Author: Paola Gordillo

In the film “Out in the night” it shows how a group of 4 lesbian african-american young women were sexually and violently threatened by a man. This incident happened in a neighborhood in New York City. The only thing these young women did was to defend themselves. Unfortunately, this didn’t end up good because they were injuries on both sides. That man ended up getting stabbed by one of them but as a result of self-defense. When the police arrived the young group of African-american were charged for serious crimes including gang assault and attempted murder. All this was really unfair because they were only trying to defend themselves.

In this film we can see the incompetence of the police when they’re doing their job because how is it possible that they blame an innocent group of young women who were just defending themselves instead of the man who was harassing them. He’s the only one that should’ve been imprisoned with serious charges. He was only being racist to them and was most likely homophobic because when he realized they were lesbians that’s when he started to get violent against them. A police officer’s job is to make sure everyone is and feels safe, they are the ones who are supposed to protect us, the citizens but unfortunately this is not how things work. This type of situation wasn’t viewed good at all, especially all over social media. They really transmitted this news as “Attack of the killer lesbian”. Their trial became racialized because of the way they started to get known as. Everyone literally wanted to make the young women look guilty as if they wanted to get raped intentionally. Everything was being put up against them and they had no choice but to plead guilty.

At this point in our lives we already know that no matter what, in this society people will always see some more superior than others. In the United States there is a lot of discrimination between race and gender. One of the things that I have gained more knowledge of is that women are still getting paid much less than man. It really doesn’t matter if they’re both doing the same job, just by being a women they’re getting paid less which is something I find very unfair. Something that really surprised me is that there is a difference of salary based on your race. When I read this weeks material I was able to see all the statistics shown and I just couldn’t believe it. I don’t understand why there has to be a problem based on your race, we are all women and no matter how we look or where we are from we can all do the same job.

As a women I feel like this problem should be fixed. I don’t think women deserve to get paid less based on their gender, race, or even disability. Sometimes women work even harder than men because they have kids who depend on them but also because they know their pay is less so they have to work for longer periods of time to earn just a little more. Women deserve to have an equal pay, there shouldn’t be any gap between gender and race.

What do you see as the relationship between women’s movements and abolitionist movements?

A women’s movement is an act where women demand for a secure legal economic and social equality. It’s when they advocate for a change within society. This is done because most of the time men are seem superior than women. This movement has been going on for many years already.

On the other hand, an abolitionist movement was primarily done to end slavery. People were discriminated based on their skin color and were mistreated for who they were. This mostly affected black men because they were sold like if they were some kind of object.

The relationship between these two is that they both have the same purpose. Women’s movements and an abolitionist movement were created to put an end to inequality. They were meant so people were treated fairly no matter their gender or skin color.

Ijeoma A. and Pascoe wrote about expectations that are placed on girls and boys. Some of the norms that were written were called the “Four Commandments”. It was said that they were created to define a woman’s responsibility to her family. Throughout her childhood Ijeoma grew up in a society where she was suppressed, she couldn’t be herself so she hid her true identity. For her it was mandatory to take care of her brothers and cook the meals for her family, while attending school at the same time. Her job were household duties just because she was a girl, which meant it was an obligation for her.

In my personal experience I have been through a similar situation. Although I don’t have any brothers, my dad has a mentality where he thinks that my mother and I should do everything at the house. His excuse is always that he works and once he gets home he wants everything ready but we don’t let him treat us like that. My mom always tells him that she works too and is also tired so if he wants something he can do it himself. Obviously there are time where we actually do it but not because we feel obligated to do so.

Coming into this class, what are some of your initial impressions of the terms “feminism,” “sexism” and “gender and women’s studies?” How do this week’s readings define or explain these terms? Use specific quotes or examples in your response.

When I first came into this class I had a basic idea of what it would consist of. It focuses on women on how they are viewed by society and all the stereotypes that exist between genders. Feminism is about genders having equal rights. Everything about a women should be respected like their experience, identity, knowledge and strengths. Similarly, Women’s and Gender Studies focuses on analyzing the history, experiences, contributions and perspectives of women to society. As well as the influence gender has on men and women. On the other hand, sexism is the discrimination based on a persons sex or gender. Most of the times it only affects women because men feel superior thinking they’re stronger than women.

This weeks’s reading explains the terms that were mentioned before on women. Society has established that men should be superior than women because they think they are stronger and more capable. It was said that women should only worry about the home and making sure they satisfy men. Bell Hooks stated that “people continue to believe that god has ordained that women be subordinate to men in the domestic household. Even though masses of women have entered the work forces, even though many families are headed by women who are sole breadwinners“. This has been a belief for a long time making many women submissive. Nowadays times have changed, women work for themselves and for their family. Women have become more independent and are not forced to stay home like they used to. However, society still wants to make it seem like men have more power than women when in reality many women don’t even depend upon any men but themselves. Many have gained so much knowledge than what they ever imagined. Us woman just want to be treated equally, have our rights and not get discriminated by others based on our sex or gender.