Your Own Voice: Gender, Experience & Perspective

Sam identifies as a born-again feminist, and prefers the pronouns she and her.  Sam is a graduate of West Point and a former engineer, who now works on elevating women in Peace & Security issues around the world. She has terrific insights from working in male-dominated environments, and about things that anyone can do to be an ally anywhere. 

Mercedes identifies as a cisgender Latina woman, and prefers the pronouns she and her.  She has dedicated much of her life to working on Violence Against Women in the US and overseas.  Mercedes shared her deep experience navigating issues of gender and race, dealing with machismo, and the importance of the #UsToo movement. 

Kim identifies as Me, Myself and I, and prefers the pronouns she, her and hers.  Kim grew up in a working-class neighborhood in the Rust Belt, a place where ‘everybody worked’.  She had terrific insights about gender and socio-economic class, and how financial security can impact the choices women make.

Kat identifies primarily as a Persian woman, and easily finds ways to identity with other people she meets. Kat prefers the pronouns she and her.  Kat is an immigrant and a self-described ‘born-again’ American. She has devoted her life to fighting for equal opportunity and human rights for all.  Among other things, Kat discussed raising a teenage son the in #MeToo era, and the importance of confronting sexism (and other ‘-isms’) in a way that meets people where they are.

Matt identifies as a cisgender gay male and prefers the pronouns he and him. Matt grew up in the mid-west during the Mathew Shepard era and navigated being gay and coming out in this environment.  He has fascinating insights about being a gay man in the work place, and the challenges facing the LGBTQIA community today.    

Sandi identifies as a Christian, a woman, a millennial, an African, and an American; and prefers the pronouns she and her.  Sandi talks about how her faith, her family, and being a woman of color impacts the way she views and engages on gender issues. We discussed ‘Sacred Activism’ and how to advocate for change in a way that includes rather than divides.

Episode Seven: Barbara.  Barbara identifies as a female service member transitioning to civilian life, and an empty nester; and prefers the pronouns she and her. Barbara grew up out West and joined the Air Force to serve her country and seek opportunity.  As an enlisted woman who rose up the ranks to become an officer, Barbara has great insight into what has changed for women in the military over the past three decades, and what still needs to be done.

Tracy identifies as a black woman and prefers the pronouns she and her. Tracy is a physician and we discussed navigating medical school and the medical field from the lens of both gender and race.  We also talked about the challenges that can arise, and how to adapt, when a family member changes their gender identity.

Episode Five: Martina resonates most closely with the identity of a cisgender bisexual woman and prefers the pronoun she and her. As a child Martina loved sciences and math and became a nuclear engineer (one of a few women in this field at MIT at the time), but later in life changed her career to the healing arts.  We had a fascinating discussion about gender in the workplace in both male-dominated and female-dominated environments. 

Ziv identifies as a cisgender heterosexual woman and prefers the pronouns she and her.  Ziv worked as a civilian in law enforcement before the #MeToo era and discussed the daily challenges being a woman in that environment.  She later studied gender, calling it a transformative experience, and talked about how this new perspective changed her relationships and her life.

Chloe identifies as an openly transgender woman and prefers the pronouns she and her.  Chloe shared the journey of embracing her gender identity and gender expression, long before most people had ever heard the word ‘transgender’.  She also spoke about the urgent need for people to discuss human dignity, to recognize the secular moral values that define a truly human life - and to grasp how central gender identity is to that awareness.

Rose identifies as a cisgender queer woman and prefers the pronouns she and her. Rose grew up in a socially conservative home out West.  We discussed the recent rise in use of LGBTQIA vocabulary, and how the introduction of these terms into popular culture is creating opportunities to ‘convert vocabulary into understanding’.  We also touched upon how gender can impact our willingness to take risks and fail.

Amanda identifies as a bi-racial woman and prefers the pronouns she and her. Early in her career Amanda witnessed the results of sexual violence against children, which led her to seek the root causes of these problems.  Among other things, we discussed dealing with double standards for women in the workplace, and the importance of ‘getting outside your bubble’ in the current political environment.