Paula Horton

Gender Diversity
PSYC233-001
Essay 1

I had no idea what to expect when I signed up for this class. I’m a psych major, though, so I knew

it couldn’t hurt. My only complaint is that we haven’t been able to have class enough! LOL I’ve enjoyed

learning, but, more importantly, I’ve enjoyed my thoughts from our discussions. I lead an examined life,

but I’m always on the lookout to fix that which I have not yet seen.

In one of the first classes we had, we discussed race and gender and how they are social

constructs. I’m totally on board, and was before class, but the way information was relayed caused my

thoughts to turn in a new direction. If gender and race are social constructs, why does Rachel Dolezal

deserve any drop of the hate she received? If we can have transgender people (and I’m one of ‘em!),

and gender is a social construct, why is race different. Just as many people are offended that a

transgender person may be “mocking” their own gender, I feel Dolezal received every single bit of the

hate that the trans community has suffered. Even in the moment, I felt like it was wrong, but I couldn’t

name why. (Besides, she literally took on the role, just as a trans person would.) This class helped me

with that. I was afraid to share in class because I think I will get a LOT of hate over it, but if it is true one

way, then it is true the other. (I am not arguing that she can’t walk away from it all, however… it is just

the same for a trans person. And would either feel their authentic self if they were to walk away from

their lifestyle?) Caitlin Jenner suffered at the hands of the ignorant when she transitioned, but there

were those who vocally supported her, but Rachel is only worthy of disgust and vitriol. Explain it to me? I

wondered if anyone elver stood up for her, and I found that both Rihanna and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

have said she should be allowed to live however she pleases. Both expressed thoughts to the effect of,

“Let her be as black as she wants to be!” I do understand the history (and continuing!) oppression of

people of color – especially those who identify as black. I don’t see how her choices diminish that in any
way. In fact, I see her actually voluntarily giving up her white privilege. And one of my presentations is

about how research has found that 100% of gender-non-conforming people who remembered past lives

were always the opposite gender (the one identified with in this life as trans) in the past life. What is

Rachel was black in her last life? Is she still wrong? And if she is, what does that say about ALL of us who

are transgender? I worry that I’m not seeing something, and I’m interested in a debate on this topic, but

NO WAY am I going to bring it up in class.

After our last class I went home. I sat down and turned on You Tube while I sorted through

emails and D2L. In a freak twist of luck, a video popped up on my recommendations by a You Tuber I

love: Mama Doctor Jones, board certified OB/ GYN. (I totally made my 13-year-old daughter subscribe to

her, too! <3) The video subject was about make birth control! Whoa! I clicked, and learned. She

addressed the common story that the side effects of birth control pills made the men too whiney at the

top. Turns out, not really so accurate, but kinda. The problem is the way medicine looks at treatment.

Since a man cannot get pregnant, any side effects from medications are deemed too risky. The thinking

is, you’re fine, now you have headaches once a week – how did we help? I get it, but, also… *pukey

emoji*. Whether the men could tolerate the side effects or not is irrelevant in the name of medicine –

the meds weren’t FOR them, so any side effect was a bad one. (Anybody up for a good ol’ System

burnin’? I can get pitchforks.) That’s all. Since I found out a little more info, I thought I’d share it here.

So, I’m pretty educated on history and politics, but I realized in class recently that I didn’t

actually know exactly what the Comstock Laws were. As long as I can remember, we’ve blamed society’s

prudishness on Victorian and Edwardian holdovers. I supposed Comstock was heavily influenced by such

outmoded ideas. I was right; Anthony Comstock was a super-crusader for riding the country of anything

he deemed “impure.” Dude even confiscated medical books, pictures, and letters from the mail to

prevent “smut” from reaching the sensitive eyes of the recipient. *rolls eyes* I always think when
someone is so worried about what everyone else is doing that the “worried” person is likely guilty of

muuuuch worse. I think we found that out about J. Edgar Hoover, yeah? Maybe there should be

mandatory psychotherapy for anyone who feels the need to control others’ personal business –

especially if they have an influential role!

So, for my grade, I give myself an A. Not an A+… I should have done more work for that. I did

research further on my own and also had a rather unique thought which I shared (at least, I’ve not heard

anyone point out that Rachel Dolezal was mistreated). I would honestly fall apart if I didn’t get an A

because I need a 4.0 all through SIU to hope to get into grad school. (Grades from mentally exploding 25

years ago still count, you see….) I’m working my butt off to make sure I keep my 4.0, but I have my

Autism test day Wednesday, 23 Feb., so I have to get this done now. I have so much work to do in 24

hours. *whines petulantly* Plus, I went over the page limit. LOL