Deliberation

For our deliberation nation project we were to go and participate in another group’s deliberation. The group that I decided to participate in was the Wednesday, March 1st deliberation, Leveling The Playing Field: Affirmative Action For Today’s College-Bound Students. This deliberation was created  to talk about how today’s affirmative action program is biased and not a working system. Some of the points that were raised is that colleges do not take into account whether or not a high school is able to properly prepare their students for going to college. Another way is that colleges do not look to see where the high school that the students are coming from place on the rankings of high schools around the country. They then brought up that when you’re applying to colleges the colleges do not look to see what kind of hardships the student who is applying has faced throughout their lives. Some of the examples given for this example was a student who has faced and battle major depression, major anxiety and other mental disorders that may not been easily seen. This point provoked a lot of discussion in the room. A lot of people decided to give their stories of what they dealt with in high school and how they felt it has impacted them so far in college. One of the last points they hit upon is that when some people apply to colleges they use the way affirmative is currently set up to get an advantage over other applicants by saying that they have ancestry from a certain race but does not follow any of the cultural activities and other culturally specific things.  While I feel that all the points that were brought up were valid points and reasonable, the conversation was not always relevant to the topic that we were talking about and the members of the group were unable to keep the deliberation flowing and moving at a steady rate. Also, their group members were not actively involved with the discussions. The sat there passively after reading their tid bit of information and did not drive the conversation in anyway. In addition, their group members seemed to crowd the room and almost stare us down if we were silent which led to uncomfortable periods of silence when no one in the room really had anything to say to further the conversation. However, the were able to keep a very detailed and organized list of what was occurring in the conversation and was able to organize it into a way that if you wanted to reference a topic that was talked about at a different point of time you were able to do it easily. Overall, I feel like this group was able to get the information they wanted to say out effectively but they were not able to help guide or further the conversation and played a passive role when a debate between two members of the audience started. I believe that they did a decent job and with just a few changes to their [presentation would have had a stellar project.

Civics Issue 4

So far this semester we have talked  about intersectionality in many aspects of our life and in one place that is under a lot of scrutiny  is the media. Currently in the media Fox News is under fire for allegations against one of their talk show hosts that he sexually abused females while working there. While there are these type of cases in the media, another case comes up when we talk about how social media could be used to bring awareness to the different type of feminism that people may feel when it comes to their everyday lives.

Social media is a perfect outlet for people to come together and rant or talk about the hardships that they are facing in their everyday lives. This is only provoked by the sheer amount of people who use social media. Twitter alone has 162 million active accounts registered to it. On Top of that there is an infinite amount of hashtags that an individual can create and use that is searchable by anyone who uses the site. Some example of these hashtags with their ties to feminism is  #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen which was created by Mikki Kendall and #BlackPowerIsForBlackMen which was created by Jamilah Lemieux. The first hashtag #solidarityisforwhitewomen was created so that people would be able to address the racism that black women face from some white feminists. The second hashtag, #blackpowerisforblackmen was created to talk about the sexism they deal with from some black men. The tweets under this hashtag shown how black men and white women benefit from having this privilege.  Some of the tweets that use this hashtag are ,”#blackpowerisforblackmen when the think equality is about gaining access to the White Male Supremacy instead of dismantling it.”(@LemOcean). Another example is “#solidarityisforwhitewomen when pink hair, tattoos, and piercings are ‘quirky’ or ‘alt’ on a white woman but ‘ghetto’ on a black one.”(@zblay). These are just two examples of how black women all around the world are starting to speak out against the injustices that they are facing.

In the instance of the Fox News situation, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly has been relieved of his duty because of charges of sexual harassment. Instead of looking deep into it Fox News has taken the route of trying to push all the blame off of themselves so that they can keep their name clean instead of admitting that their employee was at the wrong and offering to make things better. This just shows the lack of respect  certain groups of people have towards women and more directly when women come forward about abuse that the have been subjected to.

