Photo Elicitation Project

Hector Solis-Ortiz

Social Justice

Dr. Art Munin

OPPRESSION

I believe there is always so much talk about women and how they over sexualized

or oppressed because of the constant messages we get from the public. Though this might

be true I feel like all the talk is mostly on woman people never really talk about men. I

pass by the mall and I can’t tell you how often I see the same type of guy plastered on the

display window with a the typical six pack and hair that always seems to be blowing in

the wind. I took this picture of this male at the Hollister store at the Water Tower

shopping center. I do not understand why there is so much talk about the oppression of

woman through advertising, but you rarely hear about men. I only say this because I feel

that they are putting up this picture of what an ideal man should look like and anything

that is not up to the standard is less than. Identifying as a male and obviously not looking

like those pictures I feel can cause some sort of identity crisis because what does that tell

other men that if you don’t look like those pictures you’re not a real man? Obviously,

that is not the case, but to those seeing it from a different lens it most certainly can be and

it’s something that should be talked about.

This is a picture of one of my RAs that I supervise. The reason I chose to take a

picture of her was because she identifies as being half Latina and half white. Through

getting to know her this was something that came up when we as RA staff spoke about

identity. The biggest thing that she expressed that she identifying as a multi racial woman

and growing up in Florida this was something that was hard for her because she lived in a

predominantly white neighborhood. This picture represents oppression to me because it

proves to me that racism or ignorance is still around the world to this day. Some people

might say that racism isn’t a real, but it is very much a problem. Not knowing where you

fit in can be hard especially when the sub groups you identify with don’t accept you can

be even harder.

When I talk to my students or people in general I always get this anxiousness if I

bring up the south side. Not a lot of people that I interacted with have even gone there,

but most would have an opinion. I chose to take the train south and I can say that I did

observe something that was quite interesting is that once the train hit the Roosevelt stop

you could see the demographic change inside the train car. The more north we were there

was a high amount white people and as we got closer to the south the majority were black

and some Latino people. The south did look somewhat different. Sure, it wasn’t polished

quite as downtown and it looked a little rough around the edges, but it wasn’t anything as

bad as I expected. I chose this picture of the green line because it represented the

ignorance that some people have toward a certain space. I believe this to be oppressive to

the people that actually live in this area of town because it puts them in this box

indefinitely.

This might sound controversial, but though I believe that religion and faith are

very positive things because it gives us something to believe in when things seem bleak,

but at the same time it boxes people in. I choose to take a picture of a church to highlight

how I interpret religion when it comes to the rules you have to follow. I have a friend that

is a Jehovah’s Witness and was recently ex communicated from their community because

he didn’t follow the rule of living a simple life. It was so interesting for me that one of the

things that the church doesn’t believe in is attending college because that technically isn’t

living a simple life. Though I don’t identify being a Jehovah’s Witness religion at times

might restrict someone from having a personal belief of his or her own.

PRIVILEGE

I took this picture of the wellness center on campus to show the access that we

have not only for medication, but to just be able to see a doctor. I think this is very

important because others might not have that same luxury. I believe that everyone should

have access to getting to see a doctor when they are sick, but those without insurance

can’t and instead just have to endure their condition. It is a privilege to go to the doctor

and get the help you need as a human being. It’s just that in this world or at least in our

society we don’t believe in this instead we always focus on the money and the business

behind medicine. I’m grateful to be in a position that I do not have to worry about this, at

least not for now.

As I was walking down Michigan Avenue it’s hard to not notice how many

couples there were, but one thing was constant was the fact that they were straight. I

believe the real privilege would be identifying as a heterosexual because you are more

freely to express love out in the public and society doesn’t even look twice. I thought it

was interesting that there just so happened to be a poster from an insurance agency to be

in support of same sex relationships but it was more so to tell that demographic that

should always feel safe in showing their love in public. This was interesting to me

because heterosexual couples don’t tend to worry whether they are going to get heckled

or harassed when taking a stroll with their partner, but for others this is a reality.

This place has everything: shops, upscale restaurants, valet service at every

corner, you name it they have it. It’s as if you can smell the money everywhere. It’s so

easy to see that downtown is catered for those that are in the middle class to upper middle

class to upper class clientele. There is a certain privilege to being part of such an elite

group and that is that you gain access to many things in this role and something that is

invaluable is respect. I notice that if you have money you could be a horrible person by

definition, but because you make that money you gain instant respect. I find this to be

unfair, but nonetheless it’s privilege all the same. Most people can’t say they own a

Rolex, but to those that can most of them won’t know how much privilege they have

rather than others.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

I took a picture of the Social Justice Dialogue dinners that are available to our

student at Loyola. At these dinners they get to speak in an open forum about issues that

face society today. It really shows how much Loyola University and the