Most important concept

The most important concepts I learned this semester were hegemonic masculinity and the feminist movements we talked about. Before this class I had always taught that a men should be strong and provide for his family no matter the circumstances. However, I learned that this idea doesn't play out all the time for all man because of their race, and social identity. Lastly before this class I never heard of Angela Davis at all. I did some extra research outside of class and found out that she is a key put to a civil rights movement for woman of color with her radical ideas and standing up for freedom and justice for people of color. Her book gave me a new understanding of how the woman suffrage movement began and is still a struggle for women and minorities.

Biggest Takeaway

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.

The most important theme from class...
To me one of the most interesting topics from class was covered early in Whiteness of a Different Color, by Matthew Jacobsen. It discussed the assimilation period for european ethnic groups which were not of Anglo heritage. This was interesting to me because i had never really thought about that process. The text showed that each ethnic group went through a process of stratification initially, denying them of the freedoms the went to America for. It was also interesting how the process of assimilation was completed for each european group, with the entries of other ethnic groups (Hispanics,Asian-Americans, etc). The repeated process of denying new immigrants an easy transition into american society is a blight on our nations history which probably isnt talked about enough.

Most Important Concept

To me the most important concept that we learned this semester was a new term for me. Racial lumping and the entire Asian Panethnicity issue was really interesting to me. I felt that during that unit I learned completely new information that I knew nothing about previously. Racial lumping was a topic that was discussed a lot throughout Espiritu's book. I had never heard the term before, but after learning about the term I realized it was something that I do without knowing I was doing it. It opened my mind to realize that racial lumping is something that bothers those who are racially lumped. The entire Asian American Panethnicity book was interesting to me because it was something I had never been taught about before. So to me that book and unit was the most important thing that I learned in this class. And then one concept from that unit; racial lumping, would be the most important concept that I have learned. Although I must add, I found a new concept throughout every unit we went through this semester and I found a way to gain new information through each new book and unit during this semester.

Most Important Concept

We have covered a lot of topics this semester, but personally, the most important concept I learned was the idea of racial lumping. This idea struck me because I have been racially lumped before and I didn't even realize that there was a word for it! The fact that most Asian-Americans, as well as Latin-Americans, face this kind of discrimination is very unfortunate, but if we continue to learn about different cultures within different races, and begin to differentiate between ethnicities, racial lumping may not necessarily become obsolete, but it will start to decrease.

What is the most important concept I learned in this class?

This is a tough question to answer since we have covered so much ground in so many topics. If I had to pick a subject in this class, it would be a tie on our sections on masculinity and cartoons. It was very interesting reading Michael Kimmel's book, Manhood in America: A Cultural History, because the history, hows, and whys in manhood today don't seem to have a clear cut definition to them. This made it interesting in learning in the different types of masculinity and how certain ethnicity's deal with being a man as well. Christopher Lehman's book, The Colored Cartoon, was also very interesting. All of the information presented in that book was new to me. I had no idea just how big the roles of blackface and African Americans played in early American cartoons, especially since I remember seeing so many re-runs of the classics. Now I have a complexity different perspective on these shows and can see them in a new way.

Important Concept

I think that the most important concept from this class, for me, would be from our unit on Women's Movements and Feminine Identities. It's always interesting to learn about what women in history did to make things the way they are today; it's crazy to think about how things would be had those moments in history not happened. That being said, I really enjoyed reading Women, Race, and Class by Davis. It gave me more information than I previously had about these Feminine Movements throughout history.

Most Important Concept

It is hard for me to say what the most important concept is that I learned in this course because they all seemed to have some sort of eye-opening aspect. I think it is important to remember women's rights and masculinity while also discussing race and vise versa. If I had to pick one most important concept though, I would say that our section on Davis' book because it touched on both gender and race which I think our class seemed to be based upon while we attempted to explore some American identities. This course has helped me to better understand how race and gender influence our identities.

Most Important Concepts

To me, there were two concepts that I believed were of equal importance and those were the respective genders discussed in Angela Davis' Women, Race, and Class and Michael Kimmel's Manhood in America. The reason these two concepts were the most important in my opinion is because everyone in the class could relate to them.  Everyone had the ability to share personal experiences that related to a specific idea or question that was raised in both books.  When we discussed other books that were focused more on race relations, not everyone had the ability to relate the concepts to personal experience.  Although race is a powerful subject to discuss, in my opinion a discussion is much more meaningful when personal experiences are shared and the other members of the discussion can relate to what those experiences contribute to the understanding of the concepts raised in these books.

