Hello and Welcome!
My name is Alaina Bensching. I am a first-year student at Santa Clara University from Portland, Oregon. Even though I have been here for a few months, I still am happy I get to walk past the beautiful Mission Church on the way to class, and even though I am bored of palm trees, I am not bored of the better weather.
Source: Wikimedia
I plan on being a chemistry or biology major with an art minor and I have created this blog for a Critical Thinking and Writing course at SCU. The course syllabus states the theme as higher education but the course has so far been flexible in how individual assignment are themed. I chose to focus on feminist issues in the most recent assignment and will continue to do so in the future on this blog.
In recent years I have come to realize that I am most certainly a feminist. At first I was afraid to call myself that, because it did not feel I had earned it. But whether it be my political views, or my approach to gender inequality, I find myself defending women and women’s rights, so I do qualify. But, I grew up a Portlander, so I was surrounded by
Source: Leah Bensching
liberals who, for the most part, do their best to treat women fairly and I thought I might just be mimicking the behavior around me. No, I don’t go out and protest or yell at strangers on the subway, but that is because I am involved in a different kind of pushback. I am an everyday feminist; someone who can speak up to friends and family at the dinner table. I am trying to change the little things within my reach. I became an everyday feminist after I read an inspiring book, Half the Sky, that discusses the violence, anger, and inequalities that women in second and third world countries face. So, yes, I am a feminist.
But, I am certainly not just a feminist. I am also an ultimate frisbee player, a daughter, a sister, a Timbers fan, a runner, an amateur photographer, and a pun-maker (turn back now, faint-hearted). Ultimately, I identify myself by many of those qualities and that list is just a little bit of who you will see more clearly as you read the following posts. I will be putting part of my brain on the screen for you, so I hope you enjoy it. I’m sure the zombies will eat it up if you don’t. There I go with the puns (I put them in italics so you don’t miss out on any).
My sincerest apologies for the puns,
Alaina Bensching