Distinguishing Good and Bad

Looking back on all the information we have taken in across this semester is a daunting task, but I feel as though there are some stings of connection between all the topics we have covered. The prominence of racism in places one would never imagine it, or rather not want to imagine it. The importance of vocabulary and how the smallest detail can change an entire piece. Overall, I think the most important topic mention is how common it is for people to categorize things as good and evil.  Continue reading “Distinguishing Good and Bad”

How Far we Have Come

After reflecting on my personal growth in this class in my previous blog post, I began to think about the progress of the class as a whole. Our advancement as a class was evident through our recent class activities.

In class this past week, we worked on our class collective course statement. When we began the project, we focused on Geneseo Learning Outcomes for Baccalaureate Edition (GLOBE). As we were working on this portion of the project, I began to take note of the differences from the beginning of the semester, to now. I also realized how the learning outcomes were evident in our work.  Continue reading “How Far we Have Come”

Gender Binary

In the beginning of the semester, we were asked to identify the pronouns we prefer to be used when being referred to in class. It came to my attention that not enough teachers put their students preferred gender into consideration. Gender has evolved throughout history and is no longer black and white.

 

Across different religions and various societies, the subject of gender binary is interpreted through various lens. Gender binary is the social construction of gender in most societies in the world where gender is a contrast between male and female. Male and female gender expectations, roles, and functions are very specific. The presence of alternate genders is ignored, or made oblivious. Health, body, sexualities, education, family, work, money and law are the more predominant subtexts in culture that aid in defining gender roles. As a society, we must begin to break the stereotypes and educate one another on what the gender binary is how to conquer its strict canon.

 

Cultures throughout the world partake in the specific separation of the idea of only two genders. Throughout the past, gender has been seen as having only two spectrums, male and female. But as a society we are slowly adapting to the idea of the existence of more than two genders. Currently there are up to 58 ways to classify one’s gender. An example of modern day society adjusting to the shift in more than two genders is, Facebook allowing their users to customize their gender along with allowing their users to select from three different pronouns, “her”, “him”, and “their”. Facebook software engineer Brielle Harrison told the Associated Press. Harrison, who worked on the project, is in the process of gender transition, from male to female, “there’s going to be a lot of people for whom this is going to mean nothing, but for the few it does impact, it means the world”. With this slight adjustment, it helps humanity be more aware of the fact that more than two genders can exist. Another modern-day example of the slow modification of the belief of more than two genders is the creation of gender neutral bathrooms. Although gender neutral bathrooms exist, society did not react as positively as planned. Howard Blume writes in his article, “anyone looking for confirmation of the nation’s cultural divide can add education and gender-neutral bathrooms to the list of proof points. North Carolina sparked a national furor by requiring transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates, citing risks to children in schools as a primary justification”. Gender neutral bathrooms are simply open to all genders to make the user more comfortable without putting stress on other users. Gender separation is a major factor to the constant assumption of only two genders. However, certain college campuses are taking a stand on banning gender separation. Freya Preimesberger states in her article, “Harvard instated a ban on all gender-segregated groups such as fraternities, sororities and single-gender clubs. UT research shows that this ban is well-founded — separation by gender is detrimental to students”. Gender separation in various cases can have its benefits along with its non-benefits. Society as a whole can work together to try and rid the idea of the existence of only two genders.

Human Rights

After reading this article titled, UN poverty official touring Alabama’s Black Belt: ‘I haven’t seen this’ in the First World, I was brought to the focus on human rights. The United Nations describes human rights as, “rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.” The article on hookworm and sewage discusses the problem of contaminated water caused by sewage disposal. “‘I think it’s very uncommon in the First World. This is not a sight that one normally sees. I’d have to say that I haven’t seen this,’ Philip Alston, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.” The article then later on discussed that it is a basic human right for people to live decently. “‘There is a human right for people to live decently, and that means the government has an obligation to provide people with the essentials of life, which include power, water and sewage service,’ Alston said.”

The comments made by Alston connected me to the book, Zulus by Percival Everett. In Zulus, Alice Achitophel was stripped of her basic human rights. When the government was informed that she was carrying a baby, they wanted to take the baby away from Alice. This is a violation of multiple human rights. In specific, Alice was discriminated against due to her weight. She was overweight which was looked upon as taboo and she was treated as if she was of a lower social class. Alice was also held hostage due to her pregnancy, which is another violation of basic human rights. In Zulus, all the citizens in the communities were automatically violated when the government forced them to be sterile. Basic human rights are not something to be messing around with and can result in serious consequences when breached.

What about slavery?

Toward the beginning of the class, Dr. McCoy mentioned how some people think Butler is writing about slavery in her novels, but Butler asserted that she’s not. Slavery never really came up in more than passing mention during our discussions about Butler’s novels, and without giving away too much about our final project, it definitely was not something in Butler’s works we felt needed to be addressed. This is interesting (possibly to no one but me) because my first impression of Octavia Butler’s writing, specifically Xenogenesis—now known as Lilith’s Brood, was that it was quite blatantly about slavery.

Continue reading “What about slavery?”

Collaborative Experiences.

No one should be alone. We, as humans exist in/within communities, groups, population, cultures, families among others. From birth, an individual’s community/family assumes responsibility for the upbringing of the individual. From the kindergarten teachers to next-door neighbours, a network of people periodically provide support and care. Kids are encouraged to go out and make friends. Holidays, rites of passages celebrations are only complete with family and with long standing traditions; families are responsible for guiding the individual in their eventual situation to life. Humans usually live communally or simply tolerate each other hence we are regarded as social but complex creatures. The old adage “No man is an Island” is heard too often from the mouths of those who wish to talk introverts out of their highly valued internal conversations. Can you respect my privacy please? Tolerate. Even when research strongly suggests that people are more creative when they enjoy privacy and freedom from interruption (Cain, 2012. ) The old biblical story of the tower of Babel highlights the great power of team work and collective experience. After the flood in the post-Noahic world; humans on earth were united in one language. Soon after, they decided to team up together and build a tower that could reach the heavens. They built a sky high edifice, continued building until they were struck by God and started to speak different languages. The workers abandoned the work and migrated to different ends of the earth. The tower of Babel became desolate; a withered testament to the power of unity. In my lonely times, I wonder about the unspeakable power in team work. Men and women;if matched together in intelligence, fervor and ambition could indeed change the world like the workers of Babel attempted to. If individual achievements matter; then the world exists on the axis of collective achievements. Greatness is in the WE not I, alone .

Continue reading “Collaborative Experiences.”

English Class Trust

When I talked to my mom about college classes the number one thing that I would bring up is that I really like English classes. When she would ask me why I would say something like, “well, in most classes I would usually only know the people that sit next to me, but in my English classes I know every person’s name. I really like the group comradery in it. It feels a lot like I’m back in high school”. This has become probably one of the main reasons that I continue to take English classes and why I made it my second major, almost like it feels like a breath of fresh air compared to some of my other classes where we all stare at a PowerPoint and try to jot down the notes as fast as possible before the professors changes the slides. Continue reading “English Class Trust”

Following the Flow of Fulfillment

In my last blog post “Supply and Demand,” I wrote about how an individual’s environment severely affects their rights and, therefore, their identity.  Depending on the environment, certain behaviors and actions are either stimulated or repressed because of their social and/or economic standpoint. Some areas restrict/control an individual’s ability to marry whoever they want, live wherever they want, work whatever job they want, etc.  However, a person’s reaction depends on what they define their identity to be made of after these influences have affected them. In this case, will the backfire effect help or prevent positive progress from being made? Continue reading “Following the Flow of Fulfillment”