In the essay, “Feminist Politics Where We Stand” bell hooks defines feminism as: “a movement to end sexism, sexist, exploitation, and oppression.” What I understand from reading this is that feminism focuses on wanting and working towards a change for the better. Oftentimes many believe that when someone is a feminist, they hate men which isn’t the case what so over. On the contrary, being a feminist means that you want to stand up and demand a change. A change where men and women arent put on a different pedestal based upon what they look like. Its main focus is to be able to limit and get rid of how unfairly women tend to be treated. A line that stood out to me while reading this is as follows ” From its earliest inception feminist movement was polarized.
Reformist thinkers chose to emphasize gender equality. Revolutionary thinkers did not want simply to alter the existing system so that women would have more rights. We wanted to transform that system, to bring an end to patriarchy and sexism. Since patriarchal mass media was not interested in the more revolutionary vision, it never
received attention in the mainstream press. The vision of “women’s liberation” which captured and still holds the public imagination was the one representing women as wanting what men had”(pg 4). The reason for which this stood out to me is because it aided me in truly seeing things through a different lens/perspective. I won’t sit here and lie, before, I was under the impression that feminism had to do with simply finding and gaining equality between men and women such as equal pay and opportunities. Yet after not only reading this chapter, but also reading the definition, it made me realize just how much more there is for me to learn. I was under a certain impression towards feminism because I never truly looked deeper and far more beyond the little information I came across. When it comes down to gender, I never truly understood why there are certain ‘rules’ or rather stigmas set. I knew that anatomy and certain features can disguise whether or not one is a male or female. Yet I never liked how people would often say one can’t do certain things simply because of their gender. Why can’t males be emotional and why are females viewed as too emotional? I personally felt that one’s gender is entirely up to how one feels. If someone is born a male but identifies as a female we shouldn’t have to bring them down for that. On the contrary, we should embrace everyone who they identify as. Gender roles tend to get in the way a lot especially when they are always brought up. Even if one may think they are simply joking they need to realize just how hurtful it can be as well. I remember watching a video and in that video, they’d tell boys to do things like a girl (example: running) in which they would run and seem to enjoy the way they think girls run. Yet when they asked a girl to run like a girl, they simply ran fast and the demeanor was completely different. Things such as “you act like a girl” can also be very hurtful. What exactly makes ‘acting like a girl’ bad? Why is there even such a difference between acting like a girl or acting like a guy?

Good Afternoon everyone,

My name is Sofia Arista-Juarez and I am 19 years old. My birthday is on July 16 and I am Mexican-American. My pronouns are she/her but at the same time, I don’t mind being called him or them (I’m comfortable with any pronouns). For most of my life, I have always lived in East Harlem and known it to be my home yet I can’t wait until the day comes when my family and I move. I love to draw, listen to music, write poetry, write in my journal, read, and I also enjoy anime and manga. I like to draw and write because it allows me to express myself when words simply can’t. Although I am kind and friendly I am also very reserved. However, I always tend to put others first before me and try to help them whenever they need help. Whether it be lending them a listening ear when they need advice or need to rant, or a shoulder to lean and cry on. This is currently my second year at BMCC and if all goes well this semester, I should be able to graduate during this spring semester with my associated degree in Liberal Arts. Yet my end goal is to transfer to a senior college and become a nurse.

One of the reasons I am currently taking this course is because it was one of the few classes my counselor told me about. However, I am interested in what we will be learning. Growing up I have always seen how differently women get treated as compared to men as well as how men get treated as compared to women. There are always certain stereotypes applied to both men and women which to this day seem questionable. I’ve also seen how race always plays a role in how people get treated. When I asked my mom to describe what it was like growing up in Mexico for her, she told me that women weren’t allowed to go to school because it was more common for men to get an education and get a job. A woman’s role was to simply be a housewife, tend to the children, and make sure there was food ready for when the husband got home. Although a lot of time has passed since my mom was little, this belief is still around. I’m ready to learn anything and everything that will be provided during this course and here’s to a great semester.