FEMINISM &
ANTI-RACISM
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10 Keys to Everyday Anti-Racism Critical Resource Response by: BB
Anti-racism is a term that gets used often times in a misunderstood manner, or wrongful context. Simply stating the fact that you as an individual are not a racist does not qualify anybody to be an “anti-racist”. Kristen Ivey-Colson and Lynn Turner, founders of the Anti-Racist Table, compiled a list of 10 key points and strategies in order to actively work against prejudice and equality, and be considered Anti-Racist.
The first major key, is the concept of Education, and how to use new knowledge to better relate to issues at hand. The authors state that, “The heart of racism is denial” and this couldn’t be a more accurate statement. You cannot attempt to change or acknowledge a problem as significant as racism if you remain in denial, and choose not to see it. Therefor, choosing to educate yourself on topics that might not be the most familiar, and expanding your knowledge of racist tendencies, you are actively taking the first crucial step to beating racism, and achieving anti-racist status.
The second step to becoming anti-racist is the display of courage. Being able to face the facts and statistics revolving white privilege, racism and white supremacy is often a difficult task that requires much courage and maturity. The text stated, “Robin DiAngelo, a sociologist and author, coined the term ‘white fragility’ to describe ‘the defensive reactions so many white people have when our racial worldviews, positions, or advantages are questioned or challenged.”’ This term created by DiAngelo is a very accurate model of why being considered an anti-racist is more complicated than simply uttering the words. Often times people are unable to face the feeling of vulnerability when discussing the uneasy and difficult topics surrounding systematic racism today, leaving the need for serious courage to fully understand them.
The third major key to becoming anti-racist is the idea of individuality, and the fact that making assumptions or stereotypes based off of someone’s skin color is extremely wrong and often times inaccurate and false. It is said that, “Racial stereotyping, for instance, comes from the belief that membership in a racial group defines someone on a range of characteristics, including their behavior”. These stereotypes limit us from accepting the black community as individuals as opposed to the historically negative group identity associated with the community, and is crucial to understand in order to spread awareness.
These three points are crucial building blocks in the process of becoming a fully anti-racist human being, and need much more awareness/ publicity. Education, Courage and Individuality are very commonly used and practiced in society, just often times not all together, and for the same cause. By piecing these three terms together, it is core pathway to eliminating racism in society and truly essential in becoming an anti-racist.
“Feminism is More Than a Noun – It’s a Process” Critical Resource Response by J.B.
Feminism is a process, not a history lesson. Dr. Samantha Nutt’s article, “Feminism is more than a noun – it’s a process,” captures the universal problem of men resisting women's movement for gender equality. While achieving equality is something all strive for, women face it in a different demeanor where they are criticized or ignored by men, facing resistance in achieving leadership, and have formed the habit of apologizing to men when they are not the problem.
Intentionally or unintentionally men silence women so the focus can remain on him and his opinion. Women are frequently reminded they “...must always be seen as friendly, approachable, relatable and bed-able…” and not step out of their place set by men or express their opinion (Nutt 4). Women like Hillary Clinton are disapproved when they strain away from the traditional expectation of women keeping their opinions to themselves and allowing men to handle business. They do not maintain the unrealistic and classic 1960’s stay-at-home wife persona.
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Women have been conditioned to apologize when it appears they have emasculated a man. In Dr. Nutt’s article, she recalls a moment where she outperformed a male peer on an exam, and instead of taking pride in her well deserved success, she reassured the male that he was better than her despite the exam scores (2). The habit women have formed is motivated by men “...to take all women down a peg or two” or as a reassurance of which gender holds superiority (Nutt 2). The women who dare to not apologize and take their own stance are seen as a threat to men.
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The more women strive to hold leadership positions, the more resentment they face as they advance up the corporate ladder or gain representation in politics. In total, 366 women have served in the U.S. congress since 1917, only 127 serve today. A reason for this slow growth is because these women are seen “Overly ambitious...threatening by men, prompting those men to act more assertively towards them” (Nutt 5). The climb women make, to the position men are in, is brutal and leaves them feeling degraded from criticism and backlash. Despite being overqualified for a role, a woman may not feel she belongs because men emotionally abused them to believe they do not deserve the position.
