Author: smith.14506

Ahmaud Arbery: Text Review Assignment

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Injustices such as racial, gender, class, and nationalities are all examples of topics discussed and visited throughout this class. With each of these, we have dug deeper into the meanings behind them, and the effects that they have on society as a whole. However, I came across a documentary that stood out to me when it involved many of these same issues in a single, life-changing, and heart-shattering story. ABC 20/20 is a tv show that broadcasts nonfictional documentaries of many kinds, news stories occurring within the world, etc. The story that grabbed so much of my attention was that titled, “Nowhere to Run: The Ahmaud Arbery Story.”

This story takes place in a little town in Georgia by the name of Brunswick. It was a Sunday afternoon when Ahmaud Arbery, a younger African American male, decided to go for a run in the neighborhood. At the time, his mother didn’t know this, but Ahmaud ventured out of his own neighborhood, and into the other across U.S. highway 17. The two neighborhoods were very divided in many ways. On Ahmaud’s side, the houses were more run-down (in comparison to the other side), lack thereof better educational opportunities, and more African American current and accepting residence. While the other half of the

This picture is representing Brunswick, the town Ahmaud resided in. As well as the chart showing sex, race, and ethnicity statistics within the county, too.

highway housed more newly built and renovated homes, ‘prim and proper’ type of citizens, better educational hopes, and a whiter communal neighborhood that was not very accepting of those within the black community. In understanding the socioeconomic locations of these two close, but very divided, citizens, worlds of completely different lives were lived.

The heartbreaking racial discriminatory roles that three of the citizens opposite of Ahmaud’s place of residency took next was beyond inhumane. It was claimed by two of the individuals driving within the same truck, that they observed a black man running in their neighborhood which drove them to assume he was running from something. That something was subconsciously expressed from the two man as being involved in some type of criminal activity, etc. This drove the men to stalking Ahmaud while he ran in front of their vehicle. As Ahmaud was chased throughout the neighborhood from street to street, a neighbor who became the third party involved, joined in the chase in his own vehicle. Ahmaud was eventually trapped with no getaway in sight and was shot in the middle of the street by the two first party individuals.

Through the persistence and preservation from Ahmaud’s family, friends, and world-wide supporters, justice was served to all three individuals that participated and created such a racially injustice crime. This story brings to light how racial divide is still occurring within the United States today. Nonetheless, deeper-rooted divides also play a crucial role in understanding how flawed cities are within this country and how severe it is, regardless of one’s race, gender, class, ethnicity, and residency.

Source: 

Roberts, Deborah. “Nowhere to Run: The Ahmaud Arbery Story.” ABC 20/20, season 44, episode 8, ABC, 26 Nov. 2021.

“Yo… Is This Fair?” Advice Column

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Introduction to Gender Discrimination Among STEM Careers

It has been shown that women within the science, technology, engineering and math fields have been treated unfairly regarding gender discrimination, wage gaps in comparison to that of male salaries, and reported sexual harassment by that of females. In a study that was conducted by Pew Research Center, it was found that 50% of women (that participated in the study) reported being discriminated for their gender within the workplace (Funk & Parker, 2020) In fact, women also reportedly admitted to experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace far more than men did within the study results of 2017. Education in regards to STEM as started earlier for men and women, the first introduction can happen when the students are in high school. Often there is still a gap, more boys are likely to be involved than girls, but there has been a decrease over the years. The education continues on when arriving at universities, but this is where the gap widens, only around 20% of women will earn their bachelor’s degree, and the percentage continues to decrease when going on to higher levels of education including their masters and when they plan to actually enter the work field (Hill, Corbett and St. Rose, 2010). There has been improvement for this at the university level, the STEM program has been encouraged to add in broader courses to help gain the recruitment of the female students and adding in more female facilities (Hill, Corbett and St. Rose, 2010). The purpose of the facilities is to provide these women a more safe working/learning environment in hopes that it will drive them to continue on within their STEM education and not make them feel uncomfortable due to the environment being so men dominated (Hill, Corbett and St. Rose, 2010). The gap continues to be there due to the implicit bias which is making judgement and assumptions based on the stereotypes that you have heard/learned and it is something that is not done on purpose, simply the first thought that comes to mind. For this field, that is very much present, often when you hear the terms “science, math, technology, or engineering” you believe that it is a man who is in that field/earning that degree, why (Hill, Corbett and St. Rose, 2010)? There has been such a strong stereotype placed on STEM over the years, that it is very difficult to break, which could be one of the reasons that there is still such a gap between men and women within the program. There was a study held a Harvard University that was a set of questions to test implicit bias over this concept, most of the results came back to the stereotypes of women not being component for a “masculine” job and that they are only seen to be fit for the position if they have had clear success (Hill, Corbett and St. Rose, 2010). Gender discrimination among the women within the STEM field seems to be a work in progress, based on the many and many of years that discrimination against women in a more “masculine field” has always been an issue. One can not say if the discrimination will begin to vanish for the women, but continuing education of others within and not in the field about equal rights is key to help put a stop to it. In order to continue the fight for their well-deserved equal rights for the women they must continue their education within this field and prove that gender should not have any role in deciding what you can be educated in and what your career is to be.  

