"Men are Supposed to Have a Firm Handshake"

One particular morning this past week, I woke up, got out of bed, and went to say good morning to my parents. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, as I do this every morning. Coincidentally, my younger brothers had also woken up around the same time as I had, and they were walking down the stairs behind me. We all said good morning to our parents and I went to get a glass of water, while my dad and brothers were talking in the living room.

I finished drinking my glass of water and was walking towards the stairs so I could get ready for school when I overheard my dad say, “men are supposed to have a firm handshake.” I stopped for a second and looked back and I saw my dad trying to show my brothers what a firm handshake looks like. As I stood there watching, I thought to myself “really, it’s a good habit in general, for ANYONE to have a firm handshake, doesn’t really matter if they’re male.” But instead of saying this out loud, I just decided to go upstairs and get ready for school. The reason I did this is because I know that my dad didn’t say what he told my brothers in a malicious tone towards people who aren’t men, and rather it’s just some weird gender stereotype that men NEED to have a firm handshake, which has been around for ages.

    This idea has been around for a while and stemmed from a time when only men worked professional jobs which required them to attend interviews and interact with other professionals (also men), and the popular greeting was a handshake. Having a firm handshake reflects on your personality and influences the first impressions of individuals. It was stressed more towards men, that their handshakes should be strong, and vigorous to assert their masculinity and conversely that women should be less strong and vigorous when shaking hands with others. Obviously, times have changed, and men aren’t the only ones capable of working in professional fields, but the saying still stands that, “men are supposed to have a firm handshake,” when in reality, it’s just something that can benefit any person in the work field or meeting and greeting others in general.

             Regardless of the fact that my dad didn't mean any harm by his off the cuff comment, I doubt many other people who say the comment, truly believe that ONLY men need to have a firm handshake but in continuing to say phrases such as “men are supposed to have a firm handshake,” continuously asserts toxic masculinity and this idea that women are less than, or don’t need to be assertive and strong or work professional settings.  

Senate Confirmed Amy Coney Barret

Amy Coney Barret was sworn into the senate as the 115th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court on October 27, 2020. After the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the President’s top pick to fill the vacancy was Amy Barret. She was confirmed shortly after, and this sparked a lot of controversial conversation. As a federal judge, she had compiled almost an entirely conservative voting record on cases regarding abortion, gun control and rights, discrimination, immigration and more. One of the biggest risks of her obtaining this position is her power to shift the rest of the court and compromise Roe v. Wade (right to an abortion). 

Her political views and actions mirror those of Antonin Scalia whom she worked for in the past, as a law clerk. President Trump’s goal was to appoint justices who are ready to overrule Roe v. Wade and Amy Coney Barrett’s views align with that goal. Amy Barret is from Indiana and while there, she had considered three different cases on abortion and expressed her disagreements on the court rulings on them. While the court had ruled in favor of the right to these abortion cases, she was on the losing side and continued to vote against abortions on future cases. 

I think this confirmation can possibly be detrimental to women’s rights in the future; not only regarding Roe v. Wade, but also other court rulings that give women the rights and freedoms that we currently have. Amy Coney Barret will be a very influential member of the Supreme Court and will most likely vote for the suppression of these rights. Despite her being a woman, she clearly doesn’t believe that all women deserve the rights and choices to decide what’s best for themselves and their health. Her confirmation may not really affect me right now, but it will certainly have an effect on other women and could affect my rights in the future. I am very disappointed in this nomination as I feel like she is not the best pick to fill RBG’s seat, she doesn’t even come close, in my opinion; I don’t believe that she has the best intentions for ALL Americans based on her political history. It is still early stages regarding this confirmation, and despite her political views and past voting records, I am still hopeful that she will not shift the court too much to the right which could potentially affect the lives of millions. 

Sources:

https://filmdaily.co/news/amy-coney-barrett-scotus/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/senate-confirms-amy-coney-barrett-supreme-court/

Creative Project

For the creative project, I painted an image of a princess that I imagined would be an interesting addition to the current cast of Disney Princesses. Her name is Princess Kiara. There are several components of my painting that represent more diverse characteristics that are lacking in our current Disney princesses. I created this figure because as I was growing up I never got to experience any of the Disney princess characters that weren’t mostly white with very similar and unrealistic body types. When the Princess and the Frog came out it was an amazing accomplishment for the black community and myself, as no other princess remotely represented me. Despite this, Princess Tianna has been the only representation for black girls since her debut in 2009. I created an additional black princess and made her more realistic to our diverse society and population. The traditional Disney princesses were all the same, with similar Eurocentric features and hair, which doesn’t really encompass the image that every little girl would want to look up to or relate to. Princess Kiana was a more realistic representation of women and of our population. She is a black character and I wanted to draw on black features that are often looked down upon in society but are common amongst a majority of the black community. I attempted to highlight beautiful kinky curls and made her hair a focal point in my painting. I also created her to have a more realistic body type that didn’t fit today’s unrealistic expectations and also the body types that most Disney princesses have. I designed Princess Kiara because I wanted her to represent a more diverse population of people and if added to the cast of Disney princesses, I feel like a lot more people would be able to relate to her, strictly based on appearance, as she is more realistic to today’s society. I chose to use acrylic paint for this project. I was debating between paints and colored pencils but I chose acrylic paints for a variety of reasons. The first one is because paints are the medium I am most comfortable with, I have used them quite often and they are my go-to for creating pieces. The second reason is because of the variety of colors I had and could create as well as the ease of conveying the different characteristics that I wanted my figure to have. Overall this project was to create a character of figure that I would have liked to have when growing up that I feel represents me and would be something I could relate to. As you can see below, my character somewhat represents an already created Disney princess. Ariel was my favorite princess growing up so I wanted to do a twist on her character and while creating my own, incorporate her mermaid identity and costume.

White Feminism

• Mariam Khan's "Feminism Needs to Die"

As I read Mariam Khan's "Feminism Needs to Die,” what struck me the most was the phrase “White Feminism.” In her words, White Feminism “centers the agenda and needs of white, straight, middle-class, cis, able-bodied, women..” She then expands on this definition by saying that she doesn’t feel that White Feminism recognizes her identity as a Muslim and a person of color. She then stresses that when referencing a White Feminist it isn’t solely based on the person’s skin color, more so based on the idea that the individual who believes they are fighting for and advocating equality for all, is actually furthering the ideology that supports white, straight, cis women and that feminist agenda. She continues to share her experiences and how she has seen White Feminism really as the forefront of the feminist movement today and how it isn’t very inclusive of other women and of different backgrounds: race, class, ethnicity, religious beliefs, etc. This was interesting to me because it made me look back and think of feminist movements that I have supported in the past and who they’ve benefitted. The majority of them have largely pushed the White Feminist agendas. They were led by individuals who continue to push this very exclusive form of feminism that only benefits a small group of people. Miriam Khan also mentioned how she supports and fights for other women and their issues in feminism but isn’t sure if she would receive the same solidarity that she has for others. The sad truth about it is she wouldn’t. A lot of the time when different sectors of feminism support minority groups regarding race, sexual orientation, religious identity, etc., they don’t have as much support as the movements catered towards “White Feminism.”