Sack, S. (1999). Why are you a feminist? In N.

Amin, Canadian Women Studies: An Introductory

Reader (pp. 15-17). Toronto: Inanna Publications.

And Gloria Reina Santos Montes and I lock eyes and I recognize what it is I have seen in her stare
from the moment we met. She knows me. She was expecting my armament of questions, my
textbook sensitivity. She has merely been watching to see if I will recognize myself. If I will catch
a glimpse of my reflection in the mirrors that are her eyes. (Sack, 1999)

This article generally looks at the concept of feminism and a student who has a degree in

feminism she tries to go to less privileged places to help the women who are suffering. However,

when she realizes the plight of the individuals there, she learns how privileged she is to be able to

have an education and learn about feminism. Whilst on the contrary, these poor women in

Honduras are trying to just maintain a living and survive without much conflict. This quotation

goes on to help the author question what she has been studying about feminism, and the point of

it as it seemed quite useless to preach about feminism in a place where they are struggling to

have food, shelter and water the necessities we tend to take for granted. This really serves as an

eye opener to the well-off, majority living a first world life where these necessities are addressed.

For those living in the first world, they consider topics like equal rights and feminism, whilst in

other developing parts of the world, equal rights are the least of their worries simply surviving

and providing for the offspring is seen as a daily struggle.

Carbado, D. (1999). Men, feminism, and heterosexual privilege. In L. Heldke and P. OConner
(Eds.), Oppression, Privilege and Resistance: Theoretical Perspectives on Racism, Sexism
and Heterosexism (pp. 401-405). New York: McGraw.
I think it is important for men to challenge the social construction of gender, employing our
privileged experiences as a starting point. These contestations should not replace victim-centered
or bottom-up accounts of sexism; they should not substitute for women's articulations of the ways
in which they are the victims of patriarchy. Both narratives need to be told. The telling of both
narratives gives content to patriarchy and helps to make clear that patriarchy is bi-directional:
Patriarchy gives to men what it takes away from women; the disempowerment of women is
achieved through the empowerment of men. Patriarchy effectuates and maintains this relational
difference. The social construction of women as the second sex requires the social construction of
men as the first. One must proceed cautiously. (Carbado, 1999)
This article generally addresses the concept of males playing an important role in achieving the

equality of sexes. Specifically, this quote goes on to this topic in more detail as it explains the

importance of the identification of the problem or disequilibrium between the sexes by both the

victims and the empowers. Once both men and women can understand the severity of the situation,

then there would be a decrease in discrimination as opposed to the victim becoming the

individual who cried wolf. With a proper understanding relationship between the two sexes,

equality can be reached quickly and efficiently without too much disagreement. An example of

this is if a person of color claims to be racially abused in a social setting versus a white person

claiming the individual of color was racially discriminated. One would believe the white

individual, as he is not the victim and his opinion would not be plagued with perspective bias. This

logic can be applied to the situation between men and women as soon as men can start identifying

women being discriminating against, it would be a massive stride forward in the fight for feminism

and equality.
Scott, S. (2007). A sick system creates sick people. In All Our Sisters: Stories of Homeless Women
in Canada (pp. 57-72). Peterborough: Broadview Press.

The strong link between income and disease is one of the most well established findings in the
health sciences but the least publicized by health care and public health workers, and the media.
The link occurs across a wide range of diseases, but the strongest association is with cardio~
vascular disease. It has been demonstrated time and time again-in Canadian, United States, and
United Kingdom, and other studies-that the illness producing effects of low income swamp the
influence of medical and lifestyle risk factors such as cholesterol levels, hypertension, tobacco use,
quality of diet, physical activity, and body I mass index among others. Yet, all we hear about from
the medical and public health communities is about cholesterol screening, drug therapies and
lifestyle changes. (Scott, 2007)
The story of poverty-stricken women is quite upsetting and disheartening, as they not only suffer

through a wide range of medical and psychological disorders, but are often considered to be at the

lowest point in terms of societal perception. Specifically, as addressed by this quotation, through

a multi-variable regression analysis there has been a correlation between lower income and a

higher disease probability. This high disease probability is evident in many cases described by

