Reflective Journal on Gender Inequality, Race and Ethnicity, Multiculturalism, and Aboriginal Issues

This reflective journal discusses personal reflections, research findings, and policy recommendations on the topics of gender inequality, race and ethnicity, multiculturalism, and aboriginal issues. It includes insights on the challenges faced by different groups in the society and the need for policy reforms to address them.

Running head: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
Reflective Journal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Task 1: Gender Inequality
First Entry
Today we discussed the topic gender inequality that identifies the unequal perception the
people hold in their mind about the sexes of human being in the society. These perceptions
determine the actions of individual conducted in the society. We were advised to read multiple
articles on the topic to enrich our knowledge and were demonstrated a video on the concerned
topic. I prior to this class believed the gender inequality was a cultural fact that is being followed
by the people for several generations. However, I never gave it a thought and was unaware of the
intensity of the topic. The tutor also demonstrated the process of reading and understanding the
academic journals, reports, or books. We also came to know about the process of distinguishing
original work from critical analysis. I utilized this particular knowledge in identifying the
Ridgeway’s (2011) work as original. Ridgeway related gender inequality with cultural beliefs
and its contribution in gendering of the social relation. This completely changed my view on
gender inequality and its association with cultural norms. As per my understanding after the
reading, gender inequality is a socio-cultural issue that arises due to the patriarchal society,
where male are considered as the dominating section. However, in early days, it only dictated the
role of the male and female in the society. This was to help them balancing the harmony of the
society, as the economic activity were associated with male due to the biological orientation.
Modern day gender inequality has took a different turn where the people are discriminated based
on their gender. I can now relate it with the societal fact that the women are less paid for
particular jobs than the male for performing similar activities. My further research on topic from
various sources informed me that the issue is not only present in Canada or USA, but almost in
every corner of the world, where male are considered as the dominating part.

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Second Entry
We continued our discussion of gender inequality, where we identified some of the
instance of gender inequality, where the women in different sectors are facing discrimination due
to their gender. I further researched on the fact and found in Brandt’s (2011) work among fifty-
seven communities that the sexism is a major reason of gender inequality. I am now concern
about the topic of gender biasness or gender inequality after both the session. The tutor has
mentioned about the protests the women are doing for getting equal rights in the society. I could
verify the fact from the news and social media that the women in different countries are actively
participating in the feminism movement for getting their equal share in the society. However, I
think feminism is something different and does not fully address the concerns of gender
inequality. What I think important is to spread the awareness of gender equality that is required
in the society on the grass root level. It is the only way of resolving the issue. I have already
started conversation in my social groups and gatherings. I encourage people to participate in
debates, take their perception, and try to present my newly modified perception on gender
inequality. It is necessary to eradicate gender inequality from the minds of the people to eradicate
the issue in societal level. These short conversations in the gathering will enact them to think
about the issue and spread the message among the larger mass as they are associated with other
social grouping. Moreover, it is important to initiate change form the family before changing the
society. I now strongly support equality between male and female and stand against any
discrimination that takes place both within and outside my family. The learning session also
enlightened me with other process of promoting gender equality to change the perception of the
individuals in the society that I am now considering to use in my daily life.
Task 2: Race and Ethnicity

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First Entry
Today’s topic of discussion in the class was race and ethnicity. The lecturer gave
definition of both race and ethnicity and taught us the difference among them. As described by
Song (2017) the race is a biological identity, whereas, ethnicity is a social phenomena. The
scholars of early age identified different biological characteristics among the people living in
different parts of the world. As explained by the early scholars, the formation of racial
characteristics are due to the process of environmental adaptation. It was a survival mechanism
that human body adopted for standing against the harsh environment they were living in.
Ethnicity on the other hand is the cultural characteristics that a group represents. These are the
shared cultural practices and participative characters, which distinguish people from other similar
groups.
Like every other person with shallow knowledge in this field, I also thought that the race
and ethnicity is more or less similar things. However, this class forced me to change my
viewpoint, as I now know the difference between them. There can be multiple ethnic groups
within a single race. Modern cultural mixture on the other hand enabled the single ethnic group
to be comprised of multiple racial people. For example, today’s America can be divided into six
major racial groups that are white Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Aisan
Americans and Native Hawaiians and other islanders. This distinction is solely based on the
biological feature of the people. Ethnic groups of America on the other hand came from several
parts of the world. The most of the American population is actually foreign origin. It is a shared
culture of a group of people. I now understand that people belonging from Asian origin are
coming form various ethnic group, which I am unaware of. The early colonizers who put the

