Tuesdays lecture was based around racism and patriarchy within society, both in the past and present. Throughout the lecture we were shown graphic photos and told heart breaking stories from the past which were met with both gasps and head shakes but the question that truly captured my attention was ‘have we really moved on?’

I personally feel that there is many ways this question can be answered. Obviously societies outlook on both race and patriarchy is not the same as it was in the 1950s but could anyone truthfully say that there is no similarities?, Take the Charlottesville riots that we looked at in the lecture for example, Not only were they mimicking Nazi marches, they were also full of people who whole heartedly believed in what they were marching for. If there are still so many people who have this mindset how can we say that society has progressed?

Racism is something I have never had to deal with but have always been aware of growing up. Yet I feel as I have got older it has only become more apparent that there is still a long way to go before we can call society fair. This generation is leaps and bounds ahead of previous generations not only in terms of racism, but acceptance and pride in the LGBTQ+ community and doing work for women’s rights has a lot of importance in many young peoples lives which gives this generation something to be proud of.

This pride though is completely diminished when things like the Charlottesville riots happen, events like that not only dishearten but also erase progress that has been made. Changing slogans such as ‘black lives matter’ to ‘All lives matter’ and feminism being met with ‘menimism’ shows that people still do not have full understanding of what people are fighting for. It is not superiority it is equality.

Tuesdays lecture made me think about many aspects of society that are not always brought to my attention, it made me rethink how much society has progressed and how far we still have to go.