To be completely honest, I walked into this class with no knowledge at all in the field of equality and human rights, which I guess was also what brought me here in the first place. Being a science major, discussions of gender and stereotypes seemed so far away from my dwelling amongst microscopes, specimens, and Erlenmeyer flasks. It was outside of my comfort zone and I felt clueless on the subject, which made it all the more unappealing. However, I quickly came to realize that I was wrong. Gender expectations were not so far away as I had originally perceived and had all the more effect on my life, precisely because I was a female and in the STEM field. 

I really enjoyed our class discussions and the works we read that provided an insight into the injustice many faced in history and continue to face in modern times. Time seemed to fly during those discussions and before I knew it, class was already over. My favorite read by far was definitely “Women, Race, & Class” by Angela Davis because it really connected with me on a personal level. My entire life, I’ve been told by others what I needed to do as a female, and what I heard the most was being able to perform domestic duties so that someone would be willing to take me as their wife one day. Having an older brother with the same outdated thinking really didn’t help the situation. When you are told something continuously over and over again by everyone around you, even if you try to fight back, eventually you’ll still be overwhelmed by the voices. So I’m really thankful for this class, not only for the valuable knowledge that I gained but also for the voices that I heard. For knowing that I’m not the crazy one for fighting back. For knowing that I’m not wrong.

In terms of public writing and blog posts, this was my first “official” experience. I wrote blog posts for classes in the past but they were usually limited to 150 words, meaning it ended before we even started to delve into our main argument. They were also written and posted on Blackboard so it didn’t feel like a real blog, just another assignment. Writing blogs in this class was a wonderful experience; we got enough time to explore the topics we wanted to expand on, enough word count to actually write something, and freedom to choose our own prompts. I was beyond excited. I knew from my previous experiences of writing Blackboard posts that I was going to love it because blog posts not only give me the opportunity to express my opinions on a specific topic but also provide a safe space for sharing ideas and peer-reviewing. As for the topic of my post, I chose to write about Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” and Davis’s “Women, Race & Class”. Since all the voices I’ve heard in my life so far were along the lines of housework, I really wanted to write my own thoughts on the subject, even if it was just a small excerpt, as a way to fight back.

Honestly, I was dreading the final project, mostly because I really dislike public speaking. Despite my dread, what’s to come will eventually come so there’s no use stressing over it, until maybe the last ten minutes before it actually comes. My group quickly came to the conclusion that we wanted to do gender stereotypes, but it was such a large category that we had to narrow it down to gender stereotypes in professions of our choice. My pick was childcare workers because every time I go to a place involving child care, the staff there were mostly, if not all, women. And on a personal note, I was just really curious about the origins of daycare systems, like how did everything transition from mothers caring for their children to, well, other women taking care of children of other women. Wow, looking at it now and actually writing it out just makes it sound all the more messed up, which it is! Point is, the men seem pretty content with being out of the picture and that’s not how things should work. So I embarked on the journey of researching to find out exactly why women are always associated with the caregiver role. I had assumed that they would at least have a valid excuse along the lines of women being better caregivers and are backed up by science and experiments. Not quite. From what I found, the gender of childcare workers doesn’t really matter, which is good to know. On a side note, my group members were all really amazing and super knowledgeable, to the point where I was scared that I was gonna mess up and ruin everything. But, overall, I’m really happy with the way our presentation turned out.

Lastly, I’m really glad that I ended up registering for this class. It was a destresser for me amongst my other heavy-loaded courses with quizzes and homework every other day of the week. The class was so much fun and super empowering, and I no longer feel as clueless as I came in feeling. Thank you for the wonderful semester!

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