Blog #9

We begun last weeks class with everyone sharing their views and our personal experiences that we had at the Tunnel of Oppression. It was great to hear how everyone was affected by the tunnel. I myself feel like the tunnel was a great experience, it really opened my eyes of how much oppression is out in the world and in our daily lives. Its great that Jaimie had it as a requirement for our class, it definitely  was a unique experience. The other part of the class consisted of us talking about the article that dealt with the lack of women in the STEM fields. The statistics and main ideas that were shared between our assigned groups helped to refresh the material of how women are looked down upon in these specific majors. It makes sense that women don’t choose to work towards those these STEM majors, as they fear to be looked down upon and be treated unfairly just because they are told they do not “fit in”. After we concluded the review of the article, we then moved on to talk about our readings for that week. We focused on the topic of homelessness and how students who are not in a stable home deal with completing their educational journey. It was amazing to see that although they did not have a home, they took any matter necessary in order to complete their education.

This weeks readings consisted of the cycle of liberation, and what actions to take in order to try to end oppressive behavior. In the first readings it talks about the cycle socialization and how it can be transformed into the cycle of liberation. It stresses how one particular event that an individual goes through in a way forces them to go against the status quo. The readings used very go examples from a white woman adopting a child of a different ethnicity, a individual working with a gay coworker and a woman dealing with the negative judgement that comes with receiving welfare. These individuals go through the steps of the circle of liberation like where their wrong beliefs like stereotyping, discrimination, etc are rid of. Then having to reach out and looking outside the box in order to get different experiences and perspectives for themselves, after this a community may be built where people who have gone through similar experiences are brought in and the ideas are shared upon a safe community of people. The other reading talked about how interrupting oppressive behavior can be accomplished. It is stressed that working towards social justice should always be the approach to any type of oppressive behavior. This can be done by educating yourself, stopping oppressive behavior when you see it happening and trying to educate the individuals who are taking part in the behavior itself. Although change may not come easy, it is very important to not give up on the idea that we can all be treated equally, it just takes that effort on everyone’s part.