Discussion Journal #1

Over the past week (Sep 1-Sep 7) in class we discussed many topic such as what is race and ethnicity, diversity inside of organizations, social justice with in a diverse society, sustainability, and constructed categories of difference to name a few. While many of these topics had interesting points within the readings and class lectures, one of them provoked much more thought about my life and about the people around me. The reading titled “Constructing Categories of Difference” addressed multiple ways in which people view the world and many of the categories that people are placed in before they even have a chance to introduce themselves.

After reading the article “Constructing Categories of Difference” last week I began to look closer at the way I am treated by others as well as the presumptions I put on others based on what the article labeled as master statuses (i.e., Gender, disability, race). I realized that no matter how I see myself, to others first I am always a woman and therefore that is my master status. I will be prejudged on things I can or cannot do based not on past life experience but based on my gender. As I looked at my relationships with others I also realized that without even noticing it I was doing the same to others using phrases like “my German friend Hanni was reading a book” the fact that she is from Germany has nothing to do with her reading the book and yet I will add it in there.

“Constructing Categories of Difference” also addressed the essentialist and constructionist world views and how they differ from each other. Making the point that the essentialist sees things as they are, and that there is no room for interpretation as things are independent from him.  Also stating that the constructionist sees thing from his perspective and uses his beliefs and experiences to interpret the world around him and make decisions based on a total grouping of those experiences. Looking closer at these points and listening to the in-class discussion I would place myself in a “somewhat removed from pure essentialism” (Constructing, 3) category. This means that I take in a lot of what I am told is true but that I believe that it is also correct to include some individual interpretation into my decision.

You might be reading this and saying yea ok so this is great information but what is the point? Well the point is that because of preconceived notions based on the white male society that the United States started as, anyone without the master status of white male is starting off at a disadvantage. The realization of this made me stop and think more about the role that gender or race play in a day to day society. My professor Steve made this clearer as he was discussing his master status of being black. He said that from a distance before you can even tell if he is male or female people will always know he is black and they will make their first judgment based on that fact alone, also that people are shocked when he says that he is a professor because most people assume he is a coach or that he works within the athletics department. Having realized the judgments I make on a daily basis pertaining to similar situations, I realized that I need to challenge the way that I look at life and the people around me. I need to make the point to see people as they can be and not try to fit them into a cookie cutter idea of what the dominant culture says they are.

Based on the new information I learned last week and the discussions we had in our class I am going to try to step back get to know the people I meet better before I make a judgment on who they are. I understand now the tendency to judge people on the color of their skin or on their gender or even on a perceived disability but that these things don’t make a person who they are they are just parts of who they are and there is so much more that what is visible to take into account. I plan in the future to intentionally be more open-minded when meeting new people and to get to know them prior to deciding who they are or what they can do. I will do my best not to categorize the people around me, and instead I hope to see them as the individual that they are and be grateful for the skills they have to offer.