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I really enjoyed this final plenary because  not only was it funny and engaging, it was about the current presidential election. They had people represent Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump. They discussed points when Donald Trump was saying he wanted to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it and how he has stated that Islam hates people from the United States. They also brought up a point where Hillary Clinton called black youth predators and later said she was an advocate.  Bringing up Hillary Clinton reminded me of the debate going on if women were really feminists if they weren’t voting for Hillary Clinton and then the discussion on whether Hillary Clinton being a feminist or not. There was an article printed in the New York Times called “When Hillary Clinton Killed Feminism.” This article mentions Madeleine Albright stated that it was a betrayal of feminist ideals to support Bernie against Hillary, noting that “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.” It also adds that Gloria Steinem told Bill Maher that young women were flocking to Bernie to be where the boys are. These remarks are ridiculous and should not be made by people who claim to be feminists. The article adds that the reason why Bernie Sanders has more young feminists following him is because they want  a world where gender no longer restricts and defines a person’s choices and where girls grow up knowing they can be anything they want.  I like how this article doesn’t negatively portray feminists, instead it portrays it as a movement of people who want rights and equality. I also think that it is important to add that even though there are different feminist waves, feminist are usually fighting for the same thing, equality and women’s empowerment. It is important to not let the media or political figures try to divide feminists and pin them against each other. This relates to the plenary because the main message was to empower each other and not let society shape who you are and what alter what you believe in.

I really enjoyed the documentary, Intersexion. It was intriguing to see how intersex people felt and got to tell their side of the story. However I think that it should have been more inclusive and should have portrayed the stories of people of every race. This film reminded me of a novel I read sophomore year of college called Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. The novel was about a character who dd not know sh ewas interse because when she was born she had a surgery that altered her genitals the novel is about how the character thins she is not normal and questions her identity. This is important becasue when doctors were performing this surgeries thy were changing the identity of these people. In the film a girl mentions how doctors performed a surgery on her and every time she had sex with her boyfriend he was literally ripping her open. She adds that it was extremely painful for her and this could have been prevented if doctors hadn’t performed he surgery on her. Intersex individuals should have the right to choose if they want the surgery or not and the doctor or family should not make that decision for them. This documentary made more of an impact on me than the novel because it was different seeing people speak abut their experiences rather than just reading about them. I also liked how one of the characters was specially happy to be intersex because it showed that intersex individuals are not victims, they are regular human beings who just happen to have different body parts than what society think a “male” or “female” should have.

I also liked how she talked about finding your passion. I really liked when she said that even if your job is not your passion, find something to do that is your passion on the side. This was important for me because as I get older I worry that what I do as a career won’t be my passion and I won’t be happy but she has a great point in having a career and fulfilling your passion on the side because that will make a person happy. 

In this video, Dove tries to show how society limits girls. They point out that 72% of girls feel limited by society. They have girls of all ages talk about how society limits them and one young girl even says that she can’t save someone because that is what boys are supposed to do. They have the girls write on a white box the things different people has told them to limit them and some of the girls write, “weak,” “girls have to be perfect,” and “can’t be brave.” The sad part is that during puberty a girls confidence decreases and some of the participants writing these negative things on the boxes were little girls.  I really liked how at the end of the video they had the girls hit/stomp the boxes as a way to show the girls that they shouldn’t let society dictate their behavior and they should not stop chasing their goals/dreams just because they are girls. If anything, they should fight even harder to prove to others and themselves that they are worthy and just as capable as men. I think that there should be more ads like this because this is a positive way to sell an item as well as a way to promote women’s empowerment and fight society’s norms and male superiority. 

