Sexuality artifact

Queer Artifact

Video Game: Gone Home

I chose to watch the video game on YouTube instead of playing it myself because not only am I a gamer or someone who plays video games for fun, but I get severely nauseated while playing. I felt good watching the game on YouTube and it didn’t affect my sensory balance as much. The video game was interesting to watch and very suspenseful because as soon as I saw Sam’s letter to her sister, Katie, I wanted to find out how and what led to that moment. I enjoyed how the video game teaches you a little bit about each person in the family and it adds more substance to the story. I felt like I was Katie trying to find clues about Sam and where the parents went. The house looked like everyone (Sam, Janice, and Terry) was in a rush and had to leave the home immediately. The quietness of the game, besides Sam’s occasional voice, made me sit on the edge of my seat even more. I loved how the story slowly unraveled and how it revealed that Sam and Lonnie had feelings for each other. It was sad to see how Sam felt about her parents not accepting of her relationship with Lonnie because they wanted her to be with a boy.

The Riot Grrrl Movement

The Riot Grrrl movement was very powerful and made its mark on people across the world. It showed feminism in a different light and proved that feminism is about more than just being a woman. Feminist doesn’t have one look and there are different experiences with being a feminist. I think Sam and Lonnie would be part of this movement because in the video game you see words and posters with “patriarchy” written on them or “kicking against the patriarchy, and a comic book titled “Women Outlaws”. As the story continues, you learn that Sam and Lonnie bond over punk rock, grunge, and the Riot Grrrl movement. Lonnie was in JROTC and Sam was surprised that she was going to basic training. She didn’t expect Lonnie to be the type who would follow authority. I believe Sam and Lonnie would both agree with Riot Grrrl manifesto: “BECAUSE we don’t wanna assimilate to someone else’s (boy) standards of what is or isn’t”. Sam’s parents, Janice and Terry, wanted Sam to assimilate to the standards of who a woman should be with and who a woman shouldn’t be with. This proves they believe in traditional gender roles and didn’t want Sam to challenge that.

Audre Lorde (1977), The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action

Audre Lorde opens this piece by saying “I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood” (40). The way I interpreted this quote is to say what you mean and how you feel without feeling guilty of how others may interpret it. Women live their lives scared of how they will be labeled, viewed, and criticized because of what they feel is important. Women are constantly ridiculed for being too “emotional” or being “overthinkers” which may cause women to hide themselves from the world around them. Audre Lorde is saying it’s okay to not be silent. You don’t have to be silent because of your fear of judgement or visibility. In comparison to the video game, Sam couldn’t hide who she was to please her parents. She wouldn’t let them silence her, which led to her packing her things and starting a life with Lonnie. Sam chose to stay true to what was important to her, speak and live her truth. Audre Lorde says,

“But primarily for us all, it is necessary to teach by living and speaking those truths which we believe and know beyond understanding. Because in this way alone we can survive, by taking part in a process of life that is creative and continuing, that is growth”

(Lorde 43).

Lorde’s quote and a piece of the Riot Grrrl manifesto go hand in hand. Riot Grrrl’s manifesto mentioned that doing, reading, seeing, and hearing things from other people who believe in women can help us gain strength and a sense of community. We all must teach and speak our truths if we want society to change its ways. Growth is figuring out sexism, racism, the true meaning of feminism, and much more.

Connection

Bell Hooks “Feminism is For Everybody”, speaks on patriarchy and how men benefit the most from it because men assume they are superior to women. Hooks says,

“In return for all the goodies men receive from patriarchy, they are required to dominate women, to exploit and oppress us, using violence if they must to keep patriarchy intact”

(Lorde IX)

The Riot Grrrl movement set out to reclaim women’s voices and choices from men who deemed themselves in control of women. They are angry at society for looking at them as just “dumb, weak, girls”. This movement tackled sexism in full force and encouraged women to end the patriarchy. We needed movements like this so women would feel comfortable speaking their truths and not sitting in the background of men.

