Week 6

[Header image by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya.]


Week 6 - due by 5pm on Friday 10/8, uploaded to section Canvas

This week, I'm asking you to think about a situation that might be uncomfortably familiar.

We have all been in a situation at a family gathering or a social event, when someone says something that is sexist, anti-Black, homophobic, transphobic, abelist, racist, classist, etc. We often silence ourselves in these situations, either because we don't want to offend, or because we simply can't find the right language/analysis to express why what they are saying makes us feel uncomfortable. Often we find ourselves thinking of the perfect argument long after the fact. This is your opportunity to write that argument. Your response should draw on concrete evidence and class materials, rather than merely opinion or belief.

You are welcome to choose between the following options:
1) Reflect on a real situation you've been in that matches the description above. What happened and what could or should you have said?
2) Imagine a hypothetical but realistic situation. What might happen and how could or should you respond?

You are welcome to write this as prose (i.e. paragraphs, like a regular response) or as a dialogue (i.e. like a script). Somewhere in your response, as a preface or introduction perhaps, please explain why you chose this particular situation. Is this something you've encountered before? Is it something you've worried or wondered about?

Please make your response at least 600 words.