Week 9

 Sexism: (more of a gender stereotype example)

I work with autistic kids in their homes for my job doing behavior therapy. One of the moms was telling me that her 4-year-old boy said his favorite color was pink. The father then told the child “No, your favorite color is blue. Say blue, not pink.” Not only are children vulnerable, but autistic children especially. He probably thought he did something wrong by having that favorite color. But the dad was so caught up in the fact that ‘pink is for girls’ that he couldn’t stand the fact his child liked the color pink.

Heterosexism: Harassment toward the LGBT community has always been bad. However, the community isn’t as silenced as it’s history shows. This photo shows a movement that Covergirl is taking. Their new Covergirl model is a boy, James Charles. I started reading the comments under the pictures, and found comments saying he is “gross” or “not a real boy” if he likes makeup. Who are we to judge?

Racism: I saw this picture scrolling through my Facebook feed. When I read the caption, my jaw dropped.

                                                   

Not only is this somewhat of a racist comment, but mocking of a religion, as well as a purely evil comment about someone’s looks.

 Ageism:  My dad defeated the odds and transferred cities as a police officer at 62 years old just a few weeks ago. Despite his age, he was at the top of the hiring lists, and wanted by the department. This week, he was assigned to “shadow” one particular officer for a week that was very degrading. This 35-year-old man mocked my dad for being his age, and “not knowing how to do his job.” It completely discouraged my dad, which is a rare occurrence. 

 Able-Bodiedism: Through my line of work there are many families, especially parents, who get discriminated against based on how they are handling their autistic child. One mother this week shared a story with me that made me so angry. She was at the store when her child was having an extreme meltdown, all attention seeking, and she was ignoring the behavior. One of the clerks said, “Are you gonna handle that?” This little boy clearly had a disability, and a complete stranger treated him and his mom very poorly. That is not okay.

My editing mistake for this week was a text message from my Bishop. He heard about my grandfathers passing and sent a really kind message letting me know he was thinking of me. In the text it said, “It is so hard to loose your grandparents who have loved you your whole life.” He used the word “loose” when “lose” should be its replacement.