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Don't Let Them Define You

     The book  George , by Alex Gino explores the struggle of gender and identity within the main character, George. One of the themes that I found prevalent in this book that I believe relates to the entirety of the course is the idea of defining things. Throughout many of the works we have read throughout this course there has been an underlying notion of society trying to define certain people. Such as Starr, for example, who was defined by both her white friends at school and by her black community as different things for different reasons. Or in  Lysistrata  where the women were defined by their sexuality and pleasure that they could provide to their husbands. Throughout society in the real world and in many of the books we have read, definitions and labels are always being imposed on people. And as we can see through the practice of banning books, society does not like when people try to expound upon or reject these labels. They have a need to be stra...
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Ringel

     While reading Ringel’s article, “How Banning Books Marginalizes Children,” a quote really struck me: “More broadly, keeping books about certain types of children or experiences out of libraries or putting them on separate shelves perpetuates a troubling vision of a sheltered American childhood that in fact has rarely existed” (Ringel 4-5). By telling American children that their experiences and lives are not valid or appropriate, we run the risk of making them even more excluded than they already feel. Keeping the books that deal with relevant life experiences out of libraries and on separate shelves is troubling. Even as a twenty-year-old, when I look in the LGBTQ+ section of Barnes and Noble, I barely feel safe around my family. They question why I am even looking in that section to begin with, telling me that it is a sin to read these types of books and that they will "turn me gay." The fact that it is separated allows for more marginalization and could possibly o...
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Kolvenbach in Conversation with Khanna

Throughout his address to the Conference on Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach discusses the concept of comfort and how it exists within the Jesuit community. Much like our responses in class to Miranda’s question about whether we believe suffering needs to be seen in order to move towards decolonization and liberation, Kolvenbach argues that Jesuits and those studying at Jesuit universities need to see the suffering and injustice in the world in order to become active promoters of justice.  In her writing, Khanna makes the case that if people pay attention to their visceral, instinctual reactions, they can gain a greater sense of self and community and work toward liberation. Through exploring what makes us the most comfortable, we can experience the highest forms of growth and progress. Kolvenbach says that students of Jesuit universities need to meet this uncomfortable feeling head on, and interact with those who have different experiences ...
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