Dissenting Voices: Recent submissions
Now showing items 1-20 of 122
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Breaking the Binary: Failure to Adhere to the Laws of the Traditional Gender BinaryThis essay provides a framework for conceptualizing the social construction of the traditional gender binary within a patriarchal society. The research explores the history of the singular they as well as gender nonconforming identities through a socio-historical lens and utilizes the Social Role (Eagly & Wood, 2011) and Social Identity Theories (Tajfel, 1972) to argue the importance of language and performativity in conceptualizing gender identity, gender performance, and biological sex.
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Sex-Based Discrimination in the Workplace: A Closer LookWorkplace discrimination is common in businesses all over the United States. It is crucial to understand different components of discrimination, like bullying, the wage gap, and verbal invalidation which I discuss in this essay. I also offer a possible solution to workplace discrimination and detail the gender wage gap across time.
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Menstruation and Restrooms: The Gender Nonconforming Community's OppressorsThis essay focuses on the struggles of menstruation and public bathrooms for gender nonconforming communities. This topic is important because the barriers faced by gender nonconforming communities are frequently ignored and create a harmful environment. I argue the importance of menstrual product accessibility because it is important for those who menstruate to have the necessary products available in all public spaces. I also argue for bathroom equality because everyone deserves a bathroom they feel comfortable and safe in. I hope to raise awareness about the importance of bathroom equality and convince readers of how beneficial it truly is for those who identify as gender nonconforming to be heard.
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LGBTQIA+ Experiences in Nursing Home SettingsThis essay looks at the experiences of queer individuals and their treatment in healthcare settings; specifically, in nursing homes. The essay focuses on the treatment of queer workers in nursing homes based on a personal account and the treatment of queer individuals living in nursing homes based on research and stories.
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An Impasse of Belonging: An Exploration of How Language Impacts IdentityThis essay seeks to identify how the use of language inherently impacts identity. Through the use of historical and influential texts, the essay draws attention to how language as an entity over time has evolved and adapted to continuously perpetuate inequalities. In this essay specifically, the inequalities that are discussed at length are lived and experienced by bisexual women.
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Dissenting Voices Volume 11Table of Contents. Opening Voices: Meghan Martin An Impasse of Belonging: An Exploration of How Gender Impacts Identity. More Voices: Brandon Eldredge: LGBTQIA+ Experiences in Nursing Home Settings. Samantha Holmes: Menstruation and Restrooms: The Gender Nonconforming Community's Oppressors. Beth Heberger: Sex-based Discrimination in the Workplace: A Closer Look. Closing Voices. Riley Johnson: Breaking the Binary: Failure to Adhere to the Laws of the Traditional Gender Binary.
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Intersecting Identities: Middle Eastern Women in Dual CulturesDual cultures are an experience known only to people who live in two cultures. I was inspired by my poetry and the experiences that I and my family went through as women as well as the stories of Middle Eastern women I read. They lived in dual cultures and experienced violence in their homelands alongside wars and sexism from both cultures they lived in. In the Western culture, they also experienced racism. I, as an Iraqi, tend to turn to poetry to express the variety of injustices I observed, and my people tend to do that. We are well known for our poetry that speaks about our experiences.
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Disability Representations in High School English CurriculumThis essay explores the common misconceptions of disability, why disability representation is important, and provides an example of disability studies application through the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003).
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When I Realized I was the Gay Best Friend: Queer Media Representation and the “Coming Out” ProcessThis essay examines queer representation in widespread media and its impact during the coming out process. I examine three coming out stories in popular media and use my own story to shine a light on the challenges of coming out as LGBTQIA+. I hope readers who are struggling with coming out can use these examples to voice their LGBTQIA+ stories.
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Is Our Medical Community Failing Women? The PTSD Epidemic among Women in the United StatesPTSD has become fairly recognized within the United States Medical Community. Experts have begun to expand PTSD research beyond the confines of PTSD due to war and have begun looking at PTSD in the civilian populations. Due to this advancement in research, we now know that certain identities, like gender, can put someone at a higher risk for developing PTSD. In this essay I argue that even though we are aware that gender, and more specifically being a woman, can increase someone’s chances of developing PTSD, we still see women being misdiagnosed and mistreated by medical professionals. I examine this perspective through an analysis of current PTSD literature regarding women and compare it to my own experience as a young woman who sought out PTSD diagnosis and treatment.
