Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

One type of microagression that I detected this week or remember from another time is sexism. The way this happened is that one day there was a friend of the family who came over and saw my sisters and I helping my grandpa build a brick mailbox in the hot sun and just because we were girls he assumed that we were not the type who did hard labor. He thought we were girly girls who didn't want to get their hands dirty and that the boys in the family should have been the ones out helping my grandpa do all the work.

My observations experiences this week affect my perception on stereotype because now I learned to sit back and watch people before I open my mouth and pass any judgment.

Perspective on Diversity and Culture

My Blog

Roza

Culture: “Whatever defines us as human beings whether it ours religion or the way we speak.”

Diversity: “Diversity is to me is nothing more than what type of group we belong to as a race.”

Adam

Culture: “When I think of culture to me it means that we all are part of a different background than other people. For example, I am African American male and I have a friend who is Asian American. We are both American but our race is what separates us.”

Diversity: “Diversity to me is anything; it is not just something that is associated with race or gender but something that could also be associated with other populations such as plants and animals.”

Sophia

Culture: “A group of people who are of a different background. Culture to me is also people who act a certain way such as the way one may talk or their beliefs in different holidays.”

Diversity: “After thinking of diversity the only thing that I can think of is different things people do. Some people are diverse when it comes to what type of music they listen.’

Which aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in the answers I received—and what are some examples?

The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course that’s included are that culture is someone background, the way they spend holidays, and their religion. Diversity that I have studied in this course is not just one’s ethical background but it is also what makes them as a person whether it is different genre of music they listen to or how adventurous they are.

Which aspects have been omitted—and what are some examples of such omission?

The aspects that have been omitted are the fact there is so much about culture and diversity than they know about. I have just found out about them because I am taking this course so it is something that I could share with them so that they could get a better understanding. For example they have omitted that culture is someone economic status, their body language, culture is also someone ethical background. This is what makes us all diverse. Beliefs seem to be more of someone culture and diversity is more of what makes up that culture such as a person’s background.

In what ways has thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics?

After thinking about their definitions of culture and diversity it has influenced my thinking in that we may all have some type of definition about culture but they are very broad. We all seem to know that it is dealing with each other background and religion. When it came to the definition of diversity thinking about their definitions has influenced my own thinking because it gave me a different perspective of the definition. For example, Adam gave a definition on diversity that not only pertain to us as human beings but also plants and animals. Adam’s definition is one that help me understand that we cannot  focus just on human beings as being diverse but also the other things in the world out their i.e. the animals and plants.

My Family Culture

A description of the three items you would choose

1. My family photo album
2. My stuff animal which is a black bear
3. My Mom’s wedding ring

How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you

One of the items that I would choose is the family photo album. The family photo album is important and dear to me because I love the fact that when looking through the album it brings back memories. The second item I would take is my stuff animal which is a black bear. This item is so dear to me because it was the last thing my father gave to me before he passed away. The last item I would take is my Mom’s wedding ring. This is dear to me because she told me that I could have it and it is something that I wear often.

Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you

            My feeling would be crush. I would feel like those are the items that mean so much to me and for me not to be able to take them would feel like a piece of me was ripped out and thrown away like garbage. I would also feel sad and angry because I was told I could bring the items and then to say I had to leave them is horrible.

Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise

             The insight that I have gained about myself during this exercise is that I never knew how special the things I have now play a major part in my life.