Essay Ideas

1. Beauty and makeup: I have always been deeply interested in all things beauty and makeup since I was younger. This topic has so many layers because beauty and makeup can turn into something complex. It can be damaging, but it can also be empowering. (Cultural Artifact: Beyoncé “Pretty Hurts”)
2. Body Image: A lot of what we see on social media or TV talks about body image and body positivity. Looking deeper, you realize that social media and TV are part of the reasons why people view their bodies in a negative way. There could be other reasons such as family or culture lifestyle. (Cultural Artifact: A Secret Between Friends: A Moment of Truth Movie)
3. Intimate partner violence: This is a very controversial topic for many people. Specifically, violence against women is tolerated and legal in many countries. Intimate partner violence is often looked over and there’s always the question: “What did they do?” “They must have done or said something for their partner to do that”. So many questions, and not enough accountability. (Cultural Artifact: No One Would Tell (1996)

When I first started watching the Gone Home playthrough, I was a little scared there would be a popout or something because I did not know what the video game was about. Throughout the game, I was still a little confused about what was happening, but then I started seeing that it was just a story. In the end, it was revealed that Sam and Lonnie actually ran away. I have never enjoyed video games, so Gone Home was not that interesting to me. Gone Home showed us a possible background story of the Riot Grrrl movement. There were some punk rock albums and   In “Damsel in Distress, Part 1” by Anita Sarkeesian talks about how female videogame characters are often put in revealing clothes and are damsels in distress. I liked how in Gone Home, the photographs in the game were not revealing and there were no damsels in distress. In fact, Katie is the one who begins to piece everything that happened while she was gone, going against the gaming idea that female characters need help. In Gone Home, there is also a lesbian love story. All of these aspects of Gone Home go along with the Riot Grrrl Movement and Audre Lorde’s idea of standing up against sexism, racism, etc.   

“The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” by Audre Lorde

In Audre Lorde’s text, she makes the claim that women need to speak up because otherwise, they will die without ever speaking up. She states “one way or another we share a commitment to language and to the power of language,” (43) showing that women have to express their thoughts in words and art. They have to stand up through these arts to work towards a changed world. Women have to take “part in a process of life that is creative and continuing, that is growth” (43). Much like the Riot Grrrl Manifesto, Audre Lorde pushes girls to speak up through words and art. Through these actions, women will call out indifferences and push for a world where men and women are equal.  

“Riot Grrrl Manifesto” by Kethleen Hanna

The Riot Grrrl Movement was a feminist punk movement that began in the 1990s. The riot grrrl manifesto was meant to encourage women to speak up and express themselves through music and art. “ We wanna make it easier for girls to see/hear each other’s work” is a quote from the manifesto, showing that they wanted women to share their thoughts, ideas, and envisionings. With this freedom of expression through art, girls were going to “create revolution in our lives” (Hanna). The movement was also for girls to stand up against the men’s standard of what a girl should be, act, and talk like. Much of the movement was around the punk rock idea of “you can do anything,” (Hanna), which encouraged people to make and hear music that could call out racism, classism, sexism, etc. The Riot Grrrl Manifesto was meant to push girls to stand up against challenges and to work to change the world. This feminist movement was meant to go against the female social norms, while also showing that men were equal, not superior or inferior, to females. Much like in “Feminism is for Everybody” by bell hooks “one where they are the equals of men in the workforce and at home when they want to be,” (5) women want to be equal to men. 

Research Essay Topics:

For my research essay, I want to research more on the connections between mental health and gender. Both are topics that are being spoken about more and I believe that a person’s gender and identity can affect how a person feels about mental health. There are many gender inequalities when it comes to mental health. The different social gender expectations are part of this gender inequality in mental health. Possible artifacts could be the show, Normal People directed by Lenny Abrahamson. Another possible topic for my research essay would be specific professions and how social norms assign certain professions to a certain gender. I think this is a good fit because there are multiple of these gender-assigned professions. For example, many believe welders can only be men, and sometimes women in this profession are seen as lesbians, etc. Possible artifacts would be advertisements showing only a certain gender. Many nursing advertisements only include women, and electrician advertisements mainly show men, instead of being more diverse and including all genders.

Check-In

I have been a little stressed and overwhelmed by the amount of work and studying I’ve done these past two weeks. Something that brings me joy is people-watching. It sounds weird and some people may be creeped out by it, but seeing people enjoying their lives reminds me of the little things that matter. Something else is going for a walk in a park or hiking a trail.

