Category: Uncategorized

#NotAllMen

I’m sure we have all heard it- “not all men.”

Whether it rears its ugly head in a conversation about gendered violence or even every day microaggressions, people seem to love using this phrase as an argument against feminism. Not only am I sure we have all heard this phrase, I know we all have based on our discussion about Solnit’s writing in class. 

At first, this seems like a logical response to the horrible things said about men. Surely not all men are this terrible.

This is true.

Not all men are horrible people. In fact, most men are wonderful individuals. However, this argument misses the point entirely. Unfortunately, enough men act in these ways for these statements to apply. Kirsty S. tackles this issue head on in her article “Why Men Should Stop Saying #NotAllMen. Immediately.” 

Here, Kirsty discusses how damaging this seemingly common phrase is. As Kirsty puts it, “Yes, we KNOW that not every single man is responsible. Yes, we KNOW that you would never do that; and you’ve reminded us enough, thanks.” This addresses what I have brought up many times in class, the idea of not all but enough men. 

She then goes on to discuss how useless of an argument “not all men” is. 

“So #NotAllMen doesn’t clarify anything. It doesn’t add to the discussion or develop it in any way. All it does is derail and dismiss the lived experiences of women and girls. And what the men who leap to remind us that ‘’not all men are like that’’, are actually saying is, ‘’I’m not like that.’’ Or to put it another way, they are letting women know that discussing misogyny makes them uncomfortable, and they’d like to be absolved of any blame before they will let women continue.”

Kirsty S.

As Kirsty S. explains, yes, it is very difficult to discuss sexism and misogony. Both are heavy topics and, it is all too easy to feel like you are being accused of something awful. Instead of saying you’re “not like all men,” prove it with your words and actions and become a better ally. Unfortunately, everyone is sexist. We live in a sexist society upheld by sexist institutions. Even if you are not aware of your own aggressions, they still exist and need to be acknowledged.

Unlike Solnit’s piece, which many of my classmates decided was too aggressive to be successful, Kirsty’s piece is light and playful. She uses different memes and pictures to help lighten the mood on a very heavy topic. I think if you found Solnit’s piece to be “too much” you should really take a look at Kirsty S’s writing. She is less accusatory and more explanatory. 

View at Medium.com
A link to the article. https://medium.com/@KirstyStricklan/why-men-should-stop-saying-notallmen-immediately-f657e244f7a1

S, Kirsty. “Why Men Should Stop Saying #NotAllMen. Immediately.” Medium, Medium, 25 Oct. 2017, medium.com/@KirstyStricklan/why-men-should-stop-saying-notallmen-immediately-f657e244f7a1.\

“The Feminist Perspective in Film Studies”

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20687233.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_SYC-4631%252Ftest&refreqid=excelsior%3Ad9fd30fe0fb9306435e3c254c0951175

This article was written by Dr. Ann Kaplan, who, at the time, was developing her course on women and film at Rutgers University. She sets out propose potential solutions to the issues regarding female oppression in the film industry.

One of the main takeaways from the article that I want to utilize in my research, is that Kaplan gives details about how to view a film through a feminist perspective. She states that if you just look at the overall representation of female characters in film, the sexism is obvious. However, she claims that the feminist perspective is not so simple. She wants people to understand that the portrayal of women in film goes beyond just the woman’s role in a film, you have to look at the film in the context of the society that it was created in, as well as the directors and producers who were involved in the creation of the film.

Even though Kaplan acknowledges that these additional levels of analysis complicate the feminist view on film, she says that this approach will raise people’s consciousness about women’s oppression overall.

The in-depth approach would counteract a too simplistic charge of sexism. It would help us see the complex roots behind sexism, and how attitudes to women are intertwined with a director’s entire way of seeing the world

Dr. Ann Kaplan

Kaplan goes on to continue to talk about how women play a passive role in film. The reason behind this being that women are typically viewed as being a part of a man’s world rather than existing in their own. Even though females are typically viewed through the male gaze, we can still learn a lot from these films. Women can see how they are being represented, and in turn, voice their own opinions, and realize that their opinions are more generalized than isolated.