 

 

 

 

 

Why care about this topic? 

Though these subjects have been brought to light within the last few recent years, the problems of these incidents still occur today. It is very important to identify such a growing problem within many career fields accompanied by STEM studies. I thought a great way to get first-hand experience was to interview a good friend of mine, by the name of Courtney, who is currently in her last year of civil engineering. She completed two co-ops last year; one in Columbus and the other in Cincinnati. I have composed three questions for her to answer during our interview.

 

Injustices within Engineering: Interview Questions

Question #1: What effects of injustices (say gender injustices) have you observed within the field of engineering thus far into your career? With these effects, how has your perception of the field changed in your opinion? 

Transcribed Response: I have faced multiple injustices within my career, whether it be in school or in the workplace. Within school, it was disheartening to feel the difference between men and women, whereas it was shocking for a young female to take the role of an engineer. Not only has it affected my social life but it has also affected the opportunities given from my University. We sat at nearly a one to eight ratio of women to men and only male professors. I was talked poorly to and was treated as less of an individual because I was a woman. In most cases, this has pushed me to work harder and be the best engineer possible. I have made myself grow in ways that will help me to be successful without my gender being involved, like my social skills, software skills and voicing my importance in this study, for myself and for those that cannot speak up for themselves. Although it can be discouraging at times, I believe it is very important to break this stigma of engineers and continue to support women who are successful as the minority.

Question #2: Within your experiences (internships, co-ops, etc.), has the gender wage gap ever been mentioned? If so, please explain how this topic was brought up and the ways in which it made you feel. 

Transcribed Response: Gender wage gap has never been an issue within my company – all men and women at the same level were receiving the same pay and benefits. Although I do know it is prevalent in some places. I believe it is very unfair and you should be getting paid for the time, effort and your ability to do your job, not paid based on your gender. In my company I have experienced people telling me I will be more successful than other men in the company or I will be able to move up faster just because I am a woman. This is very disheartening because I don’t think your gender affects the way you work and I would never want to be promoted into a position out of pity or for the company’s benefit (minority grants, extra money, or minority bragging rights for the company).

Question #3: Do you feel as if there is a mistreatment of genders within your field of study?

Transcribed Response: I do think there is mistreatment in the engineering field, I believe men tend to sexualize us. Nearly 50% of women that are engineers have experienced sexual harassment in either their higher education or in the workplace. Unfortunately I became one of the 50% when I was only twenty years old, working my internship. It can be something that is very hard to speak up about, but if you don’t speak up it will continue to happen to you or other females. Thankfully my company helped me through this traumatic experience, the man was fired after a long investigation with HR but I was not the only victim from this man, five females before me have now came forward with sexual harassment allegations against him that were all deemed to be true. I was offered therapy and paid leave, but in the end that experience will affect me for the rest of my career. We need to make gender dominant careers more inclusive to the minorities. Diversity is what completes everything because in the end if everyone was the exact same, nothing would get accomplished.

Courtney Brown

The University of Toledo

Civil Engineering/Construction Management

 

Here’s What You May Not Know about the Ads You’ve been Watching Everyday! 

