I would identify myself as quiet, determined, female, and
white—among other things. I wasn’t comfortable with my identity until college.
Generally, I think my identity stays the same wherever I am—maybe because I
don’t necessarily have to fear discrimination in my everyday life.
When I
started watching the Human Rights Campaign video, I couldn’t believe I had
never heard of Lana Wachowski, but felt better when she talked about wanting to
live under the radar! I can’t imagine how hard it is for kids who are in the
same position that she was in: being forced to choose between the boy line and
the girl line and wondering what is wrong with them when they can’t pick
either. No kids (or adults) should ever have to feel like they don’t belong or
don’t have a place in our world, and I think that’s why we need to do a better
job of recognizing that people don’t need to fit in one box or the other—they
can be on a spectrum, like iO Tillett Wright talked about. I really like the
idea of “visibility” and I think it’s important as social workers to let our
clients know we see them and they are
not invisible, and their identities are valid just like everyone else’s.
Furthermore, Wright’s idea of highlighting, rather than erasing, differences
reminded me of The Atlantic’s article about schools we read last week. Eliza
Byard, the director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, said
differences in people are valuable
because they teach us to listen and articulate our beliefs. This planet would
be such a cool place to live if we could eliminate the idea that differences
(or disabilities, like Stella Young pointed out) are bad, and that people that
have identities different than what we’re used to are scary!
Beverly
Daniel Tatum’s essay made me really think about my personal identity. I
realized that before today, I never would have identified myself as “white,”
because it definitely is something that, as a member of that dominant group, I
take for granted. I could, however, relate to “He Works, She Works, But What
Different Impressions They Make” as a woman. Just the other day, I was thinking
about what it would be like if in my future career, I had an assistant or a
secretary that was a male and I just could not picture it! I think that’s a
testament to how we’ve been socialized to believe that they are “boy jobs” and
“girl jobs.” However, it’s encouraging to see more and more women in positions
of superiority (one of my favorites being Michelle Obama—who is not just seen
as Barack Obama’s wife, but as her own person: a leader, a lawyer, and a
writer.)!
Finally, in
“The Dangerous Consequences of Growing Inequality,” I was once again reminded
of Park Avenue and the issues that arise from a tiny percentage of the United
States controlling an enormous part of the wealth. This seems like a common
theme, and it’s one of the main issues that I, as a social worker, would like
to address in whatever job I have one day.
Sources:
Adams, M., Blumfeld, W., Castañeda, C., Hackman, H., Peters, M., Zúñiga, X.
(2013). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York, NY:
Rutledge.
HRC. (2012, October). Lana Wachowski Receives the HRC Visibility Award. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crHHycz7T_c
Wright, T. (2012, December). Fifty Shades of Gay. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/io_tillett_wright_fifty_shades_of_gay
Young, S. (2014, April). I'm Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much. (Video). Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_m_not_your_inspiration_thank_you_very_much.
Sarah, I really enjoyed reading your blog post for this week! I love how you wrote about how we should use our roles as social workers to make sure our clients know we see them and they are not invisible- and to reassure them that their identities are valid. I think sometimes when we are trying to help someone with a problem, we get wrapped up in trying to come up with solutions to solve that problem. While in some cases, that is appropriate, I feel that what people who are struggling with identity really want is to be seen as their genuine selves and feel accepted. Not long ago- and even still today, you were considered “less than” if you were black, a woman, or any minority really. Now, while minorities still get discriminated against- it’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Hopefully we will get to a point where any of those who identify outside the “norm” will be accepted by society. I agree with you when you write that we need to do a better job of recognizing that people don’t need to fit in one box or the other. Those boxes are really just categories that society decided long ago were the only way to define yourself. If you were born a boy- you were to be forever and always a male, and same with female. Now that people feel empowered and are speaking up about their identity, such as iO Tillett Wright and Lana Wachowski, hopefully the future generations will not have to deal with the discrimination and feelings of being “less than” just because of their identity.
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