Politics of Location

One of the greatest problems in this world is ignorance, which can be defined as being uninformed of a matter. This occurs all the time, especially in the United States. People are not able to accept the fact that there are others whom are different from them. That is what makes this world such an interesting place; diversity. When people hear things or ideas that make them feel uncomfortable, they will then ignore and avoid it because it brings no interest to them. This aspect of life relates to the thoughts of politics of location. The location of a place can make a huge difference in the education and knowledge a person can receive because of vaulable resources and influence.

Transgender is often a difficult topic to discuss especially for those whom are judgmental and are unwilling to understand what the term actually is. I grew up in a fairly conservative city in Indiana where subjects such as transsexuality were merely ignored or not even thought of. With this in mind, college became increasingly important in my life because I was given a chance to better understand different things. I was unable to receive the education on this topic, making me slightly judgmental and very sheltered.

Indiana University, located in Bloomington, Indiana, has a reputation of being more accepting to the diversity and social issues that this country faces. Without the influence of the University’s tolerance policies, IU would not be able to teach some of the classes offered in the curriculum.With the amount of acceptance and tolerance IU has for diversity, individuals who identify themselves as transgender are able to receive the same college experience as everyone else. Indiana University does not believe in the tolerance of hate crimes, which gives gender variant individuals the chance to live their lives as who they want to be without anyone telling them they are wrong because they are protected.

I think it would be increasingly difficult to attend a school where there are strict regulations on who people should be, how their live their lives, and the curriculum that is taught. At this school our capacity for learning about those whom are different than us, is quite high. No matter what the diversity group is, IU is likely to have it. The geographical location of Bloomington, Indiana itself is different than IU. IF there was not a somewhat liberal university here, Bloomington would probably not offer the available resources and education a person would need to learn about gender variance and the effects it has on those whom identify. Bloomington is located in Southern Indiana, a place that has a conservative reputation and has had some problems in the past that have shown discrimination. These forces make Bloomington almost split because it is in the southern area of a mostly conservative state that has a liberal university.

Location makes or breaks everything, meaning that it defines the people who live there and the beliefs that they have. Indiana University is a culturally rich place where people can learn more about each other including those whom are gender variant and the gender variant who live all across the world, however Bloomington would most likely not be this way if the university was not here.