MWA 3 Reflection

The purpose of my article was to promote kind treatment to everyone,

no matter their gender. I aimed a lot of focus towards the significant impact
of small actions every day. That one small act can really help someone feel
more comfortable being themselves in public. I attempted to achieve this by
giving some examples where I viewed this could have been done and
explained how these little acts can lead to bigger things.
My intended audience was the students and faculty of UNM so this
played a large role in the style of the feature. I knew that an effective way to
write would be creating a sense of community and togetherness throughout
the essay. I was sure to mention our campus just to make the issue feel a
bit more personal. I mentioned an example of a terrible incident that
occurred on our campus, and a smaller less significant one that I viewed
myself. Of course, when someone can see examples of the issue where they
are, they will pay more attention to it.
One thing I left out was an actual reference to Judith Butler. I chose not
to include her name because I dont think many people would recognize her
and it may draw focus from the main point. One thing I did include that may
have not been recognized was the orange the world movement going on
right now. This was done in hopes that anyone who read this may have alter
done some research about this movement and maybe even find ways that
they could help.
One thing I would change about my feature would be including more
ways to help. Do research in any activist groups on campus students could
get involved with. If we want to see serious change, we should present as
many options most people might not realize are there. Also, I would like to
put more gender issues that are present around UNM, in programs and in
classroom settings.
This assignment really aided my understanding of rhetorical situations and
genre. Writing a feature for a newspaper is quite different from most essays,
so I had to adapt my writing style to fit the purpose. This assignment helped
my usage of Writing as a social act because I did mention change at the
personal, local, and national level.
As for Judith Butlers essay, I thought she made good points that I had
never heard or thought of before. The main point of gender being a
continuous developing thing throughout life is a great perspective to give.
That its not your gender that defines you, but you that defines your gender

is an eye-opening statement that encapsulates an important message. With

this in mind we can see that we are not bound by our gender schemas and
that these expectations for a specific gender are absurd and unnecessary. I
refer to this in my article when I talk about someone of unique gender not
being able to develop as their true selves because of the criticism of others.
Another great point made my Judith Butler was the fact that instead of
acknowledging differences we should just ignore them all together. Instead of
over emphasizing and drawing too much attention to differences we should
just treat others as human beings, no matter the difference. I also touch on
this subject when I mention consistency in treatment. If there is a harmless
activist that you treat kindly, then the rest should get the same respect. You
may not agree completely but if it is not harming people then you should
treat them equally to other groups. There is a lot to be learned from Butler
and I find her philosophy incredibly interesting.