In Shira Tarrants article This is What a Feminist Looks Like, she says "Gender isn't something we're born with. It's something we perform. And we learn about doing gender through friends, school, religion, and family. "(6). This quote expresses the idea that no matter which gender we are born as, we are not confined to a certain way of life based on this. It is society that tells us we have to act a certain way based on gender because that is what is considered to be "normal ". The discrimination against women is still hugely prevalent in the world today and every woman can likely state an instance in which they have felt oppressed by gender. Unfortunately, there are countless women who have experienced multiple oppressions along with that which was based on gender alone. .
Growing up as a white female in a community where there was little diversity, I was unaware that there were multiple other oppressions transpiring. I was familiar with sexism and how it affected me as a woman but not much else. I experienced it regularly through being labeled as inferior to men and expected to adhere to the stereotypes of how a woman should act and what she should do with her life. Women are still not considered to be equal to men or worthy of certain responsibilities. What I learned later in life was that not all women experience oppression in the same fashion as I did.
The specific group of women that I learned from were of the indigenous community. My first impressions of aboriginals were nave and innocent. I thought of them as peaceful humans who were in touch with the earth and the animals. I admired them and found their beliefs to be interesting. While I was aware that they had been on this land long before anyone else and that it had been taken from them, I was unaware of all the violence they suffered. I learned some harsh truths about how their ancestors had been treated and why society regards them the way it does today.
