In week 8, our reading group met up to read and discuss our texts as usual. The reading I chose was the first one on the list, Queer Time: The Alternative to “Adulting”. https://daily.jstor.org/queer-time-the-alternative-to-adulting/
The text discusses how in most cases people find themselves to be adults when they are 20 or 30, but with LGBTQ people, that can happen at a totally different stage in their lives. The term ‘’adulting’’ is a general and uncertain word and state, but what is actually the meaning of growing up? Or what is the right age to commit to certain things in life like marriage, careers, kids, etc.?
Behaviors of people can be adulting and considered as this term.
If buying a house is adulting for instance, does that mean for people who are not in the position to buy one, they are not adults? This is quite controversial, as we can see many grown-ups who are hard-working with a stable life, however, are still not able to afford a home.
In an interview conducted by a sociologist, it was found that some 20/30-year-olds these days define the term more as ‘’overcoming an addiction or overcoming trauma’’ rather than thinking of mainstream prejudices.
Another sociologist suggests that there are 5 points, or so-called life events that are a part of adulthood: education, labor, financial independence, being a parent, and marriage.
But continued saying that those points are certainly out-of-date considering the society we live in today. For instance, it is different for queer people not to have a marriage and no children. Further than that, not all of these points are again accessible for certain classes in society, or even for people around the world. Finally, there are also individuals who value different points in life.
Queer is different from the conceptional.
Another sociologist surveyed queer people about unconventional things like partying, dancing, and drug use, instead of mentioning the standard elements of adulthood, and their response was that their behavior does not matter when doing certain activities in life, it is irrelevant to them and not age-related.
The group’s response to the text was that it was interesting to think about this topic from these angles, as it is such a current topic. Everyone agreed that in this day and age, it is so difficult to achieve all five points mentioned above.
It is strange to define adulthood with those factors, as life events like divorce, being single and bankruptcy can happen to anyone. But this does not simultaneously mean you are not an adult anymore.
We agreed that it is almost impossible nowadays for most people in our society to purchase a house, especially in cities like London. Life these days is so focussed on couples, as they can save up together to make a living. Therefore, single people are struggling to find a place to live in as they are on their own.
The housing market is still too concentrated in the traditional sense of living since many landlords also think of responsibility when seeing a married couple. Nevertheless, this market still has a long way to go to adapt to modernity and create possibilities for every group within our society.
In reading number 2, the presenter points out the fact that certain ideas and perceptions are biased, and that have often to do with privilege. He declares that change needs to happen, and education could make that happen. Nevertheless, this again could not reach everyone necessarily. He addresses problems in the modern world and mentions that the start of the change needs to happen within education, as there is no progress if everyone learns the same theories.
The point of this reading made total sense to our reading group, however, overall required more explanation.
The third reading of ours discussed the rights of workers in the UK. Topics such as how to understand your contract, and when you can and cannot go to court. The text claimed not to be legal advice and is only good guidance for people who start their employment. However, the rules only comprised employment in the UK, as internationally it is very different.
The reading can be recommended for people in their last year in high school. Further topics discussed were, ‘’how to read your contract, rules under 18, sickness, problems at work and more’’. The examination is pre covid based, but it would have been interesting to have an updated version also with topics like inflation, etc. that became very current. The positive points about this examination is that it is not on anyone’s side, it only assists in creating the best contract. This is especially supportive for people from outside the UK.
The group’s comment on it was that this was even helpful for people who are in the field already, as even those with work experience are often unsure about points within contracts. Generally, it would be great to get a guide that is current and also freelance-based.
The next text presented a list of laws in the UK in order to make people understand them better. This could assist with knowing your rights you have when it comes to topics like dealing with landlords for instance. Often, people are insulted because of their ethics, age, or nationality. Generally, the reading is useful to protect yourself from harassment in and outside the workspace.
In our group discussion, we realized that in the UK, jobs sometimes ask for odd information and one girl in our group mentioned that she often would not add one of her native tongues she grew up with into her job description, so as not to be questioned. Another person gave the example that some people of color sometimes change their voice on the phone to sound whiter in order not to become disadvantaged. Additionally, we mentioned how important it was to avoid putting your address on your CV or photos of you, as many people tend to make assumptions about someone they don’t even know yet. However, in some countries, it is in fact a requirement to add an image of yourself on your CV. Closely related to that, we thought of an example that occurs in Mexico where women sometimes do not apply makeup in their workplace, such as finance in order to be taken seriously. On the other hand, in many cases, people are also taken seriously because they look a certain way and people follow them because of this reason and not because of what they say. This will probably always depend on which field one works in, as you can spot female politicians cutting their hair short to fit in with male-dominated roles, in order to have a valid opinion and not appear weak. This again explains the opposite of what was just mentioned but just proves based on the situation one is in.
In addition, we had an abstract talk about the narrator explaining how in his opinion revolution does not lead to a change from another reading. In the 70s and 80s, much activism took place and since the text is from 1991, it makes sense that the text was written at this time.
He demonstrates how there is no need for evolution and offers a concept in which people live together in the same place with the same thoughts in return. He illustrates that people can live in a community who have the same perception of life.
While discussing this text we were reminded of a place in India that is not connected to the government and lives similarly to this idea, but this concept had problems with rape. Additionally, to that, Denmark has a place that exists within the country as well with a structure like that called Christiania and describes itself as a commune with a self-governing society. The concept the narrator offers is good to have in a country with a stable government to escape to but would be ignorant to integrate into a place with an unstable one.
The last document our group read and reviewed was about the writer explaining how he believes personal life and work are not separate, and how in his opinion, it is the individual that is making change, instead of a group together necessarily. If in a workspace the individual is changing and starts to do something different, then people often will follow if they agree.
Further to that, can individuals create a culture such as leaving work later and having longer lunch breaks? In our opinion, not everyone can be this individual, but if for instance, the boss himself would integrate these habits into the work environment then employees would be likely to adapt to them. This could go both ways: either becoming more neglectful or more structured. Overall, though there is often the belief that making change alone is harder than in a group context.