Over the course of the semester I’ve gained several new viewpoints. This class has really given me valuable information, that as 21 years old it’s sad I didn’t know about. Why don’t we learn about invisible disabilities in high school? Why didn’t we learn about Crip Camp in history? To me that seems like a major historical event…. The history of women regarding their bodies, labor, reproduction, was never talked about.
There are so many topics touched on in this class that should have been taught in middle/high school. When I tell people (who have never been in one) that I am in a gender studies class they assume it’s easy. Or that it’s just a filler elective and they don’t really understand what we cover. This class and these topics are things everyone should know about. The fact that some of these topics are brand new is depressing.
I feel like this class has given me a better idea of what people go through. It only reiterates the idea that you never know what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes. Also, the importance of awareness, open-mindedness, and kindness. We’re all from different backgrounds and taught different things and that’s ok. We just have to be willing to listen to each other and learn so we can do better.
Unruly Bodies 
I relate a lot to your blog! This class also opened my mind and put things into a different perspective because there were a lot of scenarios regarding our bodies that I often overlooked especially regarding the idea of invisible disabilities because I never knew it was a real idea and debate, I looked at disibilities both cognative and physical as just a disability not seperately. I also gained a better understanding on mental health and how it qualifies as a disibility.
I often have the thought of “how did I not know about this” or “why wasn’t I taught about this in school”. I usually experience this in classes related to race/gender/disability ect but also in my own reading. Crip Camp should be shown to every middle schooler/high schooler in America. However, there is a reason that it hasn’t been, and probably will never be shown until things change structurally. The lessons/history we learn in these spaces are dangerous too the protection of structures of domination and exploitation. They won’t show us how to unionize, that the black panthers were good, that there are issues in the foundation of America, and that we have the power to change it.