Introductory Letter

Hey everyone!

My name is Romina Polo, I’m a current senior majoring in advertising/public relations with a creative writing minor. I was born in Peru but have lived in Miami,FL most of my life till I moved away for college. I’m still in the process of deciding what exactly I want to do career wise, but one of my options has always been to work with a non-profit organization or activist group in which I can provide advertising or event management services. For this reason I became interested in taking this women’s studies course, especially because of the service learning component to it.

Some activist programs I’ve been involved with in the past have been Rock for Hunger events where we would get together and provide food for homeless people in downtown Orlando. I’ve also participated in a couple overnight rallies for Invisible Children which is a nonprofit group speaking out for Ugandan children who were being abducted and forced to fight in Africa’s longest running war. These kinds of movements have always captivated me and motivated me to offer compassion and assistance. I feel very strongly about fighting injustice and helping in any way I can even if it’s as simple as spreading awareness.  

As a woman myself, I feel that taking this course will help me learn more about what it really means to be a feminist, the differences between genders and how much society has an effect on gender roles and expectations. Women’s studies would be nothing without studying the history of women’s movements and how much women’s roles have changed throughout the years. These subjects have been briefly discussed in a chapter or less in previous history courses I’ve taken so I am definitely looking forward to getting a more in-depth look at the history of women’s rights.

 I would also like to learn more about what it means to be a Hispanic woman in this country and share my life experiences as well. There are several things about being a woman in this society that I often times don’t put much thought into, but I feel that after taking this class I will begin to analyze everyday occurrences with more depth and analysis. After reading the first chapter of our textbook and learning about the second wave of activism for women’s rights and its focus on feminist postmodernism I began to realize that women really can’t all be generalized under the same group or be expected to have gone through the same experiences. We all have different perceptions of the world we live in because of our unique experiences based on age, race, beliefs, culture, national origin etc. Reading about this lead me to think more about the various forms of oppression and how I fall under two historically oppressed groups in the U.S.: women and Hispanic immigrants. For this reason my life experiences are going to be different than that of my peers in this class even if they are of my same age and gender.

I’ve always liked to think that being a part of these groups that make me who I am has never affected my life in a negative manner. However, I’ve probably been very oblivious to the different ways society has oppressed Hispanic women both in the past and in current times. I’ve lived my whole life playing up my Hispanic background because of the benefits that sometimes come with it (scholarships, multicultural programs, etc.) but how do I know a past employer didn’t look at me different or didn’t hire me solely because of my race and gender? I’m not saying I’m going to start thinking of myself as a victim of the world I live in but I realize that it’s important to be aware of our accomplishments as women as well as our shortcomings. Only then can we begin to work at making this a more sustainable environment to live in. I’m looking forward to gaining more perspective on this subject that so clearly relates to who I am and helps define the society I am a part of.

I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus and the blogging protocols.