Class Monday

I remember the first time I saw the episode we watched last class. I was so involved in the whole story and worried for VanBuren that I didn’t notice a lot of the stuff we talked about in class. I don’t know how many cops would be treated the way she was if they were male, but it is clear she was treated harsher simply due to the fact that she was female. The way she was spoken to was ridiculous and really off-putting. I believe the situation should have been taken seriously, but had she been male or white, it is likely that she would have been “innocent until proven guilty” instead of vice versa. It was really unfortunate, I felt, that she was asked about racism, as if she had something against the boys based on skin color alone. Just because she is successful does not take away the color of her skin, and the ways she likely identified with the boys and the whole family involved. It’s too bad that in our world there have been so many inequalities and less than lawful actions made by police officers that most minorities don’t believe cops represent safety, instead they fear them, and understandably so. I liked that in the end the mother of the boy who was killed cooperated with VanBuren and listened to what she had to say. It was obviously a terrible situation both were in, but I liked that although there was a lot of tension and a lot of non-communication, they were able to work for a good outcome (well, as good of one as you can get in this situation). Women too often are so against one another for no reason at all, it would not be surprising if the mother was never able to even respond to VanBuren.

This episode accompanied by the reading helped me think about a lot of topics regarding women in the police force that I hadn’t really considered before. I admit that I admire the women who do those jobs even more now. What Simpson shared with us was also great insight into what it was all like for women. I think it’s great that some of the men who opposed her quit. To me, it makes them look like jerks, and her job even easier to not have opposition within her own workplace. I really hope that she is able to step down when she chooses, as she said no women have really been able to do.