Author: kershner.30

Text Review Assignment: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

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Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid is a story about Emira, a 25-year-old African American working as a nanny for a white family.  One night while at a supermarket with the baby she nannies, she is confronted and accused of kidnapping.  The scene is recorded by a well-meaning bystander, and the series of events that follow raise a lot of questions about race and the ingrained biases in our culture.

Throughout the story, Emira is struggling to find her identity and gain a sense of power over her life, both of which are complicated by the injustices that she is facing.  A big theme in the story is othering and the One.  Emira is othered in several senses.  When she is accused of kidnapping at the beginning, she is being accused because she is a black woman with a white child.  This is the kind of othering that we are used to, where someone is societally wrong in some form or another.  Another example of othering that comes up is fetishizing someone because they are different.  In the book we will see Emira fetishized by both her boss and a love interest because of her skin color.

Emira’s boss Alix, the mother of the baby she nannies, sees herself as the One throughout the book.  She thinks that she knows what is best for Emira.  Whether that has to do with her love life, her friends, or what she should do in her future, Alix is constantly trying to get involved.  She ends up being the cause of a lot of events in Emira’s life that she is not happy or comfortable with.  By observing Alix and Emira’s relationship, we can see a good example of privileged white women guilt, fetishizing the black friend, and a whole host of microaggressions committed throughout the story.

At times the book can be hard to read, since the characters are so unaware of the aggressions they are committing against Emira and the fools they are making of themselves.  Such a Fun Age is a really good read to get a better understanding of what racism can look like when it’s not overt and obvious, but still extremely impactful, and it reaffirms that there is still othering between races in America.

Yo, Is This Classist?

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Cami  0:11

Hi, everyone. This is Cami, cam. And Caitlin, welcome to yo is this classist? So for this week, we’re going to talk a little bit about injustice in the healthcare system. And we are going to be focusing on what ,is really like, the real disconnect in the health care system. I did a little bit of some research on this earlier in the year and we’re all going to come together and talk about it a little bit. But I personally am in a unique position when it comes to inequality in the health care system, as I do work in a hospital, and it’s a state run hospital on a med surg unit, which we get a lot of different things on a med surg unit. But something that I’ve started to realize that I think that a lot of the people who come to the unit are typically would be considered lower class or ,like, in poverty. we even get a lot of homeless people. So it’s definitely opened my eyes a little bit to the problems in the health care system. And some of the research that I’ve done definitely supports that there is a higher incidence of people coming to the hospital who are lower income. Um, so something that I really wanted to focus on was researching about health disparities versus in wealthy people versus people who are lower income. And I found that positive health outcomes are growing for those who are in the top 5% income wise, and they can expect to live longer as recently as the year 2001. But for those who are below the top 5%, the life expectancy has stayed the same.  So an example of this gap would be that there’s a 25 year age gap difference in life expectancy in an inner city area of New Orleans and then versus the suburban areas, or suburban neighborhoods in New Orleans as well. Which is ,just like, a shocking fact to hear that that can make such a big difference. And then I just think that like the main thing is that poverty restricts resources that are used to avoid adopt healthy behaviors, such as healthy food, exercise, regular doctor’s appointments, safe outside environment, and time not spent working. So this is a pretty big issue, I think across the United States. And something that we definitely need to try and find some ways to fix this problem. I don’t know if you guys have any thoughts that you guys can jump in and share?

Cameron Harvey  3:15

Yeah, it’s um, it’s pretty crazy that there’s such a gap between life expectancy like you said, I think it’s some of they don’t have the same access to medical source of at the same time, I feel like has a lot to do with the food, what they’re putting in their bodies, I feel like the better food you have access to and you’ll get a better nutritional balance and help your body out and make it last longer.

Cami  3:42

Yeah, definitely. Um, it just like healthy food cost a lot. And a lot of times in places that are lower income, they’re called food deserts, where you don’t even have a grocery store with healthy fresh foods within a reasonable distance to go to and that’s a really big issue as well and something that I think a good thing to maybe start implementing and these are obviously all like very big things to implement would be somehow getting fresh grocery stores or grocery stores with with fresh produce and healthy food options to inner city type of areas and lower income areas.