While this post may seem to be redundant since we already talked about feminism in a previous post, but this post may be one of the most important because it shows that no matter what hardships we may face there is always a place to go to incase you need someone to talk to and to get your feelings out in a venue that many other may also relate to.

http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-shine-fox-news-bill-oreilly-2017-5

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2013/08/16/social-media-minds-the-intersectional-gap/

Civic Issues Three

So far we have talked about intersectionality in feminism and the LGBT+ communities, while these two are the most researched and the most straightforward to see the effects of intersectionality and how they affect these two groups, we cannot forget the groups where intersectionality is not as well researched. One of these groups is the military. While many of us may think that the military is an all inclusive organization of people who are risking their lives it is actually filled with issues caused to intersectionality. A quick example of this is for veteran support. The commercials use to be primarily centered around male veterans and only recently have we been seeing commercials that are including female veterans. Intersectionality can be found throughout the whole military, whether it be to the female secretaries who are discriminated for being in a low-status feminine gendered-typed organization that is within a hyper-masculine organization to the female combat units that are thought to have the same issues as men when it comes to service on the actual battlefield, time spent in boot camp and time spent in military bases. To quickly lay out a frame of intersectionality that female secretaries face while spending their time in military duty we should look at what ecosocial class that they originate from. Lower class individuals enter the army because they feel that if they will be able to gain respect from higher classes due to the amount of time that they spend in military services and that for middle class individuals they are attempting to gain a sense of self entitlement which helps signify and maintain their feeling of being privileged. At quick glance we can quickly see that for lower-class individuals who are secretaries in the military that they are doing their job to have a sense of inclusion within the national collective and that middle-class individuals is about reproducing social class hierarchies. Moving on to quickly frame out how intersectionality takes place in combat units we can take this quote from the UCLA “Men do not have a monopoly on patriotism, physical ability, desire for adventure, or willingness to risk their lives. Until both the responsibilities and the rights of citizenship are shared on a gender-neutral basis, women will continue to be considered less than full-fledged citizens.” (UCLA.org) This quote helps to show that many people still believe and bias their thoughts on the fact that women are not able to handle the same thing that men can handle on the battlefield. In the court case Hegar, et al. v . Hagel the UCLA was fighting for women to be able to hold the same jobs in the military that their male counterparts were able to hold. This court case was met with great happiness when in January of 2013 The Department of Defence announced that they were rescinding a 1994 directive that effectively barred women from being assigned to most ground units however they were still excluded from being able to apply for and to serve in thousands of combat positions based solely on the fact that they are women. Also, within the statements that the Department of Defense put into circulation gave the sense that some of the closed positions and career fields would be closed to women indefinitely.  As a result of this case two of the plaintiffs were awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded during their deployment, two led Marine Corps Female Engagement Teams, one earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with a Valor Device for extraordinary heroism while engaging direct ground fire with enemy forces  after being injured when her plane was shot down by enemy forces. Overall, the discrimination that women face while in the military creates an unsafe and fearful environment that only adds increased stressed to their lives. Also, while  many believe that women are not capable of being able to do the same thing as men while serving in the military that are countless amounts of cases that disprove this and show that women are actually able to keep up and even outpass the ability of men.

https://www.aclu.org/cases/hegar-et-al-v-hagel?redirect=womens-rights/hegar-et-al-v-hagel

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/1468-4446.12102/asset/bjos12102.pdf?v=1&t=j0xuhe1q&s=a1956225b17a116e1c1bf2840406599f363340af

https://www.aclu.org/issues/womens-rights/womens-rights-workplace/women-military

Advocacy Idea

For my advocacy project I am going to be working by myself. The reason for this is because over the last three to four weeks I have been involved in a group of four individuals planning an advocacy rally. This advocacy rally is  in response to the recent policy change that Donald Trump advised that would remove protection on transgender and nonbinary specific bathrooms and also stating that transgendered individuals are allowed to use the bathroom that represents their gender identities. While President Baron said that no matter what Trump states that Penn State will continue to be an inclusive campus and will allow individuals to use the bathroom that correctly represents their gender identity. While this is a good step in the right direction a study done in 2014 showed that only 59.4% of students that were surveyed said that they were comfortable with transgendered individuals. The goal of this protest rally type of event is to show that as a campus we are all-in and that we are comfortable with everyone no matter their gender identity, sexuality, race, culture, or anything else in which someone could be discriminated for.

