All,
Thanks for attending today's event with Drs Rose Yesha and Arrya Gangopadhyay.
Interested in the accelerated MPS offered in Health IT? Find all the specifics attached in the PPT (download below).
For questions regarding the program, please request info here: http://healthtech.umbc.edu/faculty.php
~ISSA Executive Board
Harini Narayan is a student intern at the Women’s Center.
My childhood was marked by internal conflict. I struggled to understand my ethnic identity and sexual orientation, all the while facing the usual struggles of adolescence. In intermediate school, I was a self-declared tomboy and made friends mostly with the boys in my class. I identified with them more than the girls, and the validation I received in being “one of the boys” only fueled my need to further distance myself from my own gender. I was proud to say I didn’t wear makeup or wear dresses and loved to brag that I was never so shallow as to have a boyfriend (little did I know there was a very different reason for not wanting to date boys, but that’s a realization I wouldn’t come to for a few years). Thankfully, I grew out of that phase before I became an adult.
In retrospect, I recognize the toxicity of my behavior. I put down other girls to feel better about myself, as if wearing pants instead of a dress somehow made me superior. It’s almost laughable how much I’ve changed, but my childhood personality opens the bigger issue of those who do not change, and enter adulthood as a woman that sets herself apart from the rest of her gender on the sole belief that she is somehow better for not conforming to the societal mold for femininity.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with not being feminine. Toxicity lies in not being able to accept a woman’s personal choice may align with societal norms. For example, I still prefer pants to dresses, but I know there is nothing wrong with dresses. Femininity is not a weakness, but a choice that should be respected. Declaring oneself as “not like other girls” shouldn’t be acceptable, unless the one in question is a) not wholly female-identifying (like genderfluid people), or b) a mermaid, werewolf, or other partially supernatural entity that identifies as female, but not human. Even those two instances, what makes someone “different” from other girls is either not completely identifying as female (hence unlike other girls, because they are not always a girl), or not being fully human-identifying (in this case, the “other” girls are human, and therefore biologically unlike a hybrid species).
Furthermore, toxic gender culture isn’t limited to women; men face the same issue though it’s presented differently. Toxic masculinity takes the form of repressed emotions. It’s hearing “men can’t get raped,” and shaming those who aren’t interested in sex, sports, or beer. It’s assuming a man is gay because he dresses a certain way, or watches certain television shows. It’s microaggressions that people don’t realize they’ve normalized until it’s almost too late.
Toxicity stems from society, but manifests itself within a gender identity group over time.
Internalized misogyny can be blamed on several things, notably the stereotypes surrounding the different ways in which girls present themselves. When a girl grows up hearing she can either be pretty or smart, she is trapped in a binary that restricts her personality. If you want to be smart, no one will find you attractive; but if you want to wear makeup and date, no one will perceive you as intelligent. She can be a Madonna/whore, a domestic goddess, or a bossy spinster—“or” being the operative word. Only one option is acceptable, but still leaves the woman with enough flaws to be criticized by society. The bimbo is an airhead, an object for men’s entertainment; the domestic goddess is submissive and lacks any sort of worldly knowledge; the bossy spinster is a prude that doesn’t know how to have a good time.
What isn’t considered here is how there is no one-size-fits-all for what a “good woman” is. Society wants a woman that is smart, but always yields to men to ensure she never appears more intelligent than them; she must be attractive but can’t flaunt her sexuality or dislike the notion of sex either; and she must be well-versed in domesticity, able to cook, clean, and tend to the family. Unfortunately for those with such counter-intuitive/competing? expectations, this kind of woman does not exist.
Women are powerful, and they are also multifaceted: a single characteristic does not define them. Women know this about themselves, so why do some hold fellow women to a different standard?