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Dr. Nutt’s title to her article is misleading. Rather than explaining how feminism is a process, she highlights issues about inequality. Her title describes feminism as a process, but does not address the idea until the end of the article where she details how one can support feminism. In the United States, there has been a lot of progress in women’s rights and equality, but there is still more ground to cover. The United States is a country full of prosperity and should be a place where those of any gender can achieve without their gender being held against them. The process of feminism is a forward movement powered by supporting women.
word count: 496
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"What's the Problem with Feminism?" Critical Resource Response by Z.S.
While nearly everyone agrees that the women’s rights movement of the sixties was founded upon real inequalities between the two sexes, some believe the current fourth wave of feminism has gone too far. In “What’s the Problem with Feminism?”, Mark Manson argues that feminism has become more tribalistic compared to the feminism of the past. The modern feminist movement is much more extreme compared to the women’s rights movement of the sixties.
First, Manson points out that social justice is hard to measure. Manson says, “This is a tricky business because you are no longer dealing with institutions- you’re dealing with people’s perceptions.” Here, Manson explains that it is hard to measure social equality because it is more about people’s beliefs rather than grounded in reality. Even though some feminists are very extreme, the causes that they are fighting for cannot be measured easily. It’s hard to determine whether an action could be taken as oppression or merely an oversensitive person. Many current day feminists believe there is injustice against them, yet what they are fighting for is not as easily measurable as political or economic equality.
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Next, Manson says that feminism has turned into a movement with an extremist political agenda and identity unlike the ‘philosophical’ feminism of the sixties. Even though philosophical feminism was political, it was not as radical as the feminism of today. Manson says, “The problem is that feminism is more than a philosophy or group of beliefs. It is, now, also a political movement.” Modern feminism is mostly politically motivated to support a party instead of focusing more on measurable improvements to women’s well-being. It is important to realize that women have more rights in America than most countries, though there are still inequalities between both genders that need to be corrected.
Finally, Manson argues that extreme feminists believe in the unfounded belief that male oppression is dominant. Manson says, “Tribal feminism laid out a specific set of beliefs-- that everywhere you look there is constant oppression from the patriarchy.” Many extremist feminists believe that men are the root of all evil based on no logic. However, it is also important to distinguish radical feminists and feminists who are actually fighting for true equality; for instance, feminists who are fighting for true inequalities like underrepresentation.
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The wave of feminism seen today is much more extreme than that of the past. There is no problem with peaceful feminists who strive to fight for many of the imbalances between men and women, such as the gender pay gap and underrepresentation. However, it is more important to look at practical and measurable goals rather than feelings and emotions. Supporters should research the purpose of a cause before following it without becoming extremist. It is dangerous to become extreme because the more radical a movement becomes, the less traction it will gain and its credibility will be damaged.
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"The Misplaced Feminism of Ms. Monopoly" - Critical Response by H.R.
Have you ever played Monopoly and thought it was degrading to women? Ms. Monopoly is the “first-ever game where women make more than men.” It sounds like a step into the right direction of feminism, but goes against what feminism is about, the equality of men and women. The New Yorker article by Mary Pilon titled “The Misplaced Feminism of Ms. Monopoly” talks about how Monopoly could have focused on feminism that’s better than Ms. Monopoly. I argue that Ms. Monopoly does not achieve feminism due to the lack of acknowledgment of the game’s female creator, the unfair game rules, and failures to acknowledge what women want.
Monopoly’s true creator does not get credited in the “feminist” Ms. Monopoly. The article talks about how the game doesn’t mention Magie, “Hasbro’s attempt to tout its new title as empowering to women, while ignoring a woman’s role in creating the game, was, at best, hypocritical’” (Pilon). Hasbro ignored Magie in their game about feminism. It is crucial that she gets recognized, and Hasbro failed to have the “feminist” game do so.