Gone Home

I wasn’t able to play the game myself so I decided to watch a few YouTube videos. Before I watched the video I honestly thought it would be a creepy game it wasn’t though. Katie had arrived back at her parents house on June 7th,1995.When she got there no one was there to open the door but there was a note from her sister. Her sister had ran away and her parents were MIA so she had to go search for clues and find out why and how everything happened . I did like watching the game I feel like I would probably have to download it soon .

” Riot Grrrl Manifesto “

This movement started in the early 1990’s by Washington State band Bikini Kill and Lead singer Kathleen Hanna. I supported everything addressed in this . “BECAUSE we are angry at a society that tells us Girl = Dumb, Girl = Bad, Girl = Weak. ” (Kathleen Hanna, ” Riot Grrrl Manifesto”)This is definitely something that happens on a daily and its so disturbing to think people really underestimate. People think women aren’t built to do it all and that’s where their wrong. ” “BECAUSE we don’t wanna assimilate to someone else’s (boy) standards of what is or isn’t.” (Kathleen Hanna, ” Riot Grrrl Manifesto”) I agree 100%! Earlier today I saw a post about that dealing with some famous people this man was saying how he couldn’t be with a woman that don’t act like a woman . I’ll never understand why they think it’s them that has to have complete control. ” People are so uncomfortable when empowered fem ” ( Femme Power Make-Up Tutorial by Ariana Rodriquez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3Qvooc91eQ) , I definitely agree and think that goes in hand with this .

Some video games I enjoy playing would be Sims 4 pc version , Warzone and Mortal Kombat. A few things I do to bring me joy would be play my game , make Tik Tok’s or go enjoy some fresh air.

Research Essay

I had to really think on it but the two things I thought about writing about were the fact that men feel comfortable telling a woman what she should and shouldn’t wear , the second one is the weight differences female go through and what they have to deal with once any one else realizes. I believe it has a lot to due with gender studies its something females deal with on a daily and its been like that.

The Riot Grrrl movement was a wave of feminism with an essence of punk-rock. In Gone Home, we can get a feel of the riot grrl essence through Katie’s sister, Samantha. She had “zine” style posters in her room and listened to female punk rock music. In the Riot Grrrl Manifesto by Kathleen Hanna, we learn that this movement was unapologetically by women and for women, that is, women who wanted to make a stand against the status quo. Hanna wrote about these status quos by saying that they are “meant to keep us simply dreaming instead of becoming our dreams” (Hanna, 1991). Hanna and other riot grrrl participants, led by example in inspiring girls to follow their passions, be unafraid to take up space, and to use their voice. In Transformation of Silence into Language, Audre Lorde backed this message when she wrote, “And where the words of women are crying to be heard, we must each of us recognize our responsibility to seek those words out, to read them and share them and examine them in their pertinence to our lives” (p.43). Lorde is telling us that we will never overcome those status quos and social norms that keep girls in an inferior position until we fully realize our responsibility in the fight and take action. Gone Home fights against the overly common “damsel in distress” troupe that Anita Sarkeesian discussed on her youtube channel. Instead of the typical male lead, we played from the perspective of Katie and the game centered around female-narratives. Even though I don’t really play video games, it was really refreshing to see a change from the typical plot of men being the hero’s and saving the helpless females.

In the Riot Grrl Manifesto, Kathleen Hanna expressed that riot grrrls are “unwilling to falter under claims that we are reactionary ‘reverse sexists'” (Hanna, 1991). In other words, this movement rejects the idea that all feminist hate men or that feminist ideas are anti-male. This harmful and inaccurate assumption has commonly been made to weaken the impact of feminist movements and to skew the real messages they are sharing. For example, in Feminism is for Everyone by Audre Lorde, the author discusses how the real “enemy” of feminist movements is sexism, not men. She wrote, “the movement is not about being anti-male. It makes it clear that the problem is sexism. And that clarity helps us remember that all of us, female and male, have been socialized from birth on to accept sexist thought and action” (p. viii). Hanna and Lorde both share how society has shaped gender in a way that has aligned women with inferiority and encourage us to abandon patriarchal ways of thinking in order to foster equality and empowerment for all.

