Hello everyone!

My name is Lizbeth, and my preferred pronouns are she/her. This is my second semester at BMCC as a Studio Art: Digital Imaging major. I’m from Queens, NY, and have lived here my whole life, and although I love it here, I do hope to one day move elsewhere. My mother is from the Dominican Republic, and raised me on her own. She’s an incredibly strong and amazing woman who sacrificed so much for me, she is definitely who I look up to. When possible, I love to travel and visit as many art museums as time permits. Besides digital art, I enjoy painting and would love to learn how to make pottery. My dream is to one day have a studio of my own, I’m not sure if it’ll just be a hobby or my career just yet, but time will tell. I love reading, but I don’t find much time to sit and read, so I’m constantly listening to audiobooks. I love the idea of being able to get all of my tasks done throughout the day and still be able to finish a book. I’ve always wanted to take this course and learn about and discuss feminism and inequality, also how women are underrepresented in politics. I’m really looking forward to getting to know my classmates and hearing their input throughout this semester.

I wish you all the absolute best!

Hello Everyone! My name is Aleah Alamo and my pronouns are she/her. The ethnic background of my family is an ongoing debated mystery but I know for certain I am Puerto Rican and Peruvian. I was born and raised in New York City and have been really enjoying going to school in Manhattan. An interesting fact about myself is that I started school early so I am now a 17 year old in college! This is my second semester at BMCC. Being uncertain about what career I want to pursue in the future, I am majoring in liberal arts. However, going to school in the city has given me motivation to explore my different interests. I am interested in pursuing a career in sonography but I aspire to have a career in fashion. While sonography would be a great career, I am not sure if a hospital setting is right for me. I like to be creative and active and have more of a passion for art. I also really enjoy movies and music – especially musicals because they combine the two! I can be shy sometimes but I am always enthusiastic to have a conversation about movies and music. My favorite movie is Moulin Rouge and I like too many music artist to pick a favorite (Rihanna and Kanye might be at the top of my list).

I love working with and helping people and often volunteer at a soup kitchen/pantry (Manna of Life Ministries). I hope to learn more about the role gender plays in oppression and inequality. While volunteering, I’ve realized most of the people who come in need are women, especially women of color. I think this course could help me understand and connect with them more. I want to use what we learn to make a positive impact on the way the pantry can help these women. I believe gender and women studies can give insight into why society has been built in a way that puts women at a disadvantage. This course can build compassion for women’s struggle as well as build motivation to forward thinking that could help break the cycle of inequality and oppression.

I look forward to taking this course and working together with you all 🙂

My name is Kayla Santel, I’m nineteen, (unfortunately I’ll be turning twenty this month) a writing major and my pronouns are she/her. Similar to most things during the pandemic that changed, I’m not too sure if I want to keep this major anymore but that’s for me to figure out in the future. I still love to write, get ear piercings (I have seven right now) do karaoke with my friends when all our schedules align and go to concerts. I’m just not sure if I want to follow my childhood dream of becoming a writer anymore and make a ‘career’ out of it, but the goal is to definitely have a job I love — but for now I just work in retail. This was supposed to be my last semester at bmcc but because I only took three classes my first semester, (I didn’t know you had to take four to be able to qualify for financial aid) my real last semester will most likely be in the Summer. It’s okay though, I’m not in a rush to finish college and I have no idea what the next steps are because I’m a very go with the flow spontaneous person, I’m not big on planning.

When I have to think about stuff I don’t like my mind tends to blank, or only trivial things really come up. I don’t like people who complain about the rain or snow, mustard, grammar nazis, or being late. (Despite being late everywhere my whole highschool career now I just show up really early everywhere and I honestly can’t figure out which is worse.) I’m from New York, more specifically Queens, I’ve lived here my whole life, but hopefully that will change when I move out. I’ve never traveled anywhere but when I finally do I would love to go to Malaysia or even Thailand, it’s a bit underwhelming having an empty passport. But I guess I really haven’t traveled because I’ve never really had the disposable income to do so. That and I don’t like being in places where I don’t know the language, I feel like that’s a complete disadvantage. I plan to learn the languages of the places I travel to in the future, atleast so I can be ‘beginner level.’ I actually have no idea how to put the reason why I chose this class into words but I’m truly excited to learn about the course itself.