Ms. Monopoly goes against the true meaning of feminism because men and women are not treated equally according to the game’s rules. The rules state that, “... female players start out with nineteen hundred dollars in their coffers and male players receive a mere fifteen hundred. Women receive two hundred and forty dollars for passing Go, but men are stuck with the same two hundred dollars as in standard” (Pilon). Men and women are not being treated equally based on the amount of money dealt. If a woman wins this game, they may not get a sense of true accomplishment because they know that they were at an advantage. If a man wins, then women could feel bad because they had advantages and still lost. The original Monopoly was more feminist than Ms. Monopoly because everyone starts off with the same amount of money, and has the same chance of winning.
Many women want concrete change and not gimmicks that mock change in board games. People are inspired by Magie, “I’ve heard from countless female game designers, software engineers, executives, and other girls and women hoping to blaze their own careers...were inspired by Magie’s revolutionary exploits...” (Pilon). Ms. Monopoly features well-known inventions from women. Therefore, they have good intentions and it is important to highlight women’s achievements. However, this was not the right step to feminism that women need. If monopoly really wanted to put women at the center, they should’ve kept the same rules of Monopoly while still showing their appreciation for women. Instead, people, especially men, are discouraged from playing it because of the game rules.
Overall, people want to celebrate women’s achievements, but in a way that everyone will want to join in. Ms. Monopoly goes against the true meaning of feminism, not even mentioning that the idea of Monopoly came from a woman, which is a very important part of Monopoly’s history.
Word Count: 495
"The Urgency of Intersectionality" - Critical Response by B.B.
Racism has always been a problem within society, and in recent times has been more prevalent than ever. However, alongside the social injustice of racism, sexism is just as relevant and the two injustices often can be found overlapping, which leads to different levels within each. This overlapping effect is labeled as Intersectionality and is truly a major problem in society today. Kimberle Crenshaw, a well-known feminist and antiracist was the speaker of a Ted Talk, and focused her information regarding Intersectionality through a specific example of anti-discrimination law that was seen in federal court. In her examples of these social injustices she points out the discrimination that black women specifically face in the workforce, the lack of knowledge and media attention of crimes against black women, and the inequality and discrimination that has been found in court.
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At the start of the Ted Talk, Kimberle engages with the audience by asking them a series of questions regarding names of African American men who were killed by the police. Then another set of questions, this time African American women who were also killed. The factor that set these two groups apart when the audience did not know was gender. She says, “I've done it to women's rights organizations. I've done it with civil rights groups. I've done it with professors. I've done it with students. I've done it with psychologists. I've done it with sociologists. I've done it even with progressive members of Congress. And everywhere, the awareness of the level of police violence that black women experience is exceedingly low”. In this statement Kimberle is explaining the major lack of knowledge that is missing to the public when talking about these racial as well as sexual injustices faced by African American Women.
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Another point made by Kimberle that is completely accurate is the discrimination of African American women within the workplace. She used a specific example of a manufacturing plant, in which an African American woman named Emma DeGraffenreid brought to life real time scenarios of discrimination by saying, “what Emma was actually trying to say, that the African-Americans that were hired, usually for industrial jobs, maintenance jobs, were all men. And the women that were hired, usually for secretarial or front-office work, were all white”. In this statement by Emma, she explains the loophole that businesses often used in order to ignore racism claims, by hiring black males for the labor jobs, and hiring only white women or typical secretary or front-office jobs.
The last point made by Kimberle was the idea of discrimination within legal court itself. Alongside the previous example, Emma took the business to court where the speaker states, “Only if the court was able to see how these policies came together would he be able to see the double discrimination that Emma DeGraffenreid was facing. But the court refused to allow Emma to put two causes of action together to tell her story because he believed that, by allowing her to do that, she would be able to have preferential treatment”. In Emma’s situation, the court ruled against her, throwing her case out of federal court, with the reasoning being that she would simply have to much power and opportunity to change the ruling, by bringing two separate claims to rise.