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Looking into the Prevalence of Substance Abuse among the LGBTQIA+ PopulationIn this essay, I explore the prevalence of and reasons for substance abuse among the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, & Asexual, or LGBTQIA+ community and ways to lessen the stigma and provide for more adequate treatment opportunities.
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STOP: The Sexualization of Women & GirlsThis essay argues that the current mainstream Western beauty ideal in the United States both fetishizes the prepubescent female body and infantilizes the adult female body. This intersection works together to create impossible standards for women and girls and ultimately can perpetuate sexual violence against women and girls.
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Varied Experiences of Fat BodiesThis essay argues that the varied experiences of fat bodies are not reflected in the media or public spaces of our society. In creating a world that physically has no room for fat bodies and is socially unkind and unwelcoming, the varied experiences cannot be told let alone be allowed to be understood. Voices of those who are fat need to be uplifted to create more accessible spaces for all.
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Mental Health for Incarcerated Women: How is America Treating Them?This essay examines the effects of incarceration on the mental health of female inmates and comments on what America could be doing to help them. In this essay the topic of female incarceration is viewed through an intersectional lens in tandem with systemic racism and oppression. It begins with a personal narrative describing the life of a girl named Mar, who was wronged by the system, and moves into a discussion on the failings of our current system. This essay focuses on topics through the timeline of incarceration; entry into the system, life while incarcerated, and finally, life after incarceration. Each topic is discussed in depth and includes ways to improve standards for incarcerated women and assist them in receiving proper mental health care.
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Dissenting Voices Volume 10, Issue 1 (Spring 2021) Complete IssueTable of Contents – Mental Health for Incarcerated Women: How is America Treating Them? Nax Gillett, p. 1 / Varied Experiences of Fat Bodies. Hawa Ibrahim, p. 17 / STOP: The Sexualization of Women and Girls. Catherine Muir, p. 25 / Looking into the Prevalence of Substance Abuse among the LGBTQIA+ Population. Naomi Levitsky, p. 39 / Is Our Medical Community Failing Women? The PTSD Epidemic among Women in the United States. Erica Puleo, p. 53 / When I Realized I was the Gay Best Friend: Queer Media Representation and the “Coming Out” Process. Myah Martinez, p. 65 / Disability Representations in High School English Curriculum. Grace Cunningham, p. 81 / Intersecting Identities: Middle Eastern Women in Dual Cultures. Zahraa Al Sharifi, p. 91.
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Readying the Rape Rack: Feminism and the Exploitation of Non-Human Reproductive SystemsIn this paper I will discuss the sexual exploitation of non-human bodies, specifically, dairy cows. As a vegan and animal rights activist, I feel compelled to take this opportunity to share and maybe even enlighten fellow social justice advocates on feminist aspects of animal agriculture, an under-researched topic that many overlook and might not even consider relevant to feminist discourse.
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Treatment of Female Politicians and Impact on Voter Perception in the U.S.This essay explores the treatment of female politicians in the United States government and the impact of negative treatment on potential candidates as well as voters’ perception of said candidates. Readers may obtain a better understanding of the stereotypes, double standards, and biases that are projected upon female politicians in the U.S. This work is based on a literature review of peer-reviewed journal entries, research-based books, and credible news sources.
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The Pretty Pink BoxThis essay focuses on the consumerization, capitalization, and popularization of feminism within mainstream culture: how it is branded, how it is portrayed, and who it represents. As a young consumer and feminist, I acknowledge that this needs to be addressed for the sole reason that feminism is not a trend or fad that can afford to die out for its goals and strife are far from over- when we water down a political and social movement based on equality into nothing more than a trendy label, we put our needs at risk. It is important to critique and question what is happening around us even if it is appears to be “fighting” the good fight.
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Why are there No Great, Female, and Egyptian Scholars?This essay is a study on the topics that Egyptian women shine their lights on. I write this because I identify as an Egyptian woman, and I never hear these women’s names during my scholarship. I hope readers receive a sense of individualism for the “othered” women who write their ways out of their binds. My topic is crucial because Egyptian women are bound to either sexism in their own culture and racism in others, which begs my theory of a third space.
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WMS 421 Spring 2019 Activism Photo Essay2019-08-09