Cameron Harvey  4:22

Yeah, that’s a crazy turn out I’ve never heard the term food desert before but I do know you’re talking about I went to a small town north of Allegheny forest and PA and the only store they had there was $1 General and Dollar General does not carry any fresh produce like you said they did not carry. They don’t carry a lot of fresh food, a lot of its you know, boxed or frozen. Even their frozen selection. Isn’t that great. So a lot of it’s packed for preservatives and may not be the best for you.

Cami  4:53

Yeah, I’ve actually been to like areas that are that have the same sort of local stores. That’s all they have. And there, they literally don’t have anything that could really be considered healthy food to fuel your body.

Kaitlyn  5:18

so some of the things that I researched are kind of different from Cami. Um, but I find that the health insurance inequalities seem to decline after 2013. But after 2016, the Progress had stalled. And basically, the black and Hispanic adults have historically reported that the uninsured rates are much higher than white adults. And many of the rates dropped due to the improvements in the (United) states that expanded the Medicare, but many of the low income patients will forego care because of the cost and not knowing the cost in advance. And I think that is a really big point too. Because, like just to go and get a consultation can cost anywhere between like 200, to $500. Um, so I think that’s a really big thing that we also need to look at when considering this. But we also need to look at, you know, like, many of them can’t take off work to go and get work or get looked at by a doctor, they don’t have paid sick leave, or they can’t afford to take their kids to the doctor with them or something like that. Um, but then another good point that I really think can be brought up was the access to the healthy foods. You know, dollar stores are now starting to carry produce, it might not be the most high quality produce, but it is a step in the right direction, I think, what do you guys think about that? Yeah,

Cameron Harvey  7:05

that’s good to hear that the third starting to carry produce, because it’s something that I haven’t seen yet. But I hope that that’s because we’re common, because I know, there’s a lot of areas where the only stores $100 stores.

Cami  7:18

Yeah, and I really appreciate the bringing up the fact about just not being able to take time off of work to go. And, um, it’s something that I don’t think I really think about is how big of a privilege it is to be able to go to my primary health care physician. And sometimes I just, I hate going to the doctor, I think that it’s just a nuisance to go. But it really is something that’s a privilege, and other people really just can’t do that. And another thing too, is that there is a lot of times a lack of primary care physicians in lower income areas. And then if they don’t, if people don’t have a car to get there, they have to take a bus to get there. And if it’s far away, that just adds to the time and takes away from time that they feel if they shouldn’t be at work.

Kaitlyn  8:02

Yeah, absolutely. Another good point that I had done some research on is, you know, like, a lot of people have had poor experiences with some care providers. And that really has drove some of the low income patients to not trust them and not want to go and get care from any of the health care providers, whether it be pill pushers, or just a really bad experience with the doctor or something like that. So I thought that was really interesting as well.

Cami  8:39

Yeah, I feel like we could talk about we could do like a whole podcast episode on how people of different races are treated differently. And different incomes, they’re just not trusted. Like they their experiences not trusted by the doctors and they’re kind of written off is because they just don’t have money. And they’re just not did I think the doctors don’t think of them as being educated enough. Which is just really sad.

Cameron Harvey  9:03

Yeah. Something you brought up as well as at some consultations will cost you know, $500 and that’s for people without health insurance, people with health health insurance, or sometimes a copay. And it’s kind of odd that the people that have more money pay less. That’s just a really odd idea that you brought that you kind of hinted at that uh, and I think it just accelerates the the, the wealth gap between the two classes as well.

Cami  9:32

Yeah, I definitely agree with that.

