Life is not always pink and blue...

Feinberg makes such valid points about sex and gender without losing her passion for transliberation. One of my favorite quotes was when she was discussing the fight of those who are transgendered. She said, “We expand understanding of how many ways there are to be a human being” (Feinberg 5). This really stood out to me because of the idea that there is no one way to live, especially when it comes to gender. Masculine and Feminine are meant to be specific and rigid terms that define whether or not one is a man or a woman, but when you read the arguments of Feinberg it is easy to blur the pink and blue lines of how we define ourselves. My six year old brother told me yesterday that his favorite color is pink. Does this mean he is gay? Not necessarily, he just really likes the color. If he was gay would I be upset? Not at all. But just because he is inclined toward a color that is feminine by definition does not mean that his whole life is different from that of another little boy. Some people are so set in their ideas of gender and what defines it that they may try to dissuade him from this preference, but I will never try to keep him from expressing himself in his own way.

The article in the Journal News about the APA and gay to straight therapy is such a great step forward. The idea that one can change who they are as a person through therapy sessions is preposterous and inhumane. Why people assume that there is something wrong with being gay is still a baffling idea to me. Phil Burress, who was quoted in the article, said “After meeting hundreds that have walked away from homosexuality I have learned that sexual identity disorder is usually, not always, caused by a traumatic childhood experience that can lead to same-sex attraction and confusion,”(1)…this is just like what Dorothy Allison’s therapist told her about her rape, and it is completely ridiculous. This article reminds me of a book that I read my freshman year of college in my ENG 112 class. It is called “The Last Time I Wore a Dress” by Daphne Scholinski. It is about a girl who is institutionalized for Gender Identity Disorder. In the facility, the doctors performed treatments and suggested that she go against her own wishes by wearing dresses and makeup. She is an abandoned, abused and confused girl who has no one to turn to. This is a true memoir…Daphne had a sex change upon being released from the facility. Her name is now Dylan, and he is an artist who speaks about Gender Identity Disorder and strives to help youth who have been “diagnosed.” I have included part one of a youtube interview with Dylan. If we can learn to accept that there are other shades between blue and pink, we may some day be able to recognize, like Feinberg said, that there are "other ways to be a human being. "

Latta, T. Group's challenge of gay to straight therapy praised by Miami professor. Journal News. 2009.

Feinberg, L. We are all works in progress. Transliberation.

Intersectionality and Violence

Using Kimberlé Chrenshaw’s definition of “Intersectionality” in “Mapping the Margins,” explore how Dorothy Allison, Helen Clarkson, and Kimberlé Crenshaw illustrate that an intersectional approach to gender matters when analyzing violence against women.

Violence can happen to any woman at any time. It is a sad reality, but we must always be on guard for the dangers that are in this world. What’s worse is when women who have been sexually assaulted do not have the courage or the means to speak up and change their lives and save another.

The pieces all show that sexual violence can come from anywhere. In Allison’s novel, it was her stepfather, in Clarkson’s article it was the militia, and in Crenshaw’s chapter it was talking of the woman’s very own husband. What differs, however, deals with race; Black…White…Hispanic. Any woman of ANY color is vulnerable to abuse, but the resources are lacking. Crenshaw’s idea of Intersectional approaches to gender would play a huge role in providing the proper resources for women of color or low social class. She writes, “The problem with identity politics is not that it fails to transcend difference, as some critics charge, but rather the opposite—that it frequently conflates or ignores intragroup differences” (200). Think about it: We can identify with gender classifications, but how generic is that? People are complicated in good and bad ways, but classification is not just black and white so to speak and it should be expanded to envelop every aspect of a person. This relates to our previous reading by Evelyn Alsultany in which people would identify with her as either Iraqi or Cuban, but why couldn't she be both? An intersectional approach would allow for her to feel accepted as one person, not an incomplete being composed of sections that don’t fit to likings of others. In terms of improving violence, it can be evidenced in her story about the Hispanic woman that amazed me. I cannot believe that a shelter that is dedicated to help women in need would not make an exception to do just that. It makes me wonder if there are such issues with women’s aid throughout the country or if this is a special circumstance. We need to be able to help and understand ALL women, regardless of their race, class, etc. How can we identify with someone that we consider to be our “sister” if we know nothing about her and cannot provide her with the help and guidance that she needs when she is in trouble? An intersectional approach would not only be educational, but it is fundamental in changing the way we see other women, as well as protecting them from the dangers that plague women everywhere.

