Sunday, February 10, 2013

Echos of Revolution


Reading about the revolution has reminded me that the effects of the revolution still live on today. The younger generations may not have known what it feels like to be oppressed and violated, but they try to understand. The younger generations often tries to live with a daily reminder of how harsh the past must have been for the older generations. With this said, the reading about freeing the slaves reminded me of the other night when I went out with some girlfriends. I went out with a close friend and some of her classmates. We were in a group of six girls and they were all African American. After a night of dancing we decided to go out to Denny’s. We were taken to the back of the restaurant and we had terrible service. Some of the girls kept mentioning that the only reason they were place in the back was because of their race. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard this because; I like to think that our world has change. Yes racism still exists, but the limitations that were once put on people of other ethnicity may still be around but it is limited. It’s interesting to see how people hold on to the past as a reminder to continue to fight on.
            I also found the reading on the feminists beginning very interesting as well. At one point in the reading, Strayer writes that the most radical women never took on their husband’s surname. This quote caught my eyes because it is interesting to hear what women now have to say about taking on their husband’s last names. My mom did not take my dad’s last name when they got married, and sometimes I have mixed feelings about whether or not I would take on my future husbands last name. The reason I have mixed feelings is because a part of me is saying that by taking my husband’s last name I am considered to be his; that I am passed down from my father to my husband. The other half of me tells me that if I loved a man then it should be okay to take their name. It doesn’t really change whom I am and if it really bothers me that much I can always hyphenate the two last names. So that I can have my old identity and new identity combined. 

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