When watching the video about a non-conforming person talking to kids about nonbinary and non-conformity, I feel like a kid being in the video because I as well am learning about non-conformity as I said earlier in one of the articles the class read together I am learning about nonbinary and non-conformity. While watching this video Nanta begins to explain in a simple way what does it mean to kids, whereas when I read the article from Alok’s book “Beyond The Gender” it was too much to understand. It’s nice for the kids to learn about these things so kids don’t always have to follow such stereotypes and do whatever makes them happy, such as girls should play with action figures while boys can play with dolls. People should begin to end the toxicity between masculinity and femininity and do something that would make them happy. HiHo kids are one of my favorite YouTubers because they invite kids over to have an interview with People that are dealing with struggles and identity such as kids meeting a burn survivor, kids meeting and talking about a person that has alopecia, or kids meeting people with Tourettes. This is the best way to talk to kids about adult struggles, gender, survivors because not only that kids will deal with these struggles or will struggle with these issues in the future but they can also learn at an early age so they know how to react to it in a maturely also learning about the struggles people go through.

 In the reading about transphobia I started to relate it back to oppression and it made me think of how crazy the world is. You have women fighting for their rights because they want to make progressive strides and in- turn the trans-exclusionary feminist give the same treatment they know all about to a transgender person who identifies as female. Disregarding their concerns for safety in their lifestyle shunning them from being a part of things and etc. As if they cannot relate to feeling oppressed and less than. It’s very comparable for me to some biracial people people will tell them you you’re mixed so you are not black enough and on the other side they will say you are not white enough. It’s like well where do you go? When I come across certain readings such as this and others we have read I cannot help but feel sad thinking of the struggle those who do not conform to the façade of what “normal life” looks like go through. I am glad we are in a more progressive place where some of the naysayers have recognized the absurdness in their thinking and how it is a domino effect on progressive strides in the world!

In the article, “What’s in a Name?’ On Writing the History of Feminism” by Claire Goldberg Moses focuses on the history of the term “feminism” throughout the 19th century and dives deeper into how the term “feminism” and its movement has changed and matured over time into the 21st century. Claire takes us through a timeline that further informs us on how the powerful actions of women throughout history flourished into the term “feminism”, actions like, fighting for equal rights, fighting for the right to vote, fighting for equality in work environments, and fighting the overall stereotypes and preset gender roles that put women into what I can best describe as a box. Throughout the article, Clare mentions how since the 1990s her undergraduate students for the most part, declined to call themselves feminists although they agreed with all that feminism stands, for example, when Claire asked her students if they believed that women and men should be treated equally in the law, they all strongly agreed. However, Claire’s students did not like being called feminists because they disliked and rejected the stereotypical ideology there is and has been for people labeled feminists. Throughout movies or TV shows, the distorted version of feminism has become increasingly common to not only exist but be reenacted in various forms. These versions of feminists were looked upon as evil, bitter, and just simply strong and proud women. Therefore, the students were a hundred percent feminists in every way however they did not want to be labeled or seen as the distorted version of feminism as they felt as though it did not relate or pertain to them. An important question Claire raises to us in the article states, “does it matter how we name ourselves? After all, the struggle for women’s equality could continue by a multitude of other names. I’d like to suggest it does matter. It matters because our history matters. It matters because those who distort our history are not motivated by a concern for women’s equality.” This question and reasoning Claire states is essential to not only acknowledge but truly understand the why behind it. The word feminism and the history behind it was not an easy road to travel and still isn’t, therefore, it’s imperative to rid of the distorted version of feminism and stereotyped ideology of a feminist. It is also imperative to educate those who believe these distorted versions of those who know nothing about feminism or what it is to be a feminist.

Looking at the timeline of “one hundred years towards suffrage” shows us the moments in time that women took a stand as activists to push forth the right to vote in the United States—seeking equal rights and opportunities and greater personal freedom for women. In the article “The macho paradox: why some men hurt women and how all men can help,” Jason Katz analyzes the way that violence against women is not a women’s issue but a men’s issue. Katz further explains that our society neglects the real reason why gender violence occurs. Until men step up and look at how women are treated and commit to stopping violence against women, men in our society will continue to inflict harm on women.