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complete racial groups under same ethnicity to ease their understanding created this confusion. It
was because of their ethnocentric mentality to be superior to all.
Second Entry
Today’s lecture continued the topic race and ethnicity from the last session. In the mean
time, my research on the topic paid me of with the knowledge that the terms race and ethnicity
are used interchangeably even in academic field due to the overlapping boundaries. The lecturer
in today’s class highlighted the issues that world is facing due to this racism and ethnic
differences. My further research on the issue informed me that it is present in America from the
early day of formation of the country. The mostly discriminated people among them are the
black Americans and the Hispanics. The intensity of the issue has never been diluted over time.
Still in modern age, the people are being discriminated and ill treated basing on the grounds of
their skin color and ethnicity. The people other than white in America faces challenge in finding
jobs regardless of their long stay in the country for generations. According to Jennifer (2017) in a
report of CNN, the intensity of racial discrimination might have lessened the early decades, but
very much present in today’s world. It is also noticeable in the educational institutions despite of
the federal law Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Wade, 2017). The children of different
race or ethnic origin are ill-treated in the classroom, and the system has not yet adopted an
advanced form of teaching to provide the equal scope for them to grow. This reflects the require
of a modern mindset to avoid such issues as the government has already modified their
constitution to uplift the discriminated. However, selection of Obama shows the hope for the
minor racial and ethnic groups to receive equality. I have friends from various ethnic and racial
groups and find them as good as the rest of my friends are and feel lucky to have them by my
side.

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Task 3: Multiculturalism in Canada
First Entry
The topic that we discussed in today’s class is multiculturalism. It is truly a complex
phenomenon. It is the integration of diversified cultures into one single society. The scholars
believe it supports a society to contain multiple cultures whilst maintaining its harmony. I went
through Ng and Bloemraad’s (2015) work to understand the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats of multiculturalism on a society as it is hard to live in a society with
diversified cultural groups without a conflict. Their studies reflects it as a way to promote
cultural tolerance and modernization. It is also a mechanism to incorporate cultural minorities.
Multiculturalism on the other hand can impose challenge to equality in the liberal societies by
promoting separate and parallel lives. Multiculturalism at the same time can provide host society
to attract talents over various cultures. The greatest threat on the other hand imposed by
multiculturalism is the incompatibility. I can relate these learning with the societies of Canada.
The concept truly does provide opportunity to attract talents as it is highly required in the
globalized age. All the multinational organizations need to incorporate a multicultural team to
operate around the nations. According to my understanding, United States of America contains
the greatest and largest multicultural society in the world with a wide range of diversified
cultural communities living under the same constitutional guideline. The country enjoys talents
coming from various cultures that help in growing the economy of the country by offering their
talent in the specific fields. A significant number of the Canadian population is other than the
country’s aboriginal population. I could also identify some negative consequences. Diversified
issues are present in the society due to the multiculturalism as proposed by the critics of the

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concept (Satzewich, 2016). However, the proponents views the issues from a different angle and
blames racism and discrimination for the arrival of the issues.
Second Entry
Today was a continuation class on the topic multiculturalism, where we focused on the
importance and threats of multiculturalism. There are diversified issues that can be noticed in
many of the countries that are believed to have aroused due to the incorporation of
multiculturalism. My further research introduced me with a work of Malik (2015), where he
concluded that the adverse effect of multiculturalism could be noticed in every single country
that incorporated multiculturalism. All the societies have became fragmented, alienated
minorities and resentful citizens. It also increases political tension. Despite of the challenges the
societies face due to multiculturalism, the concept have its importance. Various movies forecasts
the importance of multiculturalism like we can find one in Iron Road. The Canadian parliament
has a number of acts to support and sustain multiculturalism in the country (Hyman, Meinhard &
Shields, 2011). Moreover, I can relate multiculturalism with some of the national festivals of
Canada. The month of May is considered as the Asian Heritage month in Canada. The festival
promotes the Asian cultures and also celebrates the achievements and contribution of the
Canadian Asian heritages who have contributed in the Canadian history. Similarly, we consider
the month of February as Black history Month. We celebrate festivals and events for honoring
the legacy of Black Canadians who put significant effort for the development of the country.
I evidenced multiculturalism in a more mundane life of the Canadian society. Example of
Yoga is a excellent evidence of multiculturalism that is now integrate in the Canadian society, as
its association is evidenced in everyday life of the Canadian people. It is of Indian origin and