Civic Issues Blog 2

Intersectionality is not just seen in feminism. It plays a very large part in the LGBT+ community. Whether it be for discrimination or to help those people who are being discriminated against. Equality-network gives a brief but powerful description of what intersectionality is in the LGBT+ community. The description that the website gives is that “A gay man has to deal with homophobia. A black man has to deal with racism. But a black gay man will have to deal with homophobia and racism (often at the same time)… Similarly, a disabled lesbain muslim will have to deal with ableism, homophobia, islamophobia, racism and sexism.” (equality network) They then go on to explain that often, many LGBT-focused groups have little to no knowledge of the types of intersectionality someone will have to deal with. Due to this, racist attitudes and practices will be carried out by those who are working for these organizations and leads to the creation of an unsafe space for a minority ethnic LGBT person who may want to participate in the group. After this they go on to talk about how their work is aimed at helping organizations become more inclusive of all their service users and respect every part of their identity. They also go on to say that they work with a variety of organizations with diverse expertise, they exchange awareness raising sessions and they speak to intersectional service users. Finally, they say that due to their extensive partnership they were able to find that there are many ways for organizations to become inclusive without spending any extra money and that learning to be inclusive of people who have complex identities lead to all members that are using the service to be more happier.

While there is intersectionality in all sexualities, those whom identify as transgender face more discrimination, have a higher chance of developing a mental disease, and are at a higher risk of attempting suicide. The APA (American Psychology Association) also states that transexuals are at higher risk for STI’s because of body dysmorphia issues. While also being at a higher risk of STI’s they also at a higher risk of being forced into sexual intercourse by their partners and of being subjected to IPV (Intimate Partner Violence) by said partners due to gender discrimination. “Similarly, in 2011 of those transgendered men individuals that experienced violence, 29 percent of transgendered woman and 39 percent of transgendered men had experienced domestic violence.” (APA). This is where intersectionality comes into play. Intersection provides an important framework that helps to lead to understanding the disproportionate impact of IPV on HIV risk among the transgendered community. Due to the hardships that some transgendered individuals may face some of which include transphobia, racism, classism and anti-immigrant discrimination. Intersectionality gives a person the ability to learn how to understand these experiences within the context of  social and structural factors and how they can affect health. The LGBT+ community may have come far but there is more for them to do to be able to help all people that land in to the LGBT+ spectrum

www.apa.org/pi/aids/resources/exchange/2016/04/gender-affirmation.aspx

www.equality-network.org/our-work/intersectionality

Civic Issues Blog one

Intersectionality is a civil issue that every single group of people are faced with. Whether it be from groups whom follow feminism and preach feminism but disclude those who follow different religions to the LGBT+ groups who disregard POC and refuse to date bisexuals. While intersectionality plays a very large part in many different group it is not a very well known topic. For those who do not know what intersectionality is it is defined as “the complex of reciprocal attachments and sometimes polarizing conflicts that confront both individuals and movements as they seek to “navigate” among the raced, gendered, and class-based dimensions of social and political life” (University of California). While there are many different aspects of intersectionality the one that will be taking priority in this post is intersectionality in feminism. When people think about feminism some may concern themselves with the ways that white women face oppression and discrimination. However, not all  races, classes, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations face the same types of oppressions. That is where intersection feminism comes into play. Intersectional feminism looks at how all women no matter what  race, class, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.  An example of intersection feminism is that a white woman faces oppression and discrimination for her gender and not her race while a black woman faces oppression and discrimination for her gender and her race and a lesbian latina woman faces oppression and discrimination for her gender race and discrimination. In recent news, intersectionality is better known for the March on Washington. This is due to the fact that when it was created there were not any woman of color on the march’s policy platform. Due to many people’s anger over this three women were elected to be on the platform. Linda Sardour, a Muslim woman who heads the Arab American Association that is centered in New York, Tamika Mallory, an African-American civil rights activist, and Carmen Perez, a Latina activist who directs Harry Belafonte’s Gathering for Justice.