Scott, many whom resort to drug abuse, with little money to achieve a sense of relief or pleasure

this results in them contracting several infection-related diseases. In addition to these diseases,

several other medical conditions accompany such a lifestyle. Above and beyond the poor lifestyle

choices, the mental stress and trauma associated with it results in potential suicidal thoughts. Until

the root cause of the situations are addressed, the individuals will continue to suffer without any

sort of relief or treatment being available. Some potential ideas are more shelters being opened for

inner-city areas with a higher probability of poverty-stricken individuals being found. These

shelters should also attempt to educate the individuals of the dangerous life path they have chosen

something enticing enough for them to quit their lifestyle and be willing to make small changes;

be it through getting an education and improving their life. However, instead of possibilities like

this, there are just simple drug screenings that are attacking the symptoms without addressing the

root cause of the problem.

Hooks, b. (2000). Feminist class struggle. In bell hooks, Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate
Politics (pp. 37-43). Boston: South End Press.

When women with class power opportunistically use a feminist platform while undermining
feminist politics that help keep in place a patriarchal system that will ultimately re-subordinate
them, they do not just betray feminism; they betray themselves. Returning to a discussion of class,
feminist women and men will restore the conditions needed for solidarity. We will then be better
able to envision a world where resources are shared and opportunities for personal growth abound
for everyone irrespective of their class. (Hooks, 2000)
As important as the difference in sexes is, in the struggle for equality through feminism, the

socioeconomic implications have a greater importance. Factors such as class are extremely

important in understanding feminism, as this is another way in which discrimination occurs.

Without factoring in race and class, one is approaching feminism with a rather 1 dimensional point

of view and not understanding the perplexity of feminism. However, when the upper-class

feminists only think about difference in sexes without considering race and class they are

essentially doing more negatives for feminism than positives as they are simply degrading it to

a simple vision. This then forces many young 3rd wave feminists to only look at feminism through

a single lens, which is the completely incorrect point of view this has been addressed on several

occasions by various zines.

Truth, S. (2004). Speech given at the Womens Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, 1852. In Althea
Prince and Susan Silva-Wayne (Eds.), Feminisms and Womanisms: A Womens Studies
Reader (p. xv). Toronto: Womens Press.
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches, and
to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or
gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? (Truth, 2004)
This quotation and speech in general addresses the topic of class as an important aspect of

feminism. Often, the lower classes or individuals suffering from poverty are either ignored or

treated extremely badly. This is when a poor, woman of colour decides to stand up for what she

believes in and how minorities like her deserve the same amount of respect given to the more

rich and affluent, white women. This struggle is still visible today, despite the immense extent to

which the struggle for feminism has progressed. The prejudices that occur towards people with

less financial stability is detrimental to finding a level of equality between the genders and

essentially through the socioeconomics of feminism as well. Furthermore, these women can feel

the prejudice, as if they are missing on various key privileges that the richer women are getting.

The condition gets even more worse, as these privilege women are unable to recognize the

difference in treatment between themselves and others and thus this goes a long way to show the

lack of humanity and understanding that was evident back then. Despite some impromptu changes

of late, this behavior is still quite evident to this date.

Zones, J. S. (2005). Beauty myths and realities and their impact on womens health. In M. Baca
Zinn, P. Hondagneu-Sotelo, and M. A. Messner (Eds.), (3rd ed., pp. 65-80). Gender
Through the Prism of Difference. New York: Oxford University Press.

