139). Thinness is also a type of privilege, as is external or socially acceptable beauty. Beauty ideals and norms are also tied in with race, culture, and class. Economic class and social class often determine access to healthy food, which is why low-income people are more likely to be obese and have related problems. Although generally, African-American women have healthier body images than white women, white cultural hegemony has started to infiltrate black culture, especially in what Riley (n.d.) calls "bourgeois black families," (p. 358). Riley's (n.d.) experiences reveal the interconnectedness, or intersectionality, between race, class, and gender. Just as it is important to recognize different gendered identities for women from different cultural backgrounds, it is also important to acknowledge that not all women subscribe to the same notions of beauty.
Women's studies also embrace the difficult dialogue related to gender and sexuality in ways that are not discussed in other departments. Gender and sexuality are related topics, but it is important to remember that gender does not determine sexuality any more than biological sex determines gender. We are just now starting to recognize that the binaries of male/female and heterosexual/homosexual are detrimental to psychological and social health. Human beings are too complex, and their sexual and gendered identities too complex, to allow for artificial binaries...
Learning about the fluidity of both gender and sexuality, we become liberated to explore our own personal identity. Women's studies asks each person, no matter what their background, gender, or social status, to forge a strong identity and be assertive enough to express that identity. This is the personal dimension of women's studies. Women's studies also has a powerful political dimension. From a strong personal identity, we become empowered to take action in the world. We may make a difference in someone else's life, perhaps by sharing our story or starting an organization. Women's studies are about personal and social change.
References
A, Ijeoma. (n.d.). Because you're a girl.
Bergman, S.B. (2009). Part-time fatso. In The Fat Studies Reader. Eds. Ester Rosenblum and Sandra Solvay. NYU Press.
Douglas, S. (2010). Enlightened sexism.
"Examples of Institutional Heterosexism." Appendix 9H
Hurdis, R. (n.d.). Heartbroken: Women of color feminism and the third wave.
Luna, S. (n.d.). HIV and me.
Pittelman, K. & Resource Generation (n.d.). Deep thoughts about class privilege.
Riley, S.J. (n.d.). The black beauty myth.
Silliman, J., Fried, M.G., Ross, L. & Gutierrez, E.R. (2004). Women of color and their struggle for reproductive justice.
Tzintzun, C. (n.d.). Colonize This!
