I don't even want to talk about this because it was so embarrassing what I first wrote. I wasn't too far from the truth, but I still wasn't close enough. And that alone was enough to make me shake my head at everything I wrote the firs time the questions were asked. Like many people, I thought feminism was solely a movement for the rights of women. I had no idea what intersectionality was. In fact, I had never heard of the word before. I think it's really interesting though, because most people who haven't been informed about feminism wouldn't that all these issues would intersect with feminism because they haven't been told what feminism is in the first place. Which is kind of sad, to be honest, because I feel like feminism is something that needs to be shared with people, especially the closed minded.
My thoughts about the country's state of inequality (inequity?) are the same as they were at the beginning of the semester, but now I have substancial information about why it is, and how it is, and what we can do to change it. I can say with confidence how this country is screwed up and why we don't live in a post-feminist, post-racist, society and why there is such a lack of disconnect between peoples of all kind in the United States. I'm just a lot more passionate about feminism and equality than I was before I took this class. I just want to stand in front of a bunch of people and tell them to get their heads out of their butts and realize that they ideology they have come to know as ~the norm~ is not something that should be believed in because it's straight up horse crap.
BUT ANYWAY. I just think the change I underwent in three months so huge that it's interesting to look at how little knowledge I had about social justice I had. Also a little embarrassing.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Event #2
For my second event, I decided to live life on the wild side and attend Deirdre's event Dirty Deeds with D. And whoa, it was probably one of the most eye opening experiences I've had in a while. When we did sex positivity in class, I felt more comfortable about the topic, but after attending D's event I feel as though I no longer have to hide under the prudish curtain that sex seems to place right in front of us. Not only do I feel more comfortable talking about sex, but I feel as though I gained some experience out of the event (without it being hands on); plus the whole me being able to not look at sex as this giant taboo feels pretty awesome too.
Not too long after I attended the event, I found myself informing my cousins and my brother about everything I had learned. I shared with my sister not too long ago that Kotex or many (all?) mainstream pads can cause toxic shock syndrome because they have bleach. I get that it's supposed to be hygienic but there's a clear line drawn where things are healthy or just plain messed up. To my cousins, who are quite the sexually active young adults, I told about the tips D gave us on how to perform better cunnilingus (if you want to be technical). They were both impressed by my knowledge and by how much I knew about vaginas (which, I also learned is not a good word to use because the vaginal canal is not outside or in clear view. Like D said, it would be like calling your face a nose).
One of the questions that I absolutely had to ask, because it was something I had heard about, and often wondered about, was whether or not the taste of someone's genitalia depended on their diet. And as it turns out, it wasn't exactly true. I guess it didn't make sense to begin with, but it wasn't something that I exactly gave much thought to until it was cleared up for me. It's nice to give that question a rest though.
(I really wish I had taken better notes, but I didn't even know how to take notes of this to begin with).
The whole event was just interesting for me because, unlike before, I felt completely comfortable being with a group of people I have just met -- before, I wouldn't even talk to my friends about this because I found it to be such a weird topic. In fact, I rarely shared with a friend the details of my relationship with my ex. Not because it was ~inappropriate, but because it felt really...weird (for lack of a better word). Now? I couldn't care less about telling someone about what I did with who (with some limits, obviously. I know not everyone is as comfortable as me talking about this stuff. Which sucks, because it's such a weight put on our shoulders. A weight we shouldn't have to carry.)
I don't know, I just feel as though I have learned so much, and I can actually fully consider myself to be sex positive way down to the things I can use to make sex feel better. Not only that, but my eyes have been opened about consent during sex. It was something I never knew before, and now I am glad I do because it makes everything kind of clear and a lot less stressful in a strange way.
Also, apparently lube is good something I haven't considered because I hate it.
The end.
Not too long after I attended the event, I found myself informing my cousins and my brother about everything I had learned. I shared with my sister not too long ago that Kotex or many (all?) mainstream pads can cause toxic shock syndrome because they have bleach. I get that it's supposed to be hygienic but there's a clear line drawn where things are healthy or just plain messed up. To my cousins, who are quite the sexually active young adults, I told about the tips D gave us on how to perform better cunnilingus (if you want to be technical). They were both impressed by my knowledge and by how much I knew about vaginas (which, I also learned is not a good word to use because the vaginal canal is not outside or in clear view. Like D said, it would be like calling your face a nose).
One of the questions that I absolutely had to ask, because it was something I had heard about, and often wondered about, was whether or not the taste of someone's genitalia depended on their diet. And as it turns out, it wasn't exactly true. I guess it didn't make sense to begin with, but it wasn't something that I exactly gave much thought to until it was cleared up for me. It's nice to give that question a rest though.
