Gender Profiling

Labels, stereotypes and gender profiling are often associated negativity. It has been my practice to avoid such labeling and stereotyping, but it’s a difficult task to accomplish. We are conditioned, programmed to form judgment before acquiring pertinent facts. Beyond the scope of labeling, is the task of categorizing. We begin by identifying who, and what we are. Consequently, we unearth what we’ve become based on education and cultural influences. More specifically we need to examine the challenges of cultural and gender bias, and how it impacts education through this discovery we will learn that we need retraining so we can overcome these imbedded biases.

In the beginning of the semester, we discussed the politics of locations as

The way that we view behavior in a classroom determines how we view each gender in society. Do we reward assertiveness for all or just some? Is assertiveness viewed as acceptable behavior by girls or is it just seen as troublesome? Society often applies a double standard. It negatively views specific genders in an educational field, corporate or professional environment. We tend to favor one gender over another, and place stereotypical predispositions related to behavior or performances. I equate many of these bias judgements to greed not necessarily an actual limitation. For example, I don’t believe that the founding fathers of the United States actually believe that blacks were inferior. It is my belief that they created this narrative out of necessity based on power and greed. They needed to regulate blacks in a subordinate positions much like what occurs with women. White males needed to project themselves as be superior, and as a result deny others equal opportunities by limiting their

During my childhood, I had the privilege of spending countless summers with my grandparents in the rural south following the ending of the Jim Crow era. This particularly unique experience provided valuable insight into what was expected from each gender. The patriarchal and matriarchal boundaries had been established through colonization. While expectations of an education didn’t exist for males or females, it would soon change as the days of being a homemaker’s and laborers’ would soon wane. Despite the lack of access and the denial of education access, it was understood that education was the key to future success. Rich discussing the fact that “black feminist cannot be marginalized as a result of white racism”. The reference of educated blacks is quite prominent in Rich’s as she makes references about WE Du Bois, Sojourner Truth and Fannie Mae