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7th Post: GWS Reflection

I wanted to take a class that was out of my element. I wanted something that I was unfamiliar with, but that would interest me at the same time. This class has done that for me, but I can’t really see myself taking another course like this. Not that this class was boring, because it wasn’t. I don’t regret taking this course because it had taught me a lot. It has educated me in many topics that I didn’t even know existed. One major thing that I learned this semester was the basics of feminism. I never really understood what it really was until I took this course. My view of the world has changed a lot. I’ve learned that there are many different ways that people perceive things, but that there’s nothing we can do to change that. We can only make things better and try to fight it as much as we can. Well, that’s my personal opinion.

My view has also changed and I'm happy that it did. I was very open to this topic and Im content with the information that I acquired.

This class was my favorite one this year. All of the discussions, the laughter, and the realizations are priceless. I also wanted to take this class to educate others that haven’t received this education like I have, like my friends or boyfriend. I’ve learned that feminism is not just for women, its for everyone. It benefits women especially, but men too. I’ve also learned that not everyone completely benefits from the mainstream definition of feminism: “To make women equal to men.” There are men and women who live in poverty, and those women wouldn’t want to equal to those men.

Another huge concept I’ve learned that I can share is the waves of feminism. The first wave was women’s suffrage by being able to vote. The second wave was women being able to live out of the house, and go get a job like other men. The third wave of feminism is equal pay, slut shaming, and rape culture. I’m also proud to say that I convinced my boyfriend that he is a feminist. He actually said two weeks ago, “I am a first and second wave feminist.”

This class has also helped me realize just how messed up the world is, especially politics, and the legal system. It is set up so that the “failed” can fail even more, and the “superiors” just keep on rising up. For example, with the prison to pipeline system. Black students are getting the short end of the stick by doing the same things other students do, but getting into worse trouble because of it.

Suggested Solutions to the Problem

Enforcing Laws to Prohibit Street Harassment

Politics should get involved. Making laws that make street harassment a crime will make men realize that what they are doing to women is not right and has consequences. Otherwise, men will never know that they are doing wrong by talking in a vulgar manner to women.

Giving Adolescents Knowledge

Students deserve to know what street harassment is and what it consists of. Boys need to learn at an early age that whistling at a woman is disrespectful and should learn to respect woman. If they do not have that type of education at home, they will at school. This is also beneficial for girls to know that this is not right and they should not put up with it. Some women, today, feel that there is nothing wrong with this because it seems normal to them. We need to change this. Also, in adolescence, boys and girls are learning and forming their identity and whom they want to become; let them become and begin a new society for the future.

Using the Power of Words

Spreading Awareness about the subject will also let people know that street harassment should not be permitted. Some people, as I have already mentioned, do not think this is a wrong thing to do. Some, even, feel as if “hey mami” was a compliment and make them feel good. In reality, it is a sign of disrespect towards women. If women know about this, they can finally be brave enough to say something, which brings me to my next point.

Being Brave

When the moment comes, stop the harasser and correct him. It may be a dangerous move because it may lead to something more than harassment, but letting them know that street harassment is not right can have an impact on them. Many women pass by and ignore the comment because they do not want to deal with the man or problem. What does that do? It allows for the man to continue making such comments to the next woman that passes by. Saying something back is worthy and beneficial. Ladies, speak up for yourselves!

This goes for men too. Men, if you see this happening, be the better man and speak up.

It would be extremely difficult to go for this solutions because street harassment  is something that happens so quick and evidence can't be obtained. Also, the victims aren't always harmed. In other words, there are different levels to street harassment. So what then?

Reflection

Researching this topic has benefited me in many ways. I did not know of the term, “street harassment”; I knew that men whistled and made inappropriate comments to women, but I never knew it had a specific name to it. I always thought it was harassment itself. I also informed myself that this problem is not local: it is universal. Everyday, women are exposed to this type of environment and the streets are not safe for women to walk through, especially in urban areas.

I now view the world differently. I know who the victims are and the harassers. Men do not have power over women nor are they entitled to whistle, look, or make comments to women passing by. This is something to change, which brings me to my next point. I also know that there are activists who are trying to make a difference and change how our society views certain topics. Raising awareness plays a very important role in street harassment; it is a way that street harassment may be prevented or a way we can go about it. This blog serves for that purpose. Women do not let yourselves feel less or disrespected by strangers on the streets. Let us speak up and defend ourselves. Men speak up and know better. Let us make urban streets safe once again, and let women walk with such confidence.

