There are two topics that we talked about throughout this semester that are most important as they are issues that are not discussed or brought to mainstream attention on the norm. The first is men's lives and masculinities. We here about feminism and civil rights but an issue that is downplayed is expectations that the male population faces. Hegemonic masculinity is the dominant form or expectation of masculinity that men are expected to live up to. We think of men as strong, confident, and can provide for family. This brought to my attention that what if men don't live up to these standards? Are they seen as wimpy and unsuccessful? Sometimes I think unrightfully so. I disagreed with a few issues the author brought up like the fact that women are used as a currency in masculinity but not the focal point of male ideals when proving themselves. This may be true in some regards but disregards women in general which goes to show that this author doesn't see men and women as equals.
The second topic that was an important take away from this class was the Chicano movement. As a society we discuss African American rights, Native American rights, and even initial discrimination of immigrants from Europe and Asia. However, Chicano's seem to be skimmed over in mainstream issues along with migrants from Mexico. The border theory brings this issue to attention as we must think about geographical lines that separate cultural borders as well as hybrid spaces. It's important to think about all of these issues that we face and question everything we see in mainstream media and society. Many people are forgotten or shoved in a little box that forms their groups' stereotypes, which forgets important aspects of every individual.
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