This year has flown by and it is already October. That means in less than a month America will be voting for our next President. When thinking of what to write about I received an email from voter.org. This site is a way to assist citizens on how to vote and updates regarding voting day. This made me begin to think about how crazy it is that everyone who votes in the U.S. manages to do it on the same day that is with the expectation of absentee ballots and a few other things. I began thinking about how lucky I am to be able to cast my vote and have it count. It has been over 50 years since voter laws have changed allowing people of color to vote. This is a great step in the right direction for America. 

The next thing I began to think about is the people who are still left out on voting day. After doing a little research I discovered that only 20% of low income families in the United States vote. I always have seen voting to be fairly easy. You go to your local voting station, wait in line, cast your vote and get on with your day. This is not as easy for people with little money. They may struggle with transportation to the polls. One reason many low income families may not vote is because the date is always during the week on a work day. Many families cannot afford to take off of work to go to the polls. People with higher income jobs may not have as much of an issue leaving work for a couple of hours. Also, when voting you are required to show a form of I.D. For low income families some members of the family may not have an I.D. to provide. These also cost money to obtain and they are more than likely not going to get an I.D. just to cast their vote. Some families may not have access to a computer to get emails such as the one I received today. There are many other struggles that people from middle or higher class families may not realize.

Voting should be equally accessible to anyone in the U.S. who wants to cast their vote. It is unfair that money is able to cause a hindrance for the voting of our next President. Although this is not done on purpose it is still unfair and creates a gap in the social structure. 

The unequal voting rights bring me back to the letters from the Birmingham Jail. Though the laws are in place stating that there is equal opportunity for all that is not true in many cases. Whether it be the fault of the law or the misinterpreted use of the law the issue still stands. One point that Martin Luther King Jr. makes during his letters is that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. In the letters he also pointed out that other countries are moving forward very rapidly with political independence issues and America is almost at a stand still. This too can be compared to our efforts to make the voting opportunity equal in America amongst the different social classes. It is a structural issue that is seeing an extremely slow solution come to the surface. 

Voting and Income

But there is still a voting problem in the United States:Many people who live in poverty just aren’t going to the polls. (n.d.). Why poor people still aren’t voting. Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https://money.cnn.com/2015/08/05/news/economy/poor-people-voting-rights/index.html

Katlynn Fuller

COMPSTD 1100

November 6, 2020

Context Research Presentation

Regarding the Pain of Others

Hello, my name is Katlynn Fuller (She/Her), and I have the pleasure of discussing the work of Susan Sontag. This text is titled Regarding the Pain of Others and was published in 2003. Precisely I will be analyzing a women’s role in war and how it has evolved over time to shape the women we have today. The theme One vs the Other can be seen throughout this book and as we look into women in the history of war. 

At the beginning of the book Regarding the Pain of Others some ideas from the book Three Guineas are expressed. It must be noted that Three Guineas was published in 1938 by a woman author named Virginia Woolf. The ideas and theologies in 1938 were much different than today regarding the role of women in war and society. There was a deep divide between housewives and men of war. This book goes to say that “Men make war. Men (most men) like war.” Then the book goes on to say that “women (most women) do not feel or enjoy.” This is referring to war once again. There are many examples throughout the beginning of the book that point at the idea that men fight in the wars and women maintain the household. The book also quotes Virginia Woolf again by stating an excerpt from her book saying “war is a man’s game” and that “the killing machine has a gender, and it is male.” I would like to analyze how the act of women being involved in war and other multi gender roles has changed over the course of time. A timeline provided by the Task & Purpose website shows the evolution of women in war over time. There were a few key events that stuck out to me on this timeline. Dating back to 1775 women served in military camps as cooks, laundresses and nurses. Over the course of the century women became more heavily involved. In 1948 it is noted that congress passed an act allowing women to become permanent members of the military. Prior to this act women only served in times of active war. Finally, in 2016 a woman became the first female soldier to join the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment.

Without the involvement of women in war our understanding of it may be entirely different. If women were not involved in photographs would they be depicted the same? Would there still be as strong of an emotional connection to war if women were not able to shine their light during war? Would women truly understand what their husbands go through when they go off to war? There is a tremendous amount of talk about photography in war and the connection that society can create between our emotions and war from the ability of viewing images of war and all of their wrath. Without a woman at home to care for the family there would be no family to continue. I feel as if it is so important to focus on the pain of women in war and women who stay home while their husbands fight the battle. The pain of the women who stay home is just as great as the men or women who fight in the physical war. This story takes a unique look at photography as it pertains to war and the ways in which it can help us understand the struggles and pain men and women go through without physically being there.

Purpose, Task &. “TIMELINE: A History Of Women In The US Military.” Task & Purpose, 8 Mar. 2017, taskandpurpose.com/history/timeline-history-women-us-military. 

Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. Penguin Books, 2019.

Katlynn Fuller

COMPSTD 1100

November 23, 2020

Text Review Assignment 

        I will be reviewing the show Schitt’s Creek by Daniel and Eugene Levy. In summary this show is about a very wealthy family who loses all of their fortune and is forced to move to a small rural town and live in a two bedroom motel room. There are many themes from our class that can be found in this show. The main theme is One and the Other. This theme ran two ways in the show. At the beginning the Rose family, the wealthy ones, felt as if they were the One and that the poor community was the Other. In the end the Rose family had learned many valuable lessons from the small community such as learning to do more with less and learning to cherish the things that you have. The community gained respect for the family even though they may have been envious at first. There was a very strong socioeconomic status divide in this show. Both extremes were expressed and many lessons were learned from both the rich family and the poor community.

         The son David was homosexual and he was one of the only homosexual people in the whole town of Schitt’s Creek. He was very uncomfortable expressing his true colors. Once he did he found that he was greeted with love and acceptance from members of the community. There were times of judgement in this show and overall they were diminished by showing people that what is on the inside matters the most. I feel as if this show creates a huge gateway for the homosexual community to open up and gives them one positive example on how expressing their feelings can do great things for those around them. Identity played a very strong role in the beginning of the film. The Rose family felt that their name and status was more important than anything. They soon were forced to be humble and realized when they let go of their power of money they were able to accept others for who they were instead of what they owned. I also feel as if the directors of this show want to show how judging a book by its cover or a person by its looks only is hindering everyone involved.

        The characters chose to embrace the community around them and make the most of their situation even if at times they missed their old lifestyle. Once the characters opened up they realized that they each had something to offer and things weren’t so bad outside of their comfortable shell of the life they once knew. A few main themes I feel as if the author wanted to express were acceptance, the power of being humble, exploring new identities and never letting go of reality for money.