Representation of women in film is important because film typically reflects society and can shape social attitudes.

Aziz Ansari Video

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfMDe8Unrv0

The video I chose to share with the class is from ET Canada in July of this year and it discusses the Aziz Ansari apology and beginning of his new comedy special where he addressed the situation. If anyone does not know, this incident came about from a woman who accused Ansari of sexual misconduct after a date went bad the night before.

 I feel that this will be a main part of my final piece because not only does it show Aziz’s apology and his reflection on the incident but it also shows the reactions of the two news anchors after they saw it. While personally I felt this was a very heartfelt message from Aziz to his audiences, the anchors thought otherwise which is why I believe it is so interesting personally. This piece will also be important because it really puts into effect the theme of my essay which is somewhat related to and surrounded by the MeToo movement that has spread. 

I feel that this will be interesting for the class to form their own opinions based on the incident that happened with Aziz Ansari and this aftermath where he discusses it. I feel that either way the class sides, they might be able to form an opinion on how the apology was discussed by the news anchors. 

The Effects of Education From The White Woman’s Point of View

The article that I feel gives the best overall insight to my topic is entitled “Does Teacher Diversity Matter in Student Learning?” written by Claire Cain Miller. Miller wrote this piece for the New York Times in September of 2018 and the issues at hand are still very relevant a year later. The overall problem at hand that this piece discusses it the lack of diversity amongst K-12 teachers, and the impact that predominantly white women teachers has on students that do not look like them. Research has shown that students perform better and have a higher interest in school when they have “mirrors”, or people that look like them that they can relate to and use as role models. This includes teachers that are the same race as their students, as well as the same gender. In addition to this finding, further research has shown that teachers sometimes treat students differently based on their own backgrounds and stereotypes. Negative stereotypes can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, which entails that having low expectations for these students will eventually come true. These effects can last with these students and stigmatized groups long after these experiences take place. Overall, there has been no negative effects of having nonwhite teachers, both on white students and students of color, but there have clearly been negative effects of having mainly all teachers that look the same.

This piece will serve as the background for my essay in that it gives researched facts about the effects of this lack of diversity and why it is a problem. It covers both the race and gender issue and how they both affect students of the opposite race or gender. In addition to the issues it covers, it explains how this issue turns into bigger issues and how they can be prevented.

I think this piece is interesting to those who are both informed of the topic and not. Due to the fact that I want to go into the education field, I was aware of the lack of diversity among teachers, but not the outstanding effects that it has on the students. I feel that even for those who are not aware of this issue, it is easy to follow and the results are impactful to the reader.

A Game that Changes Lives

Matthew Gutierrez, A Harlem Team Is Changing The Face of Lacrosse, May 17, 2019, New York Times

In this article Matthew Gutierrez writes about how the game of lacrosse has changed and altered these inner city kids lives for the better. How profound of an impact something so simple as the game of lacrosse can have on the successes in one’s life. It shows the true diversity of the game and doesn’t classify it as the normally seen game played by “white” “upper class” males. This article will play an important role in my piece because I will tie it into the idea of lacrosse players and what they sponsor. This will be helpful for me to show that the game of lacrosse is also sponsoring diversity and helping to better others lives. I think this piece will interest others in the class because it ties into our first reading from Lambeth, Laurie Clements. 2016. “The Three-Legged Dog Who Carried Me“. New York Times. It ties into her piece because her Three-Legged dog changed her life and gave it meaning. For these inner city kids they basically had nothing before lacrosse but once they were introduced to lacrosse it gave them a sense of fulfillment and purpose. One kid even states in the article, “I always had the heart and mind to be successful, but I didn’t have the support,” said Davon Johnson, a senior who will attend the college prep school Vermont Academy next year on nearly a full scholarship. Lacrosse “changed my life,” he said. “It helped me find direction.” Showing that this game was able to alter this kids life and put him a great opportunity that he wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the game of lacrosse.

“Newark Townies Return Underground as Fall Semester Begins”

YB. Newark Townies Return Underground as Falls Semester Begins. 1 Sept 2016, Delaware.