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many Canadians travel to India only to experience and learn Yoga for finding spiritual upliftment
or inner peace.
Task 4: Aboriginal issues
First Entry
Today’s study focuses on the issues that the aboriginal Canadian population face in their
urban life. I can relate this topic with the race and ethnicity topic that we discussed in the
previous lectures. This lecture highlighted on the facts that the aboriginal people face various
kinds of issues in their lives while living in the urban settings, mainly discrimination. An in
depth study that I conducted after class revealed to me that the aboriginal Canadians face these
discriminations form their very childhood. As according to Preston et al (2012) is a serious
reformation in the educational system is required that provides early childhood education. The
institutes should incorporate the aboriginal pedagogy in their courses with language and cultures
to help them better understand the teaching being provided. This gap in the aboriginal culture
and language with the formal Canadian education practically torment the aboriginal children as
they struggle to understand the learning. Moreover, they are also face difficulties in making
friends in school. Moreover, I learnt from Currie et al’s (2012) study that the aboriginal people
face a high level of racial discrimination in their colleges and universities. The intensity is far
greater than that I found in early childhood education system and it results into psychological
disorder in the aboriginals. I could relate this with my personal life experience. The white
Americans in their college life bully the aboriginal students often. When asked to the bullies
about the reason for such act, most of them replied that the aboriginal’s physical appearance
intrigued them to indulge into such actions. Moreover, the noticeable ethnic differences also

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plays significant role into the act. The students also are discriminated in the classrooms as the
teachers are mostly reluctant to focus on the aboriginals and do not bother to change their
teaching style accordingly to the aboriginal student’s need. It makes it harder for the student to
cope with the teaching being delivered.
Second Entry
In the second lecture of aboriginal issues, the lecturer discussed about the cure for the
issue in the Canadian society that are faced by the aboriginal people in their urban stay. The
primary step that the government of Canada needs to incorporate is the policies. There are
existing policies for preventing racial discrimination in the country. However, they seem to have
lost their efficiency, as they are no more effective in the society. Hence, I think its time to revise
those policies emphasizing on the problems that are faced by the aboriginal people in the urban
settings.
Moreover, I personally think formulating a policy is not sufficient for changing this
scenario, but needs proper implementation. However, the effectivity of the policy will only be
reflected if the people can see through the policies. I see people around me holds ethnocentric
viewpoint. They consider themselves superior to the aboriginals of Canada that result into the
outcome. I feel that it requires a change to increase the efficiency of the policy. I am planning for
a campaign to promote the equality in the society within and outside the university. It will be an
awareness campaign to erase inequality in various level ranging from gender discrimination,
racial and ethnic discrimination and the aboriginal issues. Moreover, I believe that the
government needs to increase the services provided to the aboriginal Canadians to cope and
recover from these experiences.

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I never found it entertaining to bully an aboriginal based on their physical appearance or
cultural attire. However, it never bothered me, as I was unaware of the intensity of these offences
on the people being discriminated or bullied. The policies can only support the process, but
cannot initiate it. People like us needs to stand against it as the change in mentality will only help
in eradicating this kind of discrimination. For example, I noticed one aboriginal student in the
university finding it difficult to understand the learning she received from the class. I helped her
in the learning as much as I could, as I am also incapable to translate it into her language. I used
my gestures to communicate the learning with her. Moreover, I provide special treatment to the
aboriginals visit the coffee store I work in.

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References
Brandt, M. J. (2011). Sexism and gender inequality across 57 societies. Psychological
science, 22(11), 1413-1418.
Currie, C. L., Wild, T. C., Schopflocher, D. P., Laing, L., & Veugelers, P. (2012). Racial
discrimination experienced by Aboriginal university students in Canada. The Canadian
Journal of Psychiatry, 57(10), 617-625.
Hyman, I., Meinhard, A., & Shields, J. (2011). The role of multiculturalism policy in addressing
social inclusion processes in Canada. Canadian Multicultural Education Foundation, 1.
Jennifer Agiesta, C. (2017). Race and Reality in America: Five key findings – CNN. Retrieved 3
December 2017, from
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/24/us/race-reality-key-findings/index.html
Malik, K. (2015). The failure of multiculturalism: Community versus society in Europe. Foreign
Aff., 94, 21.
Ng, E. S., & Bloemraad, I. (2015). A SWOT analysis of multiculturalism in Canada, Europe,
Mauritius, and South Korea.
Preston, J. P., Cottrell, M., Pelletier, T. R., & Pearce, J. V. (2012). Aboriginal early childhood
education in Canada: Issues of context. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 10(1), 3-
18.
Ridgeway, C. L. (2011). Framed by gender: How gender inequality persists in the modern
world. Oxford University Press.

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Satzewich, V. (2016). Revisiting Multiculturalism in Canada: Theories, Debates and Issues ed.
by Shibao Guo and Lloyd Wong. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 48(3), 175-178.
Song, M. H. (2017). Race and Ethnicity. A Companion to Critical and Cultural Theory, 465-476.
Wade, P. (2017). Race and ethnicity in Latin America. Pluto press.