Category: English Blog Post

My goal in life is to make all people feel like they have a special place on this Earth. I would say that I am a human rights activist, and these issues hold a special place in my heart. My Aunt adopted 7 children with disabilities. To me, this is normal but to other people, it isn’t. I spent my childhood in inclusive classrooms, and not everyone gets to experience that. As somebody who is passionate about education and human rights, I want to be able to create a space where every student feels safe regardless of any other factors. The idea of eugenics and the horrifying perspectives people had and still do have about people with disabilities. It is sad to know that human life may be valued less than another. I think the biggest takeaway is that people with disabilities often do not find that their disability takes away from the joy in life. The world has to understand that they are people aside from their disabilities. I really enjoyed this quote: “How we frame disability determines how we live it, and if it is defined as calamitous from the start, the job of finding meaning is steeper than it need be. The fact that you wouldn’t have chosen something doesn’t mean that you can’t find joyful meaning in it”. The needs of those who are disabled are different from those of us who are not disabled. They are only different, not bad or an inconvenience, just different. The impact people can make in the world is so much more than this small aspect of them. As a society, we need to do better at making sure there is access and equity for all. If it was normal that all people experienced this I think that there would be a different perspectives on these “differences”.

I think that being able to recognize your weaknesses and where there might be room for improvement in yourself is such an important skill to practice as a human being. The world is always changing and we should always be changing with it. There should be no shame in changing an opinion or value you once had. If we are able to set aside our own thought to connect with someone I think we would have a greater chance of creating stronger relationships. There is a connection between intellectual humility, tolerance, and bridging a gap between differences. I think that this is the biggest takeaway from the article. The world needs more tolerance and compassion. If people were more willing to express empathy toward other groups of people and often act with compassion the world could be a better place. Not everyone is going to value the same things you do, but we all have experiences that have shaped who are whether they are good or bad. It is important to not brush this under the rug. There is something we can learn from those who are not like us. And even if we do not align with them or agree with them it does not mean they are less valuable than anyone else.

Jamison tries to connect her own lived experiences to those she is listening to. She fears that she too could have this disease after she hears their stories, but she knows she is just grasping for a deeper understanding of these people. She often can only offer a kind nod, because she truly has no idea what this pain feels like. To her, it is less that she can feel empathetic and more that she is able to show compassion to them. She doesn’t believe the same “delusion” that they do, but she does believe that they feel this pain. There are no worms living under their skin, but they are lonely and isolated because of this pain. I don’t know if I would say her empathy is radical. She treats these people in a humane and kind way. Everyone deserves this and everyone has the ability to treat others like this. She tries to set aside her own preconceived notions about their illness and see beyond the scars and sores, but she still sees their symptoms as delusions. At the end of the day, she is the one left feeling guilty, wondering if their source of suffering is real. Anyone can recognize that someone is in pain but can they truly be empathetic if they don’t believe in where this pain is coming from? She tries to equate life and the fact that we are all chasing something and sometimes that something keeps moving so far away. But I think it is unfair to relate metaphorical life experiences to the pain these people are experiencing.

“But compassion isn’t the same thing as belief” (182). To me, empathy is not the same thing as compassion. I think she has a great amount of compassion for these people and she tries to be empathetic but nothing about this seems radical, more so just human.

Empathy allows us to not share an experience with someone but recognize how the experience would affect someone. It is interesting that empathy does not require an emotional response and that it can be used as a “weapon” of some sort.

I think that if we are able to recognize that we will never know how an experience affected a person, and that experience has shaped who they are and that they have emotions around it whether good or bad. It allows us to connect with someone and understand them a bit more. I will never know what it is like to break my arm, but I can imagine it hurts and feel bad for someone who has. The idea that you do not need an emotional response to have empathy is a little confusing for me. If you do not feel sorry for someone who has broken their arm but can recognize that it must have hurt how are you able to connect with them? But we can all practice empthy and develop it as a skill rather than something we are just born with. If we work harder at it we are better at connecting and feeling empathy for other people. I think that this is something that everyone should be taught. Empathy can positively affect the world and people.

Velasquez-Manoff writes about their time in Hawaii and the culture that they observed. The “aloha spirit” is “a concept roughly defined as an emphasis on mutual respect, getting along and taking care of one another”, which I think we could all benefit from. The people of Hawaii can relate to coming from people who worked hard just to survive. Race has nothing to do with hard work and respect, which unifies the island’s people. They can recognize that each person is so much more than one thing but is made up of so many stories. Race and categorization just divide people, but when we see each other as the same we can connect on a greater level. Categorization can help people relate to one another or provide a sense of belonging and connection to where they came from and who they are.

Gay feels that she rather be a bad feminist than not one at all. She feels connected to people who considered themselves to be feminists even if they do not all portray themselves in the same way. The people of Hawaii categorize themselves as locals based on their ideology and way of life regardless of the way they look. This gives them a sense of belonging.

Velasquez-Manoff also discusses the absence of white people on the island and that they tend to stand out more than those on the mainland. This is a cultural shift for those who have not ever experienced being different. There is no transparency. Nguyen wanted to feel transparent her whole life, just like every other white woman. She wanted to feel like she belonged, not like she was exotic and different.

We all want to feel like we belong. Categorization can help people find their place in this world and help them relate to similar people. I empathize greatly with the end of the article. If we all categorize ourselves as human beings that live on a floating rock dependent on each other for survival. We too could create a feeling of community and belonging comparable to Hawaii.

I have spent my whole life in a small town bubble, where everyone shared a similar way of life and thought. I was lucky to grow up in a household where I was told I was smart enough to curate my thoughts and ideas. Equality has been a topic of conversation my entire life. To me, feminism was portrayed in a particular light. Even though I became more educated on the topic o inequality and advocated for equality, I have never considered myself a feminist. I too am opposed to labels, not just this one. If I accepted the labels that I most identify with I think I too would be considered “bad”.

I have this fear that every time I speak out or call someone out for something that isn’t right I am labeled as annoying. If I ask for respect from another person I am labeled as crazy. I am labeled as angry because there are so many injustices in this world that can’t go unrecognized. No human wants to be treated poorly. No human wants to feel stuck in this box that society has placed them in. Every human has the same needs–love and joy.

Nguyen hates the category she is placed in solely based on her name and culture. Gay hates that she can not fit perfectly into a category. You cannot negotiate the category people have put you in. The box is tight and unfair. Nguyen wants to escape and does. Gay feels like it is better to accept it, yet allow herself to just herself even if that does not mean she fits the perfect mold. Just because as a society we have these categories doesn’t mean everyone will fit into them perfectly or that even though it may seem that they belong there it may not be true.

Beth Nguyen recounts her first experiences with racism and how America has placed her into a box because of her name. She was the punchline of every joke, pitied for the unfortunate pronunciation of her given name, and was looked at as something exotic. I think that we can see through history that when people do not understand something they categorize it as something that is not “in” with them. Some people fetishize her and her culture others taunt and bully her. Growing up in America she experienced this “American gaze” and felt shame around the things that turned heads. She resented herself and her name. Something that was totally out of her control. It is interesting to see how much something can affect one’s self-perception. I think as time went on Beth not only resented the people who furthered this insecurity but she resented herself for letting it grow as big as it did. Yet, at the same time, the looks and actions wouldn’t change and some would tell her she was overreacting. She goes on to make a powerful statement, “the joke is more important than our existence”. This is heartbreaking–no one should ever feel that their existence is less than. She wanted to be “in” she wanted her existence to be equal to everyone else’s and by changing her name she was able to get that.