Social Justice: Sex Positivity, Feminism & Health Implications - Deirdre O'Donnell

On March 24th I attended Deirdre O'Donnells' social justice event on sex positivity, feminism and health implications. O'Donnell is a RIC graduate and is currently getting her masters at BU. During her presentation, I learned a lot about feminism and different things that I thought were true but turns out they are not. O'Donnell's presentation/research touches base on a lot of ideas of the authors we have read in class. While listening to her talk, August popped into my head because a lot of what she was saying was how people of the LGBTQ community do not have the equal rights they deserve. August expresses the need for people to come to an understanding of the LGBTQ community, their needs, and how they deserve to feel safe just like everybody else. Grinners M from SCWAAMP comes into play in O'Donnell's work because she talked about how all females are presented as pieces of meat compared to males.

Deirdre O'Donnells' presentation really opened my eyes to the world we live in as females versus males. I really enjoyed what she had to say and all the research she has done has not gone unnoticed. I'm glad that she made it interesting and how nobody felt uncomfortable at some of the topics.

PK

Kliewer

Hyperlinks

While reading Citizenship in Schooling: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome, it made me realize why I want to become a special education teacher. I do not want my students to have to feel the way Mia felt during the classes she took. The students who are classified as "disabled students" should be able to interact with others and not just the people in their classes/teachers but also the entire school. They should not feel as though they are different or left out. 

In one section of Kliewer's work, he talks about the elements of citizenship. This reminded me of my high school where we had multiple programs where students got to work, help and create friendships with students with different intellectual disabilities; peer pals (spending a class period in a special education classroom helping), best buddies and project unified. These three programs allowed for the entire school and town to come together and get to know these students unlike before. I believe these programs are important just like Kliewer stated: "it establishes the equal worth of all schoolchildren, a sense that we all benefit from each other, and the fundamental right of every student to belong" (Kliewer, 79).

I believe that this connects to August because those that do have learning disabilities deserve the same chance as anybody else to be socialized like any other person would be. They deserve a "safe place" where they can be themselves and accepted for that. 

Points to Share:
I enjoyed this reading because I feel very strongly about accepting those with down syndrome. Nothing bothers me more than those who are disrespectful towards those with down syndrome or any other disability. I am lucky enough to have been able to spend time with kids who do have down syndrome and other disabilities thanks to the different organizations at my school that allowed me to be a part of. 

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