Cameron Harvey  9:42

So something that can be brought up was or notice that the majority of people in our are a large majority of the people in her unit are of lower social class. I wanted to find a source to confirm this just to have some support. So I looked at a study done by back Riley, Taylor, Bergkamp and Khan in 2018. This was a study performed at a pediatric hospital, I believe in Cincinnati. And they found that children from communities with more poverty disproportionately bear the burden of, of being the population in hospital, they found clear relationships between the inpatient bed bed day rate and the child poverty across the certain acute and chronic conditions. So that study and also Camis experience confirmed that there are a large majority of people from poverty in the in our hospitals. And the issue with that is that a lot of people likely do not have health insurance. And that leaves them with the burden of paying medical bills. And because of the social position, they’re unable to pay the medical bills, and then just this, these two issues compound on each other and put them deeper and deeper into poverty. So the name of this podcast is yo is classism, I want to define classes as well. classism is defined by Oxford Dictionary as prejudice against or in favor of people belonging to a particular social class. I believe our form of healthcare is geared towards or caters towards people in the middle class and upper class who have health insurance. And that can pay for these bills. Like Caitlyn brought up earlier, something as simple as a consultation could be four or $500. But with somebody with health insurance is substantially less if nothing at all. Sometimes your health care just gives you free preventative health treatment. And so yeah, there are some programs for people that are below the poverty line like HCAP. But I believe that there’s an area area above the poverty line and below middle class that there’s almost like a “no man’s land” where you’re making enough money that you’re not in the poverty, but nowhere near enough to pay for medical bills and also pay for other things like rent or food. So yeah, there’s there’s an area there that between poverty and middle class, they are not eligible for assistance. So I argue, yeah, the the current health care system is classist in the way that it oppresses people with the lower class. Do either one of my co hosts want to talk anything?

Cami  12:36

Yeah, I just wanted to chime in because me and you have been talking before we started recording the podcast about just the level of income that dictates like if you’re in poverty or not, and the amount of income that you make, like so if you’re a one person family, the poverty guideline is making 12,800 or below. And if you’re a four person family, it’s 26,500 or below. And that, to me, just seems like such a low amount of money to be making. And even if we’re like doubling that, in certain cases, like for the four person family, I still feel like it’s, it would be a really, really tight balance to make sure that everyone is staying afloat if you consider close food, paying for school paying for childcare, gas, like all of this different stuff. And yeah, those people wouldn’t be considered to be below the poverty guidelines, so they wouldn’t be eligible for some of the health benefits that are made for people who are below the poverty guidelines. And I think that that’s a really big disconnect in the health care system is, like you said, there’s this no man’s land where they don’t really get help, but they could still really benefit from that help in need that help. Yeah.

Kaitlyn  13:46

Yeah, I also found it really interesting that there is that gap between, um, you know, what are they what are people supposed to do in between this gap? Um, I think that’s something that we really need to focus on. Improving throughout the years. Yeah.

Cami  14:51

All right, everybody. So just to close out, we, um we all agree that the healthcare system is a classic system in the United States and this is going to be a complicated long term problem that we need to fix as it is a systemic injustice and that requires a lot of different facets to be addressed and fixed but I think that us just talking about this and trying to educate other people on it is in the right direction. So yeah, thanks for tuning in and listening today. We hope that you guys take something away from this and maybe feel like you’ve learned and are want to share this with people that you know as well.

DSI Showcase

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Gentrification is a process where wealthier people move to an area bringing with them new housing, modern restaurants and businesses, and attracting many people around the area to visit.  It sounds appealing on the surface, but it actually has some very negative consequences, mainly for those who are already marginalized in the community.  This often means the displacement of black and Hispanic communities.  Relocating has a host a negative effects, including pushing people to worse off areas, which perpetuates the issue of poverty further, increased depression and emotional health, worsening academic performance in kids, reduced continuity of health care, and many others.  According to Urbandisplacement.org, zip code is a greater indicator of life expectancy than genetics.  This is a shocking and concerning finding, especially considering it disproportionately affects people of color.  This topic hits close home for me, who grew up in Cincinnati, where gentrification has been a major topic in the last 20 or so years, particularly in a neighborhood called Over the Rhine (OTR).  I would compare OTR the hipster sister of Columbus’ Short North.  People love to go there for delicious and unique dining experiences, an abundance of art galleries and festivals, and the beautiful Washington Park that lies right in the middle.  Before now though, you may have heard of this area as the location of the shooting of Timothy Thomas, a black man wanted for non-violent crimes 20 years ago that sparked some of the largest protests to that point.  For the 10 years following that, OTR was known as one of the most dangerous areas in the country (BBC.org, 2021).  As the area has been revitalized since then, many people have been pushed out of their homes and businesses as rent has risen astronomically, and crime has been cornered into outskirt areas that weren’t as dangerous before.  The gentrification has solved the problem for this particular couple of main streets but perpetuated it the farther you veer off the newly beaten path. Even worse is the fact that tax dollars from those that can’t afford the new housing is what has been used to fund the new area.  Growth from gentrification is often inequitable and exclusive.  It further ostracizes and “others” minorities.  This is a systemic injustice, since it is happening all over the country.  Modernizing and making neighborhoods safer is not a bad thing, but it becomes a bad thing when it continues the issue of segregation.  As a country we need to do better to learn how we can do these things equitably.

