Allison's Blog #2

The two articles that I have chosen to blog about are "Age, Race, Class, and Sex," and "How Working Class Chicas Get Working Class Jobs."

First off, I chose Audre Lorde's piece because it reminded me off a topic I studied in high in high school called the binary box theory. The theory states that no matter what or who someone is they will be judged either top or bottom in the human mind. It is proven to just be human nature. For instance, man is above woman, or whites are above blacks. This is completely wrong and this article went into detail about much of the judging and other ways in which the judging takes place. It discusses how many people automatically just don't accept others because they are different from them. She then discusses how there is a "mythical norm" in which we all feel. It tells us that we do not fit into the stereotype. Societies have created a stereotype that is acceptable and many people try to fit into this stereotype. However, with more individuals feeling the pressures of this society is beginning to change. More people act differently or look differently, or even have different religions. And now, it is more accepted. Next, I will talk about "Working Class Chicas Get Working Class Jobs." This was extremely eye opening to me and not in a good way whatsoever. I always knew that there were some prejudices in our society but I didn't have much of an idea that it had escalated to this level. I had always felt a little bit uncomfortable when it would continuously be the same race of maids who would clean my house. I am very open minded and was extremely friendly but after reading this piece it made me feel as though they most likely felt as the girls in the article did. I hope that our society does not take it to the extreme level as much now, in everyday life, as it did in the past. I don't want the house cleaners to feel like they are any less important then I am and so I am now self conscious of how I act.

As for Professor Messner's question, I think that situated knowledge is a huge impediment to seeing the world clearly. When people have experiences and grow in character their opinions will change and adapt as they do as well. This will effect seeing the world clearly. This will create many conflicting views and problems in individuals perceptions alone. They may believe one thing at one point and something completely different after they experience something. Also, they will not be open minded to others opinions. They will believe only what they have experienced and who is to say that what they have experienced is right? This will cause many problems in seeing the world clearly.