After having had several hiccups with the Health Center at Bryn Mawr College, I decided to seek out further information on why any mention of it or its employees elicits a certain look of discomfort, despair, distaste, or disenchantment from the average student. And, in doing so, I got more than I bargained for—potentially too much information to be comfortable with (given that really, the "Shaped" in the title of this paper should have a "Failed to have" in front of it). These discoveries and the resulting analysis provide the basis of this critique.

(Note: this is based on my own experiences in education, i.e. in American private Catholic then later public schools)

When you're old enough to leave your parent's side you go to preschool or daycare. You color, you play tag, you dress up, you play in the sand or with toys and action figures. No one expects you to pass a test or complete an assignment, you can just be.

A few years later is kindergarten. You have to learn to read, to write, to do math, maybe find your country on a world map or learn a little about dinosaurs. You have your first tests and quizzes and folder of homework assignments and there is more pressure to get work done. Then they introduce you to the formula.

When considering identity and access from the standpoint of an institution, it can vary depending on the institution’s mission and policies. For instance, there are some institutions that only focus on certain careers such as, liberal arts colleges vs. technical schools. Meanwhile, there are other institutions that only offer a single sex education instead of a co-education. It is because of these differences that shape an institution’s mission and policies therefore explaining why the standpoint of an institution would vary when it comes to identity and access. In order to give a better idea on how identity and access of a person can be affected by the standpoint of an institution, I will focus on Bryn Mawr College.

(Excuse my scattered, short thoughts... I forgot about this and I'm at plenary and hungry)

            My brain is filled with a complicated knot made from different fragments of information. Over the past week, I have been rapidly acquiring pieces of knowledge about charter schools, magnet schools, the Philly public school system, racial quotas, Supreme Court cases, the college application process, integration vs. equal opportunity, subtle forms of discrimination, and the consequences of funding issues in education. I’m still generating opinions about, forming connections between, and digesting the facts involved in all of these things. In the middle of this disorganized pile is a really simple fact that seems to tie a lot of it together.

When I was ten years old we built a treehouse. We hacked apart an old wooden table and used the legs to build a ladder held together with duct tape.  We nailed the tabletop as a platform into the top of a tree.  We made a rope swing and hung from the branches of this big maple tree, and we were happy.  We ran barefoot through damp grass and ate black raspberries until our fingers turned purple.   We'd run around with Nerf guns and dirt blackened feet.

"Crips and Trannies Need to Pee Too!"

The Intersectionality of Trans* and Disabled Identities

Sula Malina

I. Are Trans Bodies Necessarily Disabled?