I personally was unpleasantly surprised by how many of the moves and strategies men use in order to maintain their near-monopoly on leisure within the household which Mainardi describes I have actually encountered in my own life. I do not think there is a secret school where all such techniques are taught. Rather, this probably proves that patriarchy, as a systematic phenomenon, follows the same routs when it encounters opposition. Now I intend to look even more precisely at the interactions in the context of everyday life to uncover which agendas are they guided by. I have also taken some important lessons from Koedt’s essay as well.

When I first saw the word Identity politics I automatically thought about back in time, even though I didn’t know what it meant. I had a idea of what what it had to deal with. The word identity politics means is a tendency for people of a particular religion, race, social background, etc., to form exclusive political alliances, moving away from traditional broad-based party politics. In a student friendly way it means knowing and caring about a set of political concerns, having a set of organized ideas about the political system, and engaging in political behaviors that support those beliefs are all examples of political ego identification. The term “identity politics” is a bit misleading, but it generally refers to the debate and politicking over matters concerning one’s, well, identity. Women, ethnic minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ persons, and religious people , such as Muslim Americans, are frequently targeted. All of the social issues you’ve likely heard about, same-sex relationship, police shootings of unarmed black men, trans people in bathrooms, gender profiling, rape culture discussions, these are typically what people mean when they refer to identity politics.

Identity politics is a term that I learned in this class. The concept of identity politics relates to how political issues are affected by the personal identities of the people in that society. It was an interesting concept to learn as it portrayed issues that the majority of us may deal with since we are minorities. Coming from an immigrant family, I can see where identity politics affects my family and I. The reading “The Power of Identity Politics” details how politics is directly affected by power, and those in power are white men. “Too Latina to be Black, Too White to be Latina” was amongst my favorite readings as it really stood out to me. This reading clearly defined identity politics for me and made me understand the concept further. Reading about a mixed woman unable to choose her own identity and having those around her question her or choose for me was very interesting to read. I think a lot of people struggle with the issue of identity, whether it be a racial issue or a gender identity/sexuality issue. It made me think of when you fill out those questionnaires and they ask for your race and ethnicity. I have always checked off Hispanic/Latino for ethnicity but the races are predominantly White, Black/African American, and Hawaiian and it makes me question in which of those categories I fit into..

Identical politics may be a word I never heard of some time recently. In my class, I am presented to this word. I don’t completely get it what it implies but from what I’ve read, Identical Politics could be a control bunch of individuals in America. It requires certain categories such as, race, sexual orientation, sex, religion, ethnicity, etc. These certain bunches are celebrated and treated like royalty only because of their character not since they did anything or accomplished goals. A white man within the 1960s running for president will get more regard and votes than a dark man. Their identity within the eyes of politics isn’t esteemed. In “The Power of Identity Politics” The author within the bar clarifies that we are going never move on from servitude and how dark individuals were treated by white individuals. For the straightforward that, Individuals who are not of color or a social foundation fair need to move on from servitude and need everybody to live the same. Be that as it may, we can’t “just move on” from the last 400 years.

Identity politics is extremely interesting to me. I think it’s because it benefits minorities very well. I have come across many women like the blonde girl in the bar, and even men. You hear people tell you to forget about the past so much that you start to believe that they’re right and you’re holding onto something that is irrelevant, but that’s not true. They simply just don’t understand our identity. Garza mentions that this wouldn’t have been a topic if white people didn’t treat us badly throughout history. I agree completely. Identity politics is actually unfortunate because different races shouldn’t need a subgroup to a movement. Womens rights should naturally represent all women, but it doesn’t. In “Too Latina To Be Black, Too Black To Be Latina”, I don’t feel like I resonated with Aleichia Williams completely. I always went to school with Caribbean students and people of my skin tone, so I don’t know what It feels like to be discriminated in an academic environment. In general, Ive always felt frustrated when people questioned my identity because they couldn’t tell where I was from. Having parents of even darker skin tone makes it harder to explain how we’re hispanic and also black. I believe the lack of hispanic history and latin culture being taught in schools is the reason why many people don’t understand. Having to give a mini lesson to people every time is tiring. A comparison I always mention is South Africans. Their skin doesn’t make them any less African than someone of darker skin. My skin doesn’t make me any less Latina or black. Regardless of how other people view me, my identity is something no one can take from me.

in this weeks reading I came to learn what power means in this country and how we are mostly ruled by people in higher power who are mostly white. in the reading by Garza she talks about power and how power rules this country. but this power comes mostly from white men. identity politics is a way for a certain group to identify themselves based upon their gender or any other factor that comes into play. now thinking things throughly we see how finding identity is important in many ways because when William’s went to school and didn’t made friends people assumed her race because of her skin color and it just seems that in the United States , color and race are a big thing and people seem to care a little too much about it. back to the reading by Garza she talks about how women of color had to find a way to find freedom because no one would fight for them considering other groups found benefits in their oppression like black men, white women and white men, she explains “identity is the elephant in America’s room” (Garza, page 189) . it seems like its not a big deal but it is , its a way for them to classify people for them to see who’s valuable and who’s not. black women in specific had the worse response to this considering black women are seen as the Lowest of the lowest in the pyramid. she continues to explains how the freedom of slaves benefited men more than it did to women but black women had to still experience both racism and sexism from both white and black men and white women. power only benefits one group which is white and while other’s like to make it seem like its a matter of blame who and things are been a little reached it is not.

