For your first post to our course blog, I would like to do two things: First, introduce yourself more fully to the rest of our class. You might begin by telling us more about where you’re from, what brought you to DU, and what you’re hoping to accomplish while you’re here. You could also tell us more about your background with regard to gender and women’s studies, feminism, or LGBTQ issues. Why did you take this course? What do you hope to gain from it? Are their issues in particular that you’re interested in studying? Ultimately, what will make this course a rewarding experience for you?
Second, after you complete the reading for Thursday’s class, I would like you to tell us which narrative you found the most interesting, surprising, or challenging. Once you identify the piece, explain what you found engaging about it. What did you learn about gender, feminism, or sexuality by reading it?
You can post your response as a comment to this post. Aim for 250-350 words. I look forward to reading your response!
Hello, I am Aspen Matthews. I am from Westminster, so just north of Denver. I chose DU because I liked the small campus and didn’t want to travel too far from home. I hope to graduate with a degree in marketing with plans to work for a non-profit organization. From this course I am interested in learning more about social roles men and women play in society and how those have changed or stayed the same over time. In high school, I worked on social skills with a student that not only had Asperger’s Syndrome, but felt like a female in a male’s body. She chose the name Lily because she thought it was dainty and lovely and made sure we used the correct pronouns when talking to her. She wore pink every day. Asperger’s Syndrome is a form of autism that results in impaired social interaction, difficulty in subtle communication skills, like making eye contact, and interest in very specific topics. For Lily, her interest was in computers, computer games, card games similar to Pokemon, and other video games. This made it difficult for her to also be fully accepted as a girl, because those games are associated closely as games for boys. It was amazing to hear her story and help her develop her social skills.
ReplyDeleteReading about Max Beck and his life struggling with being born intersexed and then finding his identity as a female and a male was hugely interesting to me. Learning that most of his health history had been hidden from him struck me as highly inappropriate. I would think that understanding exactly what was happening with his body may not have made him more comfortable with it, but it may have made it easier than telling him that his body wasn’t good enough in the beginning to be shaped like a woman’s or that he was just going to become a woman “late.” I am grateful that this particular story had a happy ending instead of through suicide or other violence.
Here's Court's comment:
ReplyDeleteI am originally from Colorado Springs but Chicago is my chosen hometown and I plan to move there as soon as I graduate. Part of why Chicago is my chosen hometown is because I feel I am part of a community there and have several friends there.
Since I started at DU I have been on a long journey to discover who I am in regards to gender identity and sexual orientation. I entered DU as "a straight girl with a boyfriend". However, at the beginning of freshman year I met someone who I'll call H. H is male-to-female transgender (MTF) and is lesbian identified. She is the first transperson I met who is close in age to me. Fall and winter quarters I started to realize that I was attracted to H, at first I wrote it off as being purely physical attraction as H is pre-everything and I was still straight identified with a boyfriend at the time. When my then boyfriend broke up with me February of freshman year, I started questioning my sexual orientation, mostly as it related to my growing attraction to H. At the LGBTIQA Gala freshman year, I listed my sexual orientation as straight even though I flirted with H that night. By spring quarter I had come out as pansexual to a few of my closest friends. Sophomore year, I continued to come out as pansexual (coming out publicly on National Coming Out Day) and received the award for LGBTIQ undergrad student at the Gala. Fall of junior year, H returned to DU after a year and a half absence. We quickly and quietly became girlfriends, which involved me spending much of my free time in her room. The evening of September 21, 2009 I went to H's room and showed her a note I had written saying that I was questioning my gender identity, it said "I think I may be genderqueer. I love purple and pink and my long hair and skirts but sometimes I don't want to be girly and don't feel fully female. I have a pair of cargo pants and a guys dress shirt and sometimes I'll get an urge to wear them. I usually feel like a femme female but not always." We talked some that night and she became my greatest ally. With her support, I continued to explore my gender identity, taking a journey from femme to FTM. One hard thing about telling H is that I knew our relationship might end, given her lesbian identity. As, it turns out, she broke up with me in November 2009 because she couldn't see herself with someone who was male identified, however we remained close. I started coming out as FTM November of junior year, and came out publicly (on facebook) National Coming Out Day this year. Through exploring my gender identity and sexual orientation I have become extremely interested in GWST with my main focus on the grey area between butch, female-bodied genderqueer, and FTM identities and the overlap of those identities.
My favorite piece in the readings was "My Life as an Intersexual" because it approached my main focus/interest in GWST but from an angle I hadn't approached it in my studies. Much of the research I have done involving people who are/were female bodied and raised as female and have masculine identities relates to Max who is intersex, raised as female, and masculine identified.
@Aspen, I have Asperger's and your comment about Lily reminded me of myself and many of my friends. I have read research that Aspies are more likely to be trans/gender variant than the general population. I believe H may be Aspie (though she had a different DX), my friend K in Chicago is a (female bodied)genderqueer Aspie,and I believe my friend M, who is also Aspie may be genderqueer or MTF (M is not even out to himself but I can see the signs that he is). Also, Lily had some of the same interests as H and I have, and I know pink is H's favorite color too. (In both my posts I have been using initials for other people to protect their privacy).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI am from a town outside of Aspen, Colorado. I love to ski (obviously), and I am very interested in Geology. I am a big fan of Bluegrass music, which is not the same as country even though they both sing about women breaking hearts and whiskey. I came to DU because it is a small school in the city. I came to college hoping to expand my mental sphere, whether that is through meeting new people or just learning more about what others think of the world.
I don’t really have that much of a background in gender and women studies, but I often find myself analyzing friend and media situations through the lens of gender and sexuality. Yet, I have written a paper that argues that the film The Big Lebowski provokes and prods at male masculinity by creating domineering female characters that are holding the reins to men’s success.
Both gender and sexuality are very large social constructions that ebb and flow with the demands of humanity. They create norms and different ideologies in which we think and feel about the world, and I believe that it is important to gain perspective on both subjects. I would like to gain more than just an American view of femininity, gender, and women. I believe that in our society it is easier to classify masculinity than femininity, and that bothers me. Maybe this is because I consider myself to have more masculine characteristics such as a strong personality. Ultimately, I would like to gain a better understanding of women’s gender/sexuality through the eyes of many, and be able to explain to others the difference.
The narrative that speaks to me the most was “One is Silver and the Other’s” Gold by Jennifer Baumgardner. The first thing that caught my attention was the roll playing of Barbie. As a girl I would play these exact type of games with the Barbie. The roll playing was just as sexual, and many social norms spun their way into Barbie’s sexuality as well, without me even questioning what I was doing. This short story connects with me because Jennifer describes how I feel about feminism. I no longer feel the riot or the fire of the 60’s feminine movement, but I don’t want the flames to burn out. I am a strong woman who creates many odd things, and I question all of those social norms. Still, I have not found my click and often accept and understand the easiness of a short skirt.
