Who are you? A reflection of my standpoint in the world
Introduction
We live in a world where one has to identify him/herself with a certain category. It is always important for one to analyze his or her position in the world using the categories that are assigned to human beings. Some of these categories include physical characteristics, gender, and race. These categories are responsible for how the society and world at large views us. They dictate our position in the society we live in, they also dictate how we should behave. Lastly, these categories are responsible for how society judge us. These categories can cause discomfort that is raised by misunderstandings that people have about certain categories. Grouping human being into categories is import because it helps show us that someone’s life and standpoint may differ from ours.
The first thing people notice about you are the features of your body, these features include one’s height, skin tone and how one’s features are formed. It is also very quick to notice if one’s body has a deformity. At many times people have been judged and looked down upon due to a physical deformity before anyone can learn anything else about them. Through history, people with physical deformities have been stigmatized because they possess undesirable attributes. Physical characteristics have a lot of power that evokes different feelings and expressions (Marini, & Stebnicki, 156). Society believes that these physical characteristics are the central key to how someone behaves and defines their personality.
A lot of prejudice has been shown to people with physical disabilities but currently, society is working toward reducing the prejudice that individuals who are judged according to their physical characteristics face. Having been born with good physical features is a privilege but not everyone is so lucky. The work of those with good physical features is to make those with deformed features fit in with them without showing any discrimination. Having heard grievances of these people who are judged according to their physical characteristics I feel that it is not right that they have to undergo so much prejudice (Marini, & Stebnicki, 156). Beyond their physical characteristics, they are human beings with the same abilities we have and therefore having a physical deformity or not having a physical deformity does not make one superior.
Gender is a category that categories human being according to their sexuality, male or female. Also looking at a person before categorizing them any further it is easy to identify what gender they are. Many campaigns that call for gender equality have been initiated with the aim of making society perceive women the same way they perceive men. History has left traces that show that the women are greatly disadvantaged and looked down upon. There was a time in the history of the United States that women were not allowed to vote (Leach, np). In the mid-19th -century history records that feminist begun campaigns to eliminate the discrimination that women faced.
The fact that there are traces in history that women were never viewed as men equal is proof enough to show how categorizing human beings according to gender disadvantages the female gender. Although society has evolved and finally it is seeing women as man’s equal. The society is trying to include women’s voice in making decisions that affects the whole society at large. The society is empowering mothers, giving proper value to the work of women and their contribution to society. And also, it is involving women into power (Leach, np). Society is doing all this but it has not completely managed to erase discrimination on the basis of gender.
I see the world we live in as a world that has undervalued the position of women and is putting them in a disadvantaged position. History does not record many women in leadership positions since leadership positions have been associated with the male gender which is completely unfair. A woman aspiring for a leadership position will have to compete with men who think that she is not worth this position. Some times women make choices because their place has been dictated by the male gender (Fuller, np). The progress that society is making is promising a future where categorizing people according to their gender will not lead to discrimination.
Human beings are categorized according to race judging from their skin colors and structures of their faces. one race has a certain distinctive character that separates it from the others. It is believed that the traits of race are inherited biologically. Example of race include. Black, white, Asian and Latin. This act of categorizing humans according to race has led to racism where one discriminates others who are not from their race (Memmi, 171). This discrimination on the basis of race results to inequality among people from various groups.
Categorizing people on the basis of race is important since it gives human a sense of belonging and a group to identify with. However, categorizing people this way has caused discrimination that makes one uncomfortable. The history of the United States is evidence that categorizing people according to race results to a lot of discrimination. The whites enslaved the black simply because the white viewed their race more superior compared to the black. Looking at the history of many countries traces of racism can be found (Memmi,196). A black woman is a person who is greatly advantaged in society, she will be looked down on the basis of gender and will still be looked down on the fact that she is black.
Discrimination on the basis of race is very dominant in schools and workplaces. Grouping humans according to race has brought forth many disastrous results that cannot be repeated by society again. It is to my knowledge that no race is superior to the other and no black kid learning with white kids should be discriminated and vice versa. Seeing people from different races working together has become a rare phenomenon in society. This has disadvantaged so many people (Ancheta, 47). People from different races should be able to co-exist in peace regardless of the many differences between them.
Conclusion
Human beings have been categorized according to their gender, race and physical characters. This categorization has made humans uncomfortable in some circumstances. People have been judged due to their physical characteristics. Those with physical deformity have been victim to prejudice from the society we live in. We are living in a society that has already established the roles of each gender. Women are often subject to prejudice and have been undervalued and men are seen as superior to them. This has made women uncomfortable although ways to promote female gender are being put in place. Categorizing people on the basis of race is the major cause of racism in the world. Some races feel superior to others thus arousing discomfort. Categorization of human is good since it gives them an identity but it also causes discomfort.
Work cited
Marini, Irmo, and Stebnicki Mark. The Psychological and Social Impact of Illness and Disability. New York: Springer Pub. Co, 2012. Internet resource.
Leach, Anna. 12 steps to achieve gender equality in our lifetimes, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/mar/14/gender-equality-women-girls-rights-education-empowerment-politics
Fuller, Margaret. Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1999. Internet resource.
Memmi, Albert. Racism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000. Print.
Ancheta, Angelo N. Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience. New Brunswick: Rutgers Univ. Press, 2006. Print.