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Research Essay Ideas:

For my research essay, I am interested in writing about how gender shapes childhood development. Or more specifically, the initial agents of gender socialization: family and school. I think that this would be a good topics for my essay because this course has already given us a glimpse what of gender socialization looks like in the United States and I think it will be interesting to explore the effects it has on individuals and our society at large. For my cultural artifact, I could use a children’s book that reflects how children in the U.S learn about gender.

Another topic that seems interesting to me is how gender shapes the criminal justice system. I think this would be a good topic for this essay because it would involve many themes and issues that we have covered in this course like intersectionality and toxic masculinity. For my cultural artifact, I could use the movie “Crash”.

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Part One: Gone Home | Riot Grrrl | Audre Lorde

So this week I learned I’m not much of a gamer. I downloaded and attempted to play Gone Home much to the protests of my apparently ancient Macbook and in spite of my inability to swiftly and competently learn how to literally move about (those keys are awkward, and I moved so slooooow!) and operate a video game (What am I doing? Where am I going? Am I doing this right?).

While I was able to pick up on some of the themes on my own, I’ll admit I had to turn to the internet to see how the game ended and uncover all the Greenbriar family secrets. I called it quits after about an hour and a half — never unlocking the basement or other hidden rooms and definitely not gaining entry into the attic. 

What I was able to discover and understand, was that each person who lived in the house (Sam, Janice, Terry) was wrestling with change, experiencing internal conflicts, and had uncertainty about the world around them. 

By exploring artifacts throughout the house, each player’s stories were revealed.

Sam, a teenager who just moved to a new house and started a new school, was beginning to develop new interests in movies, music, art, and pop culture, thanks in part to a new friend named Lonnie. Slowly we learn that Lonnie becomes much more than a friend and is actually romantically involved with Sam.

Mother Janice, unhappy with her marriage, struggles to find ways to connect with her husband. She fills her calendar with couples activities, reads self-help, and turns to an old friend for advice. We also learn this discontent in her marriage may be leading to feelings toward a work colleague. The father, Terry, is a published writer going through a writing slump and is currently (and not so well) writing technology reviews. While the letter Katie found in her father’s desk from his dead uncle Oscar roused suspicions and gave me pause about their relationship (I had a hunch something indecent happened), I was unable to substantiate anything because I wasn’t able to make it far enough into the game (apparently the clues to that storyline live in the basement). Luckily for me, and courtesy of other gamers, there’s lots of speculation about the father’s past and possible sexual abuse at the hands of the uncle to be found on the web. 

I provide this background so that the connections I make to works and themes we’ve explored in the class are more clear. 

Gender Readings | Riot Grrrl | Audre Lorde

Most notably, Sam chooses to express her changing personality through the embrace of the 1990s Riot Grrrl movement, which used music and art to challenge social norms about gender roles, identity, beauty, and sexuality. Throughout the house, you find mix tapes featuring 90s bands like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy, and see posters and magazines featuring artists like Black Francis, Lisa Loeb, Kurt Cobain, and others.

You find out that Sam’s parents feel like they don’t understand her anymore and you discover evidence of her changing — her storytelling (in her long-running story, the first mate is written first as male than female), her appearance (red hair dye in the bathroom), her friends (Daniel is a “weirdo”), her interests (playing video games with Daniel). 

Authors Meg-John Barker and Julia Scheele tell us in Queer: A Graphic History that we “Queer things when we resist ‘regimes of normal’: The ‘normative’ ideals of aspiring to be normal in identity, behaviour, appearance, relationships, etc.” (13). Not only was Sam affirming her sexuality, but she was also queering her place in the world and exploring her identity on multiple fronts. 

These changes are a reflection of what Catherine Valentine writes about in “The Prism of Gender.” She says, “Research shows that the behavior of people, no matter who they are, depends on time and place, context and situation — not on fixed sex/gender/sexuality differences” (5). The time, place, and situation Sam was placed in and created shaped and formed her behavior. 

I think Sam would very much identify with something Ijeoma Olua said in “So You Want to Talk About Race.” Olua spoke about experiencing an internal shift in thought and action — something inside her changed and that change meant she could no longer quiet her inner voice and remain silent about slights and injustices. She said, “I had started to see myself, and once you start to see yourself, you cannot pretend anymore.” Through Lonnie, Sam began to see herself and that truth then also poured into the many aspects of her life. 