With the two different types of feminism climbing currently many people have taken on a viewpoint that looks at white feminism in a very negative fashion. Ruth Enid Zambrana, the director on Race, Gender and Ethnicity at the University of Maryland said “White moan do not want to jeopardize their power or their interests, so now they need to ask what they will do differently to help other women.” (USA Today). Intersection feminism is trying to focus not only on breaking a glass ceiling in corporate America but to also focus on broadening conversations around reproductive rights. Julia Williams, a professor of gender studies at UCLA said that “”Some intersectional feminists have been critical of framing reproductive justice claims in terms of a feminist demand for ‘choice,’ since choice discourse presumes that all women have the economic means to afford an abortion if they so choose. Moreover, privileging attention to abortion rights over other reproductive justice issues — such as forced sterilization — can be seen to elevate a middle-class white women’ agenda over other issues that are equally if not more important to poor women and women of color. “(USA Today). Intersectionality has been a term that has been used for decades but has just recently been picked up by the general public. Intersectionality should be taken in and cultivated so that those of tomorrow will be able to see a world where race, class, sexual orientation, or religion do not play a part of how people view others, but they take into account the personality of everyone and show equal rights to all of those who fight for feminism. Overall, intersectionality is not just a social problem in one minority or group. While intersectionality can be a good thing it can also alienate those of a specific group from being able to get what they need to get out of the main group. Intersectionality should not be taken lightly and should be brought up more often so that more people can learn about the different types of oppression and discrimination people face.

http://www.uccnrs.ucsb.edu/intersectionality

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/01/19/feminism-intersectionality-racism-sexism-class/96633750/

In class on Wednesday we were told to start thinking about what we want to write our Civic Issues and Passion Blogs about. For my Civic Issues blog I am leaning more towards writing my paper on intersectionality in the LGBT+ community. A brief description of intersectionality is when different people in a community believe that they are allowed to discriminate against others and put others at a disadvantage. While many believe that this is not an actual problem it turns out that it is giant and that People Of Color LGBT+ members do not have the proper representation that they should in the LGBT+ community. Another example of intersectionality in this group is when people show biphobia to others. Moving onto my passion blog. Last semester I choose something that I was extremely passionate about and ran that idea dry. So this semester I believe that I am going to change my topic for my passion blog and write about esports and the many different topics that go along with it. For those who do not know what esports is it is Massive Multiplayer Online Games which is played competitively. These games create a large amount of financial revenue through advertisements during the events, the tickets that are sold so that people may attend the event in real life, and many other cosmetic in game items that could be purchased. However, many of the athletes that play these sports are discriminated against because many believe that they should not be allowed to play these games and make such a large revenue. Also, these players are stigmatized to be nerds and are viewed to be lesser because they were choosing to follow their dreams. To me equality is valued highly and I believe that everyone deserves to have their equal rights and opportunities. Thank you

