against gender injustice is teaching other people the concepts that I have learned in this class and teaching them to act in ways that defy social standards that may be unfair to us as a whole. I can teach them ways in which we are the system and we are responsible for how that system treats us as individuals in a society. Particularly, considering how popular social media is nowadays, I could use my social media platform to bring about more awareness towards these topics and concepts, rather than have learned them and forget about them the second this class finishes. I have also always wanted to attend a protest or rally to speak up for members of the LGBTQ community.

It is important to recognize patriarchy as a system and not an individual identity because it takes a society as a whole to make said system work. One person alone cannot form the patriarchy; instead, his/her society teaches him the values and practices of patriarchy that he/she then follows or indulges in. Allan Johnson refers to capitalist workers in a society and how capitalism would simply not exist without the workers; therefore, simply attributing capitalism to the capitalist employers would not be enough. Patriarchy is enabled by the thoughts that both men and women have and the way they enact them in their daily lives. He says, “Instead, by participating in patriarchy we are of patriarchy and it is of us. Both exist through the other, and neither
exists without the other”. No one man can enforce the patriarchy all by himself, it is a collection of individuals (system) that continue to enable the patriarchy and allow it to exist. Furthermore, the patriarchy continues because of the structures in our culture that do not challenge it. Women are consistently exploited at work but underpaid when compared to their counterparts. They are then further exploited at home doing more work which is unpaid and undervalued. Gender stereotypes occur in the media, where women are portrayed to be sexual beings while men are those strong, money-making figures who belittle women. Men are accepted to be more violent than women, while women are viewed as passive beings and are discriminated against when they are not. We see this even in children’s shows and movies, which means that these stereotypes are taught to us from very young ages and the processes are then difficult, and almost impossible, to unlearn. Women are expected to fulfill certain roles in the work field, while other jobs are dominated by men. These can all be categorized into the different levels of oppression, which when amalgamated form the patriarchy and further disable and restrict women.

• Personal – Feelings, thoughts, beliefs about others and attitudes about differences (conscious and intentional or unconscious and unintentional). Slut-shaming women for the clothes they wear or their sexual activity is one example of personal oppression.
• Interpersonal – Language, action, and behaviors. Men dominate women at home.
• Institutional – Rules, policies, practices and procedures, both written and unwritten, that an organization has that function to intentionally or unintentionally, advantage some individuals and disadvantage others. There is a huge pay gap in men and women’s salaries.
• Cultural/Structural – What is considered “true,” “right,” “normal,” and “beautiful.” Men are aggressive beings, while women are passive and understanding.

I experience privilege every day to an extent that I had not realized before reading the required readings and watching the very informative, interesting video. The video alone struck me in ways the readings were not able to because it was such a visual representation of the differences in hardships we face everyday. It taught me that although I may go through certain difficulties, there may very well be a long line of individuals behind me who face oppression in ways I am not subject to, such as sexual orientation and many more. The video made me even more grateful that I am able to wake up everyday with access to clean water, a roof over my head, and food in my fridge. I am able to attend college, unlike many other individuals around the world with no access to an education. I am able to work the job that I am employed in, which provides me with enough money to pay for my bills and the extra little things I want but do not necessarily need. I may not be rich, but I am able to sustain myself in a manner which many around the world, and maybe even in my vicinity are not. I also experience oppression, being a woman that belongs to a minority group, but lives in a capitalist country, and a young mother. The boundaries that are placed around me to not allow me to succeed work with each other to keep me oppressed. Furthermore, Marilyn Frye details how women are sexually discriminated, specifically in the country where I reside; “Another example: It is common in the United States that women, especially younger women, are in a bind where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is all right. If she is heterosexually active, a woman is open to censure and punishment for being loose, unprincipled or a whore”. Due to the fact that I am a mother, when I walk down the street I know that it is evident that I have been sexually active and it construes an image of me in stranger’s heads which I cannot change. I also have to act a certain way and so does my child, so that my parenting skills are not questioned or challenged by society.

Watching the video and doing the readings clarified my definition of privilege and oppression. Privilege is having the ability to do or obtain something that someone else is not able to, although both parties have no control over this. It is something that you are born with or into that makes your life easier than another person’s. Oppression is the social act of severe restrictions that impede an individual, or group of individuals, from being able to successfully maneuver the boundaries around them. As defined by Marilyn Frye, it is comparable to a bird cage, in which all of the wires work together to constraint the bird’s flight to freedom.

