Weeks 1 and 2: Social Media Activism

in·ter·sec·tion·al·i·ty

ˌintərsekSHəˈnalədē/

noun

the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

"Through an awareness of intersectionality, we can better acknowledge and ground the differences among us."

            To me, the word intersectionality is combining race, class, gender, and sexual orientation into a form of discrimination. In grades 1-12, I was always afraid to let people know that my mother is gay, because kids would stop being my friend or make hateful comments toward my family. My ancestry is mostly German, but I am also Romani and Cherokee. Both the Romani and Cherokee people experienced discrimination, and in these two groups, mass genocide throughout history. The college I attend has a large population of African American students, some of whom hang around in groups outside of the dorms. I am a Caucasian female and constantly get cat-called with a combination of racial slurs and sexist comments. Applying to college senior year of high school was difficult for me. There were so many scholarships at these different schools for every race except Caucasians. It didn’t matter that I had a 3.84 GPA, what they cared about was that I was a white, middle-class (even if barely), female. The only scholarship that I got was an academic one for the college I attend now. It is better than nothing, but I was also refused Financial Aid because my mother and her partner made $100 too much as high school teachers, and the fact that my deadbeat father is running from the IRS. It is going to be very hard to pay off all my debt, and I am still applying for scholarships, and continue to be denied.

            As I watched the video, I found it shocking that people were going so far as to find Feminista Jones’s identity and address and that they even went so far as to threaten her son.

            The most important message that I took away from the video is not to be afraid to speak up for yourself and others being discriminated against.

            This video relates to the readings from weeks one and two because it discusses political activism on social media sites, specifically, Twitter. As was discussed in the video, social media activism continues to be an extremely effective way to promote change. Khan’s The Case for Social Media and Hashtag Activism reinforces some of the main ideas in the video, such as social media giving people the power to call out injustices, inaccuracies, and misrepresentations to bring about better understanding of other cultures and people. The ABC show, Alice in Arabia was eventually taken off the air after a Twitter hashtag campaign expressing that the show dehumanized Arab/Muslim men and brought forth stereotypes.

Sources:

Khan. The Case for Social Media and Hashtag Activism. Patheos: Altmuslim. 30 Ocotber 2014. Web. 22 January 2015.

BlogHer. “BlogHer '14 Intersectionality: Race, Gender, Feminism & the Internet.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube. 19 April 2014. Web. 22 January 2015.

Link to video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l6_6-Yb8zg