The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

Everyday I am faced with bias prejudice and oppression.  I have learned to ignore it mostly.  But everytime that it occurs I ask myself, Did that just happen? Did that happen to me? And like my mother says I have to make a decision, take time to confront the bias or prejudice or leave it alone.  I am always at the crossroads of choosing my battles.  It has happened in my social life, as I watched television, in my educational endeavors and professionally.  In each experience, I have to think if it is worth the battle and possible consequence of confrontation, or if I can live with it and be minimally affected.   Sadly more often than naught, I choose to live with it and focus on other things.

For years, one of my favorite movies was Sixteen candles. I have watched this movie many times.  However, I watched it recently and a feeling of disgust overcame me and I was very disappointed and vowed to never watch the movie again.  There is a part where all of the teenagers are having a party at one of of the main characters home.  The children were underage drinking and one of the antagonist females had way too much to drink and visibly impaired.  In order for the heartthrob in the movie to get what he wanted, he traded her to someone who was a virtual stranger to him.  He even said you can do whatever you want to her.  The young man did in fact do whatever he wanted with her.  He stopped to see his friends and attempted to take photographs of her.  The movie even alluded to a sexual encounter that she could not have consented to in her condition.  As I watched this movie I thought about how many times the writers of the movie felt is was okay to repeatedly victimize the female character.   Not only did it make light of a very real issue in our world then and now, it promoted rape culture.  I had never before paid attention to how wrong this idea was.  But because of the recent focus on cultural appropriateness, it was a flashing red light.  Hopefully, the media has matured from this type of senseless and harmful humor.   Women are not things to be passed around and treated however, men choose.  This attitude has been reiterated by the President of the United States, as well as many prominent figures of Hollywood and government.  This type of thinking is antiquated and in my opinion evil.
As an African American woman, I am often faced with the decision of whether to be for racial equality or women's rights.  I am a survivor of sexual assault and when I see the issue of women's rights glossed over as a trend, or being made into a joke,  I become angry. Young girls should not have to learn to be silent and take maltreatment from men or anyone.   It is my goal to empower young women and help them understand their rights as women and their strength.  I will walk beside and behind anyone who moves with the intent to fight the injustices against women.