In diving into the labor rights movement and the Equal Rights Amendment, I was able to notice how the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory basically catalyzed women to fight for their rights in the workplace along with acquiring voting rights. Before this deadly fire, the labor movement was already underway and resonated with the women who were leading the wave for suffrage (the right to vote in political elections) but after this tragedy, it was clear that along with fighting for governmental rights, now the movement had to place equal importance upon the fight for representation in the workplace as well. The Equal Rights Amendment which was first proposed by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman, fits into these ideas as it sought to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex, ending the distinction between men and women in matters of divorce, property, and employment. Paul, an American women’s rights activist, initially began with the suffrage movement but even after the 19th amendment was passed, she still knew there was an uphill battle towards complete and legal gender equality and she was right. In 2019, Nearly a century after it was first proposed, Virginia became the 38th state to vote to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. This is a great example of the portrayal and progress of activism through this movement which wasn’t done with the passing of the original amendment as three-quarter of the states were required to approve it prior to its addition to the U.S. Constitution and even so, will still take time to fully come to fruition.  Labor rights are also issues of gender justice as the world has progressed and more knowledge has come about regarding the binary gender misconception so now it is imperative that rights are acknowledged for all genders in legal and work spaces. These historical issues are still enacted in today’s society as there are many brands that utilize this “mass production for cheap labor” motto and go to less developed areas to do so. It is disheartening to realize that there are certain laws which protect some Amercians from this type of disproportion yet America is still doing its “dirty inequality business” elsewhere along with many others. We also experience this everyday as issues in regards to gender arise in a world that continues to struggle with acceptance for all.

Beginning the readings this week with Claire Goldburg Moses’ What’s in a name?: On Writing the History of Feminism, I noticed the topic of intersectionality begin to circle my thoughts regarding the term, feminism. It allowed me to understand more of the history involved in it’s naming and why I had felt it was a brand new term when I first heard it quickly becoming overly-utilized to define one aspect of feminism- the sexist male-hating outlook. I understood that Moses was asking us to look at the bigger picture regarding the essential causes of the movement. That we keep moving towards those goals without focusing so much on exactly how alike each intersectional belief is within us because those differences separate us from uniting for the cause.

Intersectionality in oppression, patriarchy, and now feminism seem to have taken over my brain since learning about it and I look forward to having more examples of it broken down to hopefully continue expanding my knowledge in these areas. Currently, it feels like a lot of information jumbled together in a way that kind of makes sense yet doesn’t allow me to formulate specific examples of each and this is how I know I still haven’t grasped it fully.

My understanding of activism is taking a stance against and applying direct action towards the diminishing or demolishing of repressive acts or movements upon a community that you feel is oppressed. I am so glad that I decided to watch Netflix’s Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. The film began with documentation of a summer camp in New York called Camp Jened which allowed people with disabilities to live in a free atmosphere. This camp showed participants how they should be living and enforced how society was wrong with how it viewed disabilities within them. The disabilities among them were widely-ranged from polio survivors to those that suffered from cerebral palsy. It was just incredible to witness and learn about this community of people who even today are looked down upon for disabilities when in fact, many are just as capable if not more to take a stance for what they want and deserve and have the ability to subject change just as anyone else. Camp Jened did so much for these camp-goers who finally felt seen and understood by their peers that many banded together in an attempt to demand a change of the system for disabled people everywhere. Judy Heumann, a “polio” and camp Jened partaker, took a prominent role in leading and representing the disabled community from the 504 Sit-in in 1977 where she along with other disabled persons occupied federal buildings in the United States in order to push the issuance of long-delayed regulations regarding Section 504 of the rehabilitation Act of 1973 to Washington D.C. for the issuing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 which was set to provide clear prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability. During these protests, the participants whose disabilities ranged in all kinds of severity demanded to be heard by joining one another in solidarity enduring sleepless nights on the floor, not having running water for weeks to bathe or brush their teeth, and eventually relied on the support from any part of the community that supported the cause. The resilience was incredible to watch as the disabled community stood up for their civil rights just as any of us capable beings have. I am in complete awe. There was a woman in the film named Hollynn D’Lil who became a paraplegic after being run off the road by a truck in her early twenties that said “I had all the assumptions and prejudices that people have about people with disabilities and about disabilities” prior to her accident and it struck me because it took me back to the intersectionality of Patriarchy and oppression that seem to be ingrained in us subconsciously from a young age and again I wonder “why are these the things we’re taught?!”.
I think the best, most realistic way I can begin engaging in activism in regards to gender justice is to speak up now that I have a better understanding and knowledge about it. Even when confronted with a seemingly basic scenario, staying quiet after knowing would just be a way in which I choose to partake in the oppression of my siblings willingly. I feel like in daily settings with family, friends, even strangers, these conversations come up and comments are always made that prior to really engaging in this material would keep me silent or indifferent. I want to challenge myself to feel the right to state what I now know because I also understand the importance of this knowledge being spread instead of all the convenient misinformation so many choose to believe.

