This course could not have been taken at a time more fitting than the one we are living in today. The chaos and lack of leadership in our government paired with the constant and forced self reflection of quarantine has created the perfect environment to clearly understand the material in real time.
On my own I had of course seen many examples of proactive and successful female leaders but never really saw their characteristics in depth. In this course, I was able to understand that our society’s ideas of gender are so incredibly dependent on our environment that when we strip the descriptors and expectations, they become meaningless.These traits that we exhibit are not limited by our gender at all. As a girl, from early on I internalized many false ideas of what it would mean for me to be “powerful”. I saw myself as taller, tough, suited up, straight hair, etc.I think back to that image of myself and realize all the efforts to dress and appear like the women I saw as leaders was simply a way to force myself into a mold that had never been made for me to begin with, not only because of my gender but also race and class. What I realized in our introductory material on Intersectionality is how we cant view identities as singular traits, but layers of experiences that create uniqueness. I also came to understand through the analysis of female leaders and male leaders who flawed the idea of “leadership” was. It relies on power being a ruthless, imposing force and favors traits traditionally considered “manly”. I no longer seek to press myself into the acceptable mold of female leadership, but to dismantle it.
I am reminded daily of the work of Leymah Gbowee and the women in Liberia, who with solidarity and community were able to use their own power to reach change. It has inspired me to see such radical change brought forward by the very people society often overlooks.I loved to see how they all worked with their individuals strengths to create a solid movement. This is also something I have learned to use. Through the strength quiz I have been able to reflect on the things that I bring into my leadership and how to use them to help others.In my community, I have done some grassroots organizing to fight for immigrant rights and work with people whose leadership is often ignored in the big picture. The leadership of those who lead alongside the people, not for them. The leadership made up of women who are seen as individuals before they are seen as mothers, sex objects, or anything else. Men who allow emotion, compassion, and compromise and who have broken through the expectations of what “male leadership” looks like. This advocates for the importance of intersectional leadership and representation; being able to break down the simple concepts of why we view leadership has allowed me to dismantle all the misogynist, white supremacist and classist lies I grew up with.
