Introduction Letter

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.