The personal solution to individual self-doubt or even self-loathing of our physical being is to
continuously make the decision to contradict the innumerable messages we are given that we are
anything less than lovely as human beings. Pinkney (1994) suggests several ways to reshape a
raggedy body image by improving self-perception: respect yourself, search for the source of the
distress, strut your strengths, and embrace the aging process. In a passage from Beloved,Toni
Morrison demonstrates the way: Love your hands! Love them. Raise them up and kiss them.
Touch others with them, pat them together, stroke them on your face cause they dont love that
either. You got to love it, you! (Zones, 2005)

This article and quotation explores the various beauty standards that are imposed upon women in

todays modern society. They are expected to look a certain way, and if they do not comply with

these beauty or physical standards, they are deemed ugly or not good looking enough. It is

important, as seen in the quotation above, to embrace your imperfections and treat them as part of

yourself. There is no need for one to be ashamed that they do not meet a certain standard, but

rather, they should embrace this and be proud of how they look. Rather than try and fix these

looks, one should improve the way one perceives themselves maybe be more open to a wide

variety of beauty standards, instead of the cookie cutter 1 size fit all myth that the beauty industry

is trying to force upon others. Furthermore, by working to fix these standards we can empower a

new generation of women to look at beauty through a different light and therefore allow less

beauty-related medical conditions to occur. This would also result in more women to be accepting

of their bodies, without succumbing to pressure from media. As seen in a film, Fiji Islands (a place

with no western media influence), once exposed to western TV shows the young females became

diagnosed with eating disorders like bulimia. This was due to the negative pressure imposed upon

these women by the various female actresses body shapes, sizes, and physiques.
Harris, J. (2005). Lesbian motherhood and access to reproductive technology. Canadian Woman
Studies, 24, 2-3, p. 43-49.

Respecting human anatomy, particularly womens autonomy in the context of reproductive

technologies, is fundamental. (Harris, 2005)

This quotation explores the extent of restriction that is placed on female autonomy in terms of

reproductive technology. Specifically, as seen a plethora of times throughout the article,

specifically lesbian women are being discriminated against based on personal bias and societal

norms. However, the larger issue is that the laws are governed in such a manner to put needless

pressure and discriminate against these lesbian women and thus pressure them against using the

available reproductive technologies that are available to all women. Moreover, through this

relentless pressure, lesbian women are now under huge pressure through a series of outlets, and

with no other option they are unable to start a family simply due to their sexual orientation. Such

a discrimination is seen in a hugely negative light and this must change. Unless these laws are

adjusted to remove the perceptional bias and the societal norms that are forced on the general

population, the lesbian women will continue to feel oppressed something that we should not be

looking forward to, as it would be better to have a more welcoming and accepting society. There

have been many cases coming to light recently, suggesting how ineffective the screening process

is for reproductive technology, as a man claimed to be teaching medical robotics at a medical

school and having a PhD, when he was suffering from Schizophrenia. It was later discovered that

his sperm was used as a donor for 36 children from 26 families something nobody should have

to find out.
Khosla, P. (2008). If low-income women of colour counted in Toronto. In M. A. Wallis & S. Kwok
(Eds.), Daily struggles: The deepening racialization and feminization of poverty in Canada
(pp. 223-247). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Scholars Press.

As we struggle with the socio-economic devastation of the past decade, differences within equity-
seeking groups are becoming more pronounced. Among women, for example, some face far
tougher hurdles than others. All women are still significantly more likely to be poor than men,4
and women's poverty rates have seen little improvement over the years. But women of colour,
immigrant women, single mothers, women with disabilities, older women, young mothers, and
women on their own are strikingly poor. (Khosla, 2008)

Generally, this article sets to describe the horrifying situation of women of colour in Toronto and

the increasingly and shockingly high poverty rates associated with these women due to a series

of factors. Specifically, as seen in this quotation, there are so many minority groups that are prone

to being struck with poverty compared to the middle and upper class groups. The reasoning behind

this is the level of education that is available to these people, the life path that is associated with

the negativity forced upon them, and most importantly the negative influences and pressures that

chase them along the way. In comparison, those who are more well off, are less likely to follow

these disastrous pathways due to the positivity they are surrounded with growing up. Even as

they develop into adulthood, they do not face half as many hurdles as the ones who are part of the

minority groups. Moreover, with less pressure on these individuals, they tend to be more successful

in life and live away from the streets. As demonstrated by a similar study, those who are taken off

the streets and away from poverty to a well-off family and are raised right grow up to become

more successful individuals and live a normalized life.