“But the way of being activist is less germane today, when exclusion is not he primary oppression. The activism of today is subtler, intersectional, individual, and sensitive. It requires listening as much as, if not more than, speaking out. It is the activism of inhabiting a space once the door has been kicked open, warming up the chilly atmosphere, creating a healthy infrastructure for a social environment”
Jennifer Baumgardner
ShannonC.
Hello all,
ReplyDeleteI'm from a small town in Virginia. I came to DU to experience living in a new place and enjoy the awesome study abroad opportunities (and through the happy accident of having an aunt and uncle being willing to send me to school). While I'm here I'm hoping to learn new ways of seeing the world and find something I can work on in which I find purpose and value. I became interested in GWST because it provided an interesting framework through which to understand people and culture, because I recently starting self-identifying as queer (and boy if you ever want to feel good about being queer this is the major for you!), and frankly because I think it's making me a better person.
The narrative I found most interesting was one of the Click selections "I Was a Secret Rich Kid". I think I chose it because so much of what she said I had been processing myself. I liked her idea that once you tell the truth about something, you are forced to confront what you are going to do about it. The truth is I am White, middle class, and getting a college education at a private institution in a society where these things are valued. Even though I have decided I want to work against forces of oppression, the issue of understanding and naming the privileges I have (especially the subtler ones)and what I'm going to do about it is a task I'm still working one. The author also made a great point about needing to learn how to meet people where they were. I think this is a valuable idea to remember in a class where some of us may have more radical notions involving giving up privilege and gender hierarchies, and some of us may be just starting to explore how they feel about these and other issues involved in GWST.
Hi Everyone! I’m originally from Bosnia (a small country in Eastern Europe, for anyone who may not know). I lived in Bosnia until I was eight years old, at which time my parents were unemployed and wanted a better life outside of Bosnia. Brief history note - Bosnia was a part of Former Yugoslavia along with 6 other countries. In 1992, war was declared throughout the countries and the region split up all together. A peace treaty was signed in 1995 to end the war however, by 1999 (and present day) Bosnia’s economy has plummeted & unemployment is high. My parents soon decided to move to the USA where my mother had her brother’s family. We have lived in Saint Louis, MO ever since. Living in Saint Louis and moving to Denver has definitely been different. Besides the obvious geographical differences, Denver does not have as a densely populated Bosnian population as Saint Louis does. Although I admire and love my culture, growing up in America, I found myself many times an anomaly among the average Bosnian… much more “Americanized” as they would say! I came to DU because I loved Colorado (mountains along with the sunny days), also because it is a wonderful school in terms of its courses and study abroad program. Currently, I am an International Studies & Spanish major… but am open to new things, so that is still up in the air. I have plans to graduate & join the Peace Corps; work for a non-profit organization… and as for everything else, that’s up in the air as well. I chose this class because conveniently it fulfilled one of my requirements but also, I’ve always has a strong passion for gender role in society. I’m a strong supporter of equal rights for ALL PEOPLE and believe the best way to fight your own stereotypes and judgment is by learning and engaging with others of different lifestyles. I hope to learn a lot from this course and be able to teach others outside of this class room as well about the same things.
ReplyDeleteI found the readings very informative, personal, and intriguing. I first want to applaud all and anyone who has ever had to stand against what some may consider “societal norms” and be proud, happy and love the person they are. Max’s story of confusion, destruction and love was by far intriguing. I believe he had more strength even amongst the problems he was dealing with. In eighteen years, I was not introduced to the idea of coming out until middle school, where friends of mine would make snarly comments about our lesbian teacher. Personally it was not a bother and I believed if anything, your life is your business. To be honest, I felt it was natural and since then as I’ve grown up, I’ve made it a point to stay informed and fight against ignorance that some may have about the gay community, transgender, etc. In the story “It is you, my sister, who must be protected”, I found it to be a story of man hiding from the world what he really was. Staying quiet thinking no one noticed… but even silence is noticed, as the reader learns from the little boy who is writing about his father being gay. In another story, “I lost it at the movies” by Jewelle Gomez, she speaks about her silence in front of her grandmother and mother. When suddenly, she comes out and feels great about it. Then, on a visit to her grandmothers with her partner, her grandmother makes a comment about being weary when coming out in front of some people. Although the grandmother soon realizes her mistake, I want to make the point that EVERYONE should have the freedom to be who they want to be. You do not live only if convenient for your neighbor. True friends, family, are ones who accept you for you and nothing else. Lastly, in the story “La Guera”, I found her story fascinating. According to society, she fell into inevitable oppression: part Chicano, a woman and a lesbian. All categories are not easily accepted by majorities. Yet, at the end, what I admired about her was her ability to rise above the restraints and include ALL types of people into this discussion about equality and love for all.
Hi Everyone! I’m originally from Bosnia (a small country in Eastern Europe, for anyone who may not know). I lived in Bosnia until I was eight years old, at which time my parents were unemployed and wanted a better life outside of Bosnia. Brief history note - Bosnia was a part of Former Yugoslavia along with 6 other countries. In 1992, war was declared throughout the countries and the region split up all together. A peace treaty was signed in 1995 to end the war however, by 1999 (and present day) Bosnia’s economy has plummeted & unemployment is high. My parents soon decided to move to the USA where my mother had her brother’s family. We have lived in Saint Louis, MO ever since. Living in Saint Louis and moving to Denver has definitely been different. Besides the obvious geographical differences, Denver does not have as a densely populated Bosnian population as Saint Louis does. Although I admire and love my culture, growing up in America, I found myself many times an anomaly among the average Bosnian… much more “Americanized” as they would say! I came to DU because I loved Colorado (mountains along with the sunny days), also because it is a wonderful school in terms of its courses and study abroad program. Currently, I am an International Studies & Spanish major… but am open to new things, so that is still up in the air. I have plans to graduate & join the Peace Corps; work for a non-profit organization… and as for everything else, that’s up in the air as well. I chose this class because conveniently it fulfilled one of my requirements but also, I’ve always has a strong passion for gender role in society. I’m a strong supporter of equal rights for ALL PEOPLE and believe the best way to fight your own stereotypes and judgment is by learning and engaging with others of different lifestyles. I hope to learn a lot from this course and be able to teach others outside of this class room as well about the same things.
