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Vanessa Ochoa

Professor Ghods

ASAM 101-56

05 December 2023

Critical Reflection:

Before Module 3 and 4 I believed I was someone who was highly educated in aspects of

gender, sexuality, feminism, class, racism, ableism, ability class, and intersectionality. However,

I was quickly able to realize how there is so much more to the story in which I was ignorant of

the situation. In the same way, I felt that I was able to broaden my perspective and have a better

understanding of the different disadvantages we each tend to have when we are classified as an

‘other’. Not to mention, how even the categories labeled as others are sub-groups. For example,

take into account feminism. Feminism is not just for all women as a whole, but Asian-American

Feminism, African-American Feminism, and etc. To put into simple terms, I began to realize that

as Professor Ghods mentioned in Lecture 3: Critical Social Justice & Social Change, there is no

such thing as a “universal experience” (Ghods). Module 3 and 4 enabled me to become more

aware of the situation that we still continue to face along with bringing light to other concepts

that I had never considered.

To begin, gender, sexuality, feminism, and class are all things that I myself had already

begun to think about prior to taking this course. The main reason being that these are things that

are often talked about, yet there never seems to be a plan to ensure things are fair for all groups.

For example, gender which many believe to be the way that people accept those who are

bisexual, asexual, etc. However, the reality is that people still tend to stereotype the norms of

being a male and female that is the initial root of the problem we still face. In the reading named
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Sociopolitical Issues in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies the author mentions that “These

roles and philosophies are woven into socioeconomic systems and dominant political ideologies

so much that we collectively may not spend time thinking about their meanings,” (pg. 185).

What this really means is that these ideas of what a womens and a man’s role should be are

something that has been engraved into our mind since the moment we are born.

In addition, we must bring awareness that not all women share the same experience

about feminism.White women have different experiences in regards to earning equal rights than

someone of color. I myself have noticed this in my own personal experiences. I am Hispanic, and

on top of that I am a female who grew up being in the middle-class system. There is a memory

from when I was in the fourth-grade that to this day still has an effect on me. I was moving

homes, and my white friend made a comment that because I was moving it must be to a smaller

home. I felt that at this moment she was stereotyping me to be a poor Mexican girl. I knew I had

nothing to prove, but to a young girl who did not understand why she thought that was

confusing. However, as I got older I began to realize that she associated my race with being poor

because she assumed that white people automatically are of higher class. This was daunting to

come to the realization, and made me feel that I was just another stereotype to those around me.

However, I now know that it was the ignorance of a young girl who could not be blamed since

this is the way we were taught to learn things through movies, books, and lessons learned

through school. As Chapter 12: Putting It All Together states, “You raise this concern by

cautioning your friend to remember that this film was written, produced, and directed by White

people, and told from the White perspective” (224). What this really means, is that everything we

see and hear is that of the White perspective leading things to be stereotypical of a certain race

and sometimes even gender.

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Two topics that I learned about in Module 4 which I myself had previously not given

much thought into are ableism and ageism. I myself had never considered ableism being

something that I could be offensive towards along with ageism. Both are seen as things we want

to avoid because we all want to do anything and everything without anything stopping us.

However, this is where the issue begins when we believe that elderly along with people who

have a disability are not human. As much as I am embarrassed to admit, I find myself having

thoughts of being thankful that I am not a different way. However, just because someone is in a

wheelchair, blinde, deaf, etc. does not mean that they are any less capable of doing everything I

do. In some ways, society along with buildings are the only things that believe me to feel that we

are different. In addition, while reading Doing Social Justice: 10 Reasons to Give Up Ableist

Language states, “The term moron was used to oppress human beings like her, many of whom

are still in the living memory of those of us who have come after” (2014). What this really means

is that words such as moron and retard should not be used because it is degrading to those who

have mental disabilities. As much as it pains me to admit, I tend to use these words. I do not

want to make a defense for myself, but I had never thought of these words in this way. To say the

least, I was ignorant as a whole not knowing how this is degrading. However, I now know and

want to become more educated on mental disabilities and how they began to progress over the

years so I can be more sensitive to the subject as a whole.

I feel that after module 3 and 4, I am able to gain a better understanding of how we each

share many differences in the injustice that is still present. Although I know that I still have so

much more to learn, I am glad that I was able to broaden my understanding of how I am able to

make a difference. In some ways, I knew that these problems existed but I felt that I was unable

to make a difference. To say the least I know that I was still contributing by sitting there and
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doing nothing about the situation. However, I now know that I need to be okay with being in

uncomfortable situations by bringing awareness to what someone said or did is seen as offensive.

The only problem I continue to face is how do I ensure that I will not offend the group I am

trying to defend because sometimes people do not want to be helped? What I mean is how do I

know when someone does or doesn’t want to be helped by ensuring they are being included or

that they are not being talked down to for being considered an ‘other’. Overall through this entire

course I feel that I was able to reflect and ensure that I make a difference and continue to educate

myself further in regards to learning how I can make an impact at a larger scale.
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Work Cited:

Cohen-Rottenberg, Rachel. “Doing Social Justice: 10 Reasons to Give up Ableist Language.”

HuffPost, HuffPost, 10 Aug. 2014,

www.huffpost.com/entry/doing-social-justice-thou_b_5476271.

Sensoy, Özlem, and Robin J. DiAngelo. “Chapter 12: Putting It All Together .” Is Everyone

Really Equal?: An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education, Teachers

College Press, New York, 2017, pp. 216–233.

Ghods, Sarah. “Critical Social Justice and Social Change” ASAM101-56, Aug. 2023, California

State University Fullerton. Google Slides