Karen Khvan, Period 2, 2/8/23

 Socio-political Consciousness

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and

how these can influence your perception of self and others?

I believe that inequity and oppression are pressing issues in our society, and that

ignorance and unwillingness to listen and change are the things that will lead humanity into

destruction. While my generation may be considered more accepting and more open, there are

still major steps we have to take. The main problem is stubbornness- people are unwilling to

communicate and budge on their standpoints (particularly those who may be more

conservatives). It is also easy to dream of a reality where everyone is happy and joyous, but the

truth is that it is incredibly difficult to actually inspire change and make people want to change. It

seems as though every day varies- sometimes I will see something that makes me believe there is

hope for change, and others I just want to scream and yell and lash out at the world for setting up

such a future. Even with all of the resources available I sometimes feel absolutely hopeless. I

know it’s not true, but it can be difficult not getting caught up in the news or the recent going

ons. There are also days where I just want to let go and not care, but doing that is worse than

doing anything at all.

I understand that I have yet to experience a lot, and that things are constantly changing

and we will never be certain of our future. However, I do believe that I have a strong stance in

my beliefs, and that I will stand by and support them. One could always be doing more- signing

more petitions, going to more protests, etc, and sometimes that guilt does lie on me for not doing

enough. But in the end, I am willing to stand by what I think and say, and I think that is

important. When doing our Norse project for mythology, our group was considering various

perspectives that we could delve into. In the end, we chose to give voice to Freya, a goddess who

is only perceived as a prize. As much as I love being a woman, it is incredibly frustrating to be

diminished to nothing more than my gender. While I have been privileged in that I have received

what is considered to be “minimal” gendered comments, I was not immune. Even though I was

not a Norse goddess I related to Freya- her lack of a voice and having to act tough to deflect

comments. All that one can do is not stay quiet- to speak out against the subtle commentary and

remarks. People who stay silent only enable those with wrong views and opinions, and that does

nothing to change.