As an education major, reading these pieces automatically makes me think of my future students. Heaven forbid the knowledge become necessary, but if a situation arises, how will I help a student who is dealing with past sexual abuse, and how will I recognize the signs of it presently occurring? My hope is to make my classroom a safe space in which my students will know that they can come to me if they are having a problem, and also know that there are so many resources and so much help available to them within the school that will allow them to work on and eventually free themselves of their issues. I would love to think that these cases will never arise in the future, but this is sadly unrealistic. Dorothy Allison’s memoir provides evidence of just that. Violence was occurring in her own home within her own family. Even though she gained the courage to eventually fight back, she is still plagued with the nightmare of being raped and suffers daily when she puts herself down for it. I can wholeheartedly agree with Allison when she writes, “Two or three things I know for sure, but none of them is why a man would rape a child, why a man would beat a child” (43). People can be so sick and cruel, and the news stories that we see daily are not inspiring them to stop anytime soon. I will do everything in my power to make myself available to my students to come to me for help or guidance. Knowing that, as a teacher, I could potentially save a life of one of my students is so much better than knowing that I didn’t do enough if something goes wrong.

I have included a link to site that provides information about the effects of domestic violence on children, as well as the signs to look for, and how to help them.

Works Cited:

Crenshaw, K. 1991. Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color. Introduction to Women's Studies. 200.

Dorothy, A. 1995. Two or Three Things I Know for Sure. 43.

Identity and Ambiguity

What is the theme, concern, hope and/or issue that holds together Alsultany, Clare and Martin?


One of the major themes that I noticed in all three readings deals with the idea of ambiguity within our identities. What am I? How do people really see me at first glance? Am I different?


Martin discussed the idea that there is, "more than what meets the eye," in the sense that when people first see or meet you, they come up with ideas about you based on preconceived notions about the way a person looks or acts. In Alsultany's article, this is evident in the way that a variety of people in different settings looked at her and picked out one of her ethnicities and either attempted to identify with or separate her. Eli Clare discusses dealing with the "gawkers" that don't bother to get to know him before classifying him as a freak. They all touch on the idea that we cannot all be read by what one sees at first glance. We all have parts of ourselves that are unknown at first, which is why we should inquire rather than assume.


Many people don’t know that I am ¼ Japanese. Of course, when I mention it to them, they say that they can see it in my eyes. I don’t get offended by Asian driving jokes or the ridicule of my friends for having rice with almost every meal, and it doesn’t bother me that people don’t notice my ethnicity right away. It always makes me wonder if they see me in a different way just because I am part Asian, or how they see me when they first meet me. Like Lauren Martin says, “If you know me in one way, will it be difficult for you to view me in another?” (10). She brings up a valid point. We may think that we know so much about the people around us, when in reality, they could be completely different. Through our past experiences, we develop ideas of how people of certain genders, races, classes, etc. should act and look, and we can often be caught off guard when someone does not fit our preconceived mold. Martin goes on to later say, “Depending on who you see at this precise moment, I can be the safe Lauren, the dangerous Lauren, or some combination of the two” (13). Even those that we feel we know so much about can be different depending on the setting or the time of day. It is not necessarily changing identities, but rather exploring the varying parts of ourselves.


I think that all of the ideas are very interesting and bring up valid points about how we identify ourselves. It really got me thinking about how I see myself, as well as those around me. Like Lauren Martin stated, there is so much more to people than we can see through just looking with our eyes. Simple questions and a genuine interest in people can take us far beyond skin tone and physical appearance. One quote in Alsultany's writing really stuck out to me. She concluded her piece by saying, "Recasting our moving selves begins with an openness and a willingness to listen, which leads to dialogue" (295). If instead of coming to our own conclusions about people, why don't we keep open minds and inquire? Curiosity is a natural human instinct, but as Alsultany demonstrated in her piece, there are right and wrong ways to go about analyzing people.

I have included a youtube clip of Susan Boyle's first audition on Britain's Got Talent. You can see the faces of the judges and audience members who are judging her based on her appearance and her manner and not believing that she could really sing...she sure showed them. It can relate to Eli Clare's situation, in which he has been gawked at and privately ridiculed for most of his life for being disabled, but he is a brilliant writer and an insightful person. It just goes to show that you should not judge a book by its cover.

(it won't let me embed, but here is the link)

Works Cited:

Alsultany, E. 2002. Los Intersticios: Recasting Moving Selves. 295.

Martin, L. n.d. Through Strangers' Eyes. 10, 13.

About me?

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://brooksdebates.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/dusk-before-dawn-paris-france.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 297px;" src="http://brooksdebates.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/dusk-before-dawn-paris-france.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Hmm.... 1. I'm obsessed with my digital camera and I take pictures of everything. seriously. 2. I met Chelsea Handler and she spilled water on my best friend. 3. I love to <a href="http://www.twitter.com">travel </a>and I want to live in Europe when I graduate (: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H37maL4jzYI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H37maL4jzYI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Hmm....

1. I'm obsessed with my digital camera and I take pictures of everything. seriously.

2. I met Chelsea Handler at a book signing and she spilled water on my best friend.

3. I love to travel and I want to live in Europe when I graduate (: