Human Diversity and Human Rights Disability Studies

Discussion responses for the student’s posts

Response posts are expected to be at least 200 words each

POST 1

Ashley Ellenz
I grew up on the north side of Spokane, Washington in an economically middle-class family with parents who both held stable jobs and provided for our family. My sibling and I are both female, and in combination with being from an economically middle class family, I have seen some negative affects from these characteristics in my life.
When I started college, I was living on my own for the first time which meant I needed to get a part-time retail job in order to support myself and pay for tuition. I started working (and still work for) a local sporting and hunting goods store to support myself and have been employed there for over three years. As a female in a male-dominated store, I learned quickly that our store mainly sells to the male customer, while providing few feminine options to pick from for the female customers. This is due to our overstock of items that men typically buy. Our store is also mainly known for selling shoes, with various sports equipment, clothing, hunting equipment and firearms. I would say the ratio of male shoes that the store offers compared to the selection of women’s shoes is incredibly and substantially lacking which is bothersome. I think that the store is set up this way because the company is largely run by male employees, starting with the President and Vice President of the company and downwards. I am one of the few female employees at my specific store.
In the past, I have encountered situations in which I am treated much differently than my male coworkers. Sometimes it is subtle, but most of the time it is not. I am well oriented with the store as I have been there for many years, which means I am very familiar with the products that we sell. Once in a while, a male customer will come in and I ask them if there is anything that they need help with. If they say yes and explain to me what they are looking for, I am able to assist them and help them find a product to fit their needs. Sometimes I will have a customer tell me “no” when I ask them if they need help. A few months back, a similar situation occurred in which I asked a man if he needed help finding what he was looking for. He quickly responded with a “no” and walked away, completely blowing me off. The man walked further into the store and saw a male coworker near the front where I work and the customer beelined straight to him and immediately asked for a specific product. I was shocked and angered to say the least as this felt like a direct blow to my level of knowledge and his opinion of me. I have often dealt with many male customers completely ignoring me when I ask them questions and immediately walking over to a male employee to ask a question about our products. I have even been straight up told by a male customer that I “won’t know what he is looking for” and he will just end up “wasting his time asking me for help” and has requested that I call over a male employee to help him instead. It is frustrating to say the least, especially since I have the knowledge to help these customers out, they just automatically assume that since I am female, I do not have the knowledge to answer any of their questions, so they must ask another male instead.
These societal creations of preset sexist values have really shaped my view of the world and my experiences with my job have caused that. Society created a disadvantage for women just because of the differing gender. These ideas have become such natural thoughts for people that when faced with a breach in societal norms, we grasp for any sort of familiarity like a male customer seeking out a male employee for help rather than ‘wasting their time’ asking a female for help because a female and their knowledge simply does not fit their expectations.
I definitely think society is changing and making positive progress regarding laws for women and our involvement in policy-making. I think attitudes that people with majority characteristics have towards people with minority characteristics like gender, race, disability, etc. are taught attitudes, are influenced by how others act and can really disadvantage these certain groups of people. I think women are getting a lot more opportunities to excel in our society, but that change did not come easy and many people fought hard to see that change happen. 

POST 2

Kelsey Baylor
I come from a very well off upper middle class family who by the looks of us seem as a very standard and typical white suburban family. I am also a federally recognized Indian tribal member from a small tribe in Northern California called Concow Maidu which has an insanely large impact on my life. Just by my looks, you would never guess this about me. I often feel like a walking paradox by my genetics and my outer appearance. Having such a majority characteristic of coming from and still being a suburban middle class family and also a minority characteristic of being Native American has absolutely had affects on how I view the world, and honestly not for the better. 
Being Native American has given me such amazing opportunities in life that I cannot put into words how much I truly appreciate. I am related to everyone in my tribe by blood, so there is around 250 of us. My family owns a, casino, hotel, brewery, mini mart, and so much more which we are so fortunate to see the benefits of. I get free schooling, help with medical bills, and so many other great opportunities that most people do not get. Once a year my mother and I go down to our reservation for a meeting with all the tribal members to discuss finances or other family matters. Since we do not live there, there are quite a few of my family members I really don’t know. My mother and I are often met with glares and whispers from certain people in our family because we don’t “look” native. It makes things really hard because I do want to be more involved with my tribe, but it intimidating to do so when you’re met with so much ridicule from your own family because of how you look. 
As for growing up, we received all the privilege a white well off family would get. My brothers and I went to the best schools in Spokane, we were always socially accepted, and we never once had to worry about not having basically anything we wanted. We never even once questioned where our next meal was going to come from, but would be mad when our favorite food was out. It sounds so trivial, but those were our worries because we were SO privileged. I often look back on how my life was in disgust just by how truly tunnel visioned I was and only having concern about my life and my very senseless issues. 
When I look at instances in my life where my looks and economic class and ethnicity both came into play, it really is disheartening. As I mentioned above how some if my tribal family looks at me, that is only the icing on the cake. When people find out I am Native, I almost 100% of the time get, “If you are its probably like 1% like everyone else” or “No way, look at you you’re so white”, something along those lines. The worst is when people learn I get financial benefits from my tribe. Often, “So you live off the government then is that why your family as money” or people who genuinely get mad at me because why do I deserve that when I’m so white, it isn’t fair. Once people know, they look at me differently. I also get people making extremely racists native jokes to me, but its fine because I look white so it shouldn’t offend me, right? It is hard for me even telling all of you this because I get so tired of all the prejudiced comments and I don’t know how people will react. Both of these characteristics play a huge part in being both an advantage and disadvantage to me in society. 
Attitudes of those I have experienced through out my life really have shown me how closed minded people are and how society really needs to work on being accepting of everyone. In my experience and even my mother and brothers who have to deal with the same backlash, people really do think you have to look and be a certain way to fit into certain categories and be accepted. The attitudes of society have made me want to suppress who I am on the inside and fall into what what is deemed societal norms and that needs to change for not only myself, but anyone who feels as if their characteristics are a contradiction.  No one should feel like a contradiction.