Fromknj Weblog

In my opinion all of the articles have proven to be informative as well as eye opening. A true-color blind society would be flawed, because of under appreciation. If a society was color blind how could one tell that the grass in green and the sky is blue. These colors are a thing of beauty, and pretending or not seeing the colors in front of you is ignoring beauty and diversity. How could one appreciate a red rose and a pink one if they could not see the differences, the differences give them their beauty in life.
I have grown up with many family members in civil service and have witnessed discrimination every time I ask my father if he filled the positions at work. The discrimation is not over sex or skin color, but military service. In the state of Pennsylvania people who pass the civil service test who wish to work for Penn DOT (PA department of transportation) take the exam and get a score which veterans are given extra points. Veterans are highly favored, if three people apply for a job and one is a veteran, the veteran must be hired if they meet qualifications before the other two can even be considered. The veteran may have a lower score but they must hired before anyone else can even if they are not the best for the job. I have witnessed this to many times when my dad is understaffed because they cannot hire the qualified workers who have experience, and he if forced to work overtime and not get paid overtime. In my aunt the first female firefighter in Erie, PA it took her nine years before she proved she could be a firefighter. I see my older cousin struggling to become a firefighter after having a high score on the civil service exam, he is a trained paramedic who went to post graduate school for emergency triage, and will not be hired because he did not have veteran points on his score. So I see this and live this every day.
Discrimination is real and cannot be ignored, it has not gone away just changed. No debt can be repaid to the people who suffered this. The only thing that can be done is to change the system. This is what I have seen and experienced, these are my thoughts and mine alone. So do what you will after reading this. This is my life.
~Julie~

The non discussed thoughts about male privileges were of great shock to me and a few caught my attention particularly due to my involvement in a recent seminar in sexual assult and rape.

8. I am not taught to fear walking alone after dark in average public spaces.
That has crossed my mind because all of the people listening to the presentation and giving it were women. Men did not need to know how to protect themselves everyday from going to class to going to a party. No men attended the presentation and each one who walked into the blue lounge the minute they heard what was being discussed they quickly got out as fast as they could a few almost started to run. I found it fascinating that none of the boys were interested in protecting themselves because they do not worry about it.

30. I can ask for legal protection from violence that happens mostly to men without being seen as a selfish special interest, since that kind of violence is called "crime" and is a general social concern. (Violence that happens mostly to women is usually called "domestic violence" or "acquaintance rape," and is seen as a special interest issue.)
We were discussing what to do if you or someone you know is a victim where to go, in Meadville it is either Family Planning or Women's Services. Yes, they told us that men have called and ask what services the women provided. I found these privileges to be fascinating in the fact as a women I have not thought about these in the details that would seem self evident such as that these crimes are special issues. I have never seen these as special issues, but they have different names and the names have less negative connotation then general terms about violence.

These were the two that stuck with me due to my recent exposure to a discussion about those things, I could comment on the others but spending all afternoon at Meadville Medical Center has drained my excitement on the topic for the moment.
~Julie~

The unmistakable privilege of physical characteristics is more powerful than I once believed. The power that some of these things have over other people is heinous and the fact that they are just random genetic properties is even more detestable. The power a tall white man has compared to a short black woman is deplorable; power should be given through actions and commitments given by that person to others. People should not be born with excessive power over others that lead to some of the worst behavior the human race has ever shown. Among those behaviors are prejudge, discrimination, and pure hatred for one another. These emotions have lead to nothing but violence and oppression in the past and will keep leading towards those conclusions if the cycle is not stopped.

Our pervious class discussion was not one of academic discourse it was one filled with accusations and emotions. These comments were at the best crude at the worst highly discriminating. I was personally looking for a way to Karen a hole out of the room. She had pressure put on her no one should ever have to face in this day and age, she was being asked to do what McIntosh said speak of all people of her culture. That is never a fair thing to do to a person, a member of the human race, one of us. And Keisha was being the calm rock in a stormy sea, she was not asked to speak she just weathered the comments. Maybe it is time we remember we all have a voice and respect each other and not dominate the floor, because in academic discourse it is not 'my way or the high way'.
~Julie~

If chivalry is dead please don't interrupt me I need to go build a time machine. I like it when someone is polite man or woman. I think society as a whole could be more polite to each other in all aspects of life. Holding a door for another person isn't a challenge or a statement that they are too weak to it themselves, it is an indication that they respect human life and others around them. I love it when people are polite it makes my day and I love to thank people for the little things, because I learned that the little things are sometimes the big things just obscured by trivia of life in the twenty first century.
I want to be treated equal, yet differences have to be respected and embraced because who wants a boring world of clones walking around. It would be a page right out of The Cure, or another high school English book having to deal with identical people having no emotion. So I do believe chivalry can exists and all people can be treated equal. So hold a door and an elevator for another and see if it doesn’t put a smile on someone's face, yours or theirs.
~Julie~

The women who have gone before us in science were strong and brave. It will be a honor to one day become a woman of science. Currie, Meitner, and Noether struggled against outward public sexism. These women paved the path for all women of scientists with their hardwork and pure determination. It is and still will be a fight for every scientists to get their worked recognized, but with the work done by the former women of science, maybe future ones will have a even playing field in life and in academia.

As per my usual style this blog is already running into problems and now is behaving for the moment. I am from the fourth largest city in PA. I enjoy sailing and playing with my two cats. I love being with my family and my friends. I am interested in science with the untilmate goal of working for the CDC. I have been interested in learning about the path of women in science after doing a paper on Elizabeth Blackwell. I also studied some Nobel scienctists, including Ross and Laveran. I find this class facinating to learn about the women in science today.

~Julie~