Universities across our nation undoubtedly idolize the concept of diversity, speaking proudly of the numerous enrolled students who come from different states, countries, and even continents and issuing scholarship to those they declare diverse enough to receive. I, however, am not the definition of diversity in any way. Born and raised in America, I am an eighteen-year-old girl from a middle-class, white family located in Kentucky. This puts me in a situation where the majority of people I see, both in real life and not, look and act just like me. Surprisingly enough, this does not make me feel proud, but rather, uncomfortable. Modern media bombards us with representation of my race and gender—whether it be through our university’s advertisements,
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Less than a week since classes had begun, one of my male peers instructed me how to walk back to my dorm from the classroom (despite me having no trouble finding my way there in the first place.) My roommate has told me of how her peers and even professors occasionally make a sexist remark, whether intentionally or not. It is as if these men forget that we women are in the same university as them for a reason, and they have taken it upon themselves to instruct us of our roles and our limitations after setting …show more content…
I saw that despite the saying, people do not believe beauty is skin deep. I will never be called a racial slur: a sick and dehumanizing word handed down generation to generation as if it were nothing more than an older sibling’s worn sweater. I will never be forced to hold back my tears as someone demands that I “man up” because the fragile definition of masculinity proclaims emotions are too feminine for the male form and being. I will never feel panic pierce my heart as I see the bill for my much needed education and think “How will I ever afford this?” only to realize I won’t. I will never stumble over a language I have to speak in a country I am unfamiliar with, only to be mocked for my broken English or cursed at for not speaking “American.” I will never be paraded as an item from someone’s checklist of
Less than a week since classes had begun, one of my male peers instructed me how to walk back to my dorm from the classroom (despite me having no trouble finding my way there in the first place.) My roommate has told me of how her peers and even professors occasionally make a sexist remark, whether intentionally or not. It is as if these men forget that we women are in the same university as them for a reason, and they have taken it upon themselves to instruct us of our roles and our limitations after setting …show more content…
I saw that despite the saying, people do not believe beauty is skin deep. I will never be called a racial slur: a sick and dehumanizing word handed down generation to generation as if it were nothing more than an older sibling’s worn sweater. I will never be forced to hold back my tears as someone demands that I “man up” because the fragile definition of masculinity proclaims emotions are too feminine for the male form and being. I will never feel panic pierce my heart as I see the bill for my much needed education and think “How will I ever afford this?” only to realize I won’t. I will never stumble over a language I have to speak in a country I am unfamiliar with, only to be mocked for my broken English or cursed at for not speaking “American.” I will never be paraded as an item from someone’s checklist of