11th post- Reflection

I have enjoyed dedicating my time to this project. At first, I felt lazy to do it because I didn’t feel like doing all work and research just like any typical student should feel. I liked the fact that the whole class was allowed to decide which topic was best for them which made me feel more engaged. I’ve always felt interested in learning about sexual harassment at work. I knew it happened, but I didn’t know the causes of it. This new insight enables me to see the world differently. I thought sexual harassment at work happened just because some men had no respect, and they have no sexual control of themselves.

 Introduction 

The event that I chose to go to was the screening of “Her Story”. As soon as it was mentioned in class it caught my attention. The trailer and the discussion made me want to go see it even more. I wasn’t expecting to love it. I thought that “Her Story” was going to be just one continuous one hour film, but it was mini episodes put into one. It started off at a bar that Violet, (one of the main transgender woman characters), works at. At this bar lies a very curious reporter named Allie who wants to do a piece on the life of a transgender woman within her community. Allie ended up confronting Violet with this idea at a restaurant where they were both having lunch with their friends. Throughout the movie, you can see Violet’s and Allie’s relationship grow stronger and deeper. Another relationship that was forming within the series was one of Paige’s, (who is Violet’s best friend and is also transgender), with a man named James I believe. One of Allie’s very judgmental friends outs Paige about her sex change in an article. Once James found out that Paige is transgender, he accepted her for who she was. Also towards the end of the film, you can start to see that Violet is a part of a very abusive relationship with her “boyfriend” Mark. She would act very scared and anxious around him, and there was even a night where he beat her because she told him that she didn’t love or like him. “Her Story” was beautifully written and of course it had a happy ending where Allie and Violet finally kiss.

Although the movie was intriguing, the discussion afterward was just as entertaining. The guests were @smartassjen (Violet), @thefawz (Allie’s friend), and @angelicaross (Paige). The person asking the questions asked the ones that I’m pretty sure everyone wanted to know. About how they made the movie, how they cast roles, etc. Jen said that 80% of their cast and crew were female, and that it made everyone feel more comfortable. One thing they pointed out that I thought was interesting was the fact that Hollywood wouldn’t be able to do something like this. That Hollywood wouldn’t want anything to do with something like this. Jen said that the point of this movie was to answer the following questions, “Who are these characters?” “What issues do they face?” “What are their lives like?” They didn’t want to just tackle this theme and that theme, but to understand. They also mentioned how they cut a few episodes with trans men, and how Jen originally like Laura (AKA Allie), and that that’s originally why she added the kissing scene. The discussion was mostly very funny because Angelica and Fawz were hilarious! There was a very touchy feely moment when Jen flat-out admitted that she has a drug problem. I forgot what an audience member had asked or said to somehow lead Jen to connect it with her drug addiction, but she did mention how it was killing her. She said that the only reason she is still here today is because of Angelica Ross. Angelica and Jen have a very strong friendship, you can already tell by the way they talk about each other. Jen said that Angelica would check on her every day to make sure she doesn’t go MIA for a few days like she used to. Angelica also said how she isn’t there to just “solve” Jen’s problem, she said she’s there as more as a reflection. A reflection of Jen to show her just how amazing, driven, focused and beautiful she is.

I, too, was intrigued in class by the trailer! After seeing it and participating in the panel discussion, I just fell in love with the whole idea of the mini series and just felt a deeper understanding of transgender people. It was heartwarming and assuring to know that Angelica will always be by Jen’s side, to support when things get rough. (Hopefully not anymore.)

I, too, have been wanting to go watch this film since our professor mentioned it in class and showed us the trailer. I was not able to attend the event, but your summary of the event makes me feel like I did not miss anything. 

On Tuesday, I went to listen to Alicia Garza, one of the co-creators of Black Lives Matter, speak about the movement and her involvement in it. She started off by stressing that “hashtags don’t start movements, people do.” Meaning that even though her and her sisters started the hashtag, does not mean they started the movement. Which is why they refer to themselves as “co-creators” to the movement. She made sure to let us know that the movement is much older than any of us. While the movement of black freedom has been going on for a while, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter came about from a love letter written by Alicia. She wrote the letter after George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin’s murderer, was found not guilty on all charges. Alicia said she wrote the letter in a time when black people needed love the most.

Alicia Garza and her sisters wanted to create a space where black people can resist state violence and anti-blackness. They wanted a space where black people can be free. However, the media takes it as the opposite. They are often called terrorists, police killers, ect., and are linked to any protest involving black people. While listening to Alicia, I found some specific things very interesting.

For starters, I loved the way she calls herself a co-creator. I learned how far back this movement goes, and even though the hashtag is newer, the things they are saying are not. The reaction to black freedom movements are not new either. The names they’re called and the way they’re portrayed in the media is just a way to discredit the movements. As Alicia said, they were born from a love letter but the right wants to make it seem they’re out here wildin’. One of my favorite things Alicia said was “demanding a better way to protect our communities isn’t anti-police, it’s pro-people.”

