Discussuion 9 and reflection 8

• What do you understand the liberated woman to be?
• How might the liberated woman be important for women’s liberation?
• How do these pieces show that “the personal is political”?

Liberated women want to be understood by what they do, by their how their everyday task looks like, by the struggles. Just imagine having to drop of your kids to school, go to work, pick the kids up, get home clean, and cook. Now repeating that schedule is not something men could do and I see it at my house. My mom does it all ever since I could remember, now that im much older I help out in the house and with my siblings. The message is not just for females but also for men, to show them that a women will multitask and still succeed, still make it through the day and keep going. Now these type of women also want to put it out there that yes they can multitask but it is not a responsibility to clean, men can do it as well because they have hands and feet. Cleaning and taking care of your kids does not make you less of a men but more responsible and make you appreciate women more.

Liberated women make females feel liberated by speaking for them, to the women who are afraid to speak up, for the women who want change, perhaps they just want to work and not clean. Once again women should not be seen a stay at home mom because tahts implying gender roles like back then and that’s what we want to change. Liberated women want to implement more jobs where females feel equal as a man, same respect.

The personal is political 

Its disappointing to say that some people believe that women should please a men. When ever a women does not have a orgasm men will quickly jump to think that frigidity is what causes it and are quick to make females seek psychiatric care. The politics of house work is on the tables as well because it is sick for a man to think that a women cannot get tired, that after a long day at work she still needs to take care of the house but not only that it is a demand to please your partner (men). No assumptions should be made about a women’s body or how they’re supposed to be in bed because then its terrible myths that make a small percent of women feel less, feel like robots.

• What did you learn from the readings from this week and/or what were you reminded of that you think is important to keep in mind right now?

Abortion is a different in every religion .A women has her own right and feminism will support. Identifying what Pro-life is important becaue you cannot agree with one thing but also with another which is the opposite of what you first agreed on.Pro-life is taking a choice away from an individual 

“people should be able to do what they wanna do, express themselves, and be free”

Yes, females should be able to do what ever they want with their bodies and they should not change their opinions based on how others feel. Nobody has the right to judge for making the decision of aborting. If a female wants to abort is for a good reason of their own and it should not bother anyone because of the end of the day it will be the mother taking care of that kid. Sometimes circumstances such as money or our surroundings prevents us from bring a baby to this earth that’s why wome females abort because not only are they thinking for themselves but also looking out for that babsy future. Why would I bring a baby to this world if I know I cannot provide all the things it needs, if I do not have time, if the person I was with is not going to be a good father.  A female who cannot give birth for what ever reason should not hav ethe right to talk about abortions neither should a men. Last year I watched how the senate was passing a law in many states about banning abortions and a big amount of young girls appointments were cancelled. What If they were raped, why should they keep a baby that will remind them of their rape? And lastly feminism who support females right should not be against abortions because the definition of feminism is for women to have freedom when they talk, to be heard and about their body.

• How are suffrage, labor rights, and the equal rights amendment related?
• How/why are labor rights also issues of gender justice?
• How do you see these historical issues enacted in today’s society?

Suffrage, labor rights and equal rights are all related because it was young females who have experienced that, why because back then a women couldn’t work. Once females started working it was low paid jobs and the working conditions were terrible that’s where suffrage comes in. A perfect example was The sweat shops were made up by young immigrant woman about 500 of them all together, they would work long hours and at low wages with unsafe conditions. On march 11 when the factory light up on fire there was no way of turning it down and the elevator could only make 4 rides before it stopped working. A lot of females died.

Triangle shirtwaists factory led to the ILGWU (international ladies garment workers union. NYC put then a law that would make sprinklers to be installed at all factories which benefit and helped the state and national workplaces 

Gender justice come to play because females were never supposed to work just be a stay at home mom if it wasn’t for women fighting and making the movement to earn a spot in the work industry. It had to be obvious that men were going to make women suffer that why they give them the job with the lowest pay and with no good working conditions. A lot of females and kids died because of the chemicals they were around because of the amount of hours they were working.

In todays society it can still be seen in those countries that are in need of money, there’s a lot of Americans that go to India to get merchandise, they gather groups of females to work for them. Indian females spend long hours in s sewing machine and Americans would pay them 10 dollars. These America would then sell the merchandise here for $60, the Americans would go back to India and even try to bargain Indians for a lower price. This is seen not just India but in other places where its children working for long hours and a low pay.

20^th Century intersections 

I belive what this quote means is that since black women were struggling for years however if they were to take action and destroy all types of dominant groups that were racist. 

