Blog #7
Our previous classes consisted of discussing the topic of sexual orientation, where we conducted an activity lead by Jaimie. This activity I found very surprising, at first when we were filling out our stars I did not know what to expect, but as the activity continued it begun to make sense. I was very fortunate to have a blue start which basically meant I was supported by my family, close friends and workplace even if I was gay. It was crazy to see that other classmates had to literally rip people out of their lives people who you’d expect to be accepting of you no matter what like their mothers and childhood friends. It is just sad to realize that people who do decide to come out do not get accepted by anybody and at times are thrown out to the street. It goes to show that our society is very messed up that even when a family member comes out, they aren’t even accepted by the people who they thought were always going to be there. Our second class consisted of our presentations of the book “A hope in the unseen” I really enjoyed these presentations and although the book was split into different sections, the story was as clear as if I had read it completely. It was interesting to see what type of life Cedric had and how is educational journey played out. It mainly focused on his journey and how his race affected his education in various ways.
This week’s readings focused on gender in higher education. A few of the readings were already discussed in previous classes, but I still enjoyed re-reading them. I still find it very interesting that many women tend to not go towards STEM fields, because they seem to think they are not smart enough or simply see them as mainly male type of fields. I hope that in time these statistics do change and make the STEM fields somewhat equal in regards to gender. The other readings focused on feminism and how it has developed throughout the years and how it should continue to progress in order to have women be completely equal to men. I found it interesting when the author focused on the fact that women cannot be treated equally until men are equal as well, this meaning that men should take responsibilities in the home in order for women to be treated equally outside the home. I never thought about it that way, but it does make a lot of sense. I also found it interesting that the man who wanted to speak about feminism was having a hard trouble trying to figure out if he had the right to speak about feminism since he was a male and he thought it was better suiting for a female to do it. He explained that although he was pro feminism approach, he unwillingly expressed sexism all throughout their daily lives. These topics were very interesting and I very much enjoyed the different topics especially because they focus so much on the equally of women and people in general.
- Do you think that genderqueer individuals will ever find a community where they can feel completely accepted for who they are?
- How can STEM fields be more appealing towards females trying to pursue careers in those particular fields?
- Is it possible to unwillingly express sexism as result of traditional customs?