Take Away

One of the most important takes away's from this class would have to be Michael Kimmel's book.  I have always been interested in the topic of masculinity in America, and have thought many of the same ideas that were expressed in his book.  I thought it was important because I got to learn new vocabulary to use when talking about the subject and a reference to go refer to when talking to others about the subject.  I also got to discuss something that I am interested in with the whole class and get other peoples ideas and views, which is almost just as important as the book itself; what's the point if you don't have anybody to talk about it with?  This class provided a supportive area for discussion, I guess that was the most important thing, the concept of the value of discussion.

Most Important Concept

Although there is a variety of concepts we learned in class, what I think was the most important take away was a new way of thinking. We saw a lot of different perspectives besides ones taught in high school and one that we hear about a majority of the time. I think that the idea of racial lumping was important just for the simple fact that being in the majority race, I didn’t every notice or recognize the problems with racial lumping. I mean I knew the differences were there before this class but I didn’t fully understand the problems associated with this sort of generalization. Which goes back to the change in thinking that definitely came from this class.

Most Important Concept

I think that one of the most important concepts we learned about in American Identities was in the book Whiteness of a Different Color.  I think that this was very important because it taught us about white european immigrants and how they were judged and treated when coming over to the United States for a better life.  A lot of times we never understand the perspective of the european immigrants and how they were treated by the original colonist, but this book helped me understand their perspective equally.  Another important concept that has to do with the overarching theme of the class is the idea of diversity.  Throughout this class we examined multiple texts, with a lot of them dealing with diversity and immigration into the United States.  I think this class definitely taught me how to view culture in a critical framework and gave me a much better understanding about how to view and understand ethnic and cultural studies.

I think that this image sums up almost every topic we have discussed this semester about Diversity and American Studies.

Most important concept

For me, the most important concept I learned was the notion of contextualizing history in regards to men as gendered individuals. I had never really read anything like Kimmel's book before, and so I gained an important new perspective on cultural and historical studies. Of course, you hear about feminist movements and arguments all the time, but you don't always get the chance to understand important historical events and eras in terms of masculinity and manhood. I actually ended up using Kimmel's argument and ideas in a paper I wrote for another class as well as in some poetry I wrote for my poetry seminar. I feel it's extremely important to get a glimpse of both women's studies and men's studies in terms of identity in America, so this was an excellent unit to cover.

I guess this is what Kimmel argued against in his book, but it's still pretty funny:

Important concepts

This may sound cheesy or cliché, but I don't think there is one most important concept that I have learned in this class. A lot of what we covered I have learned or been exposed to already. This class really helped to open my eyes to everything that we have talked about. The information covered a vast variety of topics that I think can all be related back to each other. There is no way to determine what is more important when it comes to talking about human life and relations. If anything I think that talking about how people act in certain situations may help to explain or exemplify what we have covered in a broad sense.

Migrant imaginaries are key to Mexican immigration to the United States in a multitude of ways. My own anecdotal story of this centers around where my brother lives in McAllen Texas. McAllen is situated on the Rio Grande river in an area of Texas known as the Rio Grande Valley. This valley also includes numerous towns and cities situated in Mexico. Years ago an arbitrary line divided the countries (the river), not considering families that were located on both sides of that river. The idea that Mexican-Americans living in Texas were/ are afforded the luxuries and services of the United States has caused many Mexicans to attempt to live in Texas rather than their homes across the river. The unity shared by the people of this region is not based on national origin. It is based on the idea of equality for Mexicans afforded to other races of people living in Texas. Most anti-immigration rhetoric in the United States is used by people who have already assimilated into mainstream american culture. The Mexican-Americans of south Texas are largely 1st and 2nd generation Americans, or Mexican nationals and have not had the time to assimilate into mainstream american society. In a short period of time, i believe you will see most anti mexican immigration language decline or disappear.