Hello! My name is Olivia, I am 22 years old and my pronouns are she/her. I was born and raised in Brooklyn and my major is multimedia programming and design. I am currently working as a personal assistant but hope to land an internship this summer that goes hand in hand with my major. Some of my hobbies include shooting film, drawing, and researching runway, vintage vogue, (all things fashion related). I love fashion, reading good novels, and trying new foods. I also love my switch, I play animal crossing and super smash. I truly dislike picky eaters, laziness, and disorganization. I have a very strong work ethic and take school seriously, but I still like to enjoy myself and leave room for self-care Sundays. I took this course to further my knowledge of women’s rights and how they’ve progressed throughout history. Being that my mother is gay, I was raised and surrounded by strong women for the majority of my life. I am taking this course as a general elective but I am looking forward to the readings Dr. Waychoff provides us. Considering this class is asynchronous, I have found it helpful in the past to utilize Whatsapp group chats for further discussion outside of class. If anyone would like to create one and talk about our assignments and readings please let me know!

Looking forward to a productive and fun semester with you all.

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.

Hi all, my name is Dylan and my pronouns are he/him/his. I am a NYC native, and my main interests are makeup, musicals and animals. I am an animal lover, and like to study how gender bias is prevalent in how we treat animals, including but not limited to the animal agriculture industry, in which female animals are the majority of the ones being exploited and tortured. This is because the males are not financially profitable enough as they do not reproduce. I also love delving into the inherent sexism behind hating cats.
I am taking this course because I am pursuing a degree in Gender and Women’s study. A good chunk of my interest in choosing this degree comes from my personal experiences as a queer gender-non-conforming person of color. Because of this, the performance and perception of gender are extra pervasive in my everyday life. The effects of gender bias are prevalent in and affect many aspects of life like racism, sexism, disability, ableism, healthcare discrimination, and financial status/income.
I think that Legally Blonde may be an applicable movie, though I am partial to the musical over the movie because it expands on the plot. Legally Blonde challenges the popular movie trope of a girl chasing after a love interest, changing herself for him, and “love” being the ultimate and even only goal in the plot, by flipping the narrative. It begins with the main character changing her school/career prospects to win back her ex, however, she ends up discovering herself and her passion for Law and chooses her degree/career over chasing after a man. The ever-so-inspiring “I was searching for love, but found that love for myself instead.”

Good evening Professor and all,

Hello Professor and all!

My name is Daniela Munoz and I am twenty-three years old. I go by pronouns she/her and as for what to call me, Dani or Daniela is fine. I am from Queens, where I was born and raised and am now in my second year at BMCC. I was actually enrolled at BMCC straight out of high school but I was not at all prepared nor did I know what I wanted to do, so I ended up leaving. Now that I am back, I feel very certain about what my plan is and so far, I have enjoyed every single class I have taken. I learned that uncertainty is not always a bad thing. I have two siblings, an older sister named Stephanie and a younger sister named Karina and both are hardworking and inspiring women. 

I am a Liberal Arts major but I plan on entering the nursing program and pursuing a career in psychiatry as a nurse practitioner. I think mental health is extremely important and I hope to someday be able to help others by any means necessary. I work at a health and wellness store and find it extremely satisfying speaking to people and helping them find what they are looking for. I also have learned website building skills that I did not know prior and it made me realize that I enjoy working hands on. I am utterly thankful for the people I have met, such as my boss because she is an understanding, supportive and generous soul. A pastime that I truly enjoy is reading books and spending time with those closest to me. For me, reading is like a mental vacation that I truly benefit from. Another hobby of mine is staying physically active i.e going for a run in the park, but this past year has been more sedentary than not. 