(I really wish I had taken better notes, but I didn't even know how to take notes of this to begin with).
The whole event was just interesting for me because, unlike before, I felt completely comfortable being with a group of people I have just met -- before, I wouldn't even talk to my friends about this because I found it to be such a weird topic. In fact, I rarely shared with a friend the details of my relationship with my ex. Not because it was ~inappropriate, but because it felt really...weird (for lack of a better word). Now? I couldn't care less about telling someone about what I did with who (with some limits, obviously. I know not everyone is as comfortable as me talking about this stuff. Which sucks, because it's such a weight put on our shoulders. A weight we shouldn't have to carry.)
I don't know, I just feel as though I have learned so much, and I can actually fully consider myself to be sex positive way down to the things I can use to make sex feel better. Not only that, but my eyes have been opened about consent during sex. It was something I never knew before, and now I am glad I do because it makes everything kind of clear and a lot less stressful in a strange way.
Also, apparently lube is good something I haven't considered because I hate it.
The end.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Allies and stuff
For this week's reading, I want to make some connections, pick some quotes and hyper link. Look at me being resourceful~
I want to start with Andrea Ayvazian's Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression. Specifically speaking, her subsection about providing positive role models.
I have to agree, it is hard to find someone to look up to. And in the age of technology, I feel like a lot of people look for the media as a form of finding the someone that they're will look up to as a role model. For Mae Jeminson, the first black female astronaut it was the fantastic and intelligent Uhura from Ster Trek: The Original Series that took on the role of... well, a role model. She says: "In many interviews, Jemison has recounted how her girlhood dreams of spaceflight began with watching Star Trek. When she was on the space shuttle, Jemison used Uhura’s signature line 'Hailing frequencies open' during the course of her duties (Penley, 1997, p. 19)". Let's be honest, media representation sucks these days - we rarely get to see our people (people of color) in dominant roles; there are rarely people of color in a position of leadership or power.
And with Jeminson's next quote, I'll make my seque to Fletcher Blanchard's Combatting Intentional Bigotry and Inadvertently Racist Acts. To quote Jeminson once more:
To end this exhaustingly long post, I want to refer back to something that Blanchard said that didn't quite sit right with me. [On the subject of whites with [egalitarian values":] "Few, for example, have vicariously experienced the pain felt by a friend who has suffered racial harassment." This is where I can sometimes have a problem with the extent that ally can go with their...allyness. Even though the word "vicariously" was used, I still don't think it's entirely possible for whites to feel the pain and oppression people of color feel on a day to day basis, or even worse, while being racially harassed. The whole "experience the pain of the oppressed" thing is something that has always bothered me, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ related issues. I'm sorry (except not really), but you (as a straight person) can't possibly feel the hate, the oppression, the harassment that I (as a queer person) have endured by people in any position of power. I think as allies, you have to know that there is a line drawn as to where your sympathy for us, as minorities, ends and where it begins. Just like I know, that as a male feminist, I will never understand and have never understood the oppression and pain that women go through while being denied of the privileges men have.
(sources: NYT article; Visual Inquiry)
I want to start with Andrea Ayvazian's Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression. Specifically speaking, her subsection about providing positive role models.
I believe that it is difficult for young people to grow up and become something they have never heard of. It is hard for a girl to grow up and become a commercial airline pilot if it has never occurred to her that a woman ca and do fly jet planes.
I have to agree, it is hard to find someone to look up to. And in the age of technology, I feel like a lot of people look for the media as a form of finding the someone that they're will look up to as a role model. For Mae Jeminson, the first black female astronaut it was the fantastic and intelligent Uhura from Ster Trek: The Original Series that took on the role of... well, a role model. She says: "In many interviews, Jemison has recounted how her girlhood dreams of spaceflight began with watching Star Trek. When she was on the space shuttle, Jemison used Uhura’s signature line 'Hailing frequencies open' during the course of her duties (Penley, 1997, p. 19)". Let's be honest, media representation sucks these days - we rarely get to see our people (people of color) in dominant roles; there are rarely people of color in a position of leadership or power.