Men will continue to hold their ground in a macho-raised household, and their boys will learn how to treat their so-called “women,” never allowing for change. Men need to be held accountable for all they do, and that goes for women. There are false allegations of sexual misconduct made by a man against a woman, not because it happened but because of a man of color. I recently was listening to a podcast talking about how powerful “white women tears” are and how things being said can be so critical. There has always been a line drawn in gender, race, and class. In every bracket, you see some injustice. There needs to be more education expressed in early school years this way; boys and girls are aware of how important equality is and how to go about any situation. Society can be more prosperous.

I agree with the author that feminism doesn’t have a fixed meaning. The meaning of feminism it’s constantly evolving while maintaining its original definition or purpose, that is achieve gender equity. To me, feminism is to believe that women and men deserve equal rights and to do actions in order to achieve that. Even though there are many sub categories of feminism, all of them have something in common, which is the fact that they want to improve women’s lives and stop gender-based violence, discrimination towards women, sexism, equal access to education, stop child marriage where typically women are the victims, etc. Goldberg discussed in the article, which actions are categorized as feminism and how historians are in charge of defining past events in history and assigning them meaning. I believe that the author is right when she said that there have been many actions that can be defined as “feminism” by women of other cultures. I don’t remember if it was in this article, or in another class, where it was said that our history is mainly being shaped by white males, and we are seeing it mainly from their perspectives. Therefore, they kind of describe what is feminism to the masses, and many untold stories are excluded. For example, the video we watched this week. I had no idea of who these amazing black women were, I think that just the fact that they, or their mothers and grandma’s got to experience slavery that personally, is impressive. Even though they came from that abusive background, they were never silenced and fought fearlessly for the rights they deserve. These stories deserve to be taught more often since they are extremely inspiring and these women should have more recognition for their achivements

The waves of feminism was an interesting read the explanation of the different “waves” of feminism first began with the notion or idea that “woman are human” and in a lot of ways i feel as if we are still at times struggling to get that point across but the first wave was in my understanding mostly about women putting themselves on the line and suffering a lot of outlash for the right to vote and was established that although many women were involved it was really for the right of white women to vote. The second wave for me primarily was focused on was naming and taking a deeper look into the system that forced women to be subjugated and further judged them when they were unhappy with the place they were given so that wave supported the right of when to take birth control if they liked and education they were given the right to get credit cards and apply for mortgages and it was really outlandish for me to see that women were not allowed this right in the first place. The third wave i understood to be women fighting to have rights over their own body again due to the normalization of sexual harrasments in all spaces but mostly in the work place and violence again women. The fourth wave which we are still currently in is about in similar to the third wave and it is attempting to hold men accountable for doing and saying things that are violent toward women like trump stating he grabs women by the pussy and how often men hold and share views that further imbeds in minds that women are somehow lesser an here to be submissive and are different then men and somehow not enough. In a lot of ways I believe we are still going through these struggles and women are still fighting to be treated with respect but i do believe we are in a better place and there are men out there that do their best to ally with women and are against patriarchy as well.

In looking through the timeline, there were two things that struck me. One being the length of time some of these achievements took, the Woman Suffrage Amendment introduced to Congress in 1878 and only passed in 1919, and the Equal Rights Amendment first proposed in 1923 and still not ratified for instance. In an age where we are so used to immediate gratification, it gave some context to the perseverance of these activists and what the road for our current troubles might look like. In some way it may seem disheartening to think of the long road ahead and how changes that seem so necessary and immediate may take decades to achieve. On the other hand it fortifies you to keep fighting, knowing that others have worked to make it happen before you, and also that there will always be something to fight for. I was also struck by the dissonance between my own modern day thoughts and what the prevailing logic of those times likely was. I think particularly in watching gate video, the tensions between racial equality and women’s suffrage gave context to the ways these movements have progressed. Claire Goldberg Moses’ “What’s in a Name? On Writing the History of Feminism” gave me greater context of the achievements of feminism, but also the importance of examining the history of any movement and in uniting behind a name even if there are different aims that fall under the umbrella. There is a power that comes in a shared history and in uniting with others to achieve parallel goals.