·Another thing I learned was about the usage of the term “black-on-black crime.” Alicia said that that term was created by a social worker to show how black communities are dysfunctional. When in reality, no one cares more about our communities than black people. We often call each other out to keep one another in place. It’s something I see, hear, and even do all the time but I never noticed exactly the bigger picture behind it. Also, Alicia pointed out that there is crime in every community, but only in black communities is there a special name for it. Which is why she prefers the term “inner-communal crime.”

That post was very interesting to read. I also like the fact that she stressed people start movements, not hashtags. It seems too often that we see people hashtag what they believe in and think they are allies, but they really are just sitting on the sidelines, telling the people that are actually involved and struggling what to do. Like really, come on. 

Alicia Garza is a really inspiring individual. I, too, learned a lot about the history of Black Lives Matter. I also appreciated how she was humble enough and did not want to take credit for the entire movement since she admits that she did not start it. I admired all of her determination and actions that have gotten her to where she is now. The love letter was a very nice, thoughtful action from her part. 

The Medicine of Tomorrow

How do you define essential healthcare for transgender people? This was the first question asked during the transgender health panel. I didn’t know what this question was supposed to imply at first. I have been taught to understand that women and men come from all different backgrounds, some not always being cis gendered ones. So doesn’t that mean that they deserve the same type of healthcare as other women and men among them? This is true, to an extent. Aren’t all healthcare providers equipped with the knowledge of how to treat all humans, cis or gender variant? This was where I was mistaken. The panel pointed out the biggest factors in providing proper healthcare to the transgender population: surgical intervention, gender affirmative healthcare, individual interaction between patient and provider, and medication and insurance approval. It’s easy to forget that surgery is not all that a gender variant/transgender person is in need of (some may not even want that). All patients need to feel that their provider understands them and understands what their individual needs are. There is an abundance of healthcare providers across the globe, but only a very small handful actually have a basic understanding of the needs of the transgender population. They don’t understand or don’t feel comfortable addressing the individual needs of someone in transition or who has transitioned. Some basic needs in healthcare for transgender people are medicines that insurance companies often fight to provide them with. Gender markers are barriers for many transgender people, as their suffixes (Mr. Ms. Mrs.) often don’t change and stand to prevent a male from getting medications prescribed to females and vice versa. Without easy access to their insurance, transgender people are not able to get the medication they need in order to continue with their transition, and this, in turn, can be detrimental to them. While gender markers provide difficulties on paper for trans people, attention to pronouns cause discomfort for patient and provider in the facility. The proper use of pronouns and the understanding that the patient may not want some body parts addressed, as they don’t feel that they represent them in any way, is very often overlooked. An open mind is important in the interaction between patient and provider, and ignorance is not (providers should practice pronouns and comforting interactions with not just trans patients, but all patients). The panel stresses the importance of everyone being trans-aware and that along with medical fields, law enforcement and many other fields need to be properly trained on the interaction with transgender people so as not to discomfort anyone.

The transgender health panel made me more aware of the individual needs of patients. I am studying to be a nurse, and I have always been told “the nurse is the backbone of the hospital. The nurse is there for one on one support and to comfort.” Comfort is different for everyone, and everyone deserves their own levels of comfort. I learned about the struggle to get medicines approved, something that I’ve always thought that is supposed to be accessible to anyone who needs it. It makes me feel like the medical field is a failure for not trying harder to give transgender patients their well-deserved medications. The health panel also taught me something about pronouns that I have been ignorant about myself- pronouns are not just the standard: he, his, she, her, they, their. One panelist preferred the pronoun “saur” over others and that was when I began to question just how many forms of pronouns there are in the world. Pronouns are an identity, like gender is. And if we can accept gender reassignment, then we can accept the use of identification other than “she” or “he”.

So how do you define essential healthcare for trans people? It not something to take lightly and it is not something you can learn once and understand forever. The world we live in is evolving and adapting to its surroundings. We welcome new people into our society every day. Human interaction is not a math equation; there will always be something new to learn, and what work on one person may not work on another. We need to cater to the individuality of humans. We need to understand that everyone matters I this world. The transgender health panel opened my eyes to a new kind of medicine- complete and undivided attention. The transgender community is often taken advantage of, and the recognition of their needs will provide for a safer health care environment for them and equally accessible resources to that health care. It’s a learning process, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it.