Link: https://theblacksheeponline.com/delaware/newark-townies-return-underground-falls-semester-begins

The author of the writing I am offering goes by the initials YB and is an anonymous satirical writer from the University of Delaware for the website TheBlackSheepOnline.com. YB addresses hypothetical (and somehow relevant) situations on and around campus in a sarcastic way that allows for humor while at the same time addressing issues University of Delaware students might experience.

In this short article, YB addresses the start of fall semester and how the students’ move-in affects the “townies” of Newark, Delaware. YB makes fun of both the “townies” and University of Delaware students in this article. The “townies” are represented by strange and made-up homeless people and uneducated locals. The students are represented by made-up young people who are stereotypical college students, “basic” or “nerdy.”

My project revolves around my individual experience of transferring into a college as a junior at an older age in a town I’ve grown up in my whole life. This piece is significant in my project because I plan on addressing the relationship between the town locals of Newark and the students who attend University of Delaware, or any college town for that matter. This piece, though the events written about are not factual on the surface, offers extreme versions of opinions some people might actually have about the topic.

I believe you guys will enjoy this piece because it is written in a very humorous way and it addresses the town which we all know quite well. It is relatable because of the location and it might entice some students to develop a new way of thinking about town/campus relationships, or maybe even start off some students to become aware of the situation at all. Even if you do not choose this piece to comment on, it is short and I believe you should definitely give it a quick look.

“Watch Your White Sons”

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/opinion/sunday/white-supremacist-recruitment.html

Joanna Schroeder, a feminist writer and editor that focuses on issues surrounding raising boys, wrote, a few days ago, wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times titled, “Racists Are Recruiting. Watch Your White Sons.” In this piece, she writes about her own experiences with her 11- and 14-year-old sons and their close interactions with online white supremacism.

She first details the time she heard her sons and their friends lightheartedly said the word “triggered” into response to a meme. She knew it was a word to mock people who are hurt or offended by racism as overly sensitive, and knew it was used in alt-right rhetoric. It’s a favorite tactic of this group who are known for “trolling” anyone who disagrees with them.

The alt-right can be explained as a decentralized movement that contained many different extremist ideals. This could be white supremacy, this could be anti-women/incel movements, this could be nationalist movements, this could be anti-semitism, or just aggressive conservativism. There are different movements within this umbrella that is the alt-right, but they all are linked together–as if they are a color wheel where each color fades into the other, like a gradient rather than a web of different motivations. The Anti-Defamation League defines them as “a segment of the white supremacist movement consisting of a loose network of racists and anti-Semites who reject mainstream conservatism in favor of politics that embrace implicit or explicit racism, anti-Semitism and white supremacy.”

The next red flag she witnessed was her son scrolling through Instagram, liking a meme that showed a man in modern clothing tipping off Hitler to the invasion of Normandy. Her son hadn’t really digested the image, not really reading it, assuming the time traveler was trying to kill Hitler and not help him. When she explained that the actual message was that it would have better if the Holocaust had continued, he was embarrassed and shocked. He defended himself saying he wasn’t “stupid enough to like a Hitler meme on purpose,” and said he thought his friend shared it to be ironic. But, he couldn’t explain how it could be ironic and so his mother started a dialogue on what the Holocaust was, the trauma and violence that Jewish people still experience. And of course, he knew all this, but Schroeder was scared he was forgetting, that he was being pulled into seeing a painful aspect of our history as a joke, or even possibly something to be celebrated.

The F.B.I reports a 17 percent rise in hate crime incidents from 2016 to 2017, which Schroeder uses as a reminder to prevent her sons from being indoctrinated by the ever-growing racist online movement that turn into offline violence.

She mentions many of the major attacks of the past few years such as the El Paso shooting, the attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh and San Diego, and the New Zealand Mosque massacre. Both the San Diego and New Zealand gunmen posted online manifestoes that detailed their philosophies and motivations and included internet memes and Youtubers.

