My favorite thing to tell people is I'm a part time mother of 7 three year-olds. Clearly, I'm not their “real” mother. I am someone who watches over them and wants to help and  see them thrive.

     The concept of motherhood, to me, is about attitude, which explains why I chose the quote to open my paper.  Being a mother is more then just giving birth to a child, you can be a mother and have no children. Being a mother means you have responsibility and put others before yourself while trying to guide them down the best path for them. 
     This is why I tell people the above. I work in a preschool and my class is seven wonderful children. Everyday, they come into the classroom expecting a safe and fun environment,  similar to what their parents provide. They look up to me for help and direction as they do their own parents.  They look up to me for guidance.  In this instant,  I am a mother. I am nurturing these children to grow into unique individuals by helping them explore their interests.  
     I also tell people I have several mothers. I say this because of the irreplaceable unique bonds I have with other strong women in my life. Their  bonds with me  are just as strong as mine with my own biological mother. I can easily say my former girl scout leader is one of my mothers.  She's held responsibility for me on numerous camping trips and other activities. She wanted to help me grow and wanted to strive to be the best I can be. 
      I can also say my best friends mother is also a mother to me. She's seen me at my best and even at my worst and is always guiding me down the right path, just as my own mother. 
      Although I have many "mothers", the bond I have with my own mother is similar to these, but far more deep. Her concern for me and my well being runs deeper than my own for myself. She puts me before her, and doesn't think twice. She makes sure I'm one hundred percent before she does anything else. She's pushed me through times when I thought I could never make it out. Her love for me is a force no one or nothing could break up. 

In our class discussions,we have talked about this idea of “foremothers” as opposed to our current forefathers. We also saw this idea portrayed in the Jay-Z video. In respect to having foremothers, i think it would be something different. It would be interesting to have a powerful diverse group of women as opposed to just a group of men making impactful decisions. This ties into motherhood because these would be women we could look up to and relate to. 
      Being a mother goes far beyond having your own children. Being a mother is putting others before you and wanting to see those close to you thrive.  Anyone whose love and care for another runs deep can be a mother, biological or not. 

     For example I’m a complete social butterfly at work. I’m constantly talking a asking questions and interacting with the children in my class. It’s not  that I have to be social, (although, it does help!) it’s that I am in a place i feel most comfortable and confident in myself. when you see my in a college classes, for example, I’m extremely shy and prefer to listen to others ideas then share my own. I’m more kept to myself in fear of being judged in anyway.

     My dominant identity includes myself being a straight, white female. These two identities I included are identities I'm sure of. One of my most dominate identies, my sexulatity,  come with a large set of privileges as well, even though i was unaware of this. For example, being straightt means my sexualtiy is less questioned. 

 Unlike my non dominant identity which would include my class and ethnicity. I'm not completely sure of my ethnicity besides that I’m part Bohemian and Italian. Although i'm not one hundred percent sure of where i am ethnically, these two part of ethnicity play a huge role in my life. My grandmother often uses Bohemian words or phrases when she speaks and cooks Italian food for our holiday meals. She often reminds me that this is where I come from and possibly why i have s many”quirky” (as she says) traits. .My social class is part of my non dominant identity because it can change I  an go from working class to upper class then back to middle class.

My social class is a part of identity I believe you have control over. If you work hard, you can rise to the top.  However, this is often difficult because of the sets of biais and privileges that members of society have, but refuse to acknowledge. There is a term called “doing race” which refers to treating someone based on their race. I believe this is one of the issues anyone, especially minority groups may face when trying to climb the ladder. I fully believe, though, that no matter who you are or what challenges you have or may face along the way , you can always climb to the top. 

  Although there are other white, straight females my identity is much different from theirs as theirs is from mine. Each white, straight female has had different challenges than mine and although we may have gone through the same type of struggle, they still manifested differently and shaped us differently. We have all been surrounded by different people who have shaped us. Our families have helped shape us to be our own individual person.  We have all had different  upbringings and family/social experiences that shape the more intricate parts of our identity.  

