"A Question of Class" Discussion Abstract

Madison Zierk
WST 3015
Jeannina Perez
January 30, 2010

Allison, Dorothy. “A Question of Class.” Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa- Rey. 5th Ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 112-119. Print.
Allison’s article “A Question of Class” tells of the author’s struggle with growing up as a child of the working class. Not only as a child of the working class, but a lesbian who was trying to work her way out of the working class. In the beginning of the article Allison disscusses her constant need while growing up was to hide who she was. She hid her family history and her life from her lovers, her friends, and anybody else who tried to get to know her. She felt that if she revealed who she was she would move over to “the land of they” (112). This “land of they” was a place where people were ridiculed and looked down on for being different or less fortunate. As being a lesbian and a former working class member, Dorothy felt she had to hide just about everything about herself.
As Allison worked to climb out of the working class (she graduated from high school and earned a college education) she watched her sisters, along with her aunts and cousins, settle for the class that they were born into. They dropped out of high school and worked as waitresses, laundry workers, and counter girls. Over time Dorothy found herself drifting further away from her family. Only every now and then did she remind herself of who she was and where she came from.
One of those days, described in the article, was when Allison had to speak for two different groups. The Episcopalian Sunday School class was made up of all white and were clearly members of the middle and upper classes. The other group, a juvenille detention center, were all women, minorities, and members of the lower middle and working classes. Both groups asked the same kinds of questions but they left Dorothy with a different mix of emotions. She left the Sunday School feeling depressed and on the verge of tears. The juvenille detention center left her grinning from ear to ear.
These two completely different groups led Dorothy Allison to the conclusion that no matter what she did to escape her past and climb out of the working class, she will always be a member of the working class. After this realization, Allison then goes on to discuss her anger towards a system that looks down on those who were not born into a priviledged life. She goes on to say “I understood again that some are given no quarter, no chance, that all their courage, humor, and love for each other is just a joke to the ones wo make the rules, and I hated the rule makers.”(118) The conlusion made by Allison is that society chooses to look down onto others that are different because they feel security for themselves and their communities depends on the oppression of others (119).

All About Maddie!

Hello to my fellow classmates and Nina. My name is Madison Zierk, but I prefer Maddie. Maddie just sounds so much more friendly. My older sister calls me Madison. It drives me insane! I feel like I'm in trouble for something every time someone refers to me as "Madison". 23 years ago I was born in St. Augustine. I have lived in Palm Coast my whole life until recently when I moved to Orlando this past semester for school. I'm a Junior and am currently undecided as to what I want to do with my life. Technically I'm a History major but that's going to change real soon. I found out last semester that liking history and actually having the drive to study it are two completely different things. Now I'm just trying to find something that will make me happy. I'll worry about the money aspect of my career options after I graduate.

I remember being 13 years old and in my 8th grade class we kept a journal. My teacher asked us what we would like to do when we "grew up". I wrote in my journal that I wanted to be an activist. Then he responded by writing "what kind of an activist would you like to be?" That's where I became stumped. I knew I wanted to change the world in some way, I just didn't know how or what I wanted to change. As I've gotten older I've seen things that have happened in the world that I feel need to be changed for the better. I have never participated in any activist groups or functions, but I would like to start. Two issues that I feel need to be changed for the better are LGBT Rights and Women's Rights. I guess that's what brought me into considering Women's Studies as a possible major or minor.

I've always considered myself to be somewhat of a feminist, although I'm not sure as to what degree I am. To me, feminism is an empowerment that women feel when they are working to achieve the same equal rights and respect that men receive every day. I believe that every woman deserves those rights and respect and should fight their hardest to earn them. At the same time though I'm not about to go burning my bras and declaring men as some lowly beings. I know that's the horrible stereotype that every feminist is perceived as. I also know that only a small percentage is actually that kind of feminist. That's why I want to learn about Women's studies. I feel that Women's studies is the learning and understanding of where women as a gender came from and what they had and learning how women grew to where they are today. It's also a study of how women can continue to fight for their rights and hold on to the ones they already have. I am very grateful for the rights that I have today courtesy of the stong women that fought for those rights. Those rights include everything from being able to vote to wearing a pair of pants.

All in all, I believe that taking this course will be a fun learning experience that I can't wait to start. I feel that I will leave this course having a better knowledge of what it means to be a woman and a feminist. I'm also hoping to come out of this course with a new major or minor that I'm going to actually enjoy learning about. I've read, understand, and agree to the course syllabus and blogging protocals.