The main place these extremists found their motivations is online and so do most young men, and who better to know how vulnerable young white men are and how to manipulate them into radicalization than other young white men

The author of “The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help,” say it’s not the ideology behind these hate groups that appeals to young white men and boys, but they are attractive to being part of a “heroic struggle.” When participating in these online communities, there is a seductive feeling of being a part of a brotherhood and having their manhood validated. Participants in chat forums (such as 4chan, 8chan, and Discord) and Youtubers emasculate liberal or progressive white men, calling them “soy boys” or calling unaggressive right-wing white men “cucks.”

Schroeder, as a mother, sees that these groups prey upon the “natural awkwardness of adolescence.”  Many kids during this period of their life feel out of place, frustrated and misunderstood, and these extremist groups provide scapegoats for their discontent. It makes them feel better when they can blame someone for their frustration, either it be women, LGBTQ members, black people, or liberals.

For the rest of the article, Schroeder tries to provide ways parents can prevent this. She provides different tactics such as YouTube’s ads that play before or during every video. Or they are recommended a video and then lead down a path of finding 4chan or googling something that leads them to white nationalist outlets. It’s not about preventing young white men or boys from seeing this content because they will always, somehow, come across it. The best way to prevent young white men and boys from being radicalized is, as suggested by Dr. Katz, “To counteract the seductiveness of that appeal from the right, we need to offer them a better definition of strength: that true strength resides in respecting and lifting up others, not seeking to dominate them.”

For my paper, I want to talk about extremist groups and the language/tactics these groups use to radicalize and keep members into their group. This article demonstrates how small and close these efforts are to us, that even our sons or brothers or cousins or nephews could be indoctrinated and you may not even notice it happening. I remember when I was younger, I watched a few Sandy Hook conspiracy videos where it broke down how it was all staged and it was the democrats trying to get gun control policies passed. And I believed it was the same type of fun conspiracy theory where Britney Spears is actually a clone or Paul Rudd is an immortal vampire, but those videos were pushing alt-right messages, disrespecting the families who had their children murdered, and I hadn’t realized it. Luckily I didn’t truly believe it when I was twelve or whatever, but there are many kids that would have and did believe in those videos. And it’s not just young men, but my fifty year old uncle believes that all the mass shooting of the last ten years were staged which makes my Facebook and thanksgiving dinners at Grandma’s unbearable.

This article helped me find some small tactics and language used by these groups use to indoctrinate. It details how small and unconscious these changes are such as just saying the word, “triggered” or liking a Hitler meme on Instagram. I liked that Schroeder focused on the small, localized effects these groups have because usually a lot of the examples are shooters with grand plans, those who have been on the news, and not just a kid sitting on his phone quietly. It’s a nice contrast between the big examples and smaller examples—showing how a young man can just start watching a YouTube video and then in a few years he could be on the news for shooting up a mosque because that’s how all these mass shooters start. It’s important to understand that evolution and be cautious to what children are consuming, but also be aware of how they digest what they consume.

What Is A “Puertolack”?

LINK: http://roadkillgoldfish.com/my-experience-as-a-white-hispanic-prejudice-and-misunderstanding-come-from-all-sides/

The piece I wanted to bring to the table for my final essay is an article by Kimberly Helminski Keller titled “My Life As A White Hispanic: Prejudice Comes from All Sides.” This article was posted in August of 2013 on the website Roadkill Goldfish, which is a website where writers publish current events and informational articles that is managed by Keller herself. 

Keller is of Polish and Puerto Rican descent, and identifies as a Latina. Her father’s side of the family had been in Buffalo, New York, for generations. Her mother’s side of the family came to America to escape Puerto Rican poverty. The two of them met in New Jersey and fell in love. 

This piece delves into the struggles she goes through in her upbringing of feeling caught between two worlds: being Polish and European, and being Puerto Rican and Latina. She talks about what it’s like trying to maintain strong roots with her seemingly different cultures, growing up and being too light for her Hispanic family members and too dark or Hispanic for her Polish family members. She also talks about the beauty of the two cultures and how she loves that she can be a part of both of them and see them coexist (most times).