 

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56048812

https://www.urbandisplacement.org/about/what-are-gentrification-and-displacement/

 

Videos:

Here is a news video from OTR explaining some of the consequences of gentrification.  If you don’t watch the above video, this one is a real glimpse into what’s going on, so please watch this one!

I thought this video did a really good job of explaining the effects gentrification can have on the minorities that are displaced by it, as well as describing who is affected by it.

Context Presentation Week 3: The Story of My Body

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In The Story of My Body Judith Ortiz Cofer takes us through a timeline of events between her, her body, and society, and how those events subsequently affected the story she believed about herself.  Ortiz Cofer, like many of us, had an idea of what beauty was from early age, but she also had an idea of what it wasn’t.  Ortiz Cofer picked apart her height, the scars of her face, her stick skinny legs, thin frame, and small bones, the color of her skin, her fingernails, her lack athletic ability, her excess of academic ability, the ways boys didn’t seem to desire her like they did other girls, and her ethnicity, to name a few.  This seems like a lot to pick apart about yourself, but I think we all do something similar to this.  Maybe it’s so ingrained in many of us that we fail to recognize it when we are doing it.

Body image has been a big topic of discussion in recent years, but I believe that this has been for good reason.  Body Image is how you think about yourself, perceive yourself, and the attitude that you have about your physical appearance (NEDA.org, 2018).  A negative body image can increase risk for suffering from depression, eating disorders, and feelings of shame, anxiety, and self-consciousness.  A lot of this self-consciousness comes from the unrealistic body and beauty ideals that we, I think mostly women, are still held to and marketing is geared towards.

The perfect woman is slim, but only in all the right places, she wears makeup, but not too much as she shouldn’t want to be a cake face, and almost all makeup and skin care is marketed towards women.  She is smart, but not too smart because then she becomes a know it all and called cold in the workplace.  I’m not saying that standards don’t exist for men, but I am saying no one is talking about how great a mom bod is.

I think that this can relate to last week’s de Beauvoir reading and week one’s video from Adiche on power.  As women, we have accepted this idea that we must fit the societal norm that has been determined for us.  As a whole we are the other, and we allow it to dictate how we feel about ourselves, which we can see Judith Ortiz Cofer doing throughout the stages of her life.  Adiche’s definition of power, “the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person” (TED, 2009) fits this narrative too.  We are born unquestioning the story that these standards are how normal women behave.

A question I often ask myself is will I still care about being the skinniest, most toned person I can be when I am in my 50s?  60s?  70s?  Will I still force myself to do intense workouts I don’t like and eat salads I barely enjoy or smoothies with gross health ingredients?  Will I be able to enjoy a decadent meal without any guilt at all?  Will I love the scars and marks that I acquire through my life experiences?  Will I wear what I want, and not decide it was cute based on the compliments I get?  I hope so.  I think it’s important that we ask ourselves what is holding us back, and if we could imagine a life without that.

I also want to address that I did focus on the double standards and expectations that are put on women, and that is because I do believe that our history has made the world a more hostile and judgmental place towards women.  I don’t think that this means that anyone else can’t experience the same feelings, and I encourage everyone to think about the narratives that they are conforming to because society tells us we should.

 

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex / Simone De Beauvoir. Vintage Books, 1974.

“Body Image & Eating Disorders.” National Eating Disorders Association, 22 Feb. 2018, www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/body-image-eating-disorders.

Cofer, Judith Ortiz. The Latin DELI: Prose and Poetry. University of Georgia Press, 1993.

“TEDTalks: Chimamanda Adichie–the Danger of a Single Story.” TED, 2009.