The conversation about privilege in society is definitely a hot topic in society right now, and I think it is an incredibly important one. As we showed with the chain activity in class, there is so much more to a person than what we think we know by looking at them or even talking to them.
Being a woman in today's society creates struggles, and being a woman in sports creates very unique ones. Recently there has been a picture going viral of a text exchange where a man doesn't believe that a woman can be a baseball fan and challenges her to name the teams that comprise the NL East and she does so with flair, I was recently challenged in a similar way because I was wearing a jersey of my favorite team and a man said, "There's no way that's your jersey, you're not a fan. I bet you can't even name one player on the team." When I did name a few players on the team, he held up his hands in defense said "Okay, okay, no reason to be a bitch about it." This exchange was not the first like this in my life, and I'm sure it won't be the last I experience in my life. Women are called bitches or bossy when we are assertive and when we aren't, we are pushovers or weak, so in almost all aspects of life, we have to walk a very fine line with our interactions with peers.
A non-target identity I am identified as is white, although I am half Latina and my name reflects that, I don't look it, and therefore reap the benefits of being labeled as white. While out late at night at home (which is only about 30 minutes away from Compton, CA) I don't have to worry about being profiled as something that would get me in trouble, for my whole life I am at a lower rate for being arrested and incarcerated, and I am not discriminated against for being a member of a minority race. I am proud to be Latina, but I fully understand that having light skin is a a benefit overall and I just have to laugh it off and accept it when people say, "your name is Hernandez, but you don't look Mexican."
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