 

Heterosexual privilege also affects me personally because I identify as a straight female. This one did not surprise me as much because I was already aware of this privilege. Just because I am straight, I know my sexual orientation will be accepted without being for it. I also know will be represented in the media. For example, I know that when look in a magazine, I am guaranteed my sexual orientation will be shown. It actually infuriates me knowing I have this privilege because honestly it should not be a privilege at all. Everyone and I mean everyone deserves to be represented, no matter gender, disability/ability sexual orientation, race etc. Everyone deserves to have someone they can relate to in and associate with.

  The last inventory I decided to investigate was able bodied privilege. I decided to look at this one because it's something we all take for granted without even realizing it sometimes. Everyday, we take For granted that we can go about our days and not worry about if a place has accommodations we will need. For example, being an able-bodied person I do not have to worry about accommodations. People do not assume I need them to help me. I’m able to go pretty much anywhere and not worry if it has what I need. I often forget how lucky I am to have this privilege.

  As I investigated these three inventories, I learned a lot. It was insightful to learn about the privileges I have and I wasn't aware of. I was also able to critically think about how others are affected as well and my feeling towards this. It gave me the opportunity to learn more about who I identify as and some of the privileges I have on a daily basis

     The video doesn't  many feelings from me. I feel maybe if we change how things are going now, we can change how America comes together  as one.Although, I thought it was interesting that  it was a group of women revising the constitution as opposed to men. It shows that women have more power then they do now. That women are seen as equals and hold just as much responsibly as men and that  women's incite is valued so much they are given a very important role. What I really like and appreciate about this scene specifically is that the director used a diverse group of women. This way the revisions wouldn't exclude anyone and there would be different viewpoints. Basically, it says that fore mothers are important and it could be a very positive impact on society but also reminds the audience that this would not "fix" everything.

   

     The video gives me a sense the director wants the audience to realize we can't keep feuding with each other. That America is one big family and if we keep on feuding and constantly disagreeing and arguing nothing will get done and nothing will change. there will always be conflict, there is no possible way to eliminate it. However, we can be optimistic and try to keep our "family" from feuding . Maybe if we all tried working on our own conflicts and then our smaller conflicts with others and then the bigger ones, America could be closer to a big "family." We should all be strong. Our relationships, family and communities need to be strong. This is heard in one of the last lines of the video. “nobody wins when the family feuds.”

      Although I am not one who knows a lot about marvel, I do notice that the females in black panther do so much more than other female heroes in other movies.  In many past movies, a women role was not as prominent as the role of women in Black Panther. 

      The women in Black Panther are portrayed  with dark skin, and natural hair. They look very sleek and elegant as well powerful. They are all unique in body shape and size.  How they are dressed, too says about their role. They are dressed like leaders and they don't look sexualized as many women do in movies. The women in Black Panther are a necessity to their fictional society. For example, Shuri had numerous technological inventions that ultimately ended up saving Wakanda. 

Although I chose to focus on the role of women in the movie, the male roles were just as important. In regards to the male role in Black Panther, men were also portrayed as strong and powerful, as if this is anything new. The men portrayed large images of strength, especially physical strength. However, the women were also very strong physically and mentally, making the roles of the to closer together. 

T’Challa, one of the most important characters in the film, is struggling to find his identity. He looks to find out who is as a leader. Eventually, he realises his reason and purpose for being a ruler is to carry out a legacy. 

      The first scene where we see two Wakandan women, they are portrayed as powerful. They have no expression on their face and the two men who they approached new they meant business. Although this is one of the first scenes, it's actually one of my favorite ones. We get a first glimpse of women in the film, which basically sets up for how the rest of them may be portrayed. Knowing nothing about Black Panther, i was concerned  the women would be sexualized, ( as i mentioned above) or that  they would be depicted as weak. They did not need saving from a man and in fact held leadership roles. The women in Black Panther were shown as strong, independent warriors. Since we saw we strong, messengers we can assume the rest of the women may seem to fit this mold. I was not disappointed to see more women throughout the film with a level head on their shoulders and the strength they had. 

     Black Panther was for sure an interesting movie, and at times hard to follow. However, it was worth watching and seeing the role of women in a new light.