This is the power of misogyny in a patriarchal society. Social constructs form barriers on the personalities of women, which is oppressive to its core. To be taken seriously (read: worthy of a man’s approval), women must confine themselves to the task of boosting men’s self-esteem. If you’re a woman reading this, I want you to think about your own experiences in public with men: how many times have you been interrupted by a man in conversation? How many times have you laughed at a joke you found unfunny, or even offensive? How many times have you been cat called on the street? And how many times have you seen men cat called? The first step to breaking free of that is being conscious of any sort of thinking or behavior that demonizes other women for doing something completely unproblematic. Is her makeup messy? That’s okay, because maybe she’s practicing improving her skills or maybe she doesn’t care how others perceive her. Is her outfit totally unflattering to that body shape? That’s none of your business because the clothes aren’t on your body! Being constructive isn’t the same as being judgmental: telling someone she has lipstick on her teeth isn’t the same as pointing out her makeup is cakey. Women need to respect each other and help each other succeed. In a society designed to put women down, we must rely on each other to lift ourselves back up and stand strong.
A chart dictating some examples of gender stereotypes
It’s hard work to filter our thoughts for all of the toxic things we internalize, but we need to recognize that acknowledgement of sexist thoughts is important. Respect is learned, and people can change for the better if they first admit they need to do so. Years ago, I represented everything that is wrong with the ways society views gender toxicity. Now, I can say that I have educated myself and recognize when I’m engaging in toxic behavior. Nobody is perfect or all-knowing, but it is the effort and willingness to be a better person that makes the world a better place.
]]>The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) has secured a campus-wide site license for Stata, a powerful quantitative statistical software package that allows users to analyze and manage data as well as produce graphics. The addition of Stata further enhances the university’s suite of available qualitative and quantitative software packages, like SPSS, NVivo, SAS, and R.
The new campus-wide site license for
Stata is for Stata/MP 15, the fastest and largest version of the package, which
can enable users to analyze up to 20 billion observations and utilize up to
120,000 variables. This
software is available to all faculty, staff, and students. It provides a range
of options for importing, arranging, and coding data as well as for statistical
analysis – from standard techniques (e.g., linear regression, logistic
regression, and ANOVA) to advanced techniques (e.g., structural equation
modeling and forecasting). The software easily allows users to reproduce and
document all analyses and graphs. The acquisition of Stata aligns with efforts
to support UMBC's strategic plan, including the objective to "vigorously
promote a campus culture of multidisciplinary collaboration and
multidisciplinary research, scholarship, and creative activity."
Acquisition represents another significant investment in the university’s
research infrastructure.
CAHSS faculty and departments identified having a site license for Stata as a
critical need during a recent assessment of the College’s research
infrastructure that was led by Dr. Tyson King-Meadows of the Department of
Political Science, Associate Dean for Research and College Affairs. A survey of
departments revealed that Stata was the most used and most requested statistical
software package by faculty across multiple departments.
If
you are considering quantitative or mixed-methods research, or if you are
currently gathering or analyzing quantitative data, please consider leveraging
the power of Stata for your analytic strategy.
To download
Stata and for more information, see
https://wiki.umbc.edu/display/faq/Stata
]]>Provide strategic direction to and oversight of PR initiatives of the Marketing and Communications department to ensure that the world-renowned Baltimore Symphony Orchestra receives the best and broadest possible media exposure for the full range of its activities locally, nationally, and internationally.
]]>The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) seeks an experienced Landscape Manager to oversee the daily operations, planting, overall grounds maintenance, snow removal for the museum grounds and the consistent evaluation of the Museum grounds’ health. This full-time, exempt position reports to the Director of Operations & Capital Planning.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
· Manage the landscape team including outside contractors.
· Manage physical landscaping hands-on.
· Develop and manage departmental budget.
]]>The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) seeks a well-qualified individual for the position of Associate Registrar for Collections to assist with the management of the permanent collection.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
]]>GBCA
The Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA) nurtures and promotes a vibrant, diverse, and sustainable arts and cultural community, essential to the region’s quality of life. GBCA supports the needs of more than 400 members from the Baltimore region (Baltimore City and the five surrounding counties) including arts, culture, history, and heritage organizations, as well as individual artists. GBCA requires a strong infrastructure to steward its members and to manage programs and initiatives.
Position Overview
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