This speaking your personal truth, regardless of discomfort or even consequence, is what Audre Lorde writes about in “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action.” In this essay, Lorde writes: “I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect” (40).

I think some of what Lorde writes about can also be applied to the father’s internal struggle. There is speculation on the web that his preoccupation with JFK and 1963 is connected to his possible abuse, that 1963 was the year something happened to him. That these books were a way he was trying to cope and work through his personal issues. In “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action,” Lorde encourages us to consider all the words we have yet to find all the things we have left unsaid —  “What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence?” (41).

Part Two

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Topic Idea #1:

• Gender and social media use: Does gender influence how and why people use and interact with social media?
  • Explore differences in how male and female-identified users choose and use different social media platforms. 
  • Examine the differences and similarities and see if they tie back to normalized ideas about gender and gender expectations. 
  • Explore whether social media disrupts or reinforces social norms and gender expectations. 
• Artifacts: Contrast and compare social media accounts of individuals who identify as male/female/nonbinary [Instagram and TikTok might be good visual examples]. Look for and examine first-person accounts of social media experiences from people who identify as male/female/nonbinary through blog posts, song, poetry, articles, etc. 

Topic Idea #2:

• Gender and social media effects: Does social media use impact people differently based on their gender?
  • Does gender play a role in people’s online experiences — are there negative or positive outcomes based on gender? 
• Artifacts: Look for and examine first-person accounts of social media experiences from people who identify as male/female/nonbinary through blog posts, songs, poetry, articles, etc.  

Topic Idea #3:

• The impact of gender roles and expectations on mental health and well-being: How do gender roles and expectations impact mental health?
  • How does the pressure to conform impact one’s mental and emotional health?
  • What role do gender-specific trauma and violence play? 
  • Is access to mental health care impacted by gender?
• Look for and examine first-person accounts of mental health experiences written by people who identify as male/female/nonbinary through blog posts, songs, poetry, articles, art, etc. 

GONE HOME

Even though I didn’t get a chance to really play the game and get the feel of the whole story line, from the video that was shared on YouTube with someone playing the game, I took away so much from just a hour video.  There is a girl name Katie who had returned from overseas. She was so excited to see and spend so much time with her father, mother, and teenage sister Sam. She gets home to discover that they aren’t nowhere to be found, and she finds a letter on the front door from Sam. Sam wrote about how she went away and to not come looking for her. So, throughout the game Katie has to find little clues around the house to help her understand what happen to her family since she was away. My first reaction to the video game, was suspense. I wanted to know more just like Katie did. I was very concern about what happened to the family, and I felt like I was in the video games with her discovering so many different clues. I would honesty get the game,  and would play it to discover all of the hidden secrets.

Kathleen Hanna (1991), “Riot Grrrl Manifesto”

I feel that The Riot Grrrl Manifesto was a movement that Washington State band Bikini Kill and lead singer Kathleen Hanna that voiced how many women wanted to just be free to express themselves through music. Whether it was with anger, rage, or just being loud. I feel that they wanted to speak up for many girls around who were afraid of jumping out of the norm society has given girls. When society sometimes think about rock music, people tend to just think about predominantly male bands. It was very closed off to females. When you really think about punk rock music, we tend to think about a very loud deep, dark voice, with these large guitars and these crazy movements on stage. A lot of people don’t really see women going these things, because they always wanted to put us into a box and keep us controlled. Even in history women were looked down upon if they didn’t act a certain way.

 I feel like for the past few weeks we have been focusing on the many ways society puts us in these categories and how we have over come these standards. Like with the Feminist movement, women fought to have the same rights as men. The Combahee River Collective Statement, Women of color and women of lesbian came together to fight the fact that even though the women rights movement was a success, they still didn’t include all women of color and sexuality. The Queer theory! Queer was once a negative term, and the LGBT community took the word and made it something positive. All these different moments in history can really connect with the Riot Grrl movement. The fight to just be themselves without being criticized and judged. For acceptance.

Research Assignment!

