What Is Gender?
My Global Studies capstone project is focused on gender around the world. After completing basic background research about the gender spectrum, I studied the different cultural implications gender carries as it relates to religion, nationality, gender roles, etc. I wrote a 12-page capstone paper about cultural womanhood in both Afghanistan and the United States, and then wrote about the current gender revolution. For my final product, I plan on creating a video documentary interviewing individuals about their interactions and experiences with gender identity.
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Thesis: The collective obsession with the binary categorization of gender is one of the most harmful ideologies humans have evolved to believe.
Dress Code in America
Dress codes have been a hot button issue for generations. While policy surrounding dress differs from institution to institution, conflict often arises from common threads which include bias against all individuals who do not identify as cisgender men. Whether these issues regard enforcing an outdated gender binary, teaching a patriarchal hierarchy, or perpetuating instances of victim blaming, it is clear that the problems with dress code in America are rooted in the depths of our nation's much larger struggles with misogyny and sexism. As part of my capstone project, I collected a sample of dress codes in the surrounding area, and analyzed them. From that, I developed an example of an ungendered dress code. This product is a more personal take on my project topic, because I applied it to something that is not only prevalent in my life as a cisgender female in an American high school, but also as something I have had multiple negative experiences with.
Read two examples of CT Public School dress codes
Read my analyses of their interactions with gender in America
Primary Accounts of Gender Experiences
This documentary explored individual experiences with gender. I had the chance to interview a diverse group of individuals about their encounters with gender in a day-to-day, and big-picture context. The documentary includes discussions about identity, family, advice, personal stories, and analyses of the institutions that shape all of our collective experiences. All of the interviews were conducted with Watkinson students from different backgrounds, which create a unique, comprehensive narrative.
Read the questions I asked