RDB Gender and Diversity

"When the earliest settlers poured into a wild continent (which was to become America), there was no one to ask them where they came from…the land flourished because it was fed from so many sources—because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and people.” (859C). While America is even more so a melting pot of an infinite variety of backgrounds, races, and cultures today, the acceptance of all hardworking and dedicated people has plummeted to an all time low in which people have lost all connection with their individual identities.
Though our generation is the most open-minded and diverse America has seen thus far, we represent a new breed of Americans who find a constant need to prove ourselves to others by altering our identities to fit society’s definition of what is acceptable. Even though we are stuck in the battle of conformity, we still long to be individualistic, and we struggle to find our niche while are constantly striving to make ourselves unique. Many of the author’s of the essays discussing gender and diversity, mentioned this struggle and related it to a journey of self discovery that is “characterized by a patchwork quilt of custom and assimilation, of resistance and complicity, and of understanding and confusion” (Anadrade 214). It is hard for us to imagine another’s hopes, dreams, and feelings because we are so wrapped up in our own lives, and we often times cast the thought of them aside completely. ((It is hard to practice our sympathetic imagination and put ourselves in another's position.)

The views of society have engrained in our minds that we must look and act a certain way in order to be successful, and we often apply these views in our everyday life without a second thought. Norma Anadrade said that “I had been trained to look at people’s color my entire life”, and I think that this is probably the truth for most of us (224). Stereotypes of certain groups of people have become so prevalent that people have forgotten how to acknowledge other’s identities as well as their own. One group of people that I have noticed that I discriminate against in my life is the homeless. While I have often thought of them as just lazy bums who do not want to work for a living and just pester me for money as I walk up and down the drag, I have started to realize that each of them is a person with a story. Recently, I have made an effort to smile and make eye contact with them as I pass by or speak to them when they speak to me. Last week, I even talked to a homeless man named Ben for a while after I gave him my leftovers, and he surprised me with his ramblings of the things he had experienced in his life. I have realized that the homeless, much like myself, simply yearn to be acknowledged and have their identity recognized by another. I believe that it is important for us to remember that although everyone’s lives have encompassed different circumstances and situations, we are all still related through the fact that we are human and for the most part have the same desires and endure similar human sufferings. Vincent Ng said in his essay , “While I see my roots as an important connection to my past, I do not see them defining my future.” (257). Our identities are innate within all of us, but, they do not define us, we define them. It is up to us to discover who we are, and to listen to the stories of others so that they might be able to do the same. There are so many people in the world yearning to be someone, longing to possess some sort of identity, and it is up to us to help them discover the endless possibilities that lay within themselves.