Sexual Orientation Class

I learned some important things from this course that I will allow to stick with me no matter my profession. Diversity is something I will always have to deal with regardless if it is race, gender, or gender orientation. Importantly this course has allowed me to grow as an individual and has shown me that it is okay to learn about other races and their background. Not only has it allowed me to be acceptable of everyone in fact, it has allowed me to be less judgmental amongst others.

I came into this class not so naïve as some students may have been. I’ve grown up going to public schools, living in a diverse small town, and having interracial relationships in my family. Although I was informed on some forms of racism and the fact that racism does in fact still exist, I didn’t realize it was extensive as it really is. All the readings, videos, and lectures have directly related back to the purpose of the course. As a whole, I feel like this class has grown in knowledge not only about how racism affects people, but how to change and make a difference. This class has informed me a lot more about the unfortunately thriving acts of racism in the United States.

Oppression exists in various forms, whether by race, sex, or age, across all levels and walks of life, individual interactions and systematic policies.

Modern Forms of Social Control (Privilege & Discrimination) – The Social Construction of Race, Class, and Gender.

The privileged group in each of these different "kinds" is sort of like the baseline or a point of comparison for every other group. So, as an example, when it comes to race the white group is the privileged group compared to people of color. Also, when it comes to sexual orientation the heterosexual group is the privileged group compared to people who identify as homosexual. This means that in the earlier "race" analogy white people would be half a mile away from the finish line and people of color would be a full mile. Same goes for sexual orientation, people who identify as straight would be the half mile contestants and people who identify otherwise would be the mile contestants. This does not mean that if you are privileged that things are just handed to you. Most people have to work very hard for the things they want out of life. Having privilege just means that someone who is underprivileged has to work just as hard as you plus a little bit more. For example, did you know that a black college graduate has the same chances of getting a job as a white high school dropout? People of color are twice as likely to be unemployed as white people and they earn nearly 25% less when they are employed. Also, did you know that in the U.S. in 2014 woman made only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men? This is because when it comes to gender, men are the privileged group and women are the underprivilege along with people who identify as transgender. Privilege isn't something that anyone asked for and yet it exist as a unquestioned, unnoticed part of our society to

The common denominator of those facing oppression is, we all lack basic human rights. For instance, a dark-skinned, black woman should not be discriminated and judged because of her dark chocolate skin, her big and beautiful natural hair, and her eyes as dark as the sea reflecting the night sky; she should be judged for her character not her physical appearance. Those facing oppression should not be dealing with it after thousands of years of our ancestors facing it.

Picture an African American High School student who is struggling with their sexuality identity. He is experiencing anxieties from high-achieving parents, which both attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities. His father was the star player on the football team and served in the military. His mother is a partner in a prestigious law firm. In addition, his older brother won the Heisman trophy, and his sister just landed a job working at the Whitehouse. Needless to say his parents, has high expectations for their children. He is currently a B average student, and is working hard to bring his grades up. Also, the transition from middle school to high school has added additional stress to this student’s life. We can conclude this

As Collins states, “whether we benefit or not, we all live within institutions that reproduce race, class and gender oppression” (Ferber et al., 2009). It’s our personal experiences with each of these types of oppressions that give us insight into our own lives and the roles we play in being both the privileged and the oppressed. As Allen Johnson points out, “privilege is always a problem for people who don’t have it and for people who do, because privilege is always in relation to others. Privilege is always at someone else’s expense and always exacts a cost. Everything that’s done to receive or maintain it – however passive and unconscious – results in suffering and deprivation for someone” (Johnson, 2016).

What information, if any, do you wish you would have known prior to taking the course?

There are many different positions that are held in society today regarding certain sexual orientations and activities. These issues include premarital sexual activity, masturbation, and the most debated, homosexual orientation and behavior. The opinions that people hold on these topics are likely to be influenced by several factors. The more common of these factors would be religious background and affiliation. In order to gain information regarding how certain religious organizations feel about certain sexual orientations and activities, I looked to my church to see the positions held on each of these issues.

Every person is privileged, stereotyped, and discriminated against in their life. Unfortunately, these acts, words, and assumptions are not within a person’s control, because they cannot change their race, sex, gender, or disabilities. Therefore, these attributes are unearned and society needs to eliminate the principles associating people with them, and determine a person’s significance based upon the decisions and actions they choose in life.

This chapter was definitely an interesting one for me. I’ve always considered sexual orientation to be a topic that comes up and is something that just middle or high school teachers deal with. It wasn’t until reading the part in this chapter about the elementary teacher hosting parents’ night and the two mothers showing up to hear how their child was doing that I realized it was something that elementary teachers deal with as well. The more I thought about it, elementary teachers could even have it a little more tough than middle or high school teachers because young children don’t hold back much, they say exactly what they are thinking and have questioning minds concerning all subject matters. Sexual orientation has become quite a large topic

The concept of privilege is a fairly easy concept to understand once you peel back all of its layers. But it is also a concept that is rarely discussed among society. Because society is so focused on how everyone is “one in the same”, the conversation of how people are actually different is never discussed. Understanding that even though we all are human beings; our race, class, sexuality, religion, and many other things is what makes us all different in some shape or form. Conversations revolved around institutional discrimination and institutional racism can prevent certain people with privilege from understanding how marginalized groups are being oppressed by certain systems. For some reason, privileged people, particularly white privileged people, assume that all experiences are universal when we all know they aren’t. Assuming that all experiences are universal erases the lived experiences of marginalized people. Not only is there privilege related to skin color, but there is also privilege in sexuality as well. Heterosexual men and women have privilege as well. There have been well documented cases of institutional discrimination against those in the LGBTQIA community. While white privilege and heteronormativity privilege are forms of privilege, there are also other forms of privileges as well. But of course, there are some heterosexual men and women that don’t believe that they have problem. Sadly, they do, but they fail to recognize even the smallest things that form

For centuries, the human population has progressed through the establishment of civilizations; some of the most advanced and notable ancient civilizations thrived on the foundation of a political or social hierarchy, in which a particular group held more power than the other. In Mesopotamia, for example, the king, who was at the top of the ladder, declared laws while slaves worked for the wealthier class. Even today, this hierarchical trend persists; in the United States, members of the judicial, executive, or legislative branch have more influence in politics than ordinary citizens. Within every republic, democracy, monarchy, etc. there will always be a person or group that contains more power than the majority of its citizens. Power can be

Some social behaviors are so ingrained in people’s day to day lives that they would never notice them unless they were pointed out. One such behavior that is so often overlooked is the preferential treatment that certain groups receive over others. The privileges of the dominate social groups over the subordinate ones go so unnoticed at times that they are even seen as just innately how things should be. In the contemporary society of the United States, the group with these privileges is often White males, and the majority of them would disagree about that statement. Surprisingly, the group that gets the most treatment feels the most abused. This only highlights the obliviousness accompanying those to which this invisible power belongs. However, each person, at one point, has been advantaged over another without realizing it.