Hi! Here are some of the ideas I have thought of for the upcoming advocacy project.
The first idea I thought of was gender-inclusive education. A lot of our language right now, and our general way of speaking tends to imply binary gender when of course, gender is a spectrum. While I do not have personal experience with this issue, from my own research and following members of the LGBTQIA+ community, I am aware of many of the issues surrounding how we approach gender as a society. I think there needs to be better education surrounding gender instead of continuing to teach about it as though it is binary. This can be damaging to mental health and cause a lot of personal identity issues, as it excludes a whole group of people that do not fit into the binary genders. I do have to define the issue more precisely however if I am to work on this topic.
The other topic I thought of was body positivity. Even though it is far too late, we are finally seeing more people on board with the body positivity movement, which is extremely important. Feeling good about yourself, in your own body, is something that is important for everyone’s mental wellbeing. A lot of media, especially social media make engaging in body positivity difficult. Social media tends to propel the idea that you have to adhere to a certain standard if you want to be beautiful which is very damaging. I think colleges can take initiatives to spread awareness about body positivity and make it a more open discussion since a lot of young people tend to be vulnerable to issues with self-image.
I have been leaning towards making an animation for the advocacy part and making it public on YouTube. I’d like to create a hashtag that people can use to talk about their own experiences with either of the above topics online.
I would be very happy to receive feedback from you guys. I do not consider myself well-versed in either topic, so I would be very open to any information or suggestions you may have 🙂
Hey Ananya! I love both ideas! I think I would be more interested in the body positivity issue. I think there is a lot to be said about this in our society today. I know you will do a fabulous job regardless of the topic you choose, so I would pick which ever you can relate to the most! Looking forward to hearing more!
I’m not sure I can add much to either topic, but I’ve definitely struggled with body positivity in my life. It’s something that needs to be normalized for sure. I agree that the LGBTQIA+ community isn’t treated and advocated for in the way it needs to be either. I don’t think you can go wrong either way.
Hey Ananya, I really really REALLY like your first topic. I also support the LGBTQIA+ community, trying to be the best ally, because a lot of my friends identify as such, so I have seen second-hand how some of them are affected through the exclusivity of how gender and sexuality is taught. Primarily how this has acted as a boundary between being who they truly are. As this is more of a broad topic, I would maybe focus upon discussing how gender is a spectrum from a young age, and thus building on the topic as kids grow older. However, if this topic was integrated within more conservative communities with a high likelihood of backlash, maybe consider a different way to go about this issue for these areas?
In my women’s studies course we talked a lot about this idea called a “hidden curriculum”. We looked at a study where researchers observed various pre-schools and how the girls and boys were treated differently. This is an example of the hidden curriculum because gender isn’t being taught, but instructed. Body positivity would also be a cool thing to look at and in that same class we talked about the beauty myth which is basically this set of changing characteristics and traits that women have to constantly morph to to be considered pretty. Overall, I think these are both great ideas.