After watching the video What is Privilege?, I realized just how privileged I have been and continue to be in my life even as a second generation Dominican American. My mother migrated to New York from the Dominican Republic in 1982 and was able to manage going to college even though she didn’t know any of the English language and became a Physical Therapist’s Assistant and breadwinner of the household. I’m privileged to have been able to explore a performing arts career after high school instead of having to be forced into going to college for a degree I would’ve been unsure about at the time. I’ve been privileged with education throughout my life even now as an adult learner. To get to decide at the drop of a hat that I want to go to school and have that option be available is such an underrated privilege in society when there are so many that have low or no access to education.

Like Marilyn Frye’s example of how young women in the United States are in a bind where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is acceptable, I definitely can say that I felt this throughout my twenties and almost in a subconscious way. That is when I first began to explore that part of me so I felt very aligned with myself but at the same time, I was experiencing feelings of guilt due to how I was raised with a Catholic mother which insinuated that everything I was feeling was wrong. However we never spoke about things growing up because it proved to be too awkward a conversation to confront with children. Although I can agree with waiting until certain ages for this information to be shared, this cultural silence was extremely oppressive as a young adult and growing being. I wanted to be spoken to and treated as an adult but because I didn’t feel I could do that with family, I learned in a harsher way how having this outlet in my life would have helped tremendously growing up. Nowadays, my mom and I have a relationship where I can call her up and tell her anything because she realizes that it’s important to actually be there for your child through whatever they may be going through instead of trying to paint a perfect picture to the outside world that is actually oppressing the young women growing up inside the walls of your home.

The readings and video both really helped me understand the differences and magnitudes of oppression and privilege. Based on Frye’s article Oppression, my definition of oppression is a sneaky barrier created to seem as though it will aid in it’s cause when really it’s purpose is to maintain one immobilized or unable to move forward with progression in the scenario. A privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. The material was able to break both of these terms down and portray where in our own lives we’ve experienced each at some point or another.

In Beyond the Gender Binary by Alox Vaid Manon, Alox is asking that the world acknowledge people that are nonbinary and gender nonconforming along with society’s status quo of the binary population. They also encourage us to do it in a way where we are engaging with these populations so as to end all of the misinformation and lies which have only posed as distraction to the realities faced by gender nonconforming individuals. They are asking for the basic human right to EXIST. Society is systematically continuing to pushing the norm of only man and woman existing and actively attempting to ban any information to the public regarding nonbinary and gender nonconforming individuals which is limiting their access to basic rights and needs such as public accommodations, legal protection in the work place, and healthcare. As a cisgendered heterosexual woman, I am already looked down upon in society as inferior to man because of the Patriarchal ideology yet at least I can say that I’m allowed to “just be” in my daily life. It is painful to confront that part of myself that I’ve allowed to follow the norm of man and women because I envision a life such as Alox described where every single thing they do in public is scrutinized and in my whole being, I know this is not right. We don’t realize how much we let ourselves be brainwashed with information through educational and cultural settings and how we then in turn take those findings and just assume what is convenient.

As mentioned in one of the excerpts, things such as science and culture are constantly changing and we research and test these outcomes and update whatever was previously there but in biology with nonbinary and gender nonconforming people we are relentless to accept change. “They used to define sex as what was reflected on an individuals birth certificate. Once that was changeable, they made the definition our genitalia. Once we could change those, the definition changed to chromosomes. Now that there is increasing evidence that chromosomes don’t always necessarily align with sex, they are suggesting genetic testing. This is not about science- this is about targeted prejudice.” (Manon 50,51). I really appreciate how Alox deliberately debunked so many of the common assumptions used against the gender nonconforming community like this one. They are right in saying that it is discriminatory which is why even I felt held accountable for what I’ve chosen to believe without actively seeking this very understandable knowledge about how so many fellow humans do not feel safe and free to be themselves in the world. Life is hard enough as it is with all that is required to accomplish goals and dreams. It is ridiculous that this community of people have to endure feeling inferior to other humans. After this reading, I feel changed to make a difference at least with how I process information on this topic because it is what nonbinary and gender nonconforming people need from everyone- understanding.