ReplyDeleteI found the readings very informative, personal, and intriguing. I first want to applaud all and anyone who has ever had to stand against what some may consider “societal norms” and be proud, happy and love the person they are. Max’s story of confusion, destruction and love was by far intriguing. I believe he had more strength even amongst the problems he was dealing with. In eighteen years, I was not introduced to the idea of coming out until middle school, where friends of mine would make snarly comments about our lesbian teacher. Personally it was not a bother and I believed if anything, your life is your business. To be honest, I felt it was natural and since then as I’ve grown up, I’ve made it a point to stay informed and fight against ignorance that some may have about the gay community, transgender, etc. In the story “It is you, my sister, who must be protected”, I found it to be a story of man hiding from the world what he really was. Staying quiet thinking no one noticed… but even silence is noticed, as the reader learns from the little boy who is writing about his father being gay. In another story, “I lost it at the movies” by Jewelle Gomez, she speaks about her silence in front of her grandmother and mother. When suddenly, she comes out and feels great about it. Then, on a visit to her grandmothers with her partner, her grandmother makes a comment about being weary when coming out in front of some people. Although the grandmother soon realizes her mistake, I want to make the point that EVERYONE should have the freedom to be who they want to be. You do not live only if convenient for your neighbor. True friends, family, are ones who accept you for you and nothing else. Lastly, in the story “La Guera”, I found her story fascinating. According to society, she fell into inevitable oppression: part Chicano, a woman and a lesbian. All categories are not easily accepted by majorities. Yet, at the end, what I admired about her was her ability to rise above the restraints and include ALL types of people into this discussion about equality and love for all.
ReplyDeleteHello! My name is Mackenzie and I am originally from Minnesota. I’ve lived in Minnesota my entire life but I have a lot of family living in Colorado which helped inspire my decision to go to DU. I have two older brothers, my oldest brother graduated from DU in 2008, and they were a huge part of my life growing up. I did gymnastics for fourteen years and only quit in my junior year of high school because I I found minor in psychology, and get my Master’s in elementary education. I love working with kids and psychology was one of my favorite classes in high school, but it’s possible I’ll change my mind by the time I manage to graduate. Honestly, I took this course because it fit into my schedule and I thought it sounded interesting. I have no class experience with the topic, and I don’t have an issue that is of any particular interest to me at this point. I think this class will be rewarding if I’m able to learn about all these issues and discover my own opinions and ideas about them.
ReplyDeleteI found Eli Clare’s discussion about queers and disability to be interesting. I hadn’t considered queers with disabilities as a separate group and I hadn’t thought about the additional challenges that they face. It was interesting to me because it was so surprising and it made me realize how little I pay attention to and how much there is that I am not at all aware of. I learned that sexuality is so much more than heterosexuality and homosexuality. There is so much more than just face value to those ideas. I liked Clare’s “speech” though because it was actually a really positive message. I like that people are told to “celebrate our bodies” and to maintain a “commitment to justice.” I like the optimism and that anyone can find their place and be loved for who they are.
Hi, I'm Karolyn Castaldo and I am a freshman. I'm a New Hampshire girl, born and raised, in a pretty small suburb town called Bedford. I came to Denver mostly to ski, but also because I needed a change of scenery from the east. This is not to say that Northeast America isn't beautiful, it just takes being away from it a while to realize it. I had wanted to experience the Colorado lifestyle (mountains and nearly constant sunshine) for quite some time, and figured that college would be the most opportune time to do so. I'm currently an English major with a concentration in Creative Writing, but I am not entirely sure what I want to do with the rest of my life career-wise. I signed up to take this course, not for a particular interest in GWST, but because I wanted to fulfill my Gen Ed requirements with something I knew nothing about. Because I don't have a clear career-path, it seemed to make sense that I would try to explore a wide variety of course-types in hopes of making some sort of decision. Who knows, maybe it could fuel the fire for interesting topics to write about with my Creative Writing degree! I think that experiencing something that isn't familiar to me will be the most rewarding because I once had a writing teacher who said, "The only way to become a better creative writer is to experience more things in the world." The piece I found the most intriguing from our reading was "Boys Like Us," partially for it's more easily understood, narrative stylistics, but also because it portrayed what many gays, lesbians, transgenders, etc. go through every day. It is fascinating to me that so many straight people can complain about their hardships with love and acceptance when there are people are living every day trying to keep such a huge secret, or if they are out, trying to make people understand that they aren't different. Call me a hopeless romantic, but throughout the entire story, I read it like a sappy romantic novel, but when no true happy ending came for Michael, I was crushed. Not only had he lost his best friend, but the first boy he had truly fallen in love with. It's truly upsetting that homosexuality etc. is so looked down upon in our society because what could turn out to be a classic love story, turned into a tragedy for Michael Nava.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI am Lynsey Parker born and raised in Littleton, Colorado. One main thing that attracted me to DU was how close I was to my family. Most people I know try and get as far away from home as possible, but my family is the most important thing to me.I only live 15 minutes away but the comfort of knowing that if something goes wrong, I can always go home. A few years back my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and my dad was a raging alcoholic. My mother and I both knew she wasn't going to get any help from my dad so I took on the responsibility of taking care of her. It was extremely tough seeing what someone with cancer goes through and I would like to think that if I am ever in a similar situation I will have the courage to go through what others have. When she was free and clear of cancer we both got tattoos on our ankles:) My mother is my best friend and DU made perfect sense being how close it is to her. With my mom losing her breast I saw how much it impacted how she felt as a women. She told me one time that she lost what made her female which I knew wasn't true. Gender is intriguing to be because of this. Going back to primal times, breasts were looked at as a source of food for an infant. Today it is just an identification. On a lighter note I came here in hopes of getting a degree in Biology and later attend medical school. In my last quarter of biology concepts I became extremely aware of environmental issues and fell in love with the idea of saving the planet. So now I hope to get a degree in environmental science.
The reading that jumped out to me the most was Max’s story about being an intersexual. While reading this I tried to put myself in his shoes. The emotions he felt growing up must have been heart wrenching. The best part about this story is that he found someone who embraced the fact that he was a human being. The main thing I learned from this is not matter what sex or gender someone is, we always have to remember that they’re just like us!
Hello folks. I am from San Francisco and Marin County, CA (a parent on either side of the Golden Gate). I spent two and a half years at a college near Boston and then moved to the mountains here in Colorado, taking some time off from school, and decided to transfer here to DU in July because it was the only school I was looking at that was still accepting transfer students so late in the summer. I am interested in issues related to public health and health care, particularly as they relate to sex and sexuality within marginalized communities, such as low-income, queer, or immigrant communities. I hope that through this class I will learn more about different people’s experiences of oppression, queerness, marginalization, love, and more (which is why I really enjoyed “Sex, Celebration, and Justice”). And hopefully I will learn from and be inspired by the actions people have taken to overcome or embrace their experiences, and about what they have done to challenge our social systems that have so much wrong with them.
