#aao64

This might have arguably been my favorite series of classes. Within these few lecture periods, we discussed the inclusion of feminist ideals into technology. I, for one, took the view of liberal feminism in support of the move towards equity. I honestly didn’t know what equity was before that class period and I can say that I was enlightened from my experience and participation in the discussion. I learned that equity is used to address the reasons for inequality. From the projects presented in class, I can also see that everyone in my class (section 12 rocks, btw...) that liberal feminism was the way to go. The project also encouraged leadership within technology which is important to have so that women may have the resources needed to get the same opportunities as others. 

I honestly didn’t expect to get so emotional during this film. This plenary was an amazing idea and I learned so much. I learned that in the 1960′s, people were put into shoes that they might not necessarily fit. What I mean by that is that shortly after birth, if one had ambiguous genitalia, the doctor would surgically alter it to conform to either male or female genitals and that individual would be made to conform to that sex. Although this was something I knew little about before watching this film, I believe that is very unfair; an individual has the right to choose who they want to be. A film like this is something that should be watched by more viewers because I can honestly say that I wasn’t aware that people were living this struggle before this movie. This can be a medium used to enlighten those who are ignorant of such things such as the invalidity of what was originally thought of sex. 

I enjoyed the last plenary that was created and produced by the Voorhees mentors. It was very creative and I could tell they put a lot of time into designing the format of our last plenary. I think my favorite part about the plenary is the fact that it was designed and run by students. The audience also did a lot of participating which was great. I feel the last plenary was the most conducive to what the goal of this class was because it allowed students to participate and share views on important topics like politics and macro and micro aggressions used in everyday life. 

This semester I attended and performed at an event hosted by Rutgers’ very own Woahabi Project. The Woahjabi Project is an organization that looks to promote minority women in a positive manner in the media. I was very honored to perform an ethnic dance routine with my team members for the event because I completely support their mission. I think that promoting minority women in a positive light is a step in the right direction, especially using the media as an outlet. Media is a major source of information and access to information so the sooner one gets out the word to stop the hypersexualization of women and to stop bashing women for not being men the better the world will be. 

Beyonce is truly an artist and a performer. Within the music video for “If I were a boy,” she utilizes the male gaze to portray the double standards within relationships. Through the use of the male gaze she creates a sexual relationship with her police partner, which is similar to the type of relationship that can be conceived when looking through the male gaze. As a result of Beyonce being a woman, society sees that she is hyper-sexualized which results to her being at fault for the infidelity to her significant other, but if the roles were switched it wouldn’t be much of a problem. It interests me that just by the angle a camera is pointing it can portray something completely different. Different perspectives tell different stories and each story has its own advantages. 

Looking towards the present, I’d say that when political stances are coupled with another source of outreach to the public such as music, there is a bigger impact. For example, recently Beyonce released a song called Formation. This song is very powerful in the sense that it talks about cultural norms in the black community that are constantly either trying to be changed or renamed as a norm in Western culture. Beyonce takes a political perspective with the release of this song and it is important because she has such a great impact on the world as a performer already. Although they take different approaches, both Beyonce and Angela Davis are talking about the same things and their stance in the world makes their voices have a great impact.

Initially when each caucus was meant to get together, I noticed that the White Caucus was asked to leave the room. I didn’t understand why each minority group was separated in one room and the majority group was separated from every other group. It felt like we were undergoing segregation and it upset me because I didn’t understand how was the separation going to help anything (especially after learning previously in lecture to accept each other’s differences to come together as one). When all the caucuses reconvened, I think it was an enlightening experience. As a member of the African American caucus, I believe that our group took that opportunity to voice our struggles and dispel rumors to our classmates, even if they didn’t have preconceived notions. I believe our presentation to the rest of the class as well as listening to the other presentations, each caucus felt in that moment a certain empathy for the group that was presenting. By the end of the class, I felt that the activity brought about an understanding of struggle within the classroom, but also the strengthening of the student body as a whole in order to focus on strengthening ourselves as women.

An aspiring sneaker head