And with Jeminson's next quote, I'll make my seque to Fletcher Blanchard's Combatting Intentional Bigotry and Inadvertently Racist Acts. To quote Jeminson once more:
Majoring in engineering, I would have maybe one of two or three African-American students in my classes. Some professors would just pretend I wasn't there. I would ask a question and a professor would act as if it was just so dumb, the dumbest question he had ever heard. Then, when a white guy would ask the same question, the professor would say, ''That's a very astute observation.'' As a medical student, sometimes I needed to hear the criticism in order to become a good doctor. Also as an engineer, and as an astronaut. But many times what's lacking is the praise. Race is always an issue in the United States. You always run into people who aren't comfortable with you. But we all -- the way people look, whether or not they're heavyset, for example, influences us. Anyone who says he isn't influenced by race is lying.I think this goes hand in hand with one of the points that Blanchard was pointing out in the article. Even thought colleges and universities are "trying" to get make racism go away, they simply aren't trying hard enough. When they come up with one policy, it's missing something, and when they make a policing that makes that up, they forget about something else. To take Jeminson's quote as an example, even if the school had policies against intentional racism, this "inadvertent racial harassment" would go unnoticed because no one else has anything to say against it. And it happens more often than one might think. I'm not saying it has happened to me, but as a person of color, while i was in high school (and in some of my classes now), I feel like what happened to Jeminson has happened to me. But I digress. To end this paragraph, I'll quote Blanchard once more: "The fact that people of color often find themselves numerically underrepresented in academic institutions exaggerates the discomfort and pain that arises out of insensitive acts." Such as the one that Mae Jeminson experienced all those years ago.
To end this exhaustingly long post, I want to refer back to something that Blanchard said that didn't quite sit right with me. [On the subject of whites with [egalitarian values":] "Few, for example, have vicariously experienced the pain felt by a friend who has suffered racial harassment." This is where I can sometimes have a problem with the extent that ally can go with their...allyness. Even though the word "vicariously" was used, I still don't think it's entirely possible for whites to feel the pain and oppression people of color feel on a day to day basis, or even worse, while being racially harassed. The whole "experience the pain of the oppressed" thing is something that has always bothered me, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ related issues. I'm sorry (except not really), but you (as a straight person) can't possibly feel the hate, the oppression, the harassment that I (as a queer person) have endured by people in any position of power. I think as allies, you have to know that there is a line drawn as to where your sympathy for us, as minorities, ends and where it begins. Just like I know, that as a male feminist, I will never understand and have never understood the oppression and pain that women go through while being denied of the privileges men have.
(sources: NYT article; Visual Inquiry)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Event #1
Wrestling with Manhood: Boys, Bullying and Battering
I was trying to think of a clever title but my mind's not working correctly so I just gave up.
In any case, a few weeks ago, I decided to go to the viewing of Wrestling with Manhood: Boys, Bullying and Battling. And y'all, let me just tell you that wrestling is some screwed up shit that brainwashes everyone (mostly men) who watch it. And it's funny, because people don't realize what's going on. They think it's "just entertainment" and "nothing is meant by it". When will people comprehend saying something just "is" is not a valid excuse for anything? Everything comes with baggage, whether you can read into it or not.
One of my favorite things that men were saying, in the film, when asked about wrestling in general was, "It's just a soap opera for guys". I just--. Literally, I had no words.
And then the movie began speaking on women, and the effect that wrestling had on them. Not only are women sexualized (like every other form of medium that's controlled by men with minds of thirteen year olds), but they pretty much stripped of everything they have. They are used as sexual figures to satisfy the need and desire of every man who watches in the audience. They are dressed up in clothes that reveal a lot of their body parts, and not just that, they need to fit the archetype that's given to them. There's this ridiculous and disgusting audition procedure for the women of the WWE called "the ho train", where they go around the country to pick up women. Like, honestly? "THE HO TRAIN"? If that doesn't scream misogyny, I don't know what does. Oh wait, I lied, I know what does. The fact that they literally beat these women up on stage -- men, that is. They are constantly being humiliated and forced to do acts that are just...plain sick (e.g. putting her head inside a "bucket of bile", or forced to get on her knees and beg for her job, or being stripped down in front of the whole crowd). You don't have to be a feminist to know that this is disgusting.
Women in the WWE are used to pretty much reinforced men's heterosexuality. They are often made to fight with other women in sexual positions, forced to kiss, and made to confused the "hatred" and anger for sexual tension. It's funny though, because when we looked at the fighting between the men, it was almost the exact same thing, except people didn't make a big deal about that because the men were being manly and fighting and bullying each other and everyone knows that that's what being a man is about! The best part was when we were shown some fighting positions between men, and in the background and sensual tune played in the background, making us realize just how homoerotic wrestling really was, except everyone who watches fail to see that part of it.