ReplyDeleteI was most impacted by two articles. “I was a Secret Rick Kid” resonated with me on a deeply personal level. I too constantly struggle with my own privilege(s) and have hidden my own wealth both subtly and overtly. Like Karen Pittelman, the question of how to use my wealth and privilege is something I grapple with and don’t yet have an answer to. But that is why I take classes like this and try to work through these issues with people who have similar ideals and goals. The second article was “One is Silver and the Other Gold.” Jennifer Baumgardner conveyed the challenge of being a feminist in this generation with all the pressure of past generations of feminists. I really enjoyed her concept of “commit[ting] to inhabiting the rooms they helped to open up” as well.
Hello everyone!
ReplyDeleteI’m Deidre Helton. I’m studying journalism here at DU with a minor in Gender & Women’s Studies. I’ve taken a range of sociology classes and it’s become one of my personal interests over the years. I’m currently the Lifestyles editor for the Clarion. I’m ideally hoping to be an entertainment/music journalist working for a consumer magazine such as Rolling Stone. I’ve taken on gender studies as a unique trait for myself which I’d like to apply to my music writing someday.
One thing I found very interesting about the articles we read was Michael Nava’s description of “coming out” and his way of dealing with the gender constructions we was faced with as a young boy. He describes how he had known he was gay since he was 12-years-old but kept it to himself and was a “sissy with fangs,” as he puts it. I found it interesting because of the face that he relates his “survival” to being intelligent and using sarcasm as a way to protect himself. That intelligence even at such a young age itself contradicts the idea of being a sissy or less masculine, especially since intelligence (particularly in the status of a man) is an extremely masculine characteristic. He goes on to explain how he is very driven academically and practices law later in his life. These goals and later achievements are things to be proud of, and stereotypically, very masculine traits for a person to have. I found it interesting that despite having those goals/characteristics, Nava still considered himself a sissy based on his sexual orientation.
Hello all,
ReplyDeleteso I'm Jessie Galioto-Grebe. I'm from Wisconsin (home of the playoff bound Packers!) Well I came out to Denver because it is a 20 hour drive from home. Actually, I wasn't sure where I was going to college until the day before I had to decide. I had never even been to Denver before I started school, but hey things have worked out so far.
As far as why take GWST, well I don't know, just sounded like a good way to get some credits. . . And considering the enthusiasm from everyone on the first day, I think I made a good selection.
Alright, for the selection that most "spoke to me" I would say was part of the Click readings, "Feminism, Warts, and All."
As much as the whole eating disorder to fit societal norms has become almost cliche, it should not be overlooked. I have always had a struggle with self image, and the author's words of "I am ugly" rang all too true through my mind's voice. I know there have countless times I've stood in front of a mirror and told myself those very words. I have grown personally a lot since then, and I have begun to embrace the imperfections. So my hair sometimes falls flat, I have some extra curves, my nose and eyes and mouth and every other part of me may not measure up to anyone else's standards...but who cares? I no longer do, as much as the idea of sitting in front of a mirror finding all my imperfects sounds like such fun, I've concluded that I am beautiful because I'm not perfect. Call me cheesy, but imperfect is the best.
And to follow the "Click" theme. My click moment was last summer. One of my really close friends had come home from college and when I gave her a hug, I felt her bones. Her face was skeletal; her arms and legs looked like nothing but bones, not only because of their ghost like ebony glow, but because the skin was stretched so tight around the nonexistent muscle that she looked like an animated classroom skeleton. I knew she had struggled with an eating disorder during high school, but it had never been that bad.
She told me she was checked into a rehab type facility and she was supposedly in remission. But as I watched her struggle to eat the salad she purchased for lunch I had my click moment. I wished she had seen the beauty in herself rather than trying to make herself beautiful by some ridiculous standard she felt she needed to fit.
Hello! I'm Lauren Rieger from Littleton, CO. I have a major in Psychology and a minor in French. I chose to come to DU because my parents both went here for grad school, which is how they met. And it allowed me to stay close to home, which was important to me. Only in the last few years did I fully start to identify myself as a feminist. I had a friend in high school who was extremely liberal and open about being a feminist, who enlightened me. While I believed in women's rights, it took me a long time to get over the stigma attached to the term feminist and, honestly, to get angry enough at the inequality that still exists. It wasn't until sophomore or junior year of college that I was able to fully identify myself as being a feminist. I have read a couple of books and a lot of blog posts dealing with feminist issues, but that's the extent of my knowledge. So I wanted to take a formal class, which also allows me to study gender and queer studies, with which I have limited experience.
ReplyDeleteAll of the narratives were fascinating to read, but the one that stuck out to me the most was "Boys Like Us." While I am aware of the struggle that exists in the lives of those who are queer, it's different to be able to enter into the experience as they describe it. It wasn't until reading this narrative that I was able to get a feeling of what it's like to be in that position and have a sense that the world would never be accepting. While it's hard enough to be an adolescent and come to terms with one's sexuality when it fits societal norms, the struggle with homosexuality is definitely much harder. Today I feel like there is more acceptance of different sexual orientations, especially considering that up until the early 1970's, homosexuality was listed as a disorder in the DSM. We have come a long way, but still have a long way to go.
Hi I’m Ali Bland. I am from a small town in Vermont. I grew up ten minutes from a mountain and have loved to ski and play in the snow my whole life. I loved DU from the moment I stepped onto campus. I felt comfortable being far from home and was ready to take advantage of the many mountains in Colorado as well as the resources the city offered, such as: the music scene. I have fell in love with live dubstep shows and have made it my goal to see a new concert a week just to feel the movement and energy that the music creates.
ReplyDeleteAt DU I am studying sociology and social work. I hope to in the future be a therapist with a focus of teenage drug abuse. In this class I want to further my knowledge on sexual orientation and gender oppression so that in the future I have the ability to relate to many groups of people.
I have always been a feminist. I am the middle child of two boys and have consistently throughout my life had to stick up for myself because I was the only girl. I also grew up in a traditional setting, my parents have been married for twenty-five years, still love each other, have three kids, and a dog. I love my mom and she is my best friend, but because I observed her complacency and love of being a housewife/mother instead of being a self-sustaining independent woman has made me despise the institution of marriage. I am interested in learning more about the balance and respect a marriage can have. So, hopefully this class will make me more aware and well-informed about solutions of gender oppression especially as an adult.