It’s time we say out with the old and in with the new to our favorite Super Bowl commercials, billboard advertisements, and social media promotions! Though we’ve all seen our fair share of these ads, what we may notice is the objectification that permeates deep within these pass along flyers. In simple terminology, objectification can be described as the act of personifying animate things into mere objects. Now at this point you must be thinking, “what’s so bad about objectification?” Like most things, objectification can manifest into harmful forms. This brings us to today’s focus: sexual objectification in the media. Specifically, many sources and outlets have taken it upon themselves to manipulate female depiction in order to attract audiences. As we continue, we’ll explore how different advertisements have acted on sexual objectification.

 

Sex Appeal – The New Way to Sell Underwear?

Here is just one of the many recent examples of sexual objectification in the media. Though Calvin Klein’s goal is to sell beer to prospective customers, they portray women in revealing clothes and a submissive position in order to garner attention. At first glance, this image may seem as anything but harmful. However, closer analysis tells us that the characteristics this woman exhibits builds on the existing stereotypes held against females from the early ages. These images further instill these gender stigmas, especially with younger audiences.

Calvin Klein, an world-renowned retail brand, depicts a man and women 

positioned in a sexual fashion with the purpose of advertising clothes to viewers. 

 

What’s the Deal with Sexual Objectification Anyways?

Like I mentioned before, sexual objectification is nothing new. In fact, women, in particular, have faced acts of dehumanization and degradation for centuries. Tracing back to the beginnings, we can see instances of this injustice in the gender roles assigned to women. Reflecting back on America’s colonial times, National Geographic details that the traditional family consisted of a husband who controlled the household’s day to day functions and a wife that focused on tending the children, among other miscellaneous chores like cleaning or cooking (National Geographic Society, 2020). Systems such as the government haven’t made it any easier on females to receive equal treatment when compared to their male counterparts. To exemplify, women didn’t earn the right to vote until the 19th Amendment in the early 1900s, which further alienated them from aligning with the

majority. Moreover, their ability to own property wasn’t recognized till the mid 1800s with the passage of The Married Women’s Property Act. Even then, they still were required to depend on their husbands. Unfortunately, we see the effects that these systems have had on how women are viewed in today’s society through these promotions.

 

 

What Now? 

Sometimes people just suck. When it comes to systemic injustices like the sexual objectification in the media, blame can only be placed on society. Letting problems like this run rampant only strengthens the stigmas surrounding women. It’s time we put a stop to this by acknowledging how destructive media platforms can be, whether it’s Calvin Klein’s hypersexualized image or anything else. Though Hannah Montana says, “Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has those days,” we cannot continue to dismiss our mistakes like they’re of no weight. Instead, let’s make a promise to each other that we’ll speak up about whatever systemic injustice we come across. After all, such a small civic duty can progress into a bigger, better, and brighter future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited: 

Funk, Cary, and Kim Parker. “Women and Men in STEM Often at Odds Over Workplace Equity.” Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, Pew Research Center, 21 Aug. 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/01/09/women-and-men-in-stem-often-at-odds-over-workplace-equity/.  

Hill, C., Corbett, C., & St. Rose, A. (2010). Why so few research – AAUW. Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://www.aauw.org/app/uploads/2020/03/why-so-few-research.pdf. 

National Geographic Society. (2020, February 19). Women and children in Colonial America. National Geographic Society. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/women-and-children-colonial-america/.

 

Group Members: 

Anushka Nath (nath.55)

Sahara Voss (voss.123) 

Maddison Smith (smith.14506)

Diary of Systemic Injustice Showcase: Mexican and Latino Racial Discrimination in the United States

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Racial disparities within the United States occurs to many different cultural citizens. For example, Blacks, Asian-Americans, Latinos, Mexicans, etc. are groups that have been and continue to be affected by discrimination of many kinds. Specifically, within that group, Mexicans are highly affected and categorized within a specific “working, second-class” stereotype (Ortiz, Vilma, Edwards, 2012). Overtime with the steady immigration of Mexicans within the United States, these citizens face many challenges. For example, with generations continuing and flourishing within the United Stated, third, fourth, and even fifth generations are feeling the blunt of the discrimination and stereotypic grouping. Within educational and economic opportunities these affects them in a disadvantageous style (Ortiz, Vilma, Edwards, 2012).