“Gone Home”

I didn’t get a chance to play Gone Home but I was able to view someone playing the game. I must say my first look at the game it was almost giving a horror theme/concept to it. Well not so much as horror but thriller. By the end of the game, I was able to understand what was fully going on. So, to my understanding Kate is telling the story from her perspective but the game is about Sam and Lonnie expressing their love for each other and Kate’s parents were not so supportive. So that caused Sam and Lonnie to run away together and Kate’s parents disappearing as well. It’s a bit surreal so I think. I mean I have never been in this situation, but it sounds a bit fiction that the parents will disappear due to their child running away to be with her girlfriend. Maybe I missed a part of it. Or didn’t quite understand the reason her parents left. But when I get a chance, I will play it myself so I can get a better understanding.

“Gone Home Similarities”

This game reminds me of earlier texts such as: Coming Out game, and the situation of how coming out to your parents can be scary and lead to different outcomes. Also, they relate in how you can’t help how nor who you love.

“Riot Grrrl Manifesto”

This text speaks volume when talking about sexism in this society. The GRRRL movement questions society and their gender norms and gives society statements to really think about how we as a whole have no idea how sexism and masculinity affects the women in this life. “we hate capitalism in all its forms and see our main goal as sharing information and staying alive, instead of making profits of being cool according to traditional standards.” I feel as though Hanna was basically saying in this text that this is not a trend you just participate in because you think it’s cool and that this is serious injustice.

Research Essay

I think with the essay, I want to research more on history of LGBT and how far it goes back and dates and timelines. Just so I can see the history of coming out and how it has differed from society of today. I want to know how it is also similar to society now. I feel if we look at the history and different scholars aspects and perspectives of history maybe it would be an eye opener for people who have a hard time understanding it because of gender norms and society norms.

I did not find the video game “Gone Home” very interesting. I am not that much of a gamer so It was very hard for me to be entertained by it. For the most part, I thought it was going to be a game of horror because of how the scene was darkened. I was anticipating a jump scare. Most video games that I have seen people play have been more of action, but the Gone Home video game was more calm and detailed with the letters.

In “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action.” Audre Lorde speaks about how she had to have surgery and how the silence in her waiting period was strenuous for her. She further elucidates how her team of nurses and doctors were encouraging her and rooting for her. It made her feel better and broke the ice a bit. The silence was turned into a good thing in the end.

A song that truly cheers me up is “All in His Plan” by P.J. Morton. I suggest everyone listen to it. It is a very calming tune.

Gone home was a really interesting game that I don’t usually play. I enjoyed the game though because it was something different that I don’t usually play, going around the house opening different drawers and other things to find out what happened about the family that lived in the house. It kind of felt like a horror game at first but it’s not a horror, you’re just trying to open the truth about the queer teenager and how he and his family’s drama. The Riot Grrrl Movement was a good thing because it brought females together to make more punk music, art, etc. I love punk music and love that type of style, so I love it all and love the fact that women came together and got stronger by making new things. What Lorde was trying to say is that we need to break the silence and speak what’s in your heart, playing the game the teenager needed to tell his family what he’s been going through and what’s within his heart and not hold it back or hide it from everyone.

“Discussions of class differences occurred early on in contemporary feminism, preceding discussions of race. Diana Press published revolutionary insights about class divisions between women as early as the mid-’70s in their collection of essays Class and Feminism. These discussions did not trivialize the feminist insistence that “sisterhood is powerful,” they simply emphasized that we could only become sisters in struggle by confronting the ways women – through sex, class, and race – dominated and exploited other women, and created a political plat- form that would address these differences” – hooks. Through differences and through pain women can come together and face anything. In Riot grrrl women all across America came together and worked their differences to create something beautiful and to create a movement that other women can come together and be a part of. I love playing video games and the only video game that makes me think of this class is Cyber punk, cyber punk is a futuristic video game with people who are half robots. There are females, males, and other sexes and intersexes in the game as well and the main character doesn’t look at anyone any different than everyone else.

Education and friendships are two topics I want to talk about. Education for younger children for different genders and stuff like that is needed because they will meet people and see people or even themselves that aren’t what they are. They need to be taught that there’s nothing bad about anyone that’s a different gender from them and not to be afraid or treat anyone differently that isn’t their gender. That is where the second topic comes into play. Kids and people in general need to make bridges and friendships with anyone instead of hating and discriminating against people who are different from them. I think these topics are a good fit because these are two important topics that need to heard and taught when talking about gender studies.