I found “Boys Like Us” by Michael Nava the most interesting. The main character, Michael was in love with his best friend, Joey, yet dis not know if Joey has the same intimate feelings for him. When they has sex Joey discovered that he did not identify himself as gay. He went through with the experience because of curiosity and because he loved Michael, but was not in love with him. Michael explained that even though he was gay he did not classify the sex they had as a queer act, because he was in love with Joey as a person rather than because he was a man. This made me realize that sexual orientation to some is about feeling everyday attractions to personalities and characteristics and paying no mind to the gender of that person.
Hello all,
ReplyDeleteI'm Montana Knapp, and I was not named after the state. I was born in Iowa, lived in Florida from the age of 3 to 18 and chose to come to Denver because I love the energy of Colorado and LOVE the cold, but Denver is especially nice because it gets more sunny days than southern California. I really love to travel and am hoping to live in Hawaii over the summer. I'm a transfer student and came to DU to get a four year degree before I go off to a six month pastry school to become a pastry chef. But enough about me!
I chose to take this class because of my family. I have both sides of the spectrum when it comes to the females in my family. The ones who I am blood related to can hardly stand to be away from their husbands for any length of time and can't even change their watches without them. Then there are the women in my step family with whom I feel closest and... well I guess you could say they "wear the pants." I'm very inspired by the strong women in my family and I also learn a lot from being around my family members who aren't so independent.
The article that struck a chord with me the most was "My Life as an Intersexual." It may be odd, but I tend to think about my future children a lot and with those thoughts I start thinking about all of the decisions I'll have to make for them. I always get really nervous when I start thinking about this because, obviously, I want what's best for my child and I don't feel like I'm capable of making some of those decisions for them. One especially touchy thought is if my child is born as an intersexual. I feel as though you CANNOT make that choice for your child and the decision I always come back to is leaving them just the way they are until they're old enough to decide for themselves. It seems like the best decision but at the same time, that is followed with a whole set of new problems. Society doesn't allow for people to be too "irregular" without causing severe emotional trauma. I think I would like to discuss this topic more in class because it is a topic that racks my brian quite often. Gender is such a misinterpreted term and many people will confidently say, "There are only two genders," when in fact that's not true at all.
Hello!! My name is Marisa Maurer, and I am a freshman. I am from Seattle Washington, and I love it there! I live on a lake, and spend most of my time boating and water skiing. I really enjoy being around people, and am excited to meet everyone! I honestly do not have a very good reason for why I picked DU. My aunt lives in Littleton, and she told me that I should apply. I sent in the application and forgot all about it. When I received the acceptance letter, my mom and I came to visit the campus. The moment I arrived I knew this was where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life! The campus is amazing and I was blown away by how nice all the people were. Also, I can’t forget that I love to snow ski! I have since then fallen in love with everything about this school, and couldn’t be happier with my choice to attend DU! I am still trying to figure out what I want to accomplish while I am here. I am currently an undecided major, and still trying to figure out my interests. I have always been very passionate about being around younger kids, and I am trying to find a way to use that in my future. But for now I am just enjoying being a freshman, and taking any class that sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteI do not really have a background in gender and women’s studies, feminism, or LGBTQ issues. I was looking through the course catalogue, and this class caught my eye. I am just loving that I can try out all my interests, and am excited to see what I can learn this quarter! In this course I am just hoping to learn about things that are not normally talked about in society. I am very excited to see what different people have to say, and to think outside the “box.”
I think the article that jumped out at me the most was the one about Max. It is called “My Life as an Intersexual.” This article really spoke out at me. I was sucked into all the different emotions that Max (used to be Judy) felt. I have always heard about stories like this, but I never really thought about all the emotion and pain that goes along with it. I think that this just made me realize what some people go through, and that not everyone is born into the body that they feel comfortable in. Also, that not everyone has a set gender that they reside with. I guess I always knew this, I just never really thought about it. I am glad that this class is going to help me learn about some different things that people have cope with on a daily basis.
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ReplyDeleteHello everyone! My name is Dahisy Cano and I am from Las Cruces, New Mexico, roughly ten hours south of Denver. I was in search of a small liberal arts school in a state where the word winter actually meant winter and DU fit that requirement and much much more. Plus, getting away from the desert for a while was an invitation I could not pass up. At the moment, I am a Psychology and Spanish double major with a double minor in Italian and Biology. I'm unsure if this career choice is appropriate for me and have set out to submerge myself in other academic interests of mine. I really have no background in gender and women studies however, my interest was heightened last quarter when I found the section and discussion that covered gender, sex roles, masculinity and femininity in sociology class too short. Therefore, this class seemed like the next step to gain further insight and perhaps add Gender and Women's Studies to my areas of study.
ReplyDeleteAll of the narratives were insightful, personal and moving. I found Max Beck's, "My Life as an Intersexual" particularly interesting due to the emotional and physical toll he endured as he searched for his identity in the midst of the medical terminology and loud silence. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must have been to be labeled as "unfinished" thus, making the quest for coming to understand who he was even more painful. Max's journey reminded me of the importance of identity. Identity is having a sense of self, it is who we are, how we are perceived and affects how we perceive ourselves. It shapes everything around us providing stability and sameness of self.
Hello, everyone.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Yurika Fujiwara. I am from Osaka in Japan. Osaka is the second biggest city in Japan following by Tokyo. So there are many people and building. Osaka is the good place. I really love it. I came here to study abroad to study hospitality. I heard HRTM classes at DU were famous. That’s why I am here. And also I am studying English, too. So I want to get better communication skills in English while I am here. I am taking this class because I am interested in issues of human rights. I took sociology class last quarter and I learned about gender and women a little. It was interesting topic for me and I thought I wanted to know more about it. So I am taking this course now. I am excited to learn women and gender issues in literature in this class because it sounds nice and it is the first time to learn it for me.
I chose the article, the feminist evolution of an artist, survivor, conjurer from the tropics, by Marta L. Sanchey. She became feminist after she was raped. Rape is terrible for women. She said in the article she understand why rape is not about sex, why it is a crime of power and control, and how the true harm in rape is that it is an eviction of sprit. I agree with it. It is difficult to beat men for women in power because our body is different. Therefore I think women need equal rights as men not power. In the end of the article, she said feminism has empower her to live creatively, envision the love I want, the life I want, to be true my voice. It is so impressive sentence for me because it remind me that feminist means not only gender equality and also being honest to myself and having rights to express myself freely.
