Week 4
9/10:
(1) have you already had an education like this? Looking at the things we made for our class of master harmonizing I believe I have not had an education like this before. There are so many things I did not learn that would have given me the skills to be a master harmonizer
(2) are you getting an education like this? I believe I am getting the education of a harmonizer now because of all the things I am learning at Howard that I have never learned before. I believe the teachers at Howard are open-minded and keep the narrative open so we can have genuine discussions about current events, history, etc.
(3) what decisions can you make right now (as in *today* or at least this semester) to better position yourself for this kind of education? The decisions I can make to put myself in a better position are to study hard and become a more open minded person to those around me.
In class today we were discussing about how we could be harmonizers and honestly I don’t believe where I am now that I could be a harmonizer.
9/13/20
There have been many times where I have tried to lead but were hindered by the negative prejudices within this world. One that was most recent was at my previous job. I was working at a job where I was actually the only African American shift leader and most of the time my supervisors and my colleagues would never take me seriously. During the events with the black lives matter movement we got into a heated discussion at work over how the movement was proceeding. I felt outnumbered and belittled despite all the stuff I do for that job and how praised I was as a leader when it came to talk about my people I felt no better than someone on the street. I eventually took this as an opportunity that I was no longer held of value there and so I left. Another time I felt I was discredited as a leader was when I was the captain of my mock trial team. There was a substantial amount more women than men on the team and prior to me and my friends joining it had been a tradition to only have women on the team. Not many people were happy when I received team captain because prior for the high school I come from their was only one other male captain ever. Also it was only my second year in the club so not many people were happy. People would literally ignore everything I did to discredit my ability as a leader. They would dehumanize me simply because they believed tradition was better than teamwork. We then went on to win Regions and Districts while I was team captain. The last instance of me seeing someone being mistreated as a leader is at my first job. My manager had worked herself up the ladder and they scammed her at every instance they could because she was a strong African American woman. She was cheated out of bonuses, opportunities, and raises simply to spite her. I actually admired her for being able to still work 15 hours a day but only get paid for 9. Her job to her was the most important thing in her life and she could easily have moved up because she had numbers to show for it. I admired her most for when she left because despite all the horrible things they did to her she left with grace.
During this time many women did not have the right to vote or their opinions were not listened to because the men felt that women were inferior.During this time the idea that women would band together and make a stand against men in this ancient Greece time period. A part that interests me the most is Lysistrata when she gives the women a way if they are forced by their men to participate in sex. I think that demonstrates her ability to plan ahead for the worst type of situation to happen that would thwart their plans against the men. She knew that men during their time would sometimes force their women to have sex with them so she decided to take their pleasure out of it by asking the women to go limp.
The story with Lysistrata was a little weird. It made sense that the women used their power they had over men and Lysistrata did show traits of a leader. Her controlling the men’s desire to stop the war was honestly a brilliant plan.
Lysistrata, though, is obviously an strong willed woman and, even when all of the other women’s trust in their oath begins to waver, she remains strong and committed. She is actually pretty different from the other women as she does not herself show any signs of sexual desire, she does not seem to have any lover/husband that is told in the story she is smarter, wittier and generally adopts a more serious tone than the other women, and uses different language to get people to follow her. This leads to everyone in the story respecting her including the magistrate and the women, by the end of the play, she has demonstrated her power over men, with even the Athenian and spartan armies and their leaders at her command which stops the war.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
Hail to the bravest woman of them all.
You must now show that you’re resilient —
stern but yielding, with a good heart but mean,
stately but down-to-earth. The foremost men
in all of Greece in deference to your charms
have come together here before you
so you can arbitrate all their complaints.
This passage here actually describes how at the end of the story both choruses have come together and are looking for Lysistrata to lead. I felt this passage was the most significant piece because it shows how the end of this war rests on the shoulder of one woman.
9/15:
Today in class we were asked do we believe that if women stood up in today’s society would this be the road map to use for a revolt. In some ways I think it can be the road map but in others I believe this should not be the way a stand should be made. To start off why I do not believe this is the road map this play was written by men for men. I do not believe women can follow a road map on how to rebel against this patriarchal society by taking the men’s advice. I do believe however just like Lysistrata women should take notes from how men act but don’t mirror it. I do believe this can be the road map to show women unity. A central leader like Lysistrata would be necessary to destroy a society that was in control because as it happened in the story you need