As for generations being affected, it is important to consider the affects young children experience mentally, too. The generation referred to as the 1.5 generation, which refers to the children from the immigrant (first-generation born within American territory) under the age of thirteen, are those most likely to be affected by this. Mental disorders, mood, and impulse control, as well as substance abuse were the most frequent found by researchers (Madan, 2021). As with the second and third generation, rates in health sufferings rise regarding depression, anxiety, or personality disorders. This reasoning for the rise of these mental illnesses have been shown to be linked directly to the U.S.’s culture (Madan, 2021). This type of example goes to exemplify the significance that racial discrimination has on a specific group of people, the Mexican immigrant culture here within the United States.

(Picture: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/understanding-psychiatric-implications-of-child-immigration).

Within today’s news including Mexican and Latino immigrants, a big discussion is occurring within Texas. As the flood of immigrants has been occurring for some time now, another issue has risen to the surface in relation to unfair gerrymandering for Mexican immigrants in the Lone Star State. According to the 2020 Census, Texas has received a gain of four million new residents, hence the change for redistricting. However, the redistricting has failed to incorporate new minority-rich districts that Hispanic civil rights groups say should be added due to so many new residents (Sanchez, 2021). Due to this discrimination, a lawsuit was filed on October 18th, 2021. This event is a significant example of how the United States has very much prejudice against Mexican and Latino citizens, with its continuation today.

(Picture: https://www.borderreport.com/politics/proposed-texas-redistricting-maps-unfair-to-minorities-promote-racial-discrimination-lawsuit-alleges/)

 

Citations:

Madan, Pavan. “Understanding Psychiatric Implications of Child Immigration.” Psychiatric Times, 12 Oct. 2021, https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/understanding-psychiatric-implications-of-child-immigration.

Ortiz, Vilma, and Edward Telles. “Racial Identity and Racial Treatment of Mexican Americans.” Race and Social Problems, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 4 Apr. 2012, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3846170/.

Sanchez, Sandra. “Proposed Texas Redistricting Maps ‘Unfair’ to Minorities, Promote ‘Racial Discrimination,’ Lawsuit Alleges.” BorderReport, BorderReport, 19 Oct. 2021, https://www.borderreport.com/politics/proposed-texas-redistricting-maps-unfair-to-minorities-promote-racial-discrimination-lawsuit-alleges/.

Week 3- Context Presentation: “Jameson’s Rhetoric of Otherness and the ‘National Allegory’

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Within Jameson’s text, “Rhetoric of Otherness and the ‘National Allegory,'” a persistent theme is conveyed from previous readings. Last week’s reading by Hagel mentioned that of the Master and Slave, regarding self-consciousness, awareness, and power. In the reading from Simone de Beauvoir, the idea of “Other” and “One” was the main subject throughout. Both readings portrayed a negative and less-demeaning connotation to the other “group.” This remains consistent within this week’s reading by the author Aijaz Ahmad. Groups referred to as the First, Second, and Third World seem to be the essence of the topic.

Jameson refers to the First World as being a part of the capitalistic group, while the Second World is classified as socialists (Ahmad, 1987). The problem that is sought to be the main argument, is the distinction of what the Third World qualifies as, and the rules in determining what makes a Third World a Third World. This creates great anger within the writer and flows from significant stamps placed on those in all categories mentioned. Because of this description, Aijaz is in opposition to Jameson and his writing by the lack of inclusion he decides to categorize the world and its literature in.

Later within the text on page 79, it states, “, if the motivating force of history here is neither class formation and class struggle nor the multiplicities of intersecting conflicts based upon class, gender, nation, race, region, and so on,” (Ahmad, 1987). The thesis of discriminating connotations occurs here with the mention of many less-demeaning labels. Going along with the same topic, Jameson believed that unity would emerge from that of a homologous world of liberals and humanistic universalisms. This is a puzzling thought given that Jameson was a Marxist. A Marxist can be understood by the practicing and wishing of overturning the practice of capitalism.

Following this section of the reading, the Third World is exposed to us, as the reader, that this world entails that of an “experience” in relation to that of the other two worlds. Meaning that a narrative, created by those living within the Third World, can be categorized within the “Third World Literature,” (Ahmad, 1987).  This references to the ‘national allegory’ and its texts that may be incorporated within it.

Citation: 

Ahmad, Aijaz. Jameson’s Rhetoric of Otherness and the ‘National Allegory’. 1987, osu.instructure.com/courses/106813/files/33418701/download?wrap=1.