Journal 3: The Legacy of Oppression My third journal for reflection stays focused on the Legacy of Oppression presentation and how this information has helped me to better understand myself and to empathize with my clients more effectively. By addressing the current social issues involving the Transgender community and their use of public bathrooms of their choice, one can see the effects that the lack of power or the systemic oppression has on an individual’s and/or the transgender community’s feelings and behaviors. Accordingly, two movies from The Global Peace Film Festival; The If Project, and The Pearl of Africa will be utilized to demonstrate the issues of oppression.
Part A: Reflection 1) When thinking about the five faces of oppression: …show more content…
We are better, but not by much! That is why this presentation on oppression is needed to help me empathize with my clients. I may be able to empathize with oppression because I am a gay man, but intersectionality can skew my perspective. I am not only a gay man, but I belong to the dominant cultures of being male and White. For example, in order for me to understand a client who is a Black non-gay woman, I must understand that her power, privilege (if any) and experiences of prejudice may be much different than mine. As a woman, her power is less than a man and as a Black woman it is even less. I must try to understand the client’s perspective of oppression through her personal point of view. She may have been denied work because of her gender, but may have found work because of the color of her skin. Institutions may have structurally discriminated against her differently than me, but I still may be able to identify with some of the social “norms” that she encountered to achieve trust. All of this encompasses my personal awareness which supports the facilitation of my ability to advocate for the client in an effective …show more content…
I learned that Uganda is a country full with hate toward the LGBTQ community and will put individuals belonging to that community in jail for life or put them to death. The movie shows how resilient the human spirit can be in the face of oppression by following the life of a Transgender woman as zie goes for zim final surgery. I found it interesting to see the movie equate “sexual orientation” to the Transgender struggle. It reminded me that people still believe that Transgender people need to be sexualized. Over all, the movie was a sentimental love story among the backdrop of oppression. It was right on point when honestly showing how oppression can hurt a person and shatter many lives. I was grateful to see an example of an individual with a strong sense of self that pushed back a system of
Part A: Reflection 1) When thinking about the five faces of oppression: …show more content…
We are better, but not by much! That is why this presentation on oppression is needed to help me empathize with my clients. I may be able to empathize with oppression because I am a gay man, but intersectionality can skew my perspective. I am not only a gay man, but I belong to the dominant cultures of being male and White. For example, in order for me to understand a client who is a Black non-gay woman, I must understand that her power, privilege (if any) and experiences of prejudice may be much different than mine. As a woman, her power is less than a man and as a Black woman it is even less. I must try to understand the client’s perspective of oppression through her personal point of view. She may have been denied work because of her gender, but may have found work because of the color of her skin. Institutions may have structurally discriminated against her differently than me, but I still may be able to identify with some of the social “norms” that she encountered to achieve trust. All of this encompasses my personal awareness which supports the facilitation of my ability to advocate for the client in an effective …show more content…
I learned that Uganda is a country full with hate toward the LGBTQ community and will put individuals belonging to that community in jail for life or put them to death. The movie shows how resilient the human spirit can be in the face of oppression by following the life of a Transgender woman as zie goes for zim final surgery. I found it interesting to see the movie equate “sexual orientation” to the Transgender struggle. It reminded me that people still believe that Transgender people need to be sexualized. Over all, the movie was a sentimental love story among the backdrop of oppression. It was right on point when honestly showing how oppression can hurt a person and shatter many lives. I was grateful to see an example of an individual with a strong sense of self that pushed back a system of