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This Ted Talk, given by Kimberle Crenshaw is very educational and brings to life the idea of Intersectionality which can be used and studied in many real life situations that still exist today, which not only limit African Americans within the workplace, but specifically women. The idea of intersectionality builds on the already prominent issues currently faced by the African American community as a whole with racism but adds another level that most people don’t even think about, by tying the idea of racism to problems with sexism as well. This topic is crucial when attempting to fix social injustices within society and helps educate the public on what is being hidden, and why they need to change.
WC: 600
"The Charleston Imperative: Why Feminism and Antiracism Must Be Linked” Critical Resource Response- J.R.
Feminism and antiracism are concepts that are rarely talked about together. For most, the two ideas do not coexist. It is important to recognize the intersections feminism and racism have and how in order to be an effective feminist, one must also be an antiracist. In an op-ed written in 2015, after the Charleston Church shooting, the author discusses the concept of antiracism and feminism and why they should mutually exist together. “The Charleston Imperative: Why Feminism and Antiracism Must Be Linked” tackles this idea but fails in any way to actually discuss the juxtaposition of race and gender as they pertain to discrimination in our society, but instead focuses on how the patriarchy uses the black narrative to actively portray Black Americans in negative ways.
Sexism and racism affect women of color in unique ways. It is extremely important to acknowledge how women of color face oppression is different not only from white women but also each other. This article fails to articulate this fact which is a reason that I cannot see value in it. The article begins by stating “As feminists, we recognize how racism has been—and is still—gendered” but doesn’t delve into that any further. The author had opportunities throughout her article to examine this idea but fell short in doing so. Several important and relevant points were made within the article, but it did little to actually explore why antiracism in feminism is so important. Understanding the intersections between race and gender can help allies become better advocates for these topics.
The title is misleading to what direction this essay took. By titling this op-ed “Why Feminism and Antiracism Must Be Linked” the author leads the audience to believe they will discuss that very topic. The author even mentions how the government tries to “justify the torture of Black men in defense of white womanhood, and in its brutal treatment of Black women and girls” but only argues the former seemingly ignoring the brutal treatment of Black women.
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Throughout this op-ed, the author focuses on how the patriarchy heavily relies on racism to enforce narratives and aid in violence against black bodies. The age-old idea that white women must be protected from big black men who wish to taint their virtue is something that has been around for centuries and continues to plague black and white relations today. There will always be hesitation and fear if these types of narratives continue to be constructed and that is something important to understand and discuss, but it is not what first comes to mind when they idea of feminism and antiracism is mentioned.
Most of this op-ed strictly centers around explaining why people who claim to be feminist must be antiracist and denounce racism at all costs. This is very true and extremely important but fails to demonstrate why feminist should focus on how feminism can help with antiracism. Feminist are more equipped to help with gender-based issues since that is their major focus as a whole anyway. Expecting them to fight for racism as whole when they cannot even recognize the way sexism and racism relate in the first place is wishful thinking, and frankly unlikely to happen. The author should have gone more into detail on gendered racism and the brutality of Black women, both of which were mentioned, but not talked about further.
WC: 575
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TED Talk: “How We Can Make Racism a Solvable Problem and Improve Policing” by Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff Critical Resource by J.B.
Racism is not a feeling, but a behavior. Dr. Phillip Atibia Goff’s TED Talk, “How We Can Make Racism a Solvable Problem and Improve Policing”, identifies a solution to an issue that has been occupying our society. While eliminating racism feels impossible in our society, identifying and eliminating behaviors that allow for the decrease in racism along with diagnosing racial gaps in policing are proactive plans in eliminating racism in our society. Although the speaker’s plan dismisses the behaviors of others and only focuses on the behaviors of the police.
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Our society is in desperate need for a change in our behavior in eliminating racism. The speaker addresses this issue and states that a solution is studying police behavior and teaching them new ways to approach various issues. He has “...seen an average of 25 percent fewer arrests, fewer use-of-force incidents and 13 percent fewer officer-related injuries.” (Goff). This decrease in arrest, use of force, and injuries shows how effective Dr. Goff’s method and interventions with police departments are.