6th Blog Post: Gender-related UIC Event

Flyer: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12784237/GWS%20294%20Spring%202016/Trans%20Health%20Panel%20Flyer.pdf

The Transgender Health Panel event consisted of six panelists: Margo Bell, Caprice Carthans, Kelly Ducheny, Aiden Harrington, Shay Phillips and my professor Erica Chu. Attending this health panel made me realize that Transgenders go through so much more than just being discriminated, but they also have a hard time with their health care providers due to their identity. The problem just doesn’t stop there, in the panel Shay Phillips said that the care given is not the only issue, but also the experience of interacting with the health care system, such as how people interact with you in the facility, what things one has to go through to make an appointment and how peoples responses are over the phone. There’s also a lot of confusing on people name. If theres a person who was born a female named Sarah, but now transitioned into a male, it is better to ask rather than assume what their identity is. People are working for a better health care polices related to gender. Kelly Ducheny said that it will be years until health care providers catch up. Hopefully it will be sooner than that and people will be able to obtain the treatment and care they want and deserve.

Three things that I learned/ appreciated from the event was:

1.) That individuals go through a rough time trying to obtain hormones. I didn’t think it was possible for a health care provider to reject someone from acquiring medications.

2.) Something that I really appreciated was that even though the event ended at 11am, students were allowed to leave 15 mins early to be able to attend their next class. I really appreciated how nice of them that was.

I found the event to be a complete learning experience because everything that I heard was new to me. I had very little knowledge towards the health care systems’ requirements before prescribing the hormonal treatment to a patient. I was also not aware that patients had to give so much information about their identity in order for them to acquire hormones. I also learned that this type of medication is not always covered by insurance companies, which sucks for  those individuals that have to pay for them, 

https://www.google.com/search?q=working+women&biw=1051&bih=501&tbm=isch&imgil=oMx9aZTi-NywmM%253A%253BLj5VhVqaOMwY7M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.womentips.co%25252Ftag%25252Fbest-dress-for-working-women%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=oMx9aZTi-NywmM%253A%252CLj5VhVqaOMwY7M%252C_&usg=__BhZjjo06b27cmbFagcRbA8coDPo%3D&ved=0ahUKEwi0qbSLtcTLAhXpsIMKHb-gABUQyjcIJQ&ei=LOfoVrTjF-nhjgS_wYKoAQ#imgrc=BcFCZmQqBiQkqM%3A

The Feminist Mystique by Betty Friedan discusses the problem of white middle, upper class—minority of lower class didn’t suffer from this problem because they already had careers and worked as a means to help provide for their families—women had during the 1950s and 1960s. During those times, a woman was supposed to be happy and content with just having a husband and family to care for. Nothing more was needed for a woman to be happy. If a woman did feel unhappy, rather searching for what was missing that made her unhappy, society and women themselves blamed themselves for their unhappiness. Many women have criticized and blamed themselves for their own unhappiness because they weren’t satisfied with just having a family. They felt guilty for feeling this void and wanting for more out of there life. It wasn’t until women came to speak of this issue that they realized that they weren’t alone in feeling this void, and it was since they weren’t alone that they began to feel that there wasn’t anything wrong with them nor their marriages. These women realized that it’s okay to want more out of life than to be a housewife 24/7. It’s okay to do things for yourself rather than your kids or your husband.

“Street Harassment: Current and Promising Avenues for Researchers and Activists.”

For the 4th blog post, I chose Laura Logan’s piece about street harassment. This reading outlined the issue of street harassment. It attempted to define it, give relevant statistics, analyze its effect on women, and overall contribute to a better understanding of the problem.  

I felt that it was relevant because of an experience over the weekend. I was out with a friend, and he began to start yelling “you’re beautiful” at any woman he passed. I told him that it could be construed as street harassment, but he didn’t fully understand why, and thought he was doing something with good intention and helping boost self esteem for people. If anything, it potentially lowers it by making women feel that their worth, and what makes them noticed, is their outward beauty. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46-kGMPqDbc

We look in the mirror. What do we see? Some see imperfections and others see perfection. However, some people cannot even look at themselves because of how much they hate their body image. Unfortunately, there are more people who hate parts of their body than those who feel confident and beautiful. Annie, a beautiful,woman, confesses in her videos that she had Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). The disorder causes someone to obsess about their body and not feel comfortable of their body image. Annie expresses the things she went through at a young age of ten when her own father mentioned he hoped to have enough money to surgically fix her nose. It was the starting point of when Annie began to think of herself and feel ugly.

With time, she disconnected herself from media that portrays what every woman is supposed to look like. Annie removed toxic people from her life: the ones who always judge people. She was able to find peace within herself and feel beautiful! It was an amazing experience to hear because many people go through the same thing. It is extremely important to know that everyone is beautiful in their own way and we should accept all.