Izabella Queen
Disparities in Gender Minority African American Health Care
Submitted to Courtney Sargent for Introduction to Sociology (SOC-101)
Summary:
My project is an intersectional approach on the disparities faced by gender minority African Americans in the U.S. health care system. We were asked to research a current social issue in the U.S. and explain why the issue is a problem, the extent of the problem, who or what created the problem, who is impacted the most by the problem, and why the problem should be addressed. I came up with answers that minority groups on their own face individual hardships and discrimination in the health care system, but when individuals are members of more than one of those minority groups (such as transgender African Americans), they face even more complex and harsher battles.
General Education Connections
- Communicate ideas in written, oral and other modes as appropriate to a situation and audience
- Apply quantitative and scientific reasoning skills relevant to a field of study
- Employ various thinking strategies to develop well-reasoned judgments
- Evaluate sources of information for accuracy, relevance and reliability
- Cultivate intellectual and ethical practices that promote the wellness of self, community and environment
- Identify their roles as global citizens in a multicultural country and world
The signature assignment helped me develop these skills as it opened my eyes to the amount of privilege I have as a cisgender, white woman in American society. I had to be able to develop and use these skills in order to write an effective paper that would get my point across. While I already had most of these skills prior to this signature assignment from past writing classes/assignments, I had to strengthen these skills to complete each part of the assignment and write a cohesive, easy-to-understand research paper. I wanted the reader to be able to grasp what I was talking about even if they had no prior knowledge of the subject or ideas discussed throughout the assignment. Using that as a motivator pushed me to develop the skills above even more so that I could be successful in my writing goals.
Challenges
The challenge I overcame while completing my signature assignment that I am most proud of would be my time management. This assignment was due the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and I had a lot of other assignments due that week for other courses. I honestly did not manage my time very well as I left the signature assignment until two days before it was due to begin writing it. After spending the first day planning, researching and writing about three pages of the assignment, I woke up the next day (the due date) to realize I had completely misunderstood the prompt and needed to start from square one. I buckled down and persevered to write the signature assignment as well as I could in one day, and I think I did so excellently based on my grade and the nomination for this award. Even though it was stressful, I overcame the challenge and was successful in writing a well-done assignment.
Application
I will definitely be using the information from my signature assignment in the future to continuously check my privileges and to educate others on what minority groups need to have better access and treatment in the medical field. I have been a Type 1 Diabetic most of my life (since the age of 2) and never realized what hardships I did not have to face on top of this difficult disease, based solely on who I am as an individual.