This past week I had the opportunity to attend an event called Diversity Dialogues. I wasn't sure what to expect when I went but in the end it turned out to be insightful and an eye opener. In particular, one activity that really made me think and take a step back and examine who I really was as a person. This activity had us divide the paper in two columns and on one side it had I am and the other side I am not. As I was going thinking of what to write, I realized that it was quite hard. In a way, the only things that I could think of for the I am not was all stereotypes that I as an asian American face. We all were suppose to come up with five, and I could barely think of three. I think being female and asian definitely made me think of things that I didn't want to put on paper to share with others. The more I think of it most of them were quite negative and did follow the social construction of gender. Don't get me wrong, I do love myself and embrace my ethnicity, but these stereotypes do create obstacles that make others think of you differently. I left this activity really thinking who I am as a person and thinking, these things don't define me as a person. My decisions and choices that I make shape me to be who I am.
I am a fighter, I am not a quitter.
Thanks for sharing your own experience with the diversity activity--it can be hard to really think about our identity through stereotypes, so i'm glad you were able to continue to think about it and use the experience to make you feel empowered.
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