I look forwarding to broadening my knowledge with this course because there is so much that I know I will learn!

My name is Arianda and this is my third semester at BMCC. My parents are from the Dominican Republic but I was born here in New York. I have four sisters and the pronouns I go by are she/her. During quarantine 2020, I suffered a wrist fracture that would end up changing the trajectory of my life, for the better, as the months spent rehabilitating post-surgery inspired my return to school as an adult-learner at 33 years old towards an eventual Occupational Therapy degree. Prior to this return, I pursued a career in the Performing Arts as a singer, dancer, actor for the majority of my life. Shortly after graduating High School, I was cast in the national tour of Rent the musical as lead- Mimi Marquez. After traveling as an artist for a year, I found it difficult to sit at a desk and attend College as all I wanted to do was perform. With my parents’ blessing, I decided to forego school at the time and hit the ground running as a triple threat. I went on to reprise the role in the 2011 Off-Broadway revival of Rent and was later cast on Orange is the New Black seasons 4 and 5.

I decided to enroll in this course to learn about the cultural and historical production of sexual difference especially women. I would also like to better understand the origin of our rights and footprints in history. I’m looking forward to taking everything that this course has to offer through the readings and assignments. As an artist at heart, I struggle with perfectionism and have to remember to be gentle with myself and accept doing my best. I’m very grateful to have found a new path for my life where I feel so aligned with myself just like I did in the performing arts. I never imagined that I would find something I was passionate about since then so every accomplishment in my school journey is a very big deal to me. My mother migrated from the Dominican Republic at age twenty and worked very hard as an immigrant to not only learn English but also get an education. She became a Physical Therapist’s Assistant and so my journey back to school and with the career goal I have in mind is sort of a full-circle moment or will be when I graduate one day. To have been led towards getting an education in a field where I will one day be able to use my knowledge to help others alongside my artistic gifts is what fuels me to continue pushing towards my dreams.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Nia Brown, I am 26 years old, and my pronouns are she/her/hers. My major is Human Services. I was born a raised in Brooklyn, New York, but my mom is Dominican and my dad is Jamaican. Personally, I value my son because he gives me the motivation to do my best in everything I do and he also motivated me to continue my education so I can provide a better future for him. Professionally, I value my education because my education will provide opportunities for me to become successful in anything I choose to do, and with these opportunities, I can provide a bright future for my son. As my major is Human Services my career choice was to become a Child Protective Specialist but when I started my internship last semester I had a change of path. I decide to continue in the Human Services field but focus on working with children.

I have always been interested in taking this course but never found the right time. Since this is my last semester at BMCC, I decided to take this course as my general elective. I am looking forward to learning about the great accomplishments women have contributed to this world. I can not wait to get into the in-depth discussion about women studies and learn about the great work women have contributed.

Hello, everyone. My name is Jessica but you can call me Jess. I go by she/her. I am currently trying to finish all my prerequisites to apply to the nursing program in Hunter College. My dream is to be an intensive care unit nurse. I was born and raised in New York City but I lived in Chicago for four years. Unfortunately I had to move back to New York because my parents couldn’t stand the fact I was far away. I still plan to move back to Chicago when I finish my studies here. Chicago is full of great people, delicious food, and an alley to leave your trash for pick up. My pet peeves are disorganization and laziness. I can’t stand it but I try to work with people and help them understand when you have things in order everything else seems to come into place. Being proactive helps the mind, body, and soul. I love to travel and get to know new people. There is something about being in another place that allows me to really engage in what life is about. I also love sports. I can sit and watch it on tv or go out to games. One more thing that I truly enjoy is fantasy novels. It allows me to remove myself from this world and create an imaginary one where you just didn’t own a dog but a dragon and I love the thought of dragons flying around. I hope to learn more about theory, literature, history, sociology, all with a feminist perspective.