Connections Quarterly Summer 2019 - Gender | Page 11

LES S O NS F R O M A G E N D E R S TU D I E S C L A S S R O O M my peers define who I was. In their eyes, I was “an oreo” or “black, but not really black.” I have spent the past few years unlearn- ing these internalized notions of myself by creating and seeking spaces that approach identity with nuance and care. I can honestly say that taking an introductory women’s and gender studies class my senior year of high school is one of the best steps I took towards unlearning such internalizations. For the first time ever, I was part of an academic com- munity that not only saw who I was, but re- spected and centered experiences like mine. This was made especially clear while reading Chicana feminist and queer theorist Gloria Anzaldúa’s “La conciencia de la mestiza/To- wards a new consciousness” from her book, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. In the article, she rejects a solely dualistic way of thinking, and instead, asks readers to em- brace the ambiguity of bicultural and bira- cial identities. While Anzaldua’s was one of the more challenging articles we read that semester because of style and structure, it felt liberating to work through my confusion in a supportive environment. “For the first time ever, I was part of an academic commu- nity that not only saw who I was, but respected and cen- tered experiences like mine.” class not only exposed me to a diversity of authors and ideas, it also allowed me to con- sider and express my ideas through writing journal entries, creating videos, and leading class discussions. This was integral to being able to bring my whole self to the table. It let me showcase different parts of myself and it let those differences not be seen as deficits in the academic classroom, but as strengths and assets. In the words of Anzaldúa, I learned that, “I am an act of kneading of unit- ing and joining that not only has produced both a creature of darkness and creature of light, but also a creature that questions the definitions of light and dark and gives them new meanings.” 8 Discussions about identity are often vulner- able places for students and teachers, which is why it is necessary to establish and con- tinually evaluate the community norms cre- ated by each new class. Additionally, it is so important that students can see themselves in the material and authorship and process the information in a variety of mediums. Our Lesson #2: Give Students Windows Tala Anderson, SFS ‘18 I arrived in Women and Gender Studies (WGS) class with a passion for feminism but little formal background knowledge on the subject. From the moment I set foot in the 8. Anzaldúa, Gloria, Borderlands: the new mestiza = La frontera (San Francisco: Spinsters/Aunt Lute, 1987). Continues on page 10 CSEE Connections Summer 2019 Page 9