Project Glass Ceiling

[infinity.]

(tl;dr -- made a website for class, asking for you all to contribute; will pay 25k creds for everyone that submits something (text, music, art, video, etc)

if you do contribute, you can submit anonymously, but please attach a location, school, or occupation

hey guys!

so for my feminism and philosophy class, we have to devise a capstone project. my group decided to create a forum, Project Glass Ceiling, that would serve as an amalgam of media that exposes inequalities of difference and how social roles are based on an individual's associations and not character.

i'm coming to you all to ask for contributions to the website, long, short, personal, not-personal, or what have you. here's a letter i've sent out to a bunch of friends:

Hey!

For my winter term class, I'm taking Feminism and Philosophy. In class we have read multiple works outlining and describing different forms of sexism, oppression, and discrimination. I've come to learn a lot about unequal action and mentality, and how it comes from culturally ascribed values and 'acceptable' behavior. Our environment has molded the way that we see ourselves and how we are to act in regards to who we are; our gender, race, age, religion, and many other dividing traits judge our action and thought as appropriate or not. Often, being culturally and socially accepted based on your character is restrictive to the infinitely many decisions one can make.

Our individual capacities, however, are solely based on our own abilities, not on what we should be or how we should think. Have you ever felt like you have been discriminated for being a woman? A man? A christian? Black? Discrimination does not have to take the form of violence or hate crimes, though. Inequalities of difference appear in language and basic interpersonal mechanisms: saying things like, “you throw like a girl!” or locking car doors as a minority passes are just two examples.

To remedy socialized discrimination, my group for class devised a website, Project Glass Ceiling (www.projectglassceiling.com), that allows for individuals to tell their story. The project is meant to span a vast geographic location, asking individuals from a variety of states and universities to tell their story, showing how discrimination is based on a collective mentality. Through any medium – text, song, video, art – stories that would otherwise be invisible will be brought to light. Our goal is to expose action or thought that perpetuates inequalities of difference and prove how oppression is based on social constructs rather than truths.

This letter is being sent to you, because I feel as though you would have a unique experience to share. Have any of your specific traits or characteristics shaped your upbringing or affected your life in any way? If you wish to share, feel free to discuss any situation, sensitive or not. Scenarios can be as basic as someone calling another “gay” or as personal as coming to terms with one's sexual orientation. If you are not comfortable with sharing your name or personal information, feel free to contribute anonymously. It's completely fine to not contribute as well!

If you wish to contribute, e-mail projectglassceiling@gmail.com or submit something at projectglassceiling.tumblr.com!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Thanks!
(PS -- feel free to forward this to anyone you feel would contribute!)

[infinity.]

here's an excerpt of an anecdote i wrote:

Once, during my senior year of high school, my girlfriend (now ex-girlfriend; for the sake of this story we will call her Helga) and I finished a date by going to eat at Red Robin. I had spent money on something previous to going to eat, and had not kept close track of how much funds I actually had – I only had $21 dollars left. Red Robin is not fancy, suit-and-tie dining, but $21 was definitely not going to stretch a full meal for the both of us. I was the stereotypical male, provider archetype, though, and had no intentions of asking Helga to help pay for the meal. Whilst ordering, I remember listening to her try to decide between a $7 burger and a $12 pesto pasta. Obviously, it was preferred that she choose the burger, but I did not want to explain the situation to her; I would be embarrassed not to be able to provide for her. Helga decided on the pasta, and I consequently settled for a cheap salad. When asked why I decided to eat light, I lied and said that I was not hungry. Helga had brought her purse, though, and undoubtedly had enough money to help pay for a real dinner, but I could not accept this alternative.

[dragonmegaXX]

I honestly was unaware that there was a college course for feminism.

[infinity.]

Originally Posted by dragonmegaXX

I honestly was unaware that there was a college course for feminism.

it's really an upper-level/graduate class, dealing with metaphysical and political definitions of gender and feminist epistemology

but submissions don't have to deal with feminism! really, anyone can post the simplest blurb on discomfort or anything

[devonin]

It's mostly going to be women who have anecdotes about Glass Ceiling interactions in their life.

This means your site is going to basically present the work of a bunch of women as your own project where you get the marks, and the college credit, and the women who contributed will get a citation at best.

So your own site becomes an instance of the very thing you're trying to demonstrate on your site. Very meta indeed.

[devonin]

Originally Posted by infinity.

here's an excerpt of an anecdote i wrote:

Once, during my senior year of high school, my girlfriend (now ex-girlfriend; for the sake of this story we will call her Helga) and I finished a date by going to eat at Red Robin. I had spent money on something previous to going to eat, and had not kept close track of how much funds I actually had – I only had $21 dollars left. Red Robin is not fancy, suit-and-tie dining, but $21 was definitely not going to stretch a full meal for the both of us. I was the stereotypical male, provider archetype, though, and had no intentions of asking Helga to help pay for the meal. Whilst ordering, I remember listening to her try to decide between a $7 burger and a $12 pesto pasta. Obviously, it was preferred that she choose the burger, but I did not want to explain the situation to her; I would be embarrassed not to be able to provide for her. Helga decided on the pasta, and I consequently settled for a cheap salad. When asked why I decided to eat light, I lied and said that I was not hungry. Helga had brought her purse, though, and undoubtedly had enough money to help pay for a real dinner, but I could not accept this alternative.

This has nothing to do with the kind of thing that Glass Ceiling refers to. This is you showing poor communication skills, and an unwillingness to just say to someone "I've only got 21 dollars, can we try to stick to 10 each?" or even better "I've only got 21 dollars, maybe we can split the bill this time?"

