Week 10- Helen Jian

Helen Jian
Section A02
Week 10

Although there are a lot of improvements made in today’s society, there are still many downsides that we as a society, must work on and improve. In professor Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde and Wei Ming Dariotis’ article, “The Time to Fight is now”: When Asian American Women in Academia Go Rouge”, they share with their audience the issue of how Asian American women are struggling in academia and how some of them are willing to fight “not only to save individual lives and livelihoods but also to save the promise of liberation through education that is made by the university; a promise worth preserving for the betterment of society as a whole” (Valverde and Dariotis, 2017). However, according to Valverde and Dariotis, this promise can only be completed if there is a radical shift in the way the university operates. They mentioned that Asian American women are important in making the shift happen because of how they are “structurally positioned”, which would be at the bottom of the university hierarchy. It is claimed to be a position from where we can “perceive many injustices and structural inequities” (Valverde and Dariotis, 2017). Asian American women are stereotyped to be quiet and not willing to speak their minds because they are seen as nurturing and afraid to speak up. I think based on this assumption, many Asian American women who are trying to get tenured stay quiet and let the universities take advantage of them. The article stated that only 40% of Asian American women are tenured and promoted, whereas white men are tenured at 92%. That is a significantly big difference, which is why I think it is important for Asian American women to step out of the shadows, not be afraid, and fight for their equal rights.

Question: Why does society intimidate us enough to make us afraid of pursuing our dreams and fighting for what is right?

References:

Valverde, K., & Dariotis, W. (2017). “The Time to Fight is now”: When Asian American Women in Academia Go Rogue.

Hauser, E. (2015). Why there's no such thing as 'women's rights'. Theweek.com. Retrieved 3 June 2017, from http://theweek.com/articles/548420/why-theres-no-such-thing-womens-rights