Tia T.

Favorite Quotes from ENGL 367

Each experience of writing was like standing naked and revealing my imperfection, my “otherness.” And each new assignment was another chance to make myself over in language, reshape myself, make myself “better” in my rapidly changing image of a student in a college composition class.
Barbara Mellix, “Outside In”

“Women are held to unattainable and insurmountable standards by society. In order to be taken seriously, they have to be the best. Unfortunately, even if they are the most qualified person in their field, as Rebecca Solnit explains in “Men Explain Things to Me,” women are still belittled and not taken seriously.”
Kate P., “Male Mediocracy”

Applying Kimberlé Crenshaw’s Concept of “Intersectionality” to Societal Constraints and Constructions Faced by Women

Context: Kimberlé Crenshaw’s 2016 Ted Talk focuses on the urgency of intersectionality and acknowledges the cultural impact of recognizing overlapping identities such as race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality in 1989 and it is defined as: the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group regarded as creating overlapping and independent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. Crenshaw refers to a case brought to court by Emma Degraffenreid that was dismissed because the Judge believed her attempt to sue on the grounds of “double discrimination” would be a preferential advantage. This is referred to by Crenshaw as “Injustice squared” because of Degraffenreid’s inability to get the job she applied for as well as the discrimination she suffered being inconsequential.

Role: I plan to use The Urgency of Intersectionality as a framework for my paper to express the impact of society’s constraints and constructions on women especially young women and women of marginalized ethnicities.

Why it is interesting: I find this video interesting because although I’d realized and lived the concept of intersectionality several times in my life as a black woman, I don’t think I’d ever heard of the phrase before watching this video. Realizing that was eye opening to me because it made me think of how little this concept is actually discussed. This concept invites you to understand the overlapping identities of marginalized people on a complex and immersed level.

Appearing to Disappear: Roxane Gay’s Response to Society’s Aggression Towards Fatness

In What Fullness Is, Roxane Gay’s self-application to the disorienting toll of societally influenced weight loss approaches the different ways being overweight in today’s society is accompanied by exclusion and being ostracized. Gay focuses on just how unaccommodating the world is for individuals who don’t fit today’s typical body standards. That pressure along with the pressure of having to appear to be interested in “disciplining” her eating habits emphasizes the problem area which is in the fact that her decision to go forward with weight-reduction surgery was at the pleasure of everyone but herself.

“The truth is that my desire for weight loss has long been about satisfying other people more than myself, finding a way to fit more peacefully into a world that is not at all interested in accommodating a body like mine. “

Gay attributes much of her weight gain to disordered eating that erupted due to an unhealthy relationship with food and the swirling warnings of others who insist she needs to lose weight. These suggestive words came from sources as familiar as her father to some as distant as passersby aware of nothing more than Gay’s physical appearance. The comfort a stranger must feel to insult and belittle Gay for her weight is perpetuated by fat-phobic culture that due to ignorance relies on the notion that fatness alone makes an individual medically unfit. Not only is this inaccurate, there are several downfalls within diet culture. Restricting your body from ingesting the nutrients it requires from certain foods can cause deficiencies, weaken the body’s immune system, and heighten the potential for irregular cell metabolism.

“They told me that this surgery will save my life, and that if I didn’t get the surgery, I wouldn’t live until 40. When I turned 40, they told me that if I didn’t get the surgery, I wouldn’t live until 50.”

Gay reveals in her interview with Trevor Noah that her relationship with food became irregular as a result of attempting to cope with trauma. Having normalized these eating habits and treating food like armor, her body became unfamiliar with anything else which triggered dramatic reactions such as extreme coldness when she ate less or intermittently. What the average person couldn’t and wouldn’t realize simply from laying their eyes on her is the comfortability Gay feels in her body when there is no worry of external interferences. Gay emphasizes in both the interview and essay how it is practically impossible to be happy with or in a fat body amidst constant reminders that one is not meant to “fit” in certain spaces.

“I am, however, sometimes fine with my body. I am fine with my curves, the solidity of me. I am strong and tall. I enjoy the way I take up space, that I have presence.”

Behind the incessant implications that she needed to undergo weight reduction surgery was even more hindrance. Waiting periods, food logs, expensive psyche evaluations and other financial burdens are all part of what the average overweight person would have to endure to receive weight reduction surgery. Although a portion of these were omitted thanks to Gay being financially well-off, she acknowledges that these simply reinforce the restricting “ills of capitalism.”

Gay also adheres to the concept of the mind body connection potentially hindering the “success” of weight loss surgery. This inclusion is imperative to any conversation rooted in the matter of eating disorders. The lack of mental control felt by the individual is often ignored in regard to people who overeat. Even in those individuals that have total control, discarding of hundreds of pounds of body-fat does not take place overnight.

“I had to accept that I could change my fat body faster than this culture will change how it views, treats, and accommodates fat bodies.”

With consideration of someone who has an eating disorder that entails overeating, in many cases the part of their body that should indicate to their brain that they are full is not doing it’s job. This impairment alongside the mental and emotional impact of feeling like an outsider is more than most people with eating disorders can mentally handle. The unburdening Gay felt upon making the decision to go through with the weight reduction surgery is only worth anything because of the way the world made her feel prior to it.

Keepsake Chest

An object near and dear to my heart happens to be a tattered keepsake chest that I was given as a child. I’ve had it in all of my bedrooms since I can remember. When I first moved from the city to the suburbs I was only three years old and barely remember the transition. But as I got older the chest became the thing that stored my baby blankets, my favorite shirts, (to hide from my sister), and anything that I just didn’t want to share. It was the most personal thing to me. It was the most tangible constant. Through the years I’ve moved about three times, not included a shift from one bedroom in my current house to a larger bedroom.

The old damaged chest has always felt like a necessity. I find that Lambeth’s mindset of beauty within asymmetry or understanding “everything that persists is whole” is incredibly honest and accurately explained. It is also relatable in terms of bond, connection and values. Japanese philosophy known as Wabi Sabi “considers that fallen leaves carry more meaning than those still on the tree” which is why my chest could never be replaced in any way other than a practical sense. It is a reminder that even imperfect things have purpose.