This week’s reading almost had me emotional because when you come from a different country and must face racial oppression which more than likely one’s has not experienced it’s a total shock. Identity is one of the most important things in society because it basically ranks you on different levels in society. Before coming to this country, I studied black history, but it was never priority to me I just did it because it was required. When I came to the U.S the people I associated myself with always spoke about their interest in expanding their knowledge on black history. They even asked me if I knew anything about it and if I wanted to learn. Since the four years I’ve been in this country I have realized the importance of knowing black history. To me, it allows us to never be ashamed of who we are because of the fight our ancestors went through to have us here living better than they did.  I appreciate classes like this where I get the opportunity to learn about the major topics that affects our lives present. I also appreciate the leaders in or community that stand up for their beliefs on justice and equality. I enjoy that my professors always bring authors that don’t get as much light as they should for the work, they put out there. Usually when people hear the word politics they immediately think about voting. However, the oppression, inequality and injustice black people face in society is the most important politics of all.

Identical politics is a word I never heard of before. In my Women Gender studies classes, I am introduced to this word. I don’t fully understand what it means but from what I’ve read in class, Identical Politics is a control group of people in America. It requires certain categories such as, race, gender, sex, religion, ethnicity, etc. These certain groups are glorified and treated like royalty only because of their identity not because they did anything or accomplished goals. A white man in the 1960s running for president will get more respect and votes than a black man. Their identity in the eyes of politics is not valued. In “The Power of Identity Politics” The author in the bar explains that we will never move on from slavery and how black people were treated by white people. For the simple that, People who are not of color or a cultural background just want to move on from slavery and want everyone to live the same. However, we can’t “just move on” from the last 400 years. We should access and teach future generations about black history and their fight to freedom so it is not forgotten. On thing that stood out to me in this novel was that if we just move on from what black people went throught, we might bring slavery back if we just forget about it. Talking about it and making it known that black oppression is a real thing and empathize how those individuals felt.

This week was very interesting and I really enjoyed the texts provided. Identity is something that I believe many biracial people go through. Sometimes even people who grew up in specific areas may feel like this as well because their environment has shaped their experiences. I find it sad how even within our own communities we discriminate and bring each other down rather than uplifting each-other and giving each other a safe space to share experiences. Instead of bringing each other down we should give safe spaces to people like Williams where she felt like she didn’t belong anywhere. This situation reminded me a lot of what my older sister went through in high school. Just like Williams my sister is a beautiful black woman who is bilingual. Our mother is Puerto Rican but have different fathers hers being Dominican and mine being Puerto Rican and my sister has always had an identity crisis. Being in public schools she hanged out with whoever she wanted regardless of race but she received a lot of comments from other black people about how she isn’t black because she is hispanic. However on the other end she would also get told she wasn’t Latina she was black because of her hair and her skin tone. So my sister found herself lost and taking out her anger on my mom at a young age , not wanting to learn Spanish and not wanting to each latin foods or know latin traditions. Even going as far as hating her name. It’s all changed now where she now accepts both sides and identifies as Afro-Latina. However when I read Williams text it instantly reminded me of my sister.

Among the many amazing topics we have discussed throughout this class, Identity Politics has to be one of my favorites. I have often found myself wondering why people don’t share the same views I do when it comes to gender, sexuality and race. I was briefly seeing this guy who later told me male privilege and white privilege don’t exist. I tried to explain to him why he was wrong, surprised at how he couldn’t see something so apparent. When I tried to explain why he was wrong, upset by his refusal to understand, he said, “this is why I hate politics, it divides people”. This statement felt interesting to me because I didn’t think I had said anything that would be considered political. I was simply recounting my experience as a woman of color. It took me a while to understand that my existence itself was political. My personal decision to have a kid or not is a debate on the “declining femininity and motherhood in modern women”, my choice to flirt with a man in a bar is grounds for discourse on rape culture, my skin tone a measure for who am I and what I believe in. After learning about identity politics, I now see why it was easy for a straight, white man to not care as much (or even a little) about race and gender like I did. It doesn’t affect him either way so he can happily ignore and he can easily say “why can’t people just live together as humans, with no tags”, while I cannot do the same if I ever want to see myself considered an equal to him.