When the audience was presented with a legitimate homosexual couple, they boo'd. Chuck and Billy weren't introduced to show diversity in wrestling, it was to enforce yet again how manly the rest of the men were. It also enforced the bullying and humiliation through homophobia. Ugh, it made me so angry. But what made me the most angry was the fact that people were buying into this bullshit. They were still saying that "IT'S JUST WRESTLING. IT'S HARMLESS FUN." Dude, are you kidding me? Do you really think you're four year old son is going to be able to tell the difference between reality and television? Do you really think this is going to go unnoticed for the rest of his life? Or do you think he's going to go to school and try this with one of his classmates?
One good example of what I ended the last paragraph can be seen in the film when one of the wrestlers brought his three and four year old offsprings (I guess children is a better word, but whatever) to one of his match. Before the match, he told his kids that it was all fake and that he was friends with all of the people he was going to fight. And yet, when he was in the ring, his children started crying and asking for his daddy. If they got the backstage pass and told it was all fake, and they couldn't differentiate between the two, what does that say about the youth that's watching this at home? Who have a tough time believing that it's fake?
I was trying to think of a clever title but my mind's not working correctly so I just gave up.
In any case, a few weeks ago, I decided to go to the viewing of Wrestling with Manhood: Boys, Bullying and Battling. And y'all, let me just tell you that wrestling is some screwed up shit that brainwashes everyone (mostly men) who watch it. And it's funny, because people don't realize what's going on. They think it's "just entertainment" and "nothing is meant by it". When will people comprehend saying something just "is" is not a valid excuse for anything? Everything comes with baggage, whether you can read into it or not.
One of my favorite things that men were saying, in the film, when asked about wrestling in general was, "It's just a soap opera for guys". I just--. Literally, I had no words.
And then the movie began speaking on women, and the effect that wrestling had on them. Not only are women sexualized (like every other form of medium that's controlled by men with minds of thirteen year olds), but they pretty much stripped of everything they have. They are used as sexual figures to satisfy the need and desire of every man who watches in the audience. They are dressed up in clothes that reveal a lot of their body parts, and not just that, they need to fit the archetype that's given to them. There's this ridiculous and disgusting audition procedure for the women of the WWE called "the ho train", where they go around the country to pick up women. Like, honestly? "THE HO TRAIN"? If that doesn't scream misogyny, I don't know what does. Oh wait, I lied, I know what does. The fact that they literally beat these women up on stage -- men, that is. They are constantly being humiliated and forced to do acts that are just...plain sick (e.g. putting her head inside a "bucket of bile", or forced to get on her knees and beg for her job, or being stripped down in front of the whole crowd). You don't have to be a feminist to know that this is disgusting.
Women in the WWE are used to pretty much reinforced men's heterosexuality. They are often made to fight with other women in sexual positions, forced to kiss, and made to confused the "hatred" and anger for sexual tension. It's funny though, because when we looked at the fighting between the men, it was almost the exact same thing, except people didn't make a big deal about that because the men were being manly and fighting and bullying each other and everyone knows that that's what being a man is about! The best part was when we were shown some fighting positions between men, and in the background and sensual tune played in the background, making us realize just how homoerotic wrestling really was, except everyone who watches fail to see that part of it.
When the audience was presented with a legitimate homosexual couple, they boo'd. Chuck and Billy weren't introduced to show diversity in wrestling, it was to enforce yet again how manly the rest of the men were. It also enforced the bullying and humiliation through homophobia. Ugh, it made me so angry. But what made me the most angry was the fact that people were buying into this bullshit. They were still saying that "IT'S JUST WRESTLING. IT'S HARMLESS FUN." Dude, are you kidding me? Do you really think you're four year old son is going to be able to tell the difference between reality and television? Do you really think this is going to go unnoticed for the rest of his life? Or do you think he's going to go to school and try this with one of his classmates?
One good example of what I ended the last paragraph can be seen in the film when one of the wrestlers brought his three and four year old offsprings (I guess children is a better word, but whatever) to one of his match. Before the match, he told his kids that it was all fake and that he was friends with all of the people he was going to fight. And yet, when he was in the ring, his children started crying and asking for his daddy. If they got the backstage pass and told it was all fake, and they couldn't differentiate between the two, what does that say about the youth that's watching this at home? Who have a tough time believing that it's fake?
