Pink and blue are the most common baby colors to paint a baby’s room. Pink is for girls and blue is for boys. But what about those moms, dads, or families that choose to paint the room yellow? Or some other “gender neutral” color like green? Does it mean that by painting the baby’s room that way that the baby won’t have to be male or female? Does a color really have to represent a sex or gender? There are plenty of girls who prefer blue to pink, and recently I’ve seen guys wearing pink. So why do we have to place a color or other characteristics with gender?
“Our lives are proof that sex and gender are much more complex than a delivery room doctor’s glance at genitals can determine, more variegated than pink or blue birth caps” (Feinberg 5). Just because a person is born with a certain body, doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to act that gender. The link I’m posting below is about transgender children and a specific story about a young boy who believes he is a girl. It’s a really interesting story to read about what the child thinks and will have to go through. In the article the mother reads about the DSM-IV about the Gender Identity Disorder. “There must be evidence of a strong and persistent gross-gender identification, which is the desire to be, or the insistence that one is of the other sex” (DSM GID Hate Crimes document). In the article, the little boy has a strong desire to be a girl and actually believes that he is a girl.
But transgendered people flip the notion of gendered baby colors on its head. This little boy should be connecting with blue things and boy toys in order to be “normal”. However, he likes pink and purple and is wearing dresses and playing with dolls. So how do you classify this child? Not in pink or blue, but in yellow? Since we don’t have a “gender color” for these children, people would wonder how to place them. It comes back to the whole idea of placing people in categories. When people cannot place someone in the category “female or male” they get thrown in a tizzy. They feel the need to place everyone in some category in order to relate with them. Transgenders are blending the lines between sex and gender, so is there a need to make a whole new category (or color) to describe them? It’s an idea that we seem to be facing today.
Article on the transgender child is here.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Intersectionality: two birds, one stone
Kimberlé Crenshaw’s definition of intersectionality suggests that gender, race, and culture are some of the factors that make up a person’s identity. My title says "two birds, one stone" because I think of it as intersectionality (one stone) hitting multiple characteristics (two birds) of a person's identity, such as gender, race and culture. In the articles of Dorothy Allison, Helen Clarkson, and Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality is shown to have a large connection to violence against women. Not only does being a woman put them at a higher risk for rape and violence, but also their race and culture.
In Dorothy Allison’s memoir tells about the violence and rape she had experienced as a young girl living in a poor community. Not only does she share the stories of her history of dealing with violence, but also about the women in her family who had gone through similar problems. Her origin of living in Greensville, South Carolina gave way to the violence that surrounded her. Similarly, in Helen Clarkson’s article about rape being used in war, women were being raped due to their race and their culture. In this situation, rape and violence towards women is used as an attack on their villages during war. These military men have “spread terror through the population by looting and burning villages and raping and murdering their inhabitants” (Clarkson 613). Also, in Kimberlé Crenshaw’s article, she describes how woman who have immigrated to the United States often have troubles with rape and violence in their marriages and cannot seek help for fear of being deported. As she describes, “when faced with the choice between protection from their batterers and protection against deportation, many immigrant women chose the later” (Crenshaw 201).
In all of these situations, not only did gender play a factor in the violence, but also their race or culture. But how do we get these women to stand up against the violence when they have greater fears? This is the question that Crenshaw discusses in her article. One woman, who is living on the streets for several days with her son, tries to reach shelter, but is turned down several times due to the fact that she doesn’t speak English very well. She was not able get help because of her language barrier and her culture. It pains me to think that a shelter would turn down a woman due to her culture. These women that are turned down could be on the streets in risky situations, which could lead to more violence or even worse, death. Like we discussed in class on Thursday, why can’t we pick out the similarities instead of the differences of these women? Instead of rejecting someone because of their culture, why can’t we accept them because she is a woman who is in danger or needs help?
I’ve always liked this song, and I feel like it relates well with the subject matter. Lyrics are here if you’d like to follow them.
In Dorothy Allison’s memoir tells about the violence and rape she had experienced as a young girl living in a poor community. Not only does she share the stories of her history of dealing with violence, but also about the women in her family who had gone through similar problems. Her origin of living in Greensville, South Carolina gave way to the violence that surrounded her. Similarly, in Helen Clarkson’s article about rape being used in war, women were being raped due to their race and their culture. In this situation, rape and violence towards women is used as an attack on their villages during war. These military men have “spread terror through the population by looting and burning villages and raping and murdering their inhabitants” (Clarkson 613). Also, in Kimberlé Crenshaw’s article, she describes how woman who have immigrated to the United States often have troubles with rape and violence in their marriages and cannot seek help for fear of being deported. As she describes, “when faced with the choice between protection from their batterers and protection against deportation, many immigrant women chose the later” (Crenshaw 201).