Migrant Imaginaries

Immigration from Mexico has been a hot topic of discussion just as immigration has been an issue many years ago 
whether they be from Europe or Asian areas. The reason that migrants from Mexico is such a big issue is because
ultimately the United States took land away from Mexicans during the Mexican American war and treaty of Guadalupe
Hildago.  Migrant Imaginaries describes a social imaginary where people articulate their social being.  This migrants were
displaced from their land and were forced to either deal with these conditions or go back past the newly drawn lines into
Mexico. This book questions the issues of cultural citizenship, which is the interaction between culture and claims to 
citizenship. Mexican or chicano people, whether legal citizens or not, are still looked down upon because many people
think that they are illegal just because of the stigma. People see these groups of people as taking jobs from the US and
using tax dollars that they don't have to pay if they are not legal citizens.  These are a few stereotypes that these 
people experience, but in reality this is not necessarily true. I found this photo on the internet shows the previous Mexican border but is also an advertisement. 
It uses the Spanish language and says "In an Absolut World." This is questioning the border of the US in the media
which is something that doesn't happen often. That fact is problematic in itself that we do not talk about these issues
as much as we should.

How can Migrant Imaginaries speak to anti-immigration/migration sentiment?

This book was able to speak to those who might be anti-immigration because it explained immigration from the migrants point of view which is often overlooked. Camacho did a good job of this by presenting different songs and stories from the migrants themselves showing their actual purpose for immigrating and the struggles that they went through to get here. Many people feel that these people are only coming here to take away the jobs we have and to live off of the country, but by reading this book and the personal accounts you can see that that is not their purpose at all, but rather they wish to have a better life and to be able to provide for their families just as every other person strives to do. This also speaks to the anti-immigration and migrant sentiment because it makes people realize that at one point we were all immigrants in search of a better life and who are we to deny them the opportunity to better themselves.

Migrant Imaginaries

Migrant Imaginaries can speak to anti-immigration/migration sentiment first of all, by informing about situations that are often overlooked or not taught in school. Information that is vital to those who don’t understand or who have a negative attitude towards migrants. Specifically the situation with Mexican-Americans and the fact that a lot of them have been in the US a lot longer than some people realize. And that the land some of them live on was actually Mexico at one time. I feel that a lot of people either don’t know or understand that, and if they did there would be a difference in the amount of negative energy placed on those Mexican-Americans. Alicia Schmidt Camacho created a book that allows people to see a new perspective through not just informational text, but through poetry, songs and stories.  These are first hand experiences of those who have dealt and deal with situations that arise in this book. It is a way for someone on the outside to "walk in their shoes." Which is something that definitely can speak to and help those with anti-immigration/migration sentiment to understand a bit more.

Migrant imaginaries

Migrant imaginaries can speak to anti-immigration/migration sentiment because it creates a space where discussion can flourish.  It is a able to create that space because it presents certain selected stories from a different point of view than most people are used to.  It also uses a multidisciplinary approach by using such things as stories, media, and poetry which reaches deeper into the listeners mind that just talking about statistics.  It may also close off certain groups from hearing the message though because it excludes a lot as well, but that is to be expected with such a wide variety of things that could be discussed.  In regards to land and boarders it tries to speak to anti-immigration by saying the boarder crossed them, but that is the result of  losing a war, some would argue, and that makes their point would have less of an impact.  So in that way it can speak to anti-immigration sentiment, but it ain't lis'nen.

How can Migrant Imaginaries speak to anti-immigration/migration sentiment?

I think Migrant Imaginaries has a lot to offer when looking at immigration sentiments. I find it important to know some of the history between the United States and Mexico in order to better understand some of the issues at hand. I feel many forget that at one point in time, part of the U.S. was a section of Mexico. Much like the Native Americans, the Unite States expanded and pushed out Indian tribes, diminishing some of their culture and claiming their land as our own. We also did the same when expanding the U.S. over parts of Mexico but one difference between Native Americans and Mexicans is that in present time, many still see the Native Americans as being the indigenous inhabitants of North America. People seem to have forgotten that a decent proportion of the South-Western United States was Mexico, making those from Mexico one of the natural inhabitants of the U.S. as well.
 I also think the book also makes a great analysis on the economical relations between immigrants and the labor that they endure here in the U.S. When looking at the labor movements of the past 100 years, we can have a better grasp on the history and politics of the subject in order to better understand some of the immigrant issues that are occurring in the present day.