Gendered Experience Analysis

Many of advantages of the majority groups are unconscious or unearned. Based on society and how the individual grew up, they may have more opportunities in school, their professional life, or just everyday life. The advantaged individual may not be actively oppressing the minority, but they could be facilitating the improvement of the advantaged group (Goodman, 2015). I can see advantage in my own life because I know I am very fortunate to have the life that I have. I have parents with great careers and furthered education. This has allowed me to attend a respected college to better my future. I must be aware that this is not available to all others, so I can appreciate what I have and help the others that are not advantaged as I am. In my future career, I can help facilitate opportunities for disadvantaged individuals, so they can have opportunities and the cycle may be

Privileges are things that a person receives that gives them an advantage over most people (Merriam-Webster). These are benefits that only certain people receive for being in a certain group or discourse. Peggy McIntosh, director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, wrote “White Privilege and Male Privilege” and states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privileges, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (605). She argues that whites and males receive certain privileges, yet they do not even notice them. This shows that different races and women are still put at a disadvantage, but the people who receive the benefits are blind to the problem. Many people will argue that she is correct

White (male) privilege comprises of having more access to resources, having normative assumptions of self-worth, and escaping consequences like being discriminated against just on the basis of one’s race (Neville, Spanierman, & Lewis, 2012). There are seven core components of White (male) privilege (Neville, Spanierman, & Lewis, 2012). The first core component is that While (male) privilege differentially benefits Whites on the basis of social group membership, including class, gender, and sexual orientation. Further, differentially benefits Whites, means that Whites benefits vary based on their social membership group. An example

Peggy McIntosh concludes white privilege is, “an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was meant to remain oblivious.” The writer came to this conclusion when observing male privilege initially in America. McIntosh discusses the lack of acknowledgement of men when it came to addressing their own advantages over women even if they could admit the position of disadvantage of women. This shed light on how white privilege is curtailed; In the United States, foundations of our society are interlaced with institutionalized privilege creates unethical levels of dominance; dominance of males over females, whites over people of color,

As of 9/11, some of the world now has a gigantic fear, and it has a name; islamophobia. “On November 16, 2015, an Uber driver from North Carolina was threatened and attacked by a passenger” (Buncombe). “The driver’s name was Samson Woldemichael. Woldemichael was attacked by a passenger because the passenger thought he was Muslim. Woldemichael came from Ethiopia to the U.S. about eight years ago” (Buncombe). “He asked me if I was a Muslim, and I said I was not a Muslim,” said Mr Woldemichael. I was driving and he hit me while I was driving” (Buncombe). “He even said he was Christian” (Coleen). “Woldemichael picked up a passenger early morning of November 16, 2016 from a bar in North Carolina. The passenger then asked the driver

By associating the potential existence of racism with consumption, a form of rationalization is that we now live in society that does not recognize and reward race, but merit. In turn, whites do not inherently realize the privileges that they are born with. Peggy McIntosh actually used the terms unearned entitlement and unearned advantage to describe disproportionate lead that whites have over blacks (McIntosh, 103). The fact of the matter is that most white people are in denial that they have been born with unearned entitlements that minorities do not have and according to McIntosh this is because they have been taught not to recognize it. As much as white people have been taught not to recognize that they have been given white privilege, blacks and minorities recognize that they do. Although many believe that the playing field is now level, is apparent that there is an uphill struggle for people of color. But how should one first recognize this struggle?

Ever since the 9/11 attacks, racism and islamophobia has increased. According to the Huffington Post, “Prior to 9/11, the FBI recorded 28 hate crimes against Muslims. The following year, it increased to 481.” Because of 9/11, Muslims all around the world are being looked upon with caution. Whenever a new act of terrorism happens, Muslims are always the first to be blamed. They get beaten up and threatened by people trying to make them feel like lesser beings. It’s not always been this way. Even though they have always been regarded with suspicion, it had not come to everybody's attention until 9/11. Due to terrorism, airport security has become more secure, with the occasional interest and discrimination towards Muslims.

