intro post

Hi, I’m Kelsey Gowen, I’m a senior at UCF, I’m a sociology major and I’m about to declare my minor in women’s studies. I grew up in Melbourne Beach where I noticed a lot of gender bias/discrimination in school, amongst my peers, in my relationships and even in my family.
My life experiences make me so appreciative of where I am now, where I can surround myself with other feminists and I can help out organizations whose goals are making it possible to break gender stereotypes.
I’m taking this women’s studies as a result of my degree requirement and to raise my GPA, although I was originally interested in taking the intro class because I like being around like-minded feminists (sadly some turned out not to be).
I’m not exactly a closet feminist; I’m involved with women’s rights advocacy activities outside of class, and I’ve taken a bunch of other women’s studies classes. I’m involved with Voices for Planned Parenthood at UCF and I table for NOW every Wednesday outside the student union which I see as activism. I’m also in EQUAL which is a group advocating gender equality.
Gender is important to me because it’s a large part of my identity. I like being girly, and being a feminine feminist is really important to me. In addition, I’m passionate about advocating on the behalf of people who are not being accepted by society for their gender and the way they express it.

I understand the syllabus and agree with it.