Thursday, November 15, 2012
UPS Threatens to stop funding Boy Scouts due to anti-gay policy
Okay, so there's a reason why I'm not studying to be a journalist. Plus let's be real, making up a headline would be too much work that I'm not in the mood for right now. IN ANY CASE! This news made me rediculously happy. Mainly because it's a step up in destroying the ideology that people pass on to children at such a young age. Sure, they don't blatantly teach it, but it's there. I just think that it was such an amazing move from UPS to do this, and I'm excited for things to change in the Boy Scouts . Because if they do budge, that's a step closer toward equality. One more domino down, y'all. The others should follow suit right away. :3
The United Parcel Service (UPS), Inc. will soon adopt a non-discrimination policy that disqualifies the BSA from future funding, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) reports. UPS follows the Intel Foundation in withdrawing corporate sponsorship from the BSA, GLAAD officials note in an email statement.
"UPS and The UPS Foundation do not discriminate against any person or organization with regard to categories protected by applicable law, as well as other categories protected by UPS and The UPS Foundation in our own policies," UPS officials note on the company's website. "These include, but are not limited to race, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or military status, pregnancy, age and religion."
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/ups-boy-scouts-america-donations-anti-gay-policy_n_2118878.html
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/ups-boy-scouts-america-donations-anti-gay-policy_n_2118878.html
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Election Post
Like others, this was the first time that I had watched the election with such intensity and interest. It was also the first time I had seen my parents taking part in something that I honestly didn't think they would ever take part in. I got home a little bit after 8 in the evening from hanging out with a friend (that experience was also interesting because we talked about so many topics that we cover in class, but mostly race and it made me feel so fancy and educated), and my family had been watching it. They caught my up in the whole thing and I sat down with them. We spoke about the issues that were at hand, but just over the surface. My sister in law can be quite judgmental sometimes, so in order to not sound mean, she asked me to clear things up for my mother. It being my first time taking interest in the election, I had to look up some things in order to kind of understand what was happening, one of those things being the whole electoral vote per state thing, and their distribution. I didn't know how many votes went per state and how that number was determined. A quick Google search helped with that though, but only to a certain extent. By the time I was going to sleep, President Obama was already assumed to be re-elected, but Ohio still needed to be counted. My brother was watching Fox News ("Why?" was my question seeing as though that channel is so biased, but another post on that some other day), and they were making a fuss as to why he had been re-elected if one more state needed to put in their votes -- they thought Romney still had a chance. I was too sleepy to keep up so I went to bed. The day after, I found President Obama had been reelected. My mind was put into some kind of ease.
The next day my father had friends over, and they were drinking, and I was in the next room re-watching 30 Rock or playing Assassin's Creed 3 (I will be making a post about this later), or something. And at some point I had to pause to listen to my dad's discussion with his friends. My parents aren't very educated, especially my father, but somehow he had learned quite a bit about the politics of this country. My father doesn't know about my sexuality (long story), so when he struck on the topic of "the gays", my ears perked up. He was saying that there was no way Romney was going to win because he was denying gay people their rights, and because he said the whole "Marriage is between a man and a woman". And he said something that kind of made me smile. He said that gays have a lot of power (I guess more than given credit to), and that they played a big part in President Obama's reelection. He said this as if he was being accepting of gay culture, something I thought I was never going to hear. See? Humanity does have some sort of hope even in the older generations. My dad is kind of racist and not to mention homophobic, and yet, he voted for Obama (and praised him, really) and voice his (kind of) acceptance of gay people.
I am probably the most cynical person I know, which is why it surprises me that I have hope in people's positive views of feminism and the issues that it wants to abolish. It might take a while, but it's not impossible!
The next day my father had friends over, and they were drinking, and I was in the next room re-watching 30 Rock or playing Assassin's Creed 3 (I will be making a post about this later), or something. And at some point I had to pause to listen to my dad's discussion with his friends. My parents aren't very educated, especially my father, but somehow he had learned quite a bit about the politics of this country. My father doesn't know about my sexuality (long story), so when he struck on the topic of "the gays", my ears perked up. He was saying that there was no way Romney was going to win because he was denying gay people their rights, and because he said the whole "Marriage is between a man and a woman". And he said something that kind of made me smile. He said that gays have a lot of power (I guess more than given credit to), and that they played a big part in President Obama's reelection. He said this as if he was being accepting of gay culture, something I thought I was never going to hear. See? Humanity does have some sort of hope even in the older generations. My dad is kind of racist and not to mention homophobic, and yet, he voted for Obama (and praised him, really) and voice his (kind of) acceptance of gay people.
I am probably the most cynical person I know, which is why it surprises me that I have hope in people's positive views of feminism and the issues that it wants to abolish. It might take a while, but it's not impossible!
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