Social justice means fairness, equity, and quality. Feminism is a movement fighting to end women’s exploration, sexiest men’s behavior and oppression, as Bell Hooks tried to explain very clearly. Sex is anatomy and psychology. There are a couple of factors and ways to express gender through behavior, looks, and physical and mental self-the identity. So feminism is a much broader concept and can address more issues if we analyze it more profoundly. I learned what I am in this class, and I understood more about myself in a contest of gender politics and how the patriarchal world is the air we breathe, not even thinking about it while we work and study. There are personal, Institutional, interpersonal, and cultural levels of operation.

I heard stories about racial prejudice,gender struggles, social unfairness, and simple brutal ignorance, even from family members or the doctor’s office. I always appreciate others’ shares because they make you realize the pain. We had read about the New York Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where 148 women died.This is a horrifying story, painful and full of ignorance. I believe women are the most vulnerable to violence in history. I had a chance to participate in discussions about human rights and freedom, civil rights, and liberties, along with feminism. I understand the importance of fundamental structure and why women didn’t have the same possibilities as men to live their  lives. The history of women is different than that of men. Black feminism is different then feminism. Many stories I heard contained the narrative of oppression in other parts of the World. My friends from class shared touching and painful experiences that I am thankful I heard. It made me closer to every one of them. 

I feel capitalism is taking a human from humanity; it created slavery and built a structure that exploits people and drains their strength and hard work with little reward and no benefits.Woman who carry the responsibility to core for family exist under different rules in capitalist world.

 Race, Gender, Class and Feminism are social issues that are reflected in our everyday lives when we start the day on the morning ride in the subway, at work or school, and when we come back to our kids who tell us stories from their daily lives in their class. It is painfully vivid in unfairness and rewarding when challenged. Action, activist matter and change is possible if decided to do it. We talked about what we did to protect ourselves and the moment we couldn’t do it  and why. We witness human struggle in many forms while reading about discrimination and injustice and analyzing white privilege. The count of  26 conditions in Peggy McIntosh opened  my imagination. 

To better understand the history and current structure, we must face existing ideas about radicating inequality and building new concepts. The unconscious processes that sustain inequality must be discussed, and the dialog must include history. I care for social justice regarding race, gender, sexual identity, national origin, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, economic status, etc. Social justice is the battle of our times across New York City, the nation, and the globe. Social justice is delivering on today’s promises while also accounting for, and reckoning with past harm, persistent harm, and, where applicable, leveling the playing field. That means ensuring, for example, that Black and brown people are brought on in businesses to account for systemic racism, raising women’s pay to account for past and ongoing pay inequality, or seeing that children do not start the school day hungry. We have responsibilities and duties to each other to ensure social justice is done, and this has been my passion. Feminism is a fight for justice, and anyone can add to it from their end. There is no end! My perspective is also driven by world history, personal experience, and vocational experience. I was raised in Soviet-occupied Poland, which gained independence when I was 10. My parents had collaborated against the USSR. We do not seek to save and preserve for the sake of protecting and preserving; we strive to learn and maintain this work to help propel people forward with a clearer view of the past, and the aim of moving forward, perhaps even together. Once more, to understand the forces that fuel structural racism, gender inequality, and class, it’s necessary to know how we got here. Daily’s work seems to offer a roadmap.

• What do you understand the liberated woman to be?

A woman who is liberated feels natural in making her own decisions and choosing what she prefers in life. She can have children or focus on her career. She has equal say in the rules and responsibilities of her home, and works with her partner to build a family that is safe and good in her eyes. A liberal woman fights for her happiness and has any type of friends she wants. is someone who makes her own decisions and chooses her own roles.

• How might the liberated woman be important for women’s liberation?

The significance of a liberated woman in the pursuit of women’s liberation is paramount. By challenging societal norms and advocating for equal rights, they demonstrate that it is possible for women to work and for men to take care of the home. This departure from traditional roles can also alleviate domestic tension by distributing household responsibilities equally between partners.

• How do these pieces show that “the personal is political”?

Both Pat Mainardi and Anne Koedt  essays highlight how women’s personal experiences are political. Mainardi’s essay focuses on household chores and how they reinforce gender roles and power imbalances. Similarly, Koedt’s essay challenges the medical community’s assumptions about women’s bodies and sexuality, advocating for a more comprehensive approach to women’s sexual health. These essays show how societal structures and power dynamics shape women’s personal experiences and can inspire political engagement. Overall, they demonstrate the importance of women’s personal experiences in the struggle for women’s liberation.

In the readings Garza and Williams expand the understanding of identity politics by emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and addressing systemic oppression and marginalization. They discuss how identity politics can serve as a tool for social justice and political mobilization, especially for marginalized communities. 

Identity politics is a form of political activism that has concerns and interests of specific social groups who have been marginalized or oppressed based on their identity, such as race, gender, sexuality, religion, or disability. It’s also the personal experiences of individuals within groups that shape their political perspectives and action is necessary to challenge systemic discrimination.

Garza and Williams argue that identity politics is often mischaracterized as exclusionary, when in fact it is an important tool for building solidarity and achieving social justice. By centering the experiences and perspectives of marginalized groups, identity politics challenges dominant narratives and power structures that reinforce oppression and inequality. At the same time, identity politics recognizes the various struggles for justice and advocates for coalition-building and cross-movement solidarity.

Anzaldua expands the understanding of identity politics by exploring the intersection of multiple identities, such as race, gender, sexuality, and class. This approach can provide a more understanding of the complex experiences of individuals who belong to multiple marginalized groups.

I can’t really think of any topics we should explore but what I have been learning in the past few months in this class have been very interesting. 

Think about your relationship to capitalism in the United States.

It’s been almost 6 years since I came to the united States, I have been working with my mother in her business hair salon since then, and I can tell that it is way better to have your own business in the united States because you will gain so much more, sometimes when she went on vacation I take over the business with my twin’s sister, I never had to opportunities to work other jobs outside of braiding hair, since t I am doing pretty much good working on my own using my skills.
Have you been successful in the marketplace? Why or why not?

I think I am in the middle, I am only working the weekends because I want to focus on school and graduate as soon as possible, but with the job I am doing right now I will be fine working only two days until there’s a holiday and summer time. I am not making any savings since I made a deal with my mother to let me focus on school and I will be working for her on the weekends, but if it wasn’t that it will be pretty fine in the marketplace, braiding is a very hard job and mostly a skilled job but you will gain a lot from it.

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

I always have a mindset of helping people, especially children because they are innocent and sometimes have no way of expressing themselves, some kids need a lot of support and unfortunately, sometimes they can’t get it from their parents but I do believe that a stranger can make their life better and be here for them when they need it the most. I was a very quiet person and get bullied a lot when I was young but there was one teacher that always is here for me, that teacher loved me when he didn’t even have any reason to do so but he will just do all his best that I keep up good grades at school and make sure that I will have lunch every day. That’s the reason that I want to work with children, Some children did not have the same privilege as others but had a very difficult life at an early age, some were not even welcome in their own homes, so it will mean a lot to them having someone who is there for them and who’s ready to do everything just to see them happy or at least have a normal childhood. My dream is to be a positive role model for children, it’s exciting for me to see the joy in children’s eyes whenever they see you or that they get very excited around you which means that they feel safe and welcomed. I am very confident I to archive that goal.

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

In a feminist economy where no one would be exploited will when we will all be equal but generalize people as weak and strong, anyone would not get scared to get over the place because of the way they view them.

Kat Gawin – Bell Hooks