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Black people are more likely to be targeted by police officers than someone who is white. This is because police have formed a behavior that leads them to misperceive and jump to conclusions when encountering someone who is Black. He states, “...by identifying the biggest gaps and directing police attention to solving it, we can deliver a data-driven vaccine against racial disparieties in policing” (Goff). This change from unfairly associating Blackness with crime is important in the fight for eradicating racism with police departments and our society. Dr. Goff’s studies have positively affected police behaviors and those in Black communities.
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Although changing the behavior and actions of law enforcement is beneficial, the behavior of other people in our society needs to be changed if we are going to eliminate racism. This argument is missed by Dr. Goff. He states, “...when we change the definition of racism from attitudes to behaviors, we transform that problem from impossible to solvable” (Goff). Dr. Goff could include that by others witnessing how police have changed their behavior and are not performing unnecessary arrests on Black people, their behaviors will too.
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The studies and change Dr. Goff is doing for the change of people’s behavior towards Black people and is positively making the change in society to eliminate racism. The change of police behaviors will also change the behavior of others. Racism is a solvable problem and has needed to be solved for a long time. People active for the change like Dr. Goff is making the change necessary and present in today’s society.
word count: 424
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"The Importance of Feminism... and why we all need it" by Cassandra Thng Critical Resource Response- Z.S.
While feminism may seem it is geared for only supporting causes for women, it also helps men in various ways. In “The Importance of Feminism… and why we all need it,” Cassandra Thng explains how significant feminism is for the benefit of both men and women. At one point in her article, she says that feminism is about women’s equality and we should seek for fairness between both genders instead of giving one sex advantages over the other. I agree we should strive for gender equality because a less prejudiced society will help both men and women.
First, Thng argues that gender equality would eliminate certain stereotypes of men and women. Thng talks about how men are generally viewed as more dominant and women are viewed as submissive. On these roles, Thng explains, “These gender assumptions are what lead to women being poorly represented in positions of higher power.” Every woman should be as likely to be chosen as boss of any business or corporation just as any man is. These steps for fighting inequality would also bridge the gender pay gap since leadership roles generally receive more money than subordinate positions. Everyone should work for gender equality so that both men and women are represented equally in the workplace and in society.
Next, Thng says that double standards exist, and gender equality would help break these standards. She gives an example of a double standard and says, “The double standard that punishes men harshly if they have to rely on their wives for financial support, but doesn't say a word if women have to rely on their husbands for financial support.” In the past, society dictated that men should work and women should stay at home with children. Since then, these roles have become less fixed, but double standards are still apparent because there still remains a stigma towards men who stay at home while the wife works. With gender equality, there would not be any double standards. This is because members of both genders would be expected to model the same behavior.
Finally, Thng believes that modern feminism and gender equality frees people from outdated views of gender roles. On the subject of feminism, she says “It liberates one’s mind from dated, archaic mindsets surrounding gender.” Feminism and gender equality would remove views that should not exist anymore about male and female roles. If both genders were equal and we viewed everyone alike, there would not be gender discrimination because we would see both genders as equals.
I agree with Thng that gender equality would benefit both genders because we would see and judge men and women equally. If we see everyone as the same, it would remove stereotypes and pre-judged thoughts of both sexes, which would eliminate gender discrimination. True egalitarianism would benefit everyone because no one would be judged on their sex or identity. We should all strive for gender equality because it would raise everyone’s status to that of a man without lowering men’s privilege.
word count: 500
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“Misogynoir: The Unique Discrimination That Black Women Face”- J.R.
The idea of misogynoir is something of a recent appearance in the discussion of feminism. Coined by activist and academic Moya Bailey, misogynoir focuses on the direct overlapping of race and gender that black women face. It is defined as ““the specific hatred, dislike, distrust, and prejudice directed toward Black women.” In an editorial post by Janice Asare on Forbes, Asare discusses the concept of misogynoir and how it relates not only to intersectionality but anti-racism as well. “Misogynoir: The Unique Discrimination That Black Women Face” highlights the ways in which black women face discrimination in incomparable manners and Asare does a great job in this op-ed of explaining the idea of misogynoir as well as giving examples that we can find today in pop culture.