Moving beyond the gender binary, according to Alok, entails removing societally imposed gendered boundaries. Aside from the two distinct gender forms, feminine and masculine, that have been favored and fixed in our social system and cultural beliefs. Alok believes that everyone, regardless of gender, should be able to be creative and express themselves in whatever way they want without fear of being judged. People are being trapped into their own skin because they can not be themselves. In the story Alok states “The truth is, I still can’t go outside without being afraid for my safety”. Truth is , It’s very sad how closed minded people are for someone to be afraid of going outside because of what they wear or express themselves as shouldn’t be acceptable. Growing up I was always taught that men and woman are the only genders but I was always curious as to why because I always wanted to dress like a boy and played sports and my family would always say ” You’re not a boy to be dressing or playing sports, you should be playing with barbie dolls”. Perfect example as to having a closed mind, why should people be judged because of the way they express themselves. Moving beyond the gender binary was a great story Alok did a great job with explaining and breaking down what he really goes through on the daily. I could feel his pain as I’m reading, regardless of what people should be respected and treated equally binary or non binary it shouldn’t be a difference. I always remember my great aunt used to always tell me you will never get a boyfriend because you like to play sports wear sports bras and always be around the boys instead of girls she would ask “Are you a lesbian? Do you like girls” all because I did not want to do what girls were doing like painting your nails I would rather play basketball or wear skirts or dresses I would prefer jeans sneakers and shirts. It was not me to act all girly but that didn’t mean I was a lesbian I was just a girl who liked to dress like a tomboy it was comfortable for me. Dealing with the trauma of not being able to express yourself is inhumane. Everyone should be free and able to express who they really are without any judgment or fear that they won’t be accepted.

Bell Hooks analyzes the misunderstanding of feminism in the short story “Feminist Politics: Where We Stand.” According to Bell Hooks, the patriarchy of America causes feminism to be misunderstood since the media portrays feminism as an anti-male movement. Feminism, on the other hand, is the polar opposite of anti-male organizations. Feminism is defined by the equality of men and women. Feminism was born out of women’s dissatisfaction with the patriarchy, which is ruled by men. Women and men should be equal whether it’s at work or home both should be treated the same. Many individuals have this misconception, which is why it’s critical to educate others about the actuality of feminism. In the article it states ” We can share the simple yet powerful message that feminism is a movement to end sexist oppression.” I believe people shouldn’t be Bias against women based on their sex or gender. This type of behavior establishes boundaries between what men and boys may and should do, as well as what women and girls can and should do which is not what feminism is. Feminists despised the sexism commonly associated with men. The majority, on the other hand, dismissed anti-male emotions once they realized that women can hold sexist views as well. When women treat one another in a sexist manner, they are simply adding to the oppressive environment that prevails in our society. Women should encourage one another and utilize competition as an incentive to attain achievement.

Sex And Gender 101

After reading Sex and Gender 101 I have a more clear understanding on the differences of a persons gender and sex. I really enjoyed reading this article because a lot of people aren’t educated on this topic and get mislead on the definition of what sex and gender really is. In the article it states that “Upon assigning a gender, children are then socialized according to the gender roles of the culture they were born into”. Which is true because some kids are struggling with finding who they really are and most of them are scared because they don’t want to be judge. I really enjoyed both of these articles learned the difference between the sex and gender of a person and also the real definition of feminism.

Hello classmates my name is Dariany Delrosario I am majoring in Science pursuing my Dental career. This is my second year in college and to be honest I didn’t think I’ll get this far with being a full time worker and mother. Especially with covid hitting us It has been a challenge but I am striving into the right direction of getting my degree. Even though Covid has hit everyone hard I can say that it has gave me the opportunity to get my education from the comfort of my home. When I graduate from bmcc I hope to transfer into NYU to pursue my Dental Hygienist career. My hopes and Dreams are to become the perfect example to my son and show him whatever you put your mind into you will success in no matter how hard things gets. I currently live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn parents come from the Dominican Republic but I was born here. I use she/her/hers pronouns. I’m taking this class because my major is requiring me to but I am also excited to learn something new. Very excited to meet you all and wishing everyone a successful semester.