journal #20: reflection

Throughout this semester I have grown not only as a student, but also as an activist and feminist. At the beginning of this semester, I was already sure that I identified as a feminist and I knew what feminism meant for me. My personal definition of feminism has remained true to me as this semester progressed. I still believe that feminism is about abolishing and reconstructing our patriarchal society. Also recognizing that women experience sexism in different ways and recognizing that, even though I don’t experience the same sexism that women of color or transwomen do, it is equally, if not more, important that their needs our met as it is to have my needs met. Feminism isn’t simply about gender equality, although that is important. It is about raising up proud, strong, confident women and teaching men to respect women and be secure with femininity rather than hating and degrading anything feminine. The way I feel about my definition of feminism has only become more secure throughout the semester. During class discussions, I heard many accounts of the difficulties black women face in our society. From the stigma surrounding natural hair to the Black Lives Matter movement, these discussions reassured my belief in intersectional feminism. Feminism needs to be all-inclusive and meet the needs of all women. We cannot silence any demographic within feminism. One quote I will never forget, that I believe Sae shared, really struck a chord with me. It was something along the lines of, “If you are silent in situation of inequality, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” I’m going to pull that quote out every time I hear someone say they are indifferent about an issue or say they don’t need feminism or think racism is no longer relevant. Refusing to recognize a problem simply perpetuates it and keeps in in motion. It’s important to advocate and help those in situation of inequality. The Mask You Live In reinforced my belief that we need to raise men that respect and embrace femininity rather than being taught femininity is weak and unbecoming. When we raise boys in a hyper-masculine, we raise violent and emotionally-constipated men who will lash out angrily against women or anyone who has feminine characteristics. It creates a very unsafe environment for over half the population. Attending Ian Harvie’s comedy act taught me a lot about the trans community and reminded me how important it is to support a feminism that includes trans issues. bell hooks’ was without a doubt my favorite author we read this semester. hooks’ refuted grab-bag feminism, where you pick and choose what topics you want to advocate, and taught me how to be critical of the ways in which I apply feminism to my life. Which really made me asks the question, do all my actions exemplify my feminist beliefs? And last but not least, my favorite moment during this class was our abortion debate. That was the first time I really got to debate a feminist issue face-to-face and, although it was only a mock debate, it was really fun and I felt confident enough in myself to share my beliefs. It’s been a great semester in Gen-X furthering my understanding of feminism!

My predictions for my first semester of college were pretty spot on. I’ve seen a lot of growth in myself this first semester. I’ve had a lot of fun but I’ve also been challenged academically and experienced a few break downs emotionally. Gen-X was everything I imagined and more. I feel privileged to be in a class with like-minded, intelligent people where we are all encouraged to grow as students, feminists, and activists. The service projects were both fun and educational. I know we’re limited on time, but I would’ve loved to read a whole book and gotten to discuss it as a class. We got through sections of Manifesta, Full Frontal, and Feminism is for Everybody, but I really would’ve liked to have more discussion on those as a class. There were really awesome topics in each book that we didn’t get to and that bummed me out a little! Midway through my first semester, I believe I will be finishing 3 of my 4 classes with A’s and one of them with a B. I consider that to be a pretty solid semester academically. I’ve got two awesome best friends/roommates and 3 other really close friends who I get the privilege of watching America’s Next Top Model with every night. So I think that makes this semester pretty solid socially as well. However, next semester I would like to work on my time management in order to reduce stress and really cut back on my procrastination. I think that would make me a lot more emotionally stable and less anxious next semester. I think next semester holds a lot of promise. I’m actually almost sad to be going on break and leaving Charlotte. I’m ready to get started back in January!