Asare begins her editorial explaining anti-racism and how its goal is to explore the ways that “antiblackness shows up in different forms in our everyday life”. During this introduction she also mentions intersectionality and the importance of using it to understand a person’s experience. She amplifies how important it is for anti-racism education to explore misogynoir and how it is manifested in life. This introduction is clear and concise and tells the audience the exact goal of this editorial. Asare is straightforward in telling her audience what misogynoir is and the basis from which it stemmed from. This allows for people in her audience who might not know what it is, to gain a clear understanding of it before continuing her article.
Asare references two major pop culture incidents that circulated media outlets for days and even weeks when the issues first arose. The situation of R. Kelly and the claims of sexual abuse against minors surrounding his name, and the events that transpired between rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez that led to her being shot. In both cases we see violence being perpetrated against black women by black men, and in both cases we see the words of a man be held to a higher standard than those of the victims. Asare’s use of these two events help showcase the misogynoir that can be found in the black community and how it can manifest in extreme ways.
At the end of her article, she raises a serious question about power and privilege and how even those cannot shield black women from the double-edged discrimination they face. If a rapper with mass amounts of wealth and fame cannot escape the scrutiny and criticisms that plague black women, then “what protections do Black women who are not in positions of power and privilege actually have?”(Asare).
This is a powerful way to wrap up an essay that is simply a call to action for people to take into account the lives of black women and their experiences. Asare does an absolutely beautiful job of exploring the idea of misogynoir using contemporary and relevant events that have occurred.
WC: 493
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The Limits of Anti-Racism Critical Resource Response by W.F.
To imagine a fight as past its date, to think of a struggle of something in the past is to ignore it’s body and let it rise from its grave. This is a philosophy of continued struggle, of sisyphus rolling the boulder uphill in search of freedom; Though we struggle against injustice in hopes of reaching near utopia. In this essay by Dr. Reed Jr, he does his best to make anti-racism seem like naught but identity politics and a distraction from harder pressing issues, stopping just short of its goal and instead creating problems. I oppose this, and say that anti-racism is a continued fight that must be maintained, and I will show this in the following points.
For example, Dr. Reed Jr. claims that anti-racism is not as strategic or as clear as past movements towards racial equality. This means that there is no everyday struggle, that the freedoms of the individual are protected in these broad strokes of the pen of justice. There is a target, clearly coated as racism, pointed out by the good Doctor that has now taken an individualistic head as opposed to a group. He is correct, but this is not bad. To uphold oneself is to uphold the group, after all.
Though, upholding oneself can lead to overinflated egos. As Dr. Reed Jr. continues to claim, there is something of a moral superiority carried by those of the antiracism banner. That they can see only their leader and “...their own heroic, truth-telling selves...” and without proof of the latter, one is the former. To deny this claim, I offer this; There are sensible people who will fight the good fight when they recognize it and move on when false claims are made. You must trust people to know when there is a problem, and when things are just operating as they should.
At the end of the essay, Dr. Reed Jr. expresses an admittedly haunting, and concerning, admittance that the priority of fighting racism seems little more than a half hearted “we’ll be back” from groups who claim to fight the good fight of antiracism, ignoring the economic injustices in favor of personal ones. I can see this, so I must plead and implore that the good fight will not stop at the personal level but come for the economic wrongdoings, that there will be no coming back and instead march all as one.
There is strategy in burning the weeds and the thimbles from top to bottom, to take a personal stake does not erase the cause. There is a merit to being conscious, but faith must be given so that good can be done, and no one must be left behind. These should be basic tenets and understandings of a proper living, of a kinder and more peaceful path. They stand testament to how to improve not only yourself, but the world at large.
Word Count: 484
An invitation for men who want a better world for Women Critical Resource Response by W.F.
There is a stout difference between a boy and a man. A boy, brash and bold, will charge into a party and make a spectacle of himself for his own amusement and some sense of instinctual ownership of the scene. A man will await his invitation, and accept it with a matter of grace and sincerity. This is the perfect invitation, for the most perfect reason, in order to create a better environment. In Elizabeth Nyamayaro’s TED talk, she makes one point that I find irrefutable. We work, and are, better together. She urges men and boys to stand together as one in the HeForShe initiative on one sole idea: What we share is more powerful than what divides us.
