21st-century media: Gender and Justice (Feminism, Intersectionality)
Emily Vasquez
“Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal.” — Harper Lee, To kill a Mockingbird Chapter 20
Overview
The portryal of Justice of gender and sexuality are illustrated in different forms. In todays media we view the idea of masculine and feminine spirits, concepts of feminism, and intersectionality. You will explore the role of women in our justice system and broad concepts of sexuality, women’s history, and the impact of gender and race in the United States.
Learning Objectives
1. Define the following terms: Sex, gender, intersectionality, gender fluidity.
2. Explain the ideas on feminist principles and researchers.
3. Examine the history and legacies of indigenous women and women of color (Ritchie)
4. Analyze current events and compare them to feminist criminology and historic events.
Ritchie, A. (2017). Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Women and Women of Color. Boston, MA: Beacon Press
Andrea Ritchie focuses her research on race, gender criminalization and sexuality. In**Invisible No More, Ritchie paints a portrait of the various experiences women of color and black women have been obstructed by “criminalization, policing and violence” including forms of physical and verbal abuse. Please be advised Ritchie’s book context contains graphic details that may trigger those who have shared similar experiences. This type of media is bias in the aspect of raising social justice for gender fluidity and racial equality.
“Misidenitfying a suspected criminal is no laughing matter(Buolamwini, How I’m fighting bias in algorithms)”
‘Invisible No More’ Examines Police Violence Against Minority Women
The video of Kimberlé Crenshaw’s attempt to defeat racial hierarchies. It shared a new insight into what the term “intersectionality” means. In the video On Intersectionality, Crenshaw highlights how race and gender intersect. “Not only to the ways that racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination overlapped and created unique and distinct types of burden who were subject to both forms of discrimination”(Crenshaw, 2016, 6:00) The kind of Intersectionality is embedded in the structures that shape our identities. Think of what kind of discrimination is happening today.
Here is a short video that exploits the rape and domestic violence that go unreported in Latin America and Middle Eastern countries. This video from 2020 on International Women’s day was heart-warming and displays the union of women around the world. guardianwires, G. N. (2020, March 8). The world marks International Women’s Day: ‘We are power’. YouTube.
Topics such as identity, gender, feminism, and sexuality are not taught or discussed in school because the institution plays a big role in the knowledge and information being released to students. This includes discussions on gender non-conforming people and gender fluidity. It has to do with how the law labels society and how people are just read as feminine or men not having their transgender experience validated.
AZ Legislature approves budget & adjourns, Gov. signs bills — AZEdNews
We discuss Gabriel Trujillo’s view on the Senate Bill 1456 which has also made its way through Arizona legislature and is being contemplated by Governor Doug Ducey. This Bill “states that parents can choose whether their child learns LGBTQ history, like the 1969 Stonewall riots, during social studies classes.” (Vaughan, 2021) The SB1 456 is a bill proposed in 2021 and is being passed through different states and legislatures leaving it in the hands of state governors to make into a law. The Senate Bill 1456 is a current bill that aims to teach gender and sexuality in the sex education curriculum. This will help students explore a deeper understanding of gender justice and the concept of identity, pronouns, and the spectrum of sexuality. This also encourages society to reflect on gender policing. Ritchie highlights “Black women and Indigenous women, and other racialized women separately in an effort to avoid erasing or anti-Black racism.” (Ritchie, A.J.,2017, p.12) She paints a picture of indigenous people who identify has having both a feminine and masculine spirit. These materials help you question the conservative institutions still hold this ideology that they shouldn’t embrace minorities’ history and sensitive issues because then they will think that we want special treatment. This fight for justice has also become more prevalent to protest on campus and voice our opinions via social media. We can incorporate distributive justice in our classes encourage positive learning experiences where we all share responses and experiences with each other when resolving conflict.
Racial and Ethnic Justice in the media
It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” — Audre Lorde
► What is an example of an Unearned Advantage? Think of getting off crimes, having the feeling of “acceptance,” and any other benefits of the doubt based on your race, gender, class or sexuality.
► Unearned Disadvantage: The dominant US society, as a whole, discriminates against groups and an individual because of class, race, gender, and sexual orientation and as a result, the people of those groups have less access, fewer supports, less respect, less credibility, and must continually prove worthiness to those that are most in power.
► What are your experiences with Earned Advantage? Think about privilege based on work ethic, respect for others, honesty, and integrity. Do these terms come to mind? Race, gender, and sexual orientation.
► What are your thoughts on Earned Disadvantage? Does this include any punishment assigned to an individual based on personal dishonesty, negligence, apathy, lack of respect for others, or lack of integrity?
Source 1
Expanding the circle:
English, A. J. E. (2021, April 14). Dante Wright shooting: Protesters clash with police in Minnesota as unrest continues for 3rd night. YouTube.
► What are your thoughts on the Dante Wright shooting?
► What is an example of Unearned Advantage? Think of getting off crimes, having the feeling of “acceptance,” and any other benefits of doubt based on your race, gender, class or sexuality.
► Unearned Disadvantage: The dominant US society, as a whole, discriminates against groups and an individual because of class, race, gender, and sexual orientation and as a result, the people of those groups have less access, fewer supports, less respect, less credibility, and must continually prove worthiness to those that are most in power.
► What are your experiences with Earned Advantage? Think about privilege based on work ethic, respect for others, honesty, and integrity. Do these terms come to mind? Race, gender, and sexual orientation.
► What are your thoughts on Earned Disadvantage? This includes any punishment assigned to an individual based on personal dishonesty, negligence, apathy, lack of respect for others or lack of integrity?