Hello all,
ReplyDeleteI am Samantha. Born and raised in Arvada Colorado, not too far from here myself. Coming from a very complicated family dynamic I have both lived in the same house my entire life as well as have moved an average of twice a year since birth. DU was always my dream school and when I was accepted there was no other option. I like the feel of campus as well as having smaller classes and the like. I am a double Psychology/Sociology major, with a minor in English hoping to become some sort of psychologist after many more years of schooling. My family has always made fun of classes like this one and part of me wanted to see why but most of me thinks it will be a good fit. I am currently in the process of coming out to the world as a bisexual woman. Most of the world now knows, but my family is mostly in the dark. As being out is both old and new for me I have started delving more and more into gender studies and thought this class would be a better way of learning new information and having healthy non-threatening conversations.
As for the article, I was intrigued by the Max Beck story as I see many others were. I cannot imagine trying to make a decision on my childs gender for starters. Then to witness the unraveling of that child’s psyche resulting in attempted suicide, it would hurt that is for certain. It was extremely powerful to read that even through all of the hardships that Judy was facing even into adulthood that her parents did not inform her of what had happened in the slightest. I believe it would have been a hard conversation to have but I think that Max’s story could have been happier if some sort of confession had taken place. But overall I was happy with the outcome and again glad that it was a happy one.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Natalie Jacobs and I grew up in Littleton, CO and will be graduating from DU in June. I started my college career at the University of Chicago, but after about five quarters there I realized that it just wasn’t the academic environment I wanted to be a part of. I’m a sociology major and an urban studies minor and after graduation I hope to get my master’s in curriculum and instruction and eventually become an elementary school teacher. Since I transferred, I still have some weird requirements left over before I can graduate, and GWST was the most appealing option in terms of an intro class that appealed to me as an individual and would broaden my knowledge and thinking. I also had a somewhat nontraditonal childhood in that my mom worked full-time while my dad stayed home with my sister and me. This definitely allowed me to develop different perspectives on gender roles than many of my friends who grew up in a more traditional structure.
The piece I found most engaging was Jewelle Gomez’s “I Lost it at the Movies.” I appreciated the way in which she pointed out the intertwinings of race, class, gender and sexuality. I think that discussions often cover one of these facets, but it’s difficult to conceptualize more than one. Since Gomez’s life encapsulates more than one single identity marker, she challenges her reader to consider various identities and threats to them at one time in a sort of interplay. I also think that Gomez’s piece had an underlying commentary on feminism as it stands alone in the way she characterized the strong women that reared her and surround her and the ways in which they affected her development and how she presents herself as an individual.
Hi everyone, my name is Chelsea Tipp. I am a freshman here at DU. I love Colorado and new the second I visited this state that I wanted to live here and have the ideal ski bum life. When I applied to schools here I was choosing between DU and CU. The second I stepped into this campus I fell in love with it. The campus, and community feel, small class sizes, the city of Denver in general, and the mountains made this school the place for me. At the moment I am a sociology major and hope to work in health and sex education. The lack of sex education in my school and town lead a group of my high school students to start a peer education group with Planned Parenthood to make sure students and teens in my area were educated and making safe decisions.
ReplyDeleteI am from Napa Valley California. i grew up in a SMALL town called St. Helena where there is not a lot of diversity or different ideas. The only people who are religious are christian or catholic. The population is basically split in to the Hispanic or Latino community, and the Caucasian community, which doesn't make it the most interesting place to live. Basically my town revolves around tourism and people who come from all over to drink and spend money. Kids who grow up in this town have been “friends” their whole lives, going to school and being in the same classes from kindergarden or sometimes preschool till they graduate from high school. There aren't many options for kids and teenagers. Girls grow up and usually play volleyball or are involved in the single dance studio that they have grown up in. The boys are usually put into recreational soccer, basketball or short shooters, and our football program for young boys. Occasionally there will be one boy who joins dance, and girls who end up playing basketball as well, but not often.
My town lacks support and knowledge for the LGBTQ community because many people are ignorant, and closed minded. There are a few groups at the single high school as well as a counselor who support LGBTQ students but many people assume that attending a GSA meeting means you need to be gay to go, which is not true at all. I do not have a lot of background information or knowledge on gender and women's studies or LGBTQ issues, so I am taking this course to learn and become more informed. I am just curious about the topics in general because I am a sociology major and we talked about gender which I found interesting.
The reading that I really enjoyed was Ones Silver and The Others Gold from the Click sections. I was one of those girls who played with barbies and never realized as a child that they were almost brainwashing the gender roles into small girls that Barbie is the “idea” girl. Reading this section opened my eyes because I wish when I was playing with barbies that I was as open minded as the girl in this story, because when I was her age I didn't know what bisexual meant, and had never heard of an abortion. I chose this reading also partly because I hope if I have a daughter some day who wants to play with Barbies that she will know what this girl did, and let her dolls be and sexual orientation or gender, and have the right to choose. I was moved by this girl who grew up and new she wanted to keep making strides toward the feminist movement even if it wasn't a huge movement with tons of followers she wouldn't be stopped. This reading made me think about feminism today and how its changed and reminded me of the struggles in the past.
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ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jessi Moser and I am from Craig, CO. I highly doubt anyone knows where that is because its a pretty small town in the northeast corner of CO. Im at DU because I wanted to get away from my hometown but I didn't want to go out of state. It's funny because at first I wanted nothing to do with DU, my grandfather made me tour the school and after touring all my other choices I fell in love with the campus here. I am currently planning on majoring in psychology and spanish.
I guess I have always been a little feminist, because being raised by a single mother and hearing all her stories and watching her be so independent has rub off on me. She has shown me that we can do anything we set our mind to, and we dont need a man to do it.
The reason I chose this course was because of course it filled a requirement, but more importantly I wanted to learn more about the type of topics in this class. Coming from a small town, I've got to say everyone there is a little.. biased. Mostly everyone is very closed minded and so I have no idea about many of these issues. I really am interested in learning more and broadening my perspective on the topics LGBTQ. So I must say bear with me as I may be a little "culture shocked." But I am very excited about this class.
My favorite reading was one by Michael Nava. It really showed me how hard it is to be gay and have to worry about everyone's opinions and thoughts. Everyone has the same emotions but some are confused and it takes a strong person to realize that the one you love, doesnt love you back. This article was very interesting and kept my interest the whole time.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Mariam Moquim. I am originally from Pakistan but I moved here when I was seven years old and have been living in Aurora, Colorado since then. I love Colorado but I am not its biggest fan because I hate the snow. I have lived here for nearly over a decade and I am still not used to it. I came to DU as a freshmen but because I was attending CCA and UCD during high school I am considered a sophomore. I am majoring in biology and psychology and minoring in spanish and anything else that may catch my interest over the years. I plan to graduate in 3-4 years with a masters and bachelors combined and then continue to med. school. I wish to become a doctor with the hope that one day I will have my own practice for the needy. I took this class because it seemed very interesting to me and also because I didn't want another history class :). I have taken sociology classes before and they are amazing so I thought I would give this a try as well. Also having lived in Pakistan and having Afghan parents and relatives the topic of gender identity or feminism never comes up so i thought I would explore the idea on my own. Feminism interests me a great deal.
