Dear Professor Tweed,
I never fail to make introduction posts sound incredibly fumbling and awkward (which are two words that actually describe my personality quite well), but here goes nothing. I am a 23-year-old Florida native and a junior at UCF. I originally hail from this little town in North Florida called Sneads, which is right in the armpit of the panhandle and more of an extension of Georgia and/or Alabama than anything. My goal is eventually to make it out of Florida, but furthering my education is important to me, and currently I can barely afford in-state schooling. I am in the middle of switching my major from Psychology to English Literature.
To be honest, it’s only been within the past few years that I’ve started developing an active interest in issues such as gender equality and women’s studies. Thinking back now, I realize that there always was a latent feminist somewhere inside of me, and she would occasionally break through in the face of glaringly obvious discrimination or sexism, but I was still that girl who would say things like, “I wouldn’t call myself a feminist, but [insert stereotypical feminist ideal here].” There isn’t an exact moment I can pick out where everything changed; I just know that one day or week or month I started feeling more and more passionate about these issues I’d only ever given a passing thought, until being a feminist just became another positive extension of myself as a person. Then a friend suggested that I might be interested in doing a women’s studies minor, and here I am, testing out the waters, so to speak.
Like I mentioned before, I come from a small town. As with most small towns, it is also very conservative, and the people who live there tend to subscribe to very traditional views on gender roles. My family is no exception. Growing up, my mother was always the one who did the cooking and cleaning, and if something was broken or a vehicle needed some work, it was my dad to the rescue. Even the chores were divided by what my parents thought of as gender appropriate: I would clean the kitchen and wash the clothes; my little brothers would take out the trash and mow the lawn. When we reached dating ages, my parents were more actively concerned for my well-being because I’m a girl, so obviously I was weak and emotional.
When I first started taking a more active role in my, for lack of a better term, womanhood and what it meant to be strong and independent, I was incredibly bitter toward my parents—in particular, my mother—for not showing me that there are other options out there, for not letting me know that just because I liked books better than boys most of the time that there was nothing weird or abnormal about that. Looking back, though, I’m glad now to have experienced it. It allowed me to be aware of both sides of the spectrum, and struggling on my own to become the person I am today has only strengthened my conviction that the way I feel about feminists and feminism and women’s rights is something I’m right to feel passionate about.
In closing, as requested, I would like to state that I read, understand and agree to the terms of the course syllabus and blogging protocols.
Looking forward to the semeter,
Kassie