I mean, I guess you're showing that you treat women badly by assuming that you must provide for them, and that they wouldn't understand the idea that you don't have a ton of cash on you and could they just get the burger and not get mad.

[infinity.]

Originally Posted by devonin

This has nothing to do with the kind of thing that Glass Ceiling refers to. This is you showing poor communication skills, and an unwillingness to just say to someone "I've only got 21 dollars, can we try to stick to 10 each?" or even better "I've only got 21 dollars, maybe we can split the bill this time?"

I mean, I guess you're showing that you treat women badly by assuming that you must provide for them, and that they wouldn't understand the idea that you don't have a ton of cash on you and could they just get the burger and not get mad.

rest of the paper goes on to a discussion of autonomy and moral agency and how restrictions of those perpetuate subordinate roles in relationships -- the excerpt was just used to give an example of how simple a topic could be.

ps "glass ceiling is "the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements."" apply this to a social hierarchy and it is more than appropriate

It's mostly going to be women who have anecdotes about Glass Ceiling interactions in their life.

This means your site is going to basically present the work of a bunch of women as your own project where you get the marks, and the college credit, and the women who contributed will get a citation at best.

So your own site becomes an instance of the very thing you're trying to demonstrate on your site. Very meta indeed.

also not correct. "a culture has a global character; hence the limits of my culture are the limits of my world. the subordination [of women], then, because it is so pervasive a feature of my culture, will (if censored) appear to be natural -- and because it is natural, unalterable." to change this calls for those with a standpoint that can relate to both the oppressed and privileged roles. your notion would only be true if what was posted in some way brought upon continued struggle

basically trying to expose injustices and inequalities based on misappropriated identity,

[Mollocephalus]

This is already becoming a golden thread keep it up

[Coolboyrulez0]

Originally Posted by infinity.

yeah but thanks for trying to derail this thread when you're lacking a significant background

shots fired at devonin. the great textwall wars of 2013 may now commence.

also, cannot contribute due to the subject matter being one i can neither relate to, nor have had sufficient exposure to. either way, neat project.

Actually there's the fact that there was a large Christian majority(?) at the high school campus I attended, and I being an atheist was discriminated against by a few select individuals of this fate.
Through casual discourse in class we determined what my faith was, and I had to listen to insults such as "I will rot in hell" and deviations thereof just because I do not share their beliefs.
I then explained to them that I cannot descend to a place that I don't believe in and ended the discourse.
I am all for difference of opinion and religious freedom and expression, but just because you are part of a religious majority does not give you the right to insult my belief.
Would this be a proper example? I was not included into this social circle of christian believers due to my faith, or didn't feel comfortable to continue being in it.
Additionally, to be completely unbiased, this was a single incident in 4 years and most Christians, or religious individuals in general, that I encountered are pretty tolerable and understanding, as opposed to this example.

[infinity.]

Originally Posted by Coolboyrulez0

shots fired at devonin. the great textwall wars of 2013 may now commence.

also, cannot contribute due to the subject matter being one i can neither relate to, nor have had sufficient exposure to. either way, neat project.

yeah, i wanted to take it down because it was immature, but either way

Originally Posted by Coolboyrulez0

Actually there's the fact that there was a large chrisitian majority(?) at the high school campus I attended, and I being an atheist was discriminated against by a few select individuals of this fate.
Through casual discourse in class we determined what my faith was, and what my religious, or lack-thereof stance was, and I had to listen to insults such as "I will rot in hell" and deviations thereof. I then explained to them that I cannot descend to a place that I don't believe in and ended the discourse. I am all for difference of opinion and religious freedom and expression, but just because you are part of a religious majority does not give you the right to insult my belief.

i had similar experiences growing up as a vegetarian in a conservative county in kentucky.. "you don't eat meat? you know the bible says we were created to eat meat, right?" and so on

your example would be apt so long as it affected you in some way, either changing interpersonal relationships with religious people or changed the classroom dynamic or made others uncomfortable -- basically it would just be how others contrasting convictions created problems or barriers.

so yes, your example looks good

[Coolboyrulez0]

Sent it in, slightly revised of course.
Glad to be able to contribute and hopefully this spurs on more people to contribute to this project. Really doesn't require much effort either, so get on it.

[infinity.]

Originally Posted by Coolboyrulez0

Sent it in, slightly revised of course.
Glad to be able to contribute and hopefully this spurs on more people to contribute to this project. Really doesn't require much effort either, so get on it.

thanks so much, it means a lot. credits sent, by the way.

[Arntonach]

I know that back at my old squadron, most of the insults towards males were about performance and the ones towards females were about looks. Go military; you get over gays but genders remain an elusive beast.

[Garquillex]

Do we identify our account in the email or do we ??

[infinity.]

Originally Posted by Arntonach

I know that back at my old squadron, most of the insults towards males were about performance and the ones towards females were about looks. Go military; you get over gays but genders remain an elusive beast.

That would be an awesome anecdote! And garuillex, that'd be fine!

[Arntonach]

Not really, since there's usually a good reason to start insulting someone. Of course, once the insults start then you get the usual "he sucks, shes ugly" crap.

[MracY]

I sent you a PM with the anekdote, Infinity. I hope it's satisfactory, although it's a story of apparant invalid positive discrimination, instead of one about apparant irrational prejudice.

[Garquillex]

Submitted it to the tumblr. Hope that's what you're looking for.

[infinity.]

thanks for the contributions! sending out credits now

[devonin]

If you think that getting anonymous submissions from women to provide the bulk of a project that you are getting credit for isn't an ironic demonstration of the glass ceiling in action, I'm not sure what to tell you.