In all of these situations, not only did gender play a factor in the violence, but also their race or culture. But how do we get these women to stand up against the violence when they have greater fears? This is the question that Crenshaw discusses in her article. One woman, who is living on the streets for several days with her son, tries to reach shelter, but is turned down several times due to the fact that she doesn’t speak English very well. She was not able get help because of her language barrier and her culture. It pains me to think that a shelter would turn down a woman due to her culture. These women that are turned down could be on the streets in risky situations, which could lead to more violence or even worse, death. Like we discussed in class on Thursday, why can’t we pick out the similarities instead of the differences of these women? Instead of rejecting someone because of their culture, why can’t we accept them because she is a woman who is in danger or needs help?
I’ve always liked this song, and I feel like it relates well with the subject matter. Lyrics are here if you’d like to follow them.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
What's your identity?
After reading the first piece by Evelyn Alsultany, all I could think about was if I was one of those people. Had I ever made someone feel so out of place that it hurt them inside? Many times I have asked people where they are from or what their background is and didn’t think anything of it. However, now I look back and think had what I asked seemed too pushy? As Alsultany put it had my, “ ‘friendly’ question turn[ed] into a claim to land and belonging”? Then I thought about times people had asked me about my background. Had I ever felt out of place because of my background or my ethnicity?
Of course most people feel like they don’t belong in certain places, but not everyone has that feeling of not belonging anywhere. I’m pretty sure everyone can think of one place where they can go and be themselves, whether it be at home, painting a picture, singing in front of a mirror, or wherever else. We can just be ourselves and not have to “fit in” with everyone else. But in reality, not everyone fits into most places. It reminds of me of last year when I took this computer programming class. I was the only girl amongst a whole class of guys. You would have thought that at least one of them would have talked to me or helped me when I had asked them questions, but instead they all acted as if I wasn’t even there. I felt unwelcome and out of place, like I wasn’t good enough to be there. But who is to say that we don’t belong?
Who is to say that our identities have to match up with others? In all three readings, Alsultany, Martin, and Clare are searching for their own identities. As Clare says, “Often it is history I turn to, history I grasp and mold in my search”. Clare talks about how she looks for teachers and heroes. She looks for someone to show her it is okay to be your own person, and that you don’t have to be like everyone else. She looks for people that have experienced what she is going through and was okay. We are all searching for our own identity, one that fits us uniquely and doesn’t fall into the same identity as certain groups.
For Eli Clare, she might look like a guy, but in actuality is a girl. Just because we look a certain way, or act a certain way doesn’t mean that’s truly who we are. It kind of reminds me of a tomato. Everyone thinks that it is a vegetable, but technically it’s a fruit. The only way a person knows a tomato is a fruit would be to study about the tomato and see what features make it they way it is. This may seem silly, but it’s true to think about. It all comes down to identity. So what’s your identity?
Here’s a funny little video to emphasize the last part. ☺
Of course most people feel like they don’t belong in certain places, but not everyone has that feeling of not belonging anywhere. I’m pretty sure everyone can think of one place where they can go and be themselves, whether it be at home, painting a picture, singing in front of a mirror, or wherever else. We can just be ourselves and not have to “fit in” with everyone else. But in reality, not everyone fits into most places. It reminds of me of last year when I took this computer programming class. I was the only girl amongst a whole class of guys. You would have thought that at least one of them would have talked to me or helped me when I had asked them questions, but instead they all acted as if I wasn’t even there. I felt unwelcome and out of place, like I wasn’t good enough to be there. But who is to say that we don’t belong?
Who is to say that our identities have to match up with others? In all three readings, Alsultany, Martin, and Clare are searching for their own identities. As Clare says, “Often it is history I turn to, history I grasp and mold in my search”. Clare talks about how she looks for teachers and heroes. She looks for someone to show her it is okay to be your own person, and that you don’t have to be like everyone else. She looks for people that have experienced what she is going through and was okay. We are all searching for our own identity, one that fits us uniquely and doesn’t fall into the same identity as certain groups.
For Eli Clare, she might look like a guy, but in actuality is a girl. Just because we look a certain way, or act a certain way doesn’t mean that’s truly who we are. It kind of reminds me of a tomato. Everyone thinks that it is a vegetable, but technically it’s a fruit. The only way a person knows a tomato is a fruit would be to study about the tomato and see what features make it they way it is. This may seem silly, but it’s true to think about. It all comes down to identity. So what’s your identity?
Here’s a funny little video to emphasize the last part. ☺
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
What to know about me...
3 random facts about me:
1. I'm allergic to a lot of things, but most surprising is peanuts and cockroaches. How you can be allergic to cockroaches, I don't know.
2. I've changed my major 3 times and hopefully will graduate in only 4 years (which will be next year).
3. I go to the Oxford campus and I'm in Alpha Gamma Delta.
(And if you haven't noticed from my blog; my favorite color is pink.)
1. I'm allergic to a lot of things, but most surprising is peanuts and cockroaches. How you can be allergic to cockroaches, I don't know.
2. I've changed my major 3 times and hopefully will graduate in only 4 years (which will be next year).
3. I go to the Oxford campus and I'm in Alpha Gamma Delta.
(And if you haven't noticed from my blog; my favorite color is pink.)
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