One of the segments of her article that I found the most intriguing was when she discussed the time when she was talking to a group of girls in college about having parents of different ethnicities and races, and she mentioned that she was white and Latina. The girls of the group shut her down immediately and told her that because she had a white name and was white passing, that she didn’t belong in the conversation because she obviously wasn’t Puerto Rican enough for them and their standards (which they indicated in the article: you must have dark skin, curly hair, speak Spanish, go to a barrio school, move your hips, be discriminated against).

I fell in love with this article right away because I also identify as Polish and Hispanic (my grandfather came here from Poland and my grandmother came here from Spain). To hear Keller talk about being white and Hispanic and the internal conflicts that come with feeling “too white” or “not Hispanic enough” or that you’re constantly trying to prove yourself to people was reassuring. I’ve barely read articles or met people who were white passing (or just white) who also identified as Hispanic or Latinx, so this was new and exciting for me to find in my search for materials for this essay. 

I want to focus my piece around Hispanic and Latinx identities, their complexities, the struggles that come from trying to identify (or refrain from identifying) in such a broad and diverse community, and how peoples’ Hispanic or Latinx identities have shaped their upbringing and the way they look at themselves and the world. I think this piece and various others that I chose help to highlight the many struggles people of Hispanic or Latinx origins go through and how each and every instance and anecdote is so different from the next, because of how diverse Hispanics and Latinx people are!

I think the other members of this class would find this piece interesting probably for the same reasons I did. It’s a fascinating article about a woman who is multi-cultural and identifies as Polish and Latina, a combination of identities that is rarely shown in the media. I hope that you guys enjoy the piece and get something out of it… and hopefully, understand where Keller is coming from and comprehend why this is still an issue today.

 

Acceptance and Change Through Contradiction

In “What Fullness Is”, Roxanne Gay touches on a number of topics including body positivity, romanticisation of surgery, and how obesity is viewed by society. However, what I found most interesting throughout this piece is how Gay uses contradictions to show her struggle with mental health.

This use of contradiction first notably appears when Gay talks about both loving and hating her body. Gay states that she is “sometimes fine” and “sometimes hates” her appearance, showing a fluidity on how she feels towards her body. What follows this is then an unequivocal disdain in how she views herself in pictures. “…there are pictures and videos of me everywhere. I hate these images, cringe when I see them, and then hate myself for cringing, for not seeing myself with kindness.” While previous paragraphs have Gay showing a conflicted yet well defined description of how she feels towards her body, this last quote completely contradicts her previous statements by making the blanket claim that she is never content in her appearance in these pictures. This suggests that Gay feels a deeper level of self loathing towards her appearance than a simple “sometimes hates” implies. Gay’s hatred for how she reacts to these images further implies the existence of this underlying loathing that Gay does not explicitly acknowledge.

Another contradictory moment comes right after Gay’s surgery. After being complemented by her surgeon for losing weight before the surgery, Gay “felt a swell of pride and then hated myself for that swell, for being so pedestrian as to take pleasure in the sort of validation that goes against so much of what I believe about how bodies should be allowed to be.” The conflicted emotions here show that Gay stills has this deep seeded hostility towards herself. Despite committing to losing weight and undergoing surgery, she is upset that she feels joy in her decision to lose weight.

What Gay shows is a disconnect she feels from herself. She is unable to understand how or why she feels certain ways, resulting in growing anger and frustration. Gay is upset that she feels unhappy in her appearance in pictures, and she is also upset that she feels pride in getting complemented on losing weight.

What Gay’s piece tells is less a story on weight loss and more a story on the slow gradual change of improving her mental health. The conflicted and contradicting feelings Gay feels towards herself show an internal conflict that weight loss cannot fix. However, Gay begins going to therapy wherein her therapist is “forcing me to face uncomfortable truths, forcing me to get comfortable with feeling my feelings — something I’ve avoided for most of my life.” It is after this point where Gay’s descriptions of herself begin to change. Rather than feeling conflicted towards herself, Gay feels nothing. “When I look in the mirror, I see no difference — none at all.” Although this is not a conclusion of complete self acceptance, it shows an improvement towards how she felt towards herself earlier in the piece. The change Gay has undergone is slow, but it is certainly noticeable.

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