Attached is a video from Dove’s true beauty campaign. It shows women walking through two doors, one labeled “beautiful” and the other labeled “average.” It is not surprising when most women walked through the average door. We live in a society with artificial beauty standards and the media helps shape these artificial body types. Young girls praise celebrities and are unhappy with their bodies because they think that they are not good enough. This is a very powerful video because it helps girls think about the way they view themselves and the influence society’s norms help shape their mentality. I really liked how two of the participants were a mother and daughter and the daughter wanted to go through the average door but the mom did not let her. This is important to point out because we need more people to teach young girls that they are beautiful and should be confident in their appearance. We should not let the media dictate how we feel about ourselves and make us believe that our bodies should all be a size “0″ and should all look the same. Everyone looks different and instead of critiquing ourselves and others for having different shapes and sizes,  we should embrace that. This is a great start to helping women feel confident in themselves and loving who they are.

Attached is a video from Dove’s true beauty campaign. It shows women walking through two doors, one labeled “beautiful” and the other labeled “average.” It is not surprising when most women walked through the average door. We live in a society with artificial beauty standards and the media helps shape these artificial body types. Young girls praise celebrities and are unhappy with their bodies because they think that they are not good enough. This is a very powerful video because it helps girls think about the way they view themselves and the influence society’s norms help shape their mentality. I really liked how two of the participants were a mother and daughter and the daughter wanted to go through the average door but the mom did not let her. This is important to point out because we need more people to teach young girls that they are beautiful and should be confident in their appearance. We should not let the media dictate how we feel about ourselves and make us believe that our bodies should all be a size “0″ and should all look the same. Everyone looks different and instead of critiquing ourselves and others for having different shapes and sizes,  we should embrace that. This is a great start to helping women feel confident in themselves and loving who they are.

In this class, we discussed different types of sexuality. We listed over 5 identities and I am sure that there are some that we missed as people are still identifying themselves in different ways. Something tat stood out to me was the way that some people in society say that people can only be straight and that being gay does not exist or is wrong. I find this o be ridiculous because everyone is different and just because someone is attracted to a certain sex, doesn’t mean that everyone has to be attracted to that same sex. I read an article one time titled, “Jacqueline Alexander, Tennessee Mother, Allegedly Beat Son Because She Thought He Was 'Too Feminine' And Gay” by Curtis M. Wong. The article talks about a mom who beat her son because he was acting “too feminine and gay.” The article also mentions that the mom shared a series of Facebook messages with her boyfriend in which she believed her 4 year old son was gay. This article was interesting because it reminded me of how society has a social norm of putting people into two categories of sex, male and female. This article shows how the mom was already labeling a little boy who was only four years old. The mom was already assuming that since her son was acting gay, there was something wrong with him so she felt the need to beat him since he wasn’t acting like society’s perception of how little boys should act. This mother was so caught up in society’s norms that she forgot that her son was an innocent human being who should have the right to act in whatever way he wants and be attracted to whoever he wants. Society needs to reach a point where people of different sexual identities feel safe enough to be openly attracted to whoever they want and be respected for it. If someone has the audacity to hit an innocent baby, imagine what people of different sexual identities have endured.

YES!! This is one of my favorite videos on YouTube! I love how she started the speech with the definition of feminism because a lot of people still think that feminism means women being superior to men but we all know that is not the case. I also think it is very important to acknowledge how she mentioned that when she was 8 years old she was called bossy for wanting to direct a play. This is critical to point out because it supports the fact that women are taught to listen to men since they were little girls. When women try to be in leadership positions they get scrutinized and picked on everything from their outfits to their facial expressions and it is the complete opposite for men. Men are judged on their intelligence and decision making while women don’t even have the opportunity to prove themselves in front of the public eye. I also like how she continues to call on men to realize that gender equality is an issue that concerns them. Feminism fights for rights for both genders therefore it is important to fight for the fathers who don’t feel comfortable and/or less of a man for asking for help because some parent duties are supposed to be a mother’s role, according to some people. It is also important to acknowledge when she says quotes that, “all that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for the good men and women to do nothing.” This is significant because it helps people realize that activism is important and activism can simply be speaking up and informing peers on the importance of gender equality. I believe this is a very powerful video that should be watched especially by the people who believe that feminism only benefits women.