Madeleine's Gender Studies Blog

     First and foremost, Uni needs to do a better job of using people’s correct pronouns. There has been an issue with people, especially teachers who do not put in the effort to finding out and using student’s correct pronouns. Giving and asking for pronouns should be as normal as asking for someone’s name and saying your own. Although it takes minimal effort to call people the correct name and pronouns, it can make a big difference in someone’s life when people respect who they are. There is no reason to not ask for people’s pronouns and this small act can make a huge difference.       The next thing that needs to happen at Uni is that both teachers and students need to make fewer assumptions about people’s sexuality. When I came out, I heard that some people were surprised and had assumed that I was straight. I do fit the stereotype of a straight person because of how I dress and the activities that I do, but I don’t think that straight should be ...

For my creative project, I created three posters that featured Black Poets. I wanted this to be something that could possibly hang in middle and high schools so I chose excerpts from poems that I thought would be appropriate for those settings. I also wanted the posters to be engaging on their own without the poems. I decided that using a collage technique would work really well with what I wanted to do. I decided to not focus on one figure but instead give a voice to several Black Poets. I think that it is really important to view Black Poets as exceptional for being poets, not just for being Black Poets. By creating these posters that could be used in schools, I am trying to normalize the work of Black Poets as classic and beautiful poetry, not just because of their race. By exposing students to these poems, it normalizes Black Poetry.  My posters highlight the beauty of these poems and the complexity of these poems. There were so many poems and verses to choose from but I chose ...

This country’s reaction to Breonna Taylor’s murder has been inherently sexist and intertwined with her being a black woman. Taylor, an EMT, was shot in her own home five times as she. Police officers entered the house on a search warrant for a drug case after midnight even though the main suspect had already been arrested. Forcing their way into the apartment, they reportedly failed to identify themselves despite being required to because of their warrant, leading Taylor and her boyfriend to believe that her ex-boyfriend, the man police were looking for, was breaking and entering. After calling out to police and receiving no answer, her boyfriend shot back at who they thought were burglars. Police then opened fire, seriously wounding Taylor. An ambulance was not on the scene of the raid, which goes against standard raid procedure, and the ambulance was not called until much later. This happened on March 13, 2020 (New York Times).  Before and upon entering the apartment the police m...