I like Eli Clare's piece on Sex, Celebration and Justice. When I read it I was in shock because I had forgotten how much we judge one another. We undermine other peoples struggles because it is not relevant to us. Also another very interesting Clare pointed out was that when we talk about sex for as she says "queers" straight people assume bed time but rather it means much more to them than what straight people get out of it. From Clare's piece i realized how much I don't know or am not aware of.
Hello everyone!
ReplyDeleteI’m Alyssa Chen – I was born and raised in Colorado Springs. Since I was young, I have always had plans of going out-of-state to get a new experience. In the past few years, my parents have gone through some struggles which led me to attending DU in order to stay close to home. My family is extremely important to me; my older brother is my best friend and means the world to me, and my parents have always been inspirational role-models of who I look up to the most.
I’m majoring in International Business with possible minors in Sociology and Communication. I’m not completely sure of the path I want to go with this major, but I know I ultimately want to be part of social enterprises that will alleviate the current issues in developing countries and similarly increase social justice in developed countries. I guess this leads to my current aim of just filling my curious self with as much knowledge and understanding as possible in order to create some type of plan or project from what I learn.
I don’t have too much background with these topics in particular, but I guess I have always been a feminist without truly considering what the term means. My brother told me he was gay when I was 6, so I grew up always thinking that it was completely normal and have always spoken my mind when it comes to LGBTQ issues. This was interesting to see how it affected my friends and peers throughout my life as Colorado Springs is considered by some as the “Bible Belt of the U.S.” I have always been fascinated by analyzing sexual identities and the different perspectives people have for anything gender related. I hope to further my knowledge of LGBTQ issues and find inspiring feminism studies. I’m also very excited to see how the topics we will study relate to societal values on a global scale, and what possible actions can be taken from what we learn.
I found Cherrie Moraga’s, “It Is You, My Sister Who Must Be Protected” to be both interesting and challenging. Many statements and phrases are ambiguous, yet obviously filled with insightful meaning. I was constantly going back and forth in order to analyze what the author was stating. I found it interesting that the author repeatedly states, “It is this queer I run from”, which can hold multitude of meanings, and pushed me to investigate what the word queer actually means. I found it be much more “inclusive” than what I had originally thought it to mean – just gay. The most engaging part for me was that the story concluded to this idea of a snowball effect caused by people hiding their sexuality. I have always known about the general struggles and lack of privileges for sexual identities besides heterosexuality. But now I see my prior understanding was limited to the idea of how hard it is for a man to be gay and not open about it. I saw the story implicating the father being gay, and in an effort to follow societal norms, married a woman and living an unhappy life, that turned out to have dire affects for his wife and his children. In addition, even though it was the mother who was beating her, she comes to blame and resent her father for being gay and not coming to terms with it. This further leads to a possible realm of feminist values she holds in relation to her understanding of her mother’s violence.
Hey Folks!
ReplyDeleteI’m Samuel Aghbashian. I grew up in a rather low SES area of Aurora and as a result of my mother’s midlife crisis moved to Littleton (after a long debate about moving to Orange County). I came to DU originally because they gave me the largest financial aid package out of the 11 universities I was admitted to. Reflecting after my first year, though, I actually came to DU because as I finished my secondary education my relationships with my parents had finally developed after a childhood of physical abuse. Quite frankly, though, I hate DU. And so, to respond to the question what I hope to accomplish here is complicated. I just want to graduate; I want to know I survived an institution that I believe to be sincerely unjust. But beyond that, I want DU to make some serious changes, institutionally, as well as the communities of the campus. That being said, I’m skeptical.
My relationship to issues of feminism, gender and women’s studies has been a long time coming. Identifying as queer (though more often referred to as a gay male) has been a journey. This is probably why I’m so interested in GWST. I have severe personal stakes in these broad issues because at the end of the day we’re learning about theories, experiences, and lives that could dramatically change my perceptions of self, of others, or policy decisions that directly relate to my ability as a body, as a human, as a citizen to perform and function. I came to GWST from a Bio-Chem background in my first year and a Creative Writing second year. I’m now a Political Science student along with GWST. And though I’m weary of political structures and any institution I believe that what I learn and prefer to study within these departments will give me the tools I need to redesign, destroy, and rectify what I see as problematic in a global political economy. This brings me to what I’m interested in (though my interests have changed over the course of my studies within GWST): ethics of care, compassion and responsibility. As a third year I’ve had the time to really learn about political theory and have combined my passion of political theories with gender/queer theories that I believe provides robust questions that may lead to changes in the current framework of labor, life, power and pleasure. In particular I want to change the way we think about what it means to care for another individual in every aspect of life. So in short, if there exists an explicit ethic of care, compassion and responsibility notions of what institutions do dramatically changes, possibly. If there is TRUE care/compassion/responsibility how can a state allow homelessness? How can a partnered relationship allow for physical violence? How can an individual rape? How would education change? If we actually cared for all the people around us, how could we drive vehicles that kill a global ecosystem that would diminish the ability of the land to provide clean water and food to those people? How could we allow a bottom line of a corporation, the money to outweigh the inherent value of the lives around us? And while ethics of care, compassion and responsibility are rather theoretical, in a more tangible sense I’m worried about the way development further marginalizes queer identities, women, people of color, children and lower socio-economic status communities, destroys their land, takes their water, food(especially seed rights) and education rights for the sake of “Intellectual property rights” and simultaneously pushes Western (which I find to be inadequate, often) ideologies of communities, identity politics and market systems (not to mention health care). To make this course rewarding I’d like to continue my exploration of these issues and how they relate to feminism or queer activism and really bring in my theoretically trained mind into more and more practical discussions of theory application.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteAgain I am Gabe Rusk, I am from Denver, Colorado. More specifically the Wash Park area so I have grown up essentially around DU. Despite the fact that DU is almost an uncomfortable 2 minutes from my household I am this campus and even in this class in the pursuit of my higher education. I hope DU to be a stepping stone to law school, where as related to this class, I hope to practice some variation of tort law. Often many in our society our bound by unfair practices or the law and beyond civil disobedience I want to provide a legal outlet for those who are under privileged. As an out and open homosexual man I want those of all genders and LGBTIQ related statuses to feel comfortable in their lives like I do today. The piece that interested me the most was the "I Lost It At the Movies," probably due to the interesting context of the piece. The narrative seems to articulate that this woman grew up in a family where it was mostly non-hostile towards who own sexuality. Not only that her own personal awakenings as history, such as Stonewall, transpired shows perseverance. The narrative provided fascinating rhetorical and historical context to the gender issue (ie. bulldagger).
