#ico16

I particularly enjoyed this plenary. I liked Pam Fessler a lot and I liked that she had audio for us to hear that went along with what she was discussing with us. Her presence was welcomed and very relevant since she is a journalist, and she had great advice for us to conduct our interviews. I think her studies on poverty are interesting and I was shocked to hear about the severity of the violence young girls face in the countries she visited. I think it takes a certain amount of mental strength to be able to visit countries with such tragedy and be able to document it, which is respectable. I really liked to hear her speak, and her audios gave me insight into the lives of impoverished areas. I think she helped people to be more appreciative of our freedoms and living in a relatively safe environment.

Although I was a bit confused about Karla Jackson Brewer’s speech and purpose, I do think she is a great story teller and very passionate about her spirituality. I thought it was interesting when she was speaking about feminist spirituality, which I had no idea existed. I think practices such as meditation are important to keeping a steady state of mental and physical health, and she regarded such practices well. I loved hearing her take on the tales of the spirits from the Yoruba culture because I have recently taken interest in the culture and know people who are Yoruba. I think the stories were interesting, but the structure of the speech could have been better.

Wendy Cai-Lee was very motivational in her approach during the plenary and her confidence level was inspiring. I liked her decision to tell the story of her struggles growing up in an interactive way instead of giving us a lecture. She seemed very driven and determined to get what she wants. I took her words as a message to not be intimidated or feel any less capable of doing something because I am a woman. I also liked her encouragement of taking an opportunity when it is presented to us instead of being skeptical. As she stated, “get to the table first, don’t worry about why you were invited.” Although she was very fortunate to receive $12 million dollars in her early twenties, I still believe she earned, or at the very least appreciates, everything she has. I think that for someone to be truly grateful for the things they have in life, they must experience hardships. Wendy stood for being passionate and going after your goals, and I agree completely with her. No matter how much pressure society puts on you, never should you give up on what you love. And especially not because of something as simple as gender.

The Racial Caucus Group exercise was an interesting experience, but being in a Black caucus group did not really feel new to me. However, I’m used to grouping and identifying with people of my own race and I never feel weird when speaking to them about issues we have in common. I tend to gravitate towards other Black people because I feel that most of them are better able to understand me. Also, in some ways, I feel that there’s a silent pressure to do so, because sometimes it feels like no one else is willing to accept you. In my group, we all had similar experiences growing up and we could relate to each other in some way or another. On the other hand, I liked hearing about the other caucus groups’ experiences, as it gave me insight to people’s thoughts and feelings outside of my race. For example, I wasn’t aware of biracial people’s struggles with their racial identities and feeling that they had to constantly choose what race they were. I liked the exercise because I was able to broaden my perspective and change how I view people.

From birth, society associates pink with being a “girly” color, and anything that is associated with girls/women is viewed as less than. Gender is assigned to things as insignificant as small objects to separate men and women, which reinforces the idea that there are certain products for men and certain products for women. Granted, some products can only be used by one gender (for example, pads or tampons are only of use to women), but most things that serve the same purpose, like the razors above, are gendered unnecessarily.  As Lorber mentions in her writing, “gender is one of the major ways that human beings organize their lives.” It is true that humans need organization, but when it comes to assumptions and discrimination based on gender stereotypes, a line has been crossed. No child or adult should feel that they can’t have a certain opportunity because of their sex. Gender is somewhat necessary as a means of organization, but by gendering everyday objects, society has turned it into a limitation.