Hello Everyone!
My
name is Ashannie Cabrera. I am a transfer student from Palm Beach State College
where I received my AA degree; I am currently considered a junior here at UCF.
I am a Biomedical Science major with the intentions of going to medical school
to become a Pediatrician. Throughout my life I’ve been surrounded by young kids
and have always had a passion for helping them in any way possible. Medicine
also fascinates me and so I’ve decided why not put the two together and do
something that really interests me in life.
The reason why I am honestly taking this Intro
to Women's Studies course is because it was one of the electives that I could
choose from for my major. However, I am interested in taking this course to
learn more about “Feminism” and have a better understanding of what it really
means to be a woman in today’s society. Before I was introduced to this course
I wasn’t really sure what I would be getting out of it, but a few days into the
course I seem to have a clearer understanding of what I will be learning. I
hope to gain more knowledge of the history from this course that has brought us
to where we are today. Also, I would like to learn about how far we have
actually come from when feminism was first introduced and what people are actively
doing to continue the movement. Most importantly, I would like to learn how I
can become a part of this community and incorporate it into my own culture of
Hispanic descent. I’ve failed to realize up until two years ago how male
dominated my culture is. What I mean by male dominated is simply the way both
men and women believe they should be towards one another, case in point from
experience and what I have been surrounded by men believe that women should
always be 100% submissive to them and that women should not have any say in
what goes. As far as women are concerned, I feel as if we feel that we do not
have the right to stand up for what we believe in and therefore are treated the
way we are. The reason why I say we is because since I was raised around this
environment, I feel as if I fall under that category but I have hope that
things will continue to change as time goes on and as I am exposed to more
things in life. This is why I feel that as a young lady of the current
generation, especially within the Hispanic community, it is important to
understand and practice what we believe in, in order to pass on to the next
generation what should be equality throughout the world.
Feminism
and Women’s studies I believe have the same meaning to a certain extent. They
both involve politics, social, economic equality, and history understanding.
The way I believe they differ is that Women’s Studies can be viewed as the
study of Feminism such as the course we are currently in. Feminism, however, is
geared more towards advocacy and actually being able carrying out one’s beliefs
on feminism and being a part of the movement. This is the general understanding
I have about Feminism and Women’s Studies and as previously stated I do hope to
gain more knowledge about both terms and other things associated with the two.
Therefore, I look forward to a successful semester in learning about everyone’s
different approach to Women’s Studies.
