Kelly Atkinson

4/28/2016
Byrd
Gen-X
Final Reflection: Semester 2
Being in the Gender Excellence Learning Community has given me an
immense amount of knowledge about women and gender issues I was not
previously aware of. The most significant thing I learned this semester was
regarding social media. This differs from last semester because I focused
more on the foundation and in this semester I looked at alley ways for
women and gender issues to be expressed and also issues within social
media. The media portrays women other genders in a way that makes us
seem less significant and less capable. This was proved in many scenarios
examined this semester, and thus will be further explained.
I began to realize the positive and negative impacts Feminism has on
the media when I looked at The Feminist Wire for the first time. This website
is a great way for online activism and for issues to get publicized in a place
where people will take notice. When I started researching Carolyn Luby I was
in pure shock that she could be attacked in such a harsh and hateful manner.
She was attacked for her letter to the President of UCONN when her
argument was valid and could have been debated instead of the media and
others personally attacking her and her views instead of the original
argument.

The main concept I took from digging deeper into the effects of social
media is that, because social media is such an influential and accessible form
of communication it is the perfect form of activism and spreading the word
about important issues one might not otherwise hear about. Although the
response is not always positive, like in Carolyn Lubys case, there is still a lot
of media and attention going to necessary problems or concerns. Learning
this concept has helped me when I read articles both pertaining and not
pertaining to Feminist issues. Now when I read an article I focus on which
side is being portrayed in a good light; and in effect which side has negative
comments being thrown at them. By the term side I mean any gender,
race, sex of any person that is being portrayed in a positive or negative
manner.
Learning how the media portrays people who they consider to be of a
less equal value is helpful in all of my schooling and personal life. I make
sure I do not under value someone or something in conversation or in writing
but to speak of both sides in a positive tone/manner. This is very valuable to
me that I can now see myself as someone who can adapt to new concepts,
teachings, culture, or people. I enjoy learning new things and being aware of
how my words and others words can affect a person or a group of people. A
problem that came from this is knowing when to be open and competent and
when not to be. Although I consider myself to be open and understanding I
cannot be this way with everyone because there is definitely still the safety
factor to be concerned about.

It is very sad that we cannot do all the things we wish we could do, or
just not do them alone because we are afraid of our personal safety. I can
say as a very small white female I am afraid for my safety quite often in
certain places at night. I should not be afraid but I am absolutely afraid of
the unknown mysteries that seem to lurk in the night. When we read the
two articles on how to protect yourself at night it really made me think. The
first article was actually helpful to help someone be more aware when they
are alone especially at night. Not being on your phone when you are walking
to the car, locking the doors right away, always looking prepared and
scanning the area which you are in, and trying your best to never be alone at
night or in a bad area. These tips are helpful but the other side is funny in
comparison to these. The second article is focusing on the person who is
going to be doing the harm. If they cannot stand to be alone without
sexually assaulting someone they do not need to be alone. Or if they cannot
have a conversation without verbally or physically abusing their loved one
then they should not speak at all or have any relations with a partner of their
choice. Focusing on the issues of the person doing the attacking is a lot
more helpful and is what should be done instead of making the opposing side
afraid and on the look out for the people who seem to have the problem.
Something I would change about the semester is I think we should
have focused more on research like we had in the first semester. We read
books which have had such an abundant effect on the Feminist movement
and I wanted to keep that part going. I enjoy reading and learning about the

history while also incorporating it with the current issues. This semester was
primarily focused on how we were being activists and also our participation
in class. I enjoyed this part a lot and have seen a lot of growth in my
knowledge and understanding of Feminism and the current issues/hot topics
of this year. I went to all of the events we held and listened to the speakers
and it has enhanced my view of life and privilege.
The biggest example that portrays my understanding of life and
privilege happened the night of the Feminist Wire discussion in McKnight
Hall. A seemingly privileged white female asked the question of how can
I/we the people of the black lives matter movement begin to have a peaceful
way of fighting the racism. The question went something along those lines.
Even myself, as a privileged white female knew her question was well out of
order. The man from the Feminist Wire replied with a very long and
passionate response explaining that the anger the black lives matter
movement has, is well earned from the years of racism and discrimination. If
they chose to respond in a violent way thats because they deserve to
respond in a way thats equal to the anger and discrimination they have
been faced with for generations. The ending thought he closed her question
with left me in awe and made me think about my involvement. He said If
you are in with the people you are supporting you will not need to be told
what to do, you will know how to support them because it will come natural
and you will join with them as they stand up for the cause they are
supporting.

This made me reflect on how my life can make an impact and who I am
in with to help support what I believe in. Since the Feminist Wire I have
been in contact with one of my old teachers, Mrs. McKinney, who is an
outspoken and soulful African American woman. She has her own school in
my hometown and also runs a womens shelter that is in the Ada Jenkins
center. She provides talks and lessons for women to feel empowered an
teach them how to overcome racism and sexism. These are discriminatory
things that define what we look like not how God intended us to operate and
work together. I have visited only a few times so far, but with her being a
family friend I know this will continue especially in my college years. I enjoy
sharing my knowledge and recommending books such as Manifesta for
some of the women to read.
The projects we did in this semester were all great and had an amazing
campus presence as well. The Vagina Monologues was definitely a unique
experience for me I was a little shocked at some of the stories told. I enjoyed
fundraising because people were interested by the name of the event. The
Monologues were shocking because it is tough to hear such brutally honest
stories about rape and sexual assault. This is different from The Feminist
Wire because we were discussing some of the same issues but in a more
scholarly way. The three representatives of The Feminist Wire were brilliant
and made me think in ways I have not before. I enjoyed discussing different
ways that the new transgender law could be explained so that people of the
state of North Carolina actually understand what the bill is saying.

The Anita Sarkeesian event was one of the events that I felt most
comfortable at and I learned a lot at as well. I never focused on how women
were portrayed in video games. They are definitely hyper sexualized even in
childrens games such as Mario cart the female characters still have giant
breasts and a small waist. The over sexualized nature of females in video
games all comes back to the issues discussed in The Vagina Monologues and
The Feminist Wire because in a lot of the video games they are portraying a
lot of violence towards women regarding rape and sexual assault. This is
important in discussing Take Back the Night because all of the negative
portrayals of groups of people in the media lead to severe crime in our
reality. One of the African American speakers of this night raised a good
point of how are women ever going to overcome the negative connotation of
being a woman if they cannot support each other. She grew up in a rough
part of Detroit and has thus started a shelter/program to help people Take
Back the Night. It is important to have a support group in order to
overcome a problem and that is what women and other genders will do to
receive equality.
Ending with Equal Pay Day I learned how little college students know
about the discrimination of pay among race and gender. I myself was not
fully aware of how little other races and genders get paid. It is astonishing
that white men earn the most and it baffles me why everyone cannot be
equal. How are we ever supposed to fix levels of poverty or other issues
when people all have different starting points. One cannot be placed on a

starting line and then other groups of people start way behind, and this be
fair. The government puts poverty in line in order for the rich to stay rich
and the poor to stay poor.
Overall I learned a lot about myself in this semester in regards to being
a woman, the effects of social media, sexual assault, rape, portrayal of
women, and unequal pay. I will use everything I have learned in Gen-X as I
take courses towards my degree here at UNCC. It has enhanced my
perspective on life and privilege and I will not take anything for granted.
With that I will also be confident in ways I might not have been before, such
as asking for a raise when I am qualified. I am confident in my ability to
share my knowledge and help women empower women with what I have
learned in Gen-X.