“Black feminist have been gathering since 1974, to discuss political work. The questions was whether or not they’re committed to “struggle against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and less oppression”. The goal was to defeat man field and simultaneous  oppression that all women of color force.

Black women carry a lot of history related to the American political system . A system  composed of white men only. We had women who were activist such as Frances E. W Herper, Ida B Wells Barnet, Mary church T.

American women movement occurred in the late 1960s. Black feminist felt like they had to have their own group in 1960s-1970s, that when NBFO started National Black Feminist Organization. A big group of women were part of the movement but also part of “Civil rights, Black nationalism, and Black panthers”. These groups weren’t enough though, they felt the need to make an organization that was antiracist because of how white women would make black females feel even though they should be united. A group that was antisexist since white and black men make women feel less. Whether or not you’re a feminist, there had to be a time where you were silenced/shut down, there had to a time where men didn’t let you speak your mind because it is not “ladylike”.

I feel like our parents have a lot to do with this topic, this starts in one’s home. Why is it that whenever I decide to have a relax day, no makeup and comfortable clothes people around us think we are sick or there something wrong with us. Women from a very young age are taught to always look more than just presentable. I don’t want to jump into a different topic, but people will treat better a female that’s “put together” than a female that it’s in sweats and no makeup, this has nothing to do with who is more educated just looks. Pay close attention because to most people females are just an image rather than what we bring to the table. We see this in things such as a met gala when they talk about celebrities’ outfits, they look at men and talk about his career what has he done on the other hand when a female on the red carpet its always focused on the hair, dress, accessories, we are more than just looks. It’s always not too skinny because she’s anorexic, but not too much weigh because then she’s fat, not too short but not too tall because then its awkward.

Racial politics are a barrier to black feminist by not letting them live their experience, they make sure oppression doesn’t end. We must realize why or how those of power (white males) feel entitled to act like they have control pf everything, it all comes down to money. There’s a small percentage where people of color have “gained certain tools as a result of tokenism in education and employment”. Nowadays it is difficult to separate race from class from sex oppression. Black men struggle with racism and white women struggle sexism from black men. 

Antagonism among people who don’t have much power 

White women back in the 1900s were against black males because they got to vote before women 

The Vision was to fight for womens right however there was still racism 

Women of color would be put last 

When that march of women fighting for their right to vote, black women were put all the way in the back of the line

There was a black female who became really important to womens movement 

That was Ida B wells she was a leader in the civil rights movement. She fought  for African American equality especially for women. 

Ida B Wells knew what she was arguing about because she grew up surrounded by it, the slavery, inequality and racism

1896 there was a national association of colored women it became the largest federation

Susan B Anthony did agree and contribute with the idea to end slavery but stated that African American men shouldn’t have been granted the liberty to vote but it should’ve been women instead. 

A women’s convention  took place in Seneca falls NY hosted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Women from different parts of U.S.A joined the march however thee was an issue, Mary Turkish Terrel allowed African American women to monarch but all the way in the back. B WELLS did not agree with the idea of being held in the back so she ran with her crew to the front of the line. As women their shouldn’t be conflict within the team because of race if anything fighting for their rights should united women more 

There was wealthy women who were against women getting their rights was wealthy women because they didn’t want women who were poor to have a say. 

When it comes to equality that would mean women would have more opportunity to work at any job and this would effect those females who are house wives and don’t want to work.

WORKING UNIONS- organization of workers to get good working condition 

Capitalism the goal is for the owners to make money regardless of how difficult the working conditions might be for the workers.

For example:

    Amazon 

   Starbucks

1911 backlash 

National association against women suffrage.Women have made progress however there are still people in power who make the decision for us and push us back.Take abortions for example where they were banned from states and a lot of 

Think about your own relationship to capitalism in the United States.

Have you been successful in the market place?  Why or why not?

What are your goals for your career? Are you confident you will reach those goals?

Finally, what would a feminist economy look like so that nobody is exploited? 

Capitalism is known to be explosive and oppressive we know this because of the relationship that there is in regards to power in between the owner of the factors of production and those who sell their labor. There’s people who get paid less than the wage they are supposed to, matter fact the owners undermine the value contribution that is being made.

What was brought to my attention was that there was gender inequality plaguing the society. Feminism want economic freedom but what not everyone knows is that capitalism promotes individualism over collective action.

I feel like when it comes to marketplace it can be a bit difficult to do everything on your own specially of you don’t know what you’re doing. What is recently seen is that big brands like appropriating an aesthetic of feminism, trying to use the word feminism as a title to get more customers. However, in the supply chain about 350 women were hospitalized because of extreme fatigue from poor working conditions.  

My goals for my career are to make connections and that’s what I been hearing constantly to get there, on the top. Whenever I think about it though, it scares me because I question myself in regards of what the steps are to get there besides the connections. With what money?  What job would I currently have while trying to make it in the forensic field? Would it be a good paying job that will make me afford all my equipment or would it be a job that is somewhat related to the career? 

I must ad it that there are times I feel like I will not be able to reach these goals because the field is very competitive but not only that but there a small percentage of Hispanic females working as a forensic. What concerns me is the connections that people advise me to make now, how would I be able to if the people around me are in the same level as me. The experts won’t allow someone to go to a forensic laboratory unless they have some type of experience or background knowledge, have taken a college forensic class. Apart from being challenged is the  competition around me, but remembering what Dalia Gebrial said about “woman not being able to be free until they defeat race oppression and fight class oppression” is something that keeps me humble.

• Why is it important to recognize patriarchy as a system and not an individual identity?
• While patriarchy is a system, individuals enact patriarchy in their personal thoughts, interpersonal actions, as members of institutions, and in the structures of our culture. Use the levels of oppression outlined below, to discuss how patriarchy might work at each level and how those levels influence one another.

Before anything I think we should identify the word patriarchy, it can be a society or even individuals who participate in it.

The point the article is trying to prove is that it is easy to assume and blame society for all our problems, this includes the way we act and think. We cannot assume an individual belongs to a society, for example poverty and class oppression comes from the upper class being greedy, cruel, and heartless.

The mistake that we often make is that we often like to point fingers and blame the so called system for patriarchy. We never sit down to think what makes the system an actual group and who is involved in it. We cannot keep blaming systems for our social problems.

Race, gender, and class oppression are not actual oppression. However that what white men with power makes us think oppression is.Women oppression comes from men who want to dominate women and out of hostility word them.

Thinking outside the box :Sick and angry men who do dumb decisions such as abuse/rape and other dangerous activities, should be questioned. What would make these men act or think this way, what is the cause? What type of society would produce this type of men 

We are the individuals who make systems, live in them, accept it, identify and participate in them, just like the author mentions it all the time we have to be more aware if our actions if we want change. Family, religion, economy, peoples lives are shaped to these groups.It is not like we do not know how to communicate towards each other, we do it all the time when we complain, in order to earn power we have to we have to develop some type of personal identity relation to other people. Remember that patriarchy is composed of certain types of social relationships, when we are in groups we are more likely to be influenced by other actions or words.

• In what ways do you experience privilege?
• In what ways do you experience oppression?
• How does watching this video and doing the readings help you define the concepts of privilege and oppression and what are your current definitions (it’s OK to quote directly from the readings and/or use their definitions.

Just like how white people have privileges for the simple fact of having a white skin complexion, men have more privilege than women.Men don’t want to give up space so women can speak up, stand up, and most importantly have rights. Something that caught my attention in the article was a line that said, “denials protect male privileges from being fully acknowledge, lessened, or ended.” It keeps men in power at all times even if they’re wrong.

Could it be oppressiveness that cause this type of treatment towards those with money, power, and white.

We experience oppression by our own culture, education and government, feels like they all try to keep us in a box, prohibiting us from learning more than what were supposed to know. Oppression can be judging anyone  by their background, skin color, race, gender and how they identify their self  as.

I consider myself bisexual but in the eyes of my aunts, uncles, and grandparents, that’s seen as something from the devil or I’m just “hanging out with bad influences”. I felt less of a person because it seemed like I was a joke to my aunts when ever I would mention having bisexual friends. Seeing how my family would react, I decided to just keep it to myself instead of coming out. I knew that my mom was going to accept me because I had asked her once how she would feel if she had a bisexual daughter. I believe that a lot of people are scared to come out to their parents and friends about their gender because society and our own culture has made it seem like its such a bad thing. Our culture makes it look as if you were the black sheep of the family for being different but the truth is that our families judge because people back then were not open about genders. What ever seemed different was a threat instead of an opportunity.

In the article “white privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack” the author expresses how they felt in multiple scenarios where to them, it felt like a privilege. They go in depth about how growing up they thought that racism was seen in act of meanness. It never crossed their mind that being white would give them an advantage.

There’s an existence of white privilege which is denied and protected. Its among us and a big amount don’t see it. How could we ever have equality when privilege among race is going around.

It always starts at home and in school , the author explains that in their school they were taught that as an individual their moral state depended on their moral will. A colleague from the author said that white people go about their day like everyone else an try to make it ideal to others so it can benefit them. However that’s seen as wanting to change others to be more like white people.

