Kelin Tham-Graul
ASA 2 A03
Week 10
I found “‘The Time to Fight is Now’: When Asian American Women in Academia Go Rogue,” by Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde and Wei Ming Dariotis to be both revealing of injustice and inspiring for future change. While reading, I was frustrated to learn about Dariotis’ story with the provost, which was yet another example of the unfair double standards for women of color in academia. Even knowing the struggles that women of color face, it was also still surprising and saddening that 74.4% of Asian American women scholars have faced “health problems that they associated with the stresses they faced within the academy” (Valverde and Dariotis, 2017, p. 20), a number that highlights the magnitude of this problem. Throughout this reading, I agreed with many of the ideas that Valverde and Dariotis expressed. For example, it is definitely true that the anger of women of color is unfortunately often dismissed, creating fears of being deemed unprofessional. Even just among my peers, I have felt discouragement against speaking out and potentially being dismissed as unreasonable, so I can only imagine the extreme pressure present within academia. I also agree with Audre Lorde’s assertion that it is counterproductive for those in positions of privilege to react to problems with guilt and defensiveness. These responses are something that I have personally observed among my peers. Individuals that I know have become defensive by attempting to justify offensive words and saying that they did not intend to hurt anyone—an argument which is flawed because people should still take responsibility for perpetuating harmful ideas even if this is unintentional. In other cases, individuals have made the claim that “not all” people in positions of privilege are “bad.” While this is true, this argument is often just used to avoid responsibility for perpetuating racism, sexism, or other oppressive sentiments. Instead, these people should recognize their privilege and work towards rectifying rather than defending injustice.
Question: Valverde and Dariotis state that “We are called like most teachers are, to help students to reach their full potential in a society shifted towards social justice” (Valverde and Dariotis, 2017, p. 6). In what ways can we students reach our full potential in this society?
I found “‘The Time to Fight is Now’: When Asian American Women in Academia Go Rogue,” by Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde and Wei Ming Dariotis to be both revealing of injustice and inspiring for future change. While reading, I was frustrated to learn about Dariotis’ story with the provost, which was yet another example of the unfair double standards for women of color in academia. Even knowing the struggles that women of color face, it was also still surprising and saddening that 74.4% of Asian American women scholars have faced “health problems that they associated with the stresses they faced within the academy” (Valverde and Dariotis, 2017, p. 20), a number that highlights the magnitude of this problem. Throughout this reading, I agreed with many of the ideas that Valverde and Dariotis expressed. For example, it is definitely true that the anger of women of color is unfortunately often dismissed, creating fears of being deemed unprofessional. Even just among my peers, I have felt discouragement against speaking out and potentially being dismissed as unreasonable, so I can only imagine the extreme pressure present within academia. I also agree with Audre Lorde’s assertion that it is counterproductive for those in positions of privilege to react to problems with guilt and defensiveness. These responses are something that I have personally observed among my peers. Individuals that I know have become defensive by attempting to justify offensive words and saying that they did not intend to hurt anyone—an argument which is flawed because people should still take responsibility for perpetuating harmful ideas even if this is unintentional. In other cases, individuals have made the claim that “not all” people in positions of privilege are “bad.” While this is true, this argument is often just used to avoid responsibility for perpetuating racism, sexism, or other oppressive sentiments. Instead, these people should recognize their privilege and work towards rectifying rather than defending injustice.
Question: Valverde and Dariotis state that “We are called like most teachers are, to help students to reach their full potential in a society shifted towards social justice” (Valverde and Dariotis, 2017, p. 6). In what ways can we students reach our full potential in this society?
References:
Valverde, C. & Dariotis, W. M. (2017). “The Time to Fight Is Now”: When Asian American Women in Academia Go Rogue. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
Kirkpatrick, A. (2015, May 20). The View From the Ivory Tower. Retrieved November 26, 2017, from https://alisonkirkpatrick.com/tag/ivory-tower/
Valverde, C. & Dariotis, W. M. (2017). “The Time to Fight Is Now”: When Asian American Women in Academia Go Rogue. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
Kirkpatrick, A. (2015, May 20). The View From the Ivory Tower. Retrieved November 26, 2017, from https://alisonkirkpatrick.com/tag/ivory-tower/
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