Boiling Point: Police Reform Efforts Gaining Strength And Support
By Jimmy Jenkins
“Or you look at Orange County, which requires that the composition of the civilian review board reflects the ethnic, the racial, and the economic diversity of the community,” Beety said. Valena Beety is the deputy director for the Academy For Justice at the ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where she is also a law professor.
It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” — Audre Lorde
► https://kjzz.org/content/1605473/boiling-point-police-reform-efforts-gaining-strength-and-support
This highlights racism can be invisible to some people in the United States. What does it mean to be “Woke” in society?
“Imagine If Our History Was Reversed” — Sam Richards SOC119
“Imagine If Our History Was Reversed” — Sam Richards SOC119 — YouTube
Videos like these examine policing in the state of Arizona and encompass race and the culture of law enforcement. The article explains police reform efforts from city leaders. Think about the importance of the inner working of police departments. Reform is needed to decrease police brutality and it starts with our city board members. Deputy director and professor for the Academy For Justice at the ASU law Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, adds “If we look at the 50 largest police departments in the nation, only six of them have civilian review boards that have some form of a disciplinary authority,” (Jenkins, 2020) This took place in July 2020 after the historic case of George Floyd in May 2020 that made an impact across the nation.
Law Policy and Justice in the media
Phoenix police officers in riot gear outside their headquarters during a protest Friday, May 29, 2020.
Social media and news outlets are a passageway the public to have a first glance at the stories of women behind bars and their experiences with the legal system. In the film, The Plea you will be able to take a closer look inside the Prison Industrial Complex or U.S. Prison system. Think about how this impacts an individual’s right to justice.
Learning Objectives
- Define the following terms: plea bargain, the right of defense, probation, pro bono, parole.
- Discuss the possible solutions to obtaining legal access in the civil vs criminal system.
- Identify the conditions inside U.S Prisons and legal aid for inmates.
- Explain the effects on women in prison and how they impact their health.
“Just from a dollars and cents perspective, I think it makes a lot of sense to keep people local. Incarcerating people is terribly expensive. Many of these people don’t need to be incarcerated.”
— Luke Mulligan, assistant federal public defender
COVID-19 Drags Out Restoration Process For Inmates In Federal Custody
By Laurel Morales| KJZZ
The Plea (2004)
The Plea system is “a system that’s designed to keep the truth from coming out.” (The Plea, 2004, 24:19)
The film The Plea highlights a deeper look at the Plea bargain and how our legal and law enforcement shapes our society.
The female population incarcerated continues to increase and yet our justice system and institutions remain mainly designed for the homogeneous male population. In the state of Arizona, The House of Representatives made the bi-partisan bill into the Senate where if President Karen Fann follows to assign to a committee, the bill will become a law. (Hay, 2021) Inside the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry, former prisoner Alexandria Hunt shares “I actually had to give my bunkie a shirt to use because she was menstruating and had no underwear products.”(Hay 2021) The unsanitary conditions these women are forced to live in in a twist that is portrayed as a necessary lesson so that they are not encouraged to come back is inhumane. Angela Davis paints a picture of how “the prison has become a black hole into which the detritus of contemporary capitalism is deposited. Mass imprisonment generates profits as it devours social wealth, and thus it tends to reproduce the very conditions that lead people to prison.” (Davis, 2003, p.16–17) Davis exploits the racism that lives inside prison walls and its continued existence in the United States of America is wrong. Davis adds how the seedling of racism in America begins to sprout through how children of minority groups are taught in systematically poor communities where crime is high. These children grow up learning about violence and are subject to being profiled by the police. This is the main evidence that shapes minorities into potential criminals. (Davis, 2003) The truth is that slavery is at the root of this issue which has set up the foundation that blacks and minorities face their entire lives. Slavery is wrong remains present in America. What are your thoughts on the conditions inside our Prisons?
Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003) Angela Davis
Does Angela Davis exploit what makes our prisons are obsolete? Davis illustrates the “decarceration” and argues for transformation to end prisons from becoming “taken for granted.”
The criminal justice system in America has a purpose to fulfill justice for all and convict and punish the guilty, to help people stop offending and protect the innocent. “To think about this simultaneous presence and absence is to begin to acknowledge the part played by ideology in shaping the way we interact with our social surroundings.” (Davis, 2003, p.15) Davis challenges us to ask ourselves how the problem is framed?
(3191) New bill would make it easier for female inmates to get essential products — YouTube
the tragic effects COVID-19 has caused in the U.S prison systems. In Flagstaff, Arizona, in the current event article, COVID-19 Drags Out Restoration Process For Inmates In Federal Custody by Laurel Morales paints a picture of the restoration process and how it is being discussed on a federal level. A former inmate, Bryan Alvarez-Dominguez said, the restoration process was “difficult because he has a developmental disability, difficult because there aren’t mental health professionals in jail, and difficult because it’s really hard being away from his family.” (Morales, 2020) This article explains the conditions inmates endure before a person is determined “competent” to stand trial. Assistant federal public defender, Luke Milligan who is based in Flagstaff adds, “we didn’t have grand juries because we didn’t have trials it’s really caused a lot of delay in everything.” (Morales, 2020) Due to the pandemic, it has caused thousands of people to wait in jail in an isolated state awaiting the restoration process to be eligible for the trial. Due process in America is a basic human right. “Innocent people are convicted at trial.” (The Plea, 2004, 43:32) Everyone has the constitutional right to defense when felt that their liberty is at stake. The central idea of this right does not sit dependent on an individual’s ability to pay; it is a crisis of indigent defense that is ignored. Far too many defendants are deprived of their right to fair representation, underfunded public defense system. Most cases are not about the money that a state legislature can fix, it is about race. Is money more important than humanity? Immeasurably, the ability to reform and question the origins of the United States is essential to restoring the beauty of diversity this country holds.
