“Black Women Exercisers, Asian Women Artist, White Women Daters, and Latina Lesbians: Cultural Constructions of Race and Gender Within Intersectionality-Based Facebook Groups” (BWEAWWWDLL), by Jenny Ungbha Korn discusses self categorization, as analyzed by Facebook. Korn argues that social media sites allow minority groups to find a community online while also breaking the traditional stereotypes that come along with their race. Both gender and race are social concepts, often times others assume another’s identity. The use of social media allows people not only to decide their identity but also share it with others. Korn found that although mainly people of color were using the site to connect with like-minded people, the highest percentage was within black women. Social media is extremely relevant in todays age, the use of it will have a significant impact of how we perceive ourselves as well as how others see us.

While looking for a Wikipedia article I could connect with this reading I tried multiple terms while using the search bar. The tried terms include: social media groups, social media connections, social media, self categorization, and identity theory. Most of these showed up with no results. I was able to get results from Social Media and Self Categorization. While the self categorization page covered many of the ideas of defining ones own identity it left out how social media is able to play a role into it. With the page covering social media, there were many hopeful topic names including “Interpersonal relationships“, ”Self presentation”, and “Stereotyping”. However, these did not contain any information on the communities formed on social media and/or how they impact people’s categorization.

Resources:

Noble, Safiya Umoja, and Brendesha M. Tynes. The Intersectional Internet: Race, Sex, Class and Culture Online. Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2016.

“Self-Categorization Theory.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-categorization_theory.

“Social Media.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media.

The goal behind feminism is to provide equal opportunities between both women and men. So , if that is the goal, why does it appear that there is a lack of activism for women outside of the White race? Chapter two of The Intersectional Internet , The Trouble with White Feminism: Whiteness, Digital Feminism, and the Intersectional Internet, Jessie Daniels, analyzes the fault we see in white feminism against the overall cause.

In this melting pot that is America, the standard of a “normal” person is that of white decent (or even just white features and privileges). It is no secret that white men experience a privileged life, but what often goes unnoticed is the privilege that White women receive due their their race. Whether it be a major movement such as feminism or their ability to sell makeup to the masses, white women have a voice that many marginalized women do not have the advantage of. Yet, for some reason, their power is not being used for the greater good of womanhood, but rather for their own feminist movement, white feminism.

In her essay, Daniels, dissects three major instances that white women used their voice to benefit women of their own background while neglecting those who deserve if not equal, more attention in their fight. She uses the cases of Lean In, One Billion Rising, and The Future of Online Feminism to support her point. These three instances are just a few of many examples where the progression of ones own group was put before the greater good.

The access to Internet allows the voiceless women to be heard. However, Without the support of feminist who already have a voice and are being heard minority women will continue to be unequal not only to men but also to white women.

Resources:

Noble, Safiya Umoja., and Brendesha M.. Tynes. The Intersectional Internet: Race, Sex, Class and Culture Online. Peter Lang., 2016.

In the short essay, Identities and Social Locations: Who am I? Who Are My People?, Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey discuss the many difficulties of not only knowing ones self but also being able to portray that self to others. Living in the large melting pot that is The United States, it is common for someone to not quite know who they identify with ( or what they identify as).

This essay covers the topic from the micro level (individual) to the macro level ( the individual within society). Categories as who someone identifies as ranges from gender, to race, and language and everywhere in between. This results in the distinguishing of who “fits” in a group and who does not. With such a large variety of people within our country it allows people to come into contact with others they may categorize with, this enables people to question who they are within our society.

Adams, M., Blumenfeld, W. J., Castaneda, R., Hackman, H. W., Peters, M. L., & Zuniga, X. (2000). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. Psychology Press.

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