The ways that I experience privilege was actually recently when I went to California, at the airport in the section where you have to pass through the metal detector. Since I took my baby sister I had to take the big Uppababy vista stroller, its supper big. On my right there was a black lady with her stroller as well but was a simple one since her baby was about 3years old. I noticed that the officers took a while to give her stroller back, keep in mind the stroller had no pockets on it. I got my stroller right after I went through the machine. The same thing occurred when I came back to NY I had a bottle of water in my hand and I was allowed in, I was waiting to get my stuff and I realized a Muslim lady wasn’t allowed in with her water and she had just bought it.

I have realized I had privilege in a college, it was my first time in and I didn’t know where anything was located so I asked for the main office and was kindly assisted. I realized there was a Hispanic girl struggling to communicate with the security guard, she was using her phone to translate. The security guard raised their voice and that’s when I stepped in because it may not be my business but there’s is no reason for an individual to get annoyed by someone else who doesn’t have knowledge but still finds a way to communicate. Before you can ask, It was the girls first time as well and I was there before her. I can see where the security could get annoyed, I like seeing individuals’ point of view, I personally don’t have patience nor do I like repeating myself if I know I’m loud enough. However, if I know someone is struggling, I make exceptions and find various ways to help them out. The security guard was not racist towards me at that time, but I realized she was making the girl feel less for not knowing English.

It is true that people act a certain way because of the way they were taught by school or home. Oppression can contradict its self because the same way we say women are oppressed, men can be oppressed as well and even worse not know when they are doing it to others. A quote that sums it up from the article   “Oppression”    when the author said that there’s many limitations we live with and become  self-monitored which then become part of our adaptation because that’s how the government desires it to be. 

What does it mean to move beyond the gender binary for Alok? Even for people who identify as cisgender, gender is fluid and complex. We all express and experience our gender in different ways, and for most of us, some aspect of our gender identity goes against the binary norm. In what ways does your gender identity go against the binary norm and in what ways does it fit the binary norm?

Ways that gender identity would go against the form would be just as the author Alok said such when you get any type of ID (passport, Drivers license). Your birth certificate would go against the norm as well because is addressing a gender on to you within your first week of living.  Peoples gender would fit the norm when they listen to music, some artist make music not for a specific gender but for everyone. Now a days you see some public bathrooms are for  all genders instead of just the female or male.

The author included in the book their experience as a nonbinary artist, their experience growing up and how those around them would treat them. To move beyond the gender binary is to communicate with each other about gender because the truth us that there no right or certain way to look. Reading about Alok’s experience its upsetting how those who are close minded treat non binary, some states instead of providing support just close their doors on them. Texas would prohibit them from using public bathrooms and would deny their right to own a business. Tennessee would ban them from open space such as parks, high school and highways. Even today there’s people dealing with discrimination not only for their gender but because of their skin of color. The situation would be worse for an induvial who was non binary and black such as Alok Vaid Menon, being afraid for your safety every time you went out does not sit right with me. Having strangers interrogating you about your body, having your personhood reduced to a prop just for expressing how you feel by the way you dress is a disrespect because it has nothing to do with your persona. Alok said “ how are supposed to be believed about the harm you experience when they don’t even believe you exist”

When those around you can’t take your gender which is one of the many things that identify you then how would you expect others to do so. What stood out as well was a line that the author said which was the “emphasis of our appearance distract us from the real focus, Power.” When you analyze the line, you realize that the government would make a big deal out of the LGBTQIA community and use it as a distraction to blind the us from real problems that are happening right now.

REFLECTION 2:  ALOK said something around the lines of society wanting to put people in the LGBTQIA community in a box because they feel uncomfortable, the unfamiliar becomes a threat instead of an opportunity. Being ourselves, thinking outside the box instead of sticking to a roll society wants us to play, is something that make us “weird” in other people’s eyes. A bit off topic but I would relate this with the way we all make money, the government will make you believe that you must go to school (college) to make money. This plan does not work for everyone, the government doesn’t want you to make money if its not by following their system, they want us to be in debt, take loans. A small percent of people learns about crypto and stocks, no education needed yet it’s something you have to invest time in. I keep saying government, but this would include those in power such as those in the house of representatives and senate.

As I read more pages if the book, I learned more words and their meaning, gender language would be talking about the experience of an individual while gender neutral language would be more inclusive when talking about groups. I identify myself as a female she/her and I am in favor to help those groups who struggle explaining themselves to the others about their gender. I feel that maybe posting on social media articles about different types of genders and putting out there the correct vocabulary to identify groups and individual would make a change. I like many others didn’t have the resources to educate myself on the different key terms in gender.