“We all feel the same things. We all want the same things…” she begins, and she is correct. At the end of the day, we all feel loneliness. We all feel rage. We all feel sadness. We want companionship, we want comfort, and we want happiness. Humans are social creatures, we are made to relate to one another, to come together and form groups and converse and it has been proven time and time again.
From there, we can see the proof as the talk goes on. She says “He literally went around his village, hand-picking all of the men that were abusive to their partners, and committed to turn them into better husbands and fathers.” In response to a man who founded a Husband School for the initiative. We are better, stronger, smarter together. These men would have wasted away into monstrous, abusive creatures no less than beasts but another human reached out. He reached out, to improve them, to improve the standing of those affected by them, to improve the community. Again, we have found proof of the togetherness innate to being.
What is more, and final? That the movement is working. The invitation of men did not end with them assuming control, or robbing the other, they were not put under heel and made lesser in a reverse of the situation. It is exactly the ideal of Feminism; True Equality. Women from all over are obviously on the feminist movement, but to see the men joining the cause? She reports “...from the prime minister of Bhutan to the president of Sierra Leone.” have found themselves standing for the cause.
Not our gender that will define us, but our shared humanity. Nyamayaro has made this point clear, and it's proved in the text and in the current ongoing, as well as through history. She proves in this modern time the ultimate goal of humanity was never its separation, but its continued growth together. A single man carved through a mountain, but it took years. If he had the help of the Village...it would have been done in half the time. Together we are strong, together we are better. This is the truth.
Word Count: 485
"Women Built the Tech Industry. Then They Were Pushed Out" by Emma Goldberg - H.R
How has the tech industry become such a male-dominated field? The tech industry is slowly adapting to include more women. The article “Women Built the Tech Industry. Then They Were Pushed Out” by Emma Goldberg from The Washington Post provides an overview of women’s role in the tech industry and how it has evolved to include more women. Women are being represented in technology more because of organizations, the removal of “Lena”, and the cyberfeminist movement.
Women are being better represented in the tech industry because of organizations such as Girls Who Code. The article explains, “Organizations like Girls Who Code are doing critical work to boost female representation among engineers” (Goldberg). It is important to provide girls with these organizations so that they can be more educated on technology. It is also important that they are taught through these organizations that women can do all of the tech jobs that men can do. Having these organizations empower girls to work in technology.
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The removal of the first digital photograph test of a nude image is a step in the right direction of ending sexism in the technology workplace. The article explains the origins of Lena, “...entry-level computer science classes used a nude image of Playboy centerfold model Lena Soderberg to teach engineers how to turn physical photographs into digital bits (the original jpegs)” (Goldberg). Having a nude picture of a girl be the basis of a part of technology sets gives people the mindset that women’s role in technology is like a prop. It makes women seem like objects. Lena’s picture has only been disappearing from the tech world since 2015. It is possible that Lena’s picture played a role in women not being represented in tech in the early days of computers. We are moving in the direction of getting rid of Lena’s photo for tech once and for all.
Cyberfeminists are a new wave of feminism that tries to get rid of misogyny in the tech world. The article describes cyberfeminism, “Cyberfeminists saw the growth of the dot-com bubble and worried that tech, as an epicenter of money and power, would become even more overtly misogynist” (Goldberg). Cyberfeminists want technologists to persuade people to rethink gender roles in the Internet and technology. They are worried that as the tech industry grows, women will get pushed out. Cyberfeminists want to disrupt the patriarchal norms that are found on the internet. They are urging technologists to take the theory of cyberfeminism and make it into more concrete actions.
It’s important that women are represented in the tech world. It matters because there are many women who feel that they can’t get a job in tech because of men dominating the field. However, women are highly capable of being in the tech industry, and they must be represented. Women have already made great achievements in tech, and it’s important that women keep doing so. The cyberfeminism movement relates to what we have been talking about feminism in class.
Word Count: 499
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