I found a lot of little aspects of many of the reading that resonated with me. I related to Moraga’s struggle being brown and not really understanding how to embrace it in the context she grew up in; the evolution of discovering privilege and oppression dynamics and how they all interrelate. As I mentioned previously, I had that same issue at my school. Her piece had a lot of personal connections to me in how growing up brown and the desire to be a poet has had to really make us dig into those hard question and constantly evolve our line of thinking and getting so excited when another author inspires us and is able to get there. However, as much as I enjoyed that piece, my favorite was “Sex, Celebration and Justice” by Eli Clare. I think that it embodied what feminism is. Finding empowerment and making room to talk about sexuality in an avenue that most people find uncomfortable, or just have never thought about. Finding a voice and speaking out. Demanding that others take accountability and fight for their own empowerment. I loved how inspiring and in your face it was. That she scoffs at the idea that privilege and oppression dynamics are binary. Noting that they are intersectional. This reminded me a lot of my ex boyfriend’s mom. She works with to mentally handicapped men. One has the mental capacity of a 1 year old and the other of a 4-5 year old. While the former has little capacity to interact, the latter is able to do some activities on his own and talk with others. He is able to note when girls are pretty and gets crushes and has “girlfriends” like one would in elementary school. She mentioned to me how there was an issue with a committee of parents of mentally handicapped people who had to start discussing the possibility of their children, who are mostly around 30 and 40, getting curious and if there should be some sexual education for them or a means to allow them to be sexual without making them feel shame. This terrified and outraged the parents but she has been working on advocating for them that they are sexual being as well and its better to allow them to learn than to be taken advantage of or explore inappropriately. I think that feminism has to go into realms that aren’t discussed and bring them to light. To advocate and hold others as well as themselves accountable. That’s why I adored that piece.
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ReplyDeleteI was born and raised in Golden, Colorado to pro-life teenage parents. They had met at their Baptist church, but never did get married. Growing up my family constantly reinforced conservative ideals. Needless to say, they quite unhappy when I grew up to be a liberal, atheist, bisexual vegetarian. I have a very large family, two dogs, one cat, and a wonderful boyfriend, Philip, who goes to CSU.
ReplyDeleteDespite my family's conservative ideals, all of the women in my life helped to raise me in a mostly feminist manner. My grandmother has instilled in me my entire life the notion that I should be self-sufficient and do not need a man to take care of me. My aunts all further demonstrated this to me through difficult marriages and constant reminders not to get married too young. My mother, on the other hand, is a strong tomboy of a woman who won't take shit from anyone that bluntly speaks her mind. She also taught me the values of being independent and stubborn. I am, as much as I hate to admit it, very much her daughter.
On this note, the piece that stood out the most to me was "Sex, Celebration, and Justice". I felt this piece fully embodied the spirit of feminism in the way the author shamelessly demands for complete sexual liberation. I also thought it was very compelling in that it showcased the interplay of sexual, sexual orientation, disability, race, gender, (etc) inequalities which fuel the feminist movement. The other pieces were also very insightful and interesting, but "Sex, Celebration, and Justice" was in my mind the best.
Hello again, I realized I had forgotten to answer a couple of the most important questions intended for this blog. I am at DU because although originally I wanted to spend my college years in the liberal city of Seattle, Washington I realized I would miss my crazy conservative family too much if I left. I love the pacific northwest and eventually plan to live their, but those plans can wait a bit. I do love the size of DU and all the people I have met here but I do wish it was a little more liberal. My long-term plans, as of yet, are simply to graduate school with a college degree and write books. That's all I've got so far. I am taking this specific GWST course to learn more about feminism and LGBT issues. So far I think it is a really interesting course and look forward to everything to come.
ReplyDeleteHere is Tessa's comment:
ReplyDeleteMy name is Tessa, I am from a relatively small town outside of Chicago. I have a 7 month old basset hound and I live with my boyfriend. I love live music and reading. I grew up around many animals and really hope to be able to work with animals through my career. Currently I am a sociology major with a minor in Spanish, considering adding gender/women’s studies as a second major. I knew that I wanted to be in more of a city scene for college, but I wanted to be able to escape to nature whenever I pleased. My college counselor in high school suggested that I apply at DU. I had been to Colorado many times before but never spent much time in Denver. It came down to a decision between DU and a similar school in Chicago. Ultimately I chose DU because it was something completely new and away from what I was so accustomed to. I chose this class because I have realized how many of my sociology classes are very gender-based. All of sociology includes issues of gender, equality, varying degrees of oppression of women, and patriarchy. As I follow many feminist ideals and consider feminism to be part of my beliefs, I decided to take the class.
Of the articles, I enjoyed reading the selections from “Click.” The idea that light suddenly illuminates the darkness in a woman’s mind is a very interesting concept. After enduring and possibly obsessing over an internal conflict that seems confusing or unsolvable or full of mistakes, and then liberating your mind by one swift realization is an intense moment in a woman’s life. However, I believe it takes many “Clicks,” or “aha moments” to fully understand and be able to identify as a feminist. I may have this opinion because feminist is not my identity, it is part of my ideals. I have never had a single “Click,” I have just been raised in a way to understand the importance of women and the inequalities of gender in society.
I very much enjoyed Marni Grossman’s ending to her essay and how she came to finish it, which represents the discovery of herself as a feminist. She explains how it is very flawed, with fragments and incorrect grammar. With no way to fix it, she decided not to fix it at all, and just let it represent her path to feminism. A path that was confusing, indirect, and filled with mistakes.
In Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham's, “African-American Women’s History and the Metalanguage of Race” the central point was that feminism often is constructed as a separate issue from race, specifically in the case of African-Americans. In her article Higginbotham argues that often in the past and present feminism takes a white-normative approach which is not inclusive of women of color. She explains that this has root is slavery and the racial segregation that used to occur in the South. The article goes on to say that white women often tend to think of feminism in terms of being white and that women of color are seen "underneath" as like the white version of women and their race second. I found this article to be a good perspective of how even feminism has fallen very short of being inclusive. So, I hope my generation of feminists will work to correct these and other inequalities. The only thing I slightly disagreed with the article about was the idea that there is not a root to being "woman" that is separate from race. I do not mean to say I think women should think of feminism in terms of being white, but rather race should be addressed while women bond on what it is exactly that identifies their unique gender.
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