Blog Assignment #3

The two articles that intrigued me the most were Audre Lorde's "Age, Race, Class, and Sex" and Julie Bettie's "How Working-Class Chicas Get Working Class Lives."

In Lorde's article, she discusses the idea of the "mythical norm:" "white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure." As a female Jew, I do not completely fulfill this mythical norm. I have never seen my religion as a hindrance, but as a feminist, I have fought for my gender rights. Professor Messner spoke in class about how people will focus on the characteristics of the mythical norm to which they belong and ignore the ones they do. Though I do not take for granted the benefits of the aspects of the mythical norm that I fit into, I do not embrace nor appreciate them as much as I do. Many people suffer hardships far worse than me due to their race, gender, weight, etc. In modern day America, I am well-off as a woman compared to a century ago, let alone thirty years ago. Though I still believe that women have much more to accomplish, this article and Professor Messner's lecture have made me analyze the way I view the world.

Bettie's "How Working-Class Chicas Get Working Class Lives" was extremely interesting. I went to North Hollywood High School in the San Fernando Valley. Though nowhere close to an inner-city school, I still witnessed situations very similar to the ones that Bettie describes. I belonged to the Highly Gifted Magnet program, where we took extremely rigorous courses. Many of my friends outside of the program, however, took classes in which their teachers did not care about them and simply believed that they would never get anywhere in life. A vast majority of the white and Asian students belonged to my program, whereas a vast majority of the black and Hispanic students did not. Similar to the vocational business school, recruiters from the military were constantly on campus. Though I admire and respect the military and those who are in the service, many of the recruiters would entice students to sign up without giving them all of the details. On numerous occasions, I discussed these situations within my school with my AP Spanish teacher, an amazing teacher who taught students who did not belong to my program. As one of the few teachers who actually cared about her students and pushed them to go college and start a career, she was able to explain to me the difference between her teaching method and that of other teachers. Many people are simply there to get their salary; however, especially when the "working-class lives" mentality is still so prevalent, students need their teachers to be willing to go above and beyond for them.

To answer Professor Messner's question, "situated knowledge" is both an advantage and an impediment. Knowledge gained through experience is extremely helpful in situations where a subjective viewpoint is necessary. People relate better to others who have had similar experiences to their own; thus, when networking and establishing relationships, situated knowledge can be very helpful and opens the world. However, when connecting with people who have had different experiences, situated knowledge can be a hindrance. It can create preconceived notions that color one's perceptions. For example, with Sonia Sotomayor, her situated knowledge helps her bring a different perspective to the Supreme Court, helping her represent the underrepresented. However, because she has this knowledge based on her own personal experiences, it may be hard for her to be completely unbiased and open-minded. She has not lived the life of an upper-middle-class white male and thus cannot present his viewpoint based on experience. Her decisions are bound to be somewhat based on her own experiences, though this does not mean she is unable to see the world clearly. Depending on how one uses their situated knowledge affects whether or not it is considered an impediment.