Blog #1
Hello,
I'm Pat Southorn, just switched from linguistics to a GWSS major this semester. I'm enrolled in GWSS 1001 as a requirement for the major, but I hope to take much more out of class than just the three credits! I'm excited to see what kinds of knowledge and ideas I and others will share throughout the semester. I am still interested in linguistics and language in general, but gender studies appeals so much more to me...
Outside of school I try not to work too much at my retail job and do try to read as much as I can (usually books dealing with feminism, queer things in general, other radical-type literature, maybe Spanish poetry...) & I guess it's an interesting fact that I'm vegan, which incidentally became an important part of my life right around the same time as gender/feminism/sexuality issues!
As much as I have delved into ideas about gender, power, and everyday life, I still have some difficulty organizing my thoughts... (Not very academic of me.) Anyway, coming from where I am-- being a young white male, living in a "nice part" of a "nice" suburb, son of upwardly-mobile parents, and other identifying factors-- I have a considerable amount of power in everyday life, even if I don't acknowledge it or actively use it, solely because of my perceived gender and my skin color and class background, etc. I didn't do anything to "earn" this privilege; nor do I want this kind of power in our society/culture/world because it is unjust and very often oppressive. But that's where I'm at, and I want to find a way to keep working towards a different reality of gender, power, and everyday life.