Gender Gaps and Sexual Orientation

Last week class started with Julian showing us how to write an outline. I’ve written outlines before and have found them very helpful in keeping the structure and flow of the paper. I really enjoyed getting a different approach to the outline because new ideas always help when I get stuck. I really enjoyed the activities we did last week with the different disabilities. In my opinion it really did help to understand what they go through and the struggles they have each and every day.  Now that we are aware and more knowledgeable of this we can help educate others and be more aware of our surroundings. I think the wheelchair activity made the biggest impression on each and every one of us. The physical struggle is enough to make you want to give up because it is so much work, time consuming, and when elevators do not work it is probably enough to make you want to stop going to school. This would probably be my thought process that is why it is really important for our buildings to accessible and for maintenance to maybe do daily check ups to see that the equipment is working.

In this weeks reading the Goldman article and Chapter 9 Gender Equity in Higher Education both talk more about gender gaps. Goldman focuses more on how women do not really major in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).  They talk about the three categories of the gap between men and women in STEM subjects: Biological, Social and Structural, and Psychological. The part that really interested me was when women explained how people always said they “did not look the part” for their major. I think it is so interesting that people find it hard to believe that women can major in these subjects. I do not understand what the definition or image is of a person in a STEM major but it seems it is not women which is really sad because women are capable of so much but because they are repressed and discouraged to stay in that major. I respect women that despite these stereotypes and gender imaging they continue to pursue a career in a STEM major. Chapter 9 talked more about how women were only accepted to prestigious colleges until the 1960’s but were more likely to attend a less prestigious school than men. Even though it is more likely that men will attend college women are taking advantage of opportunities in education and are earning their degrees more quickly. This is a different type of gender gap because it is more focused on how women are rising and gaining advantages over men.

The Rankin article, the video, and Chapter 10 concentrate on sexual orientation. One sentence that really caught my attention was that: In 29 states, it remains legal to fire people from their jobs, take away their children, and remove them from rented or leased housing or hotels for no other reason than their sexual orientation or gender identity. I found this to be so sad why do people care so much about their sexual preferences that does not make them less of a person they are just like everyone else except with different likes and dislikes.  I found the 8 transgender identity milestones to be interesting they were: feeling gender different from a young age, seeking to present as a gender different from the one assigned to them at birth, repressing or hiding their identity in the face of hostility and/or isolation, initially misidentifying their identity, learning about and meeting other trans people, changing their outward appearance in order to look more like their self-image, establishing new relationships with family, partners, friends, and coworkers and, developing a sense of wholeness within a gender normative society. It was really interesting to read this because in my Early Childhood Studies class we talked about gender roles and it related to this. One girl shared that a male child wanted to dress up as Elsa for Halloween and the mother was allowing him to dress up as her. He does not want to actually wear a dress he just thinks the character is really “cool”. It is really great that the mother is supporting her child the sad part is that she is getting a lot of negative comments on allowing her child to do this instead of supporting the mother. I do not know how I feel exactly of the Chick-fil-A situation but I understand both views and if the principal thought that it was necessary so no one would feel attacked then the right decision was made. All in all I found this week’s readings to be very informative and interesting.