Hope Alliance

I was highly surprised by the turn out of the event. I myself had not heard of the event until it was brought up in Paideia so I was surprised to see so many people there. When I first heard about it I actually did become particularly interested. I feel like I grew up slightly oblivious to issues in the world that did not pertain to me (Before you judge, my high school had a lot of racial tension and gang issues, so homosexuality issues took a backseat to the violence I was exposed too. I learned not to ask why someone started a fight). In fact I do not believe homosexuality issues came to light in my view of problems with the world until attending Southwestern. The first seminar I attended was the Gender Identity seminar. We discussed encounters people have experienced with homophobia and heterosexism. I was quite surprised by the stories. As I mentioned before coming to Southwestern, I was never placed in a situation where someone shared haste toward another person due to sexual orientation. I have heard people refer to things as “gay” as one student pointed out, however, me being slightly ignorant toward the derogatory intent never really thought much of little statements. Since coming to Southwestern, my eyes have been open toward the issues homosexuals must deal with but I do not believe I quite grasped the extent of the issue. I am lucky enough to have a group of friends that do not discriminate or judge others. By living in a bubble of no hate I feel like, as many people probably do, that I live in my own happy world where everyone loves everyone and even though we are aware evil exists in the world it is not our battle to fight. After the seminar I feel like I gained a little confidence to say something when I hear a derogatory statement. I am sure that nipping the little comments will have a dramatic effect, it certainly will not fix all the discrimination but calling someone out for being disrespectful can help the process of cultural acceptance. The second seminar was equally impacting in my life. Being on sports teams (swimming has always been coed) and having an older brother, I have constantly heard coaches call out little boys for not being a “man”. I remember when I was little and a coach yelled at my teammate for acting like a girl (he couldn’t do a full minute of “man” push ups). As I finished I screamed at the coach that I found it highly insulting that my teammate’s lack of athleticism lowered him to my supposive level when I clearly was stronger than him (for the record I completed the full minute doing “man” pushups). I then noticed coach’s persuasion pushed my teammate to completing the task. I find it sickening that society uses the threat of become inferior to a woman as motivation. The seminar we attended reiterated my feelings.
I am very pleased we attended the seminars as a cohort. It opened my eyes to issues at hand and made me slightly more confident to step out of my comfort zone and stand up for respect of all mankind.