Experience and Data

The book “The Circle” brings up many concerns with how our society may be heading. In the book the members of the company The Circle are expected to keep their daily life recorded and to participate in others social lives. I feel that experience and data play a large part in this book because everything and anything someone looks up, views, post, likes, comments, records, and any other form of taking and viewing media is recorded on a drive in which anyone in the world may call upon and view it. This can be viewed through how, on page 177, during Mae’s work performance meeting she was confronted about not participating in events or posting on her social media site. Since Mae was new to the company she did not know about all the “wonderful” things that are available on The Circle’s campus. This is shown when Dan tells Mae that he knows that she has not gone to any of the campus’  facilities like the store, or the gym. Also, he says that she does not participate with the community aspect of The Circle by not making an appearance at the events that are planned and also through how she went to the circus event, “But we have no record of you being there. No photos, no zings, no reviews, notices, bumps.” After the confrontation that Mae had with Dan, Dan calls in Denise and Josiah to go more in-depth about ways for Mae to become more involved with The Circle’s community. The one way they recommended was to join a support group for those who are children of MS sufferers. Finally, to sum up this idea of becoming one with The Circle’s community the confrontation with Mae, Denise, Josiah, and Dan ends in Mae learning how to be more present in The Circle’s community by joining different groups and making posts that may have the ability to impact others lives. I feel that, due to Mae’s previous experience at her old job she was trained to be a bit more enigmatic due to how distant her coworkers were and how these experiences have effected her ability to be a part of The Circle’s community and that with more time and experience she will be able to successfully merge to The Circle’s ideology.

The Circle v Penn State

When I read The Circle I immediately started to think of it being similar to what was my beginnings at Penn State. The first big correlation to the two that I made was just the vastness of how the campus The Circle takes place was described as and how overwhelmed Mae must have felt overwhelmed due to its vast size and how overwhelmed I felt when I first got out of the car and saw and took in all of Penn State’s campus. Another correlation was how when Mae first arrived she was taken around campus by Renata and was shown around the campus which was similar to Penn State’s NSO. At NSO I was, like Mae, taken around the campus, by someone who has been here long enough to know their way around, and was told about different traditions, customs and social gatherings that happen around campus. Even tho these traditions may be different due to the fact that one is spoken and the other is more of a conference. The Penn State tradition is the “We Are” chant and The Circle’s tradition is Dream Friday. Another similarity is the massive amount of social events that are thrown in the book and in real life on campus and how many different social groups there are all around Penn State’s campus and The Circle’s campus.

Although The Circle and Penn State are similar is certain aspects they are completely different in others. I think the biggest difference between the two is the amount of freedom you are given at Penn State and the lack of freedom that is given at The Circle. While in the book it is almost frowned upon for not attending social events at Penn State it’s your choice with no judgement if you go or do not go. Also, in general The Circle’s campus feels like a bubble and inside of that bubble you have to conform to their expectations and ideology or you get ostracized and viewed as an outlier while at Penn State the campus feels like a true community in which everyone works together and helps to build everyone in that community up and to embrace their individuality rather than just having everyone conform to one ideology or standard. To sum things up I believe that Penn State and The Circle do have similarities but what makes the two different are their ideologies and standards about individuality.

Louis C.K. Thoughts

I do not know if this answers the question about common place or not but I want to talk about how on the internet people are more sheltered. Due to the internet being anonymous people are able to voice their opinions but along with this freedom of being able to voice their opinions people start to believe that their opinion is the one opinion that should matter. This was brought up when he told the story about how he tweeted to Tosh about his show being funny and enjoyable when he was going through a period of time when maybe something he said was not totally acceptable to different groups of people. People that affiliated themselves with these groups felt as if the person that they were mad at was being supported by Louis because he said that Tosh’s show is entertaining. Which is completely unreasonable in my opinion. This idea that those people offended have put forth is utterly confusing. They act as if one joke is the end of the world. Going along with this, Louis gives us stereotypes of different groups of people and one stereotype that he said is that comedians are pussies. He then says that if that group of people do not want to be criticized then they should not go onto the internet. To me the internet has sensitized many different groups of people that is starting to become a problem due to the fact that instead of us taking a joke as a joke we become offended even tho that was not the direct intention of the joke.confused meme