To me, social justice means fairness. It means having the morality to perceive the obvious decisions that we as humans should be able to make. Social justice means fighting for what is right. It’s ignited by passion-- by our choices and behavior. It means to mend the hopelessness that people face every day, to achieve the unity that was meant to be achieved a long time ago. Some obstacles that are faced while trying to gain social justice are dissimilar opinions, and certain steps that may be hard to attain. For instance, I learned about the unjustness and environmental racism that Little Village residents had to face when trying to make the Fisk and Crawford power plants shut down. These power plants were responsible for traces of lead and mercury in soil that emerged into the reasons why people had respiratory problems such as asthma, and some even cancer. LVEJO was successfully able to shut down these power plants over the years, but it took a lot of management and commitment. Therefore, this an example of how it takes time to achieve social justice. My understanding of social justice was actually enhanced over my four years at this school; I was informed about many social justice issues that were linked to basic curriculum classes. I realized how fortunate I was to have attended this school because I wasn’t acquainted with the reality of how many issues are in the world, and how many ways we can fix it.
My vision for the struggle continues to change as times change. With more people being aware of social injustice, and try to make a difference, it motivates others to try to do the same. This is important because it shows how powerful unity can really be-- especially when it comes from trying to make a change to gain social justice. My role in the struggle is to remember what school I went to; I will show others how I was able to benefit from attending Social Justice High School. I will continue to try to inform others and share different experiences at SOJO that helped me benefit and learn about real social justice issues on a global level. Feminism is a social justice issue, because it is not enforced enough. Men and women must come together to fight against gender inequity, and try to change stereotypical roles that society has created. Social justice will be gained from feminists once they are able to make a difference in rape/sexual assault. Many victims suffer psychologically from these experiences, and people need to come to realize that it is a serious issue. Thus, feminism is a social justice issue that must be reinforced. |
People have come to believe that feminism is being against men and trying to form a group that is “superior” than another. (In this case, women are “better” than men). Most people in my life, and I’m sure many people in my community, don’t really understand the real concept of feminism and its importance. Therefore, it is important for me to inform people about the real definition of feminism- “the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Women and men should be able to have their own rights for their own lives and their own bodies, not a government. Although many people miscommunicate the true meaning of feminism, I believe the true definition of a feminist must be reinforced because it is about both women and men gaining equality.
I became interested in this topic because of many personal experiences that I have been through. In my life, I, and many people, have experienced a few events that influenced my decision to become a feminist. My mom, female cousins, and my friends, have almost all been victims of cat-calling. According to Stop Street Harassment, “...nearly 94% of female respondents were the target of whistling at least once and nearly 38% said it occurred at least monthly.” Cat-calling is disrespectful and makes us feel unsafe. Women’s bodies were not meant to be sexualized to satisfy other’s eyes. Women do not intentionally wear specific clothes, specific makeup, and portray a specific behavior to make people feel that we want to gratify their “expectations.” There are some men in my life that believe that women are meant to stay at home, cook, and clean. Gender roles have created a patriarchal mindset to prove that somehow, men will always be capable of doing more.Some teachers--role models, that I had looked up to, believe in a term called being “lady-like.” If women don’t live up to these terms, I don’t believe it makes her any less. I know a man and women, both very important people to me, that were sexually harassed as children. According to RAINN, 44% of victims are under the age of 18 and 1 in 33 are men. This man, is not supposed to “grow up” or “be a man.” The woman in my life was not “provoking” because of the clothes that she wore. Children are never asking for it, no one ever is. Speaking of clothing-- dress code. If our bodies are continuosly sexualized for wearing specific articles of clothing, it is promoting rape culture. Teaching men to treat women as sexual objects also plays a big role in this as well. Another issue is women against women. There are many women that constantly put each other down, instead of helping each other get through things since we are already have many problems to deal with because of our sex. I have many experiences in my life related to feminism. It is, therefore, my passion to dedicate all my hard work into this project, to try to reinforce the definition of feminism. People need to realize that we need feminism in order to gain equality for all. Since 1848, feminists in America began having meetings to try to revolutionize the treatment of women; however, popular culture in society continues to indoctrinate people into believing that women and men must follow specific stereotypes and gender roles which influences violent acts such as sexual assault, and as a result, procreates mental health complications for women and men.
I became interested in this topic because of many personal experiences that I have been through. In my life, I, and many people, have experienced a few events that influenced my decision to become a feminist. My mom, female cousins, and my friends, have almost all been victims of cat-calling. According to Stop Street Harassment, “...nearly 94% of female respondents were the target of whistling at least once and nearly 38% said it occurred at least monthly.” Cat-calling is disrespectful and makes us feel unsafe. Women’s bodies were not meant to be sexualized to satisfy other’s eyes. Women do not intentionally wear specific clothes, specific makeup, and portray a specific behavior to make people feel that we want to gratify their “expectations.” There are some men in my life that believe that women are meant to stay at home, cook, and clean. Gender roles have created a patriarchal mindset to prove that somehow, men will always be capable of doing more.Some teachers--role models, that I had looked up to, believe in a term called being “lady-like.” If women don’t live up to these terms, I don’t believe it makes her any less. I know a man and women, both very important people to me, that were sexually harassed as children. According to RAINN, 44% of victims are under the age of 18 and 1 in 33 are men. This man, is not supposed to “grow up” or “be a man.” The woman in my life was not “provoking” because of the clothes that she wore. Children are never asking for it, no one ever is. Speaking of clothing-- dress code. If our bodies are continuosly sexualized for wearing specific articles of clothing, it is promoting rape culture. Teaching men to treat women as sexual objects also plays a big role in this as well. Another issue is women against women. There are many women that constantly put each other down, instead of helping each other get through things since we are already have many problems to deal with because of our sex. I have many experiences in my life related to feminism. It is, therefore, my passion to dedicate all my hard work into this project, to try to reinforce the definition of feminism. People need to realize that we need feminism in order to gain equality for all. Since 1848, feminists in America began having meetings to try to revolutionize the treatment of women; however, popular culture in society continues to indoctrinate people into believing that women and men must follow specific stereotypes and gender roles which influences violent acts such as sexual assault, and as a result, procreates mental health complications for women and men.