Humanities Homework Help

Discussion topic 1

Part I:

Read the short PDF excerpt from Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.”

Once you have read it, consider how many of the 26 statements listed there apply to you. You certainly do not have to share your number with us, but be sure to provide your overall reaction to your results, and reflect on what this means for various groups in society as a whole.

McIntosh also suggests that it is not enough to merely be knowledgeable about the advantages and disadvantages that various groups have in society–we must actually do something about them. Name at least one way that we can work to undermine this system, and how it would remedy or help to alleviate the issue of white privilege in our society. Feel free to draw on any of the concepts from our online textbook, the videos, or from other areas of our course, if you’d like. Note that you may choose to post your response as a video or written response.

Part II:

What is your “muddiest point” from this McIntosh’s article or the rest of the module–either from the reading assignment or the related videos? Be sure to include at least one question or general comment about the material, before submitting your initial post. [Note: the “muddiest point” refers to the most difficult or confusing part of the assigned reading and/or related videos].

Part 3 : Reply to 2 discussions

1:Reading this article make me sad. I would object to the author that a person cannot get privileges because of “white skin” but because of human qualities, behavior, achievements, etc. The idea to be arranged in the company of people “of my race MOST TIME” shows the author’s hatred of people of other races. I suppose that if she had the opportunity, she would eliminate people of the non-white race. However, the presence of various groups in society makes it versatile, resourceful, and innovative. America has made great strides because of the intelligence, hard work, and skills of all groups of society, not just whites. No one should have privileges because of skin color.

2:After reading this article I started to think about the things that I would normally not think about or consider that people of other races have to. Something that I was thinking about this entire time I was reading this article was when I first moved to the US I would hide the fact that I came from Syria because of the mean comments kids would make. Even though as I grew older it no longer mattered where I’m from to the people around me I think about that a lot. It makes me so sad to think that there are people who have to think about the things on the list because of their race. Something like considering if your neighbors are going to be comfortable with your race is something that I find REPULSIVE and it makes me so sad and mad at the same time. No one should ever have to consider how others feel about what race they are. My muddiest point in the module was understanding how ignorant and unfair some people are because they will put a difference between people because of their different races. It’s literally disgusting.

Discussion topic 2

Part I:

Check out both “The Gender Unicorn” and “The Genderbread Person,” which help to visually display the differences between the concepts of gender, sex, and sexualities. Then, watch this short YouTube video, to further explore the concepts illustrated in those infographics:

Next, check out this video on the science of being transgender, to learn about what science can teach us about gender identity, and how it differs from biological sex:

Lastly, check out this KPBS article to get a closer look at “A Map of Gender-Diverse Cultures (Links to an external site.)” to get an idea of just how important time and place are in dictating how we perceive various genders.

Part II:

Once you have looked at the two infographics, watched the two YouTube videos, and checked out the KPBS article/map, respond to these two questions:

• What do you find important or interesting?
• And, what is your “muddiest point” from what you’ve read and watched in this Discussion Forum, or from the assigned reading or mini-lecture videos on this topic from earlier in the module? Be sure to include at least one question or general comment about the material, before submitting your initial post. [Note: the “muddiest point” refers to the most difficult or confusing part of the assigned reading and/or related videos]. Additionally, remember that you may choose to post your response as a video or written response.

Part III:

Lastly, remember to comment on any two posts from your peers.

1:The thing I found important is how different countries and continents have recognized that there are more than two genders and sexualities. For the longest time, people have refused to accept that the world does not only have two genders. People who have come out to declare that they are of other genders other than male and female have faced a lot of stigmas. Therefore, reading the material about the map of countries that have embraced gender-diverse cultures has caught my eye. I found it interesting that over the years, people have chosen to become more open-minded.

Other than the fact that the map is demonstrating of how people’s minds have become more open-minded to gender orientation, it also shows how different people are. Even with the efforts of researchers and scientists to classify people into two genders, the differences that people have could not be limited to just two genders. Seeing that map was important to me coz I have always wanted people to be more comfortable with who they are and for the cultures to accept and embrace them.

The muddiest point from what I have watched is the science of someone being transgender. After watching the video, I was confused about how complicated science is. What leads to someone being of a particular gender is a combination of so many things. The video shows that people who identify as any other gender apart from male and female have their own unique biological makeup. It is not something they makeup or just a phase like people like to claim. In as much as the video shed some light on these people, I was left confused.

2:What I found interesting is that some traditional non-Western cultures don’t just view gender as binary, they believe that there are people who can be both male/female. I would be interested to know the structures of their societies, and how they incorporated the other genders into their everyday interactions.

My “muddiest point” is that men would benefit in some ways and have better lives if there wasn’t such a strong patriarchy. How could men change their lives so that they’re not participating so much in the patriarchy?