As Americans, it’s easy for us to look at what happened in Germany and tell ourselves that it would never fly here and now. Americans also like to forget about slavery and Japanese internment camps, so it 's not unprecedented that we are ignoring what we’re doing to Muslims now. Post 9/11, America started a war against Muslims for the actions of a few radical people. Since then, as previously stated, hate crime rates against Muslims are five times as high as they were pre-9/11. In a similarly frightening pattern, studies have found that hate crime rates go up after other radical Muslim attacks, like those seen in Paris or the San Bernardino (NBCNews.com). Using these attacks to justify islamophobia is unfortunately similar to the Germans using propaganda to spread the hate of Jewish people by playing off stereotypes. Every attack is another drop in the bucket of “Muslims are violent” while innocent people suffer for it. To people against Islam, every hijab is a cage, every mosque a tomb, and every attack a point proven.

Throughout my elementary school years, I went to an all-Muslim school. Most of my friends and teachers were Muslims, so my transition into a traditional public middle school felt overwhelming. I was not prepared for the following years of criticism I would endure simply because of my background. In a post-9/11 world, I grew up having to accept my religion publically being viewed as a symbol for hate, yet I was raised knowing that my religion was synonymous with peace and love. Throughout my pre-teen and early teenage years, I found out that many people believed that Muslims were not American or that Muslims could not have an American identity. It is for that reason I felt that it was my duty as a Muslim-American to open up the conversation

Impact of gender on mine and my family’s lives and how it may influence my future

In recent times, numerous mentions of Islam are gracing the internet and social media, but this isn’t necessarily a good thing. With the terrorist attacks in Paris a few weeks ago, and in New York on September 11, 2001, Muslims, and anyone who look even remotely Middle Eastern, were increasingly discriminated against because of a few bad apples. It can be easily understood that a few people do not represent the ideals of a whole culture, yet the fear and anger of occidentals are taken out on those who are only affiliated with said few people through religion, those who are mere human beings going through the same things anyone else do. This is called Islamophobia, which is defined by Erik Bleich as “indiscriminate negative attitudes or emotions

As a white male living in the United States of America, one could say that I am privileged. However, whether or not I live a privileged life is a matter of comparison. There are certainly people who are more privileged, and absolutely people who are less. It is not likely that one will find the definition of a privileged life in a dictionary. Simply put, it is too hard to fit such a broad meaning into the three or so lines of an average definition. There are many different interpretations of the meaning, and this essay’s purpose is to explain the differences between them.

People often mix up the terms sex and gender. However, there are distinctive differences between them: sex is biological, meaning that one is born with. In contrast to this, gender is a role that individuals perform everyday; ones gender reflects how they feel on the inside, and what they believe to be. The challenging part about this, is that the

Early on in my life, I distinguished the difference between gender which was, with my limited knowledge only men and woman, due to the difference in the way we were treated. I became familiar with the stereotypes that society flung on us—women cook and clean and men do all the labour. It was a traditional way of thinking that I grew up with and that didn’t change until I was much older, probably around the age of 13 or 14. My cousin, a brilliantly loud and passionate woman (even at 15 years of age) introduced the term feminism to me and I truly thought she was crazy and man-hating, just like all the stereotypes led me to believe. I began to learn, though. As time passed, I started absorbing all sorts of new information and the most important thing was that I educated myself. I looked at gender again but from a different angle. I questioned society, I questioned everything. Feminism opened a door to a realm that I had only begun to explore at the time. I have both a younger brother and sister and I noticed all the pressure around them to be certain ways, especially my brother because growing up with two older sisters taught him to be gentle and soft spoken, unlike what a “real man” ought to be when he grows up. I realized how toxic masculinity could be and I wanted to be a good example to my siblings and taught myself more on the subject. I taught myself the ways that gender was harmful, including the notion that we all had to fit a binary.

The first time I was exposed to the topics of sex and gender was in my Women’s Studies 201 class. Ever since I classify myself as a feminist and have always wanted to learn more about gender identities and feminism and use that knowledge in the future to help create change. When I signed up for this class, I knew it was going to be interesting and a class that would help me think out of the box. Little did I know that I was going to have to write a research paper, which I enjoyed every minute of and from which I learnt so much. This paper is going to discuss the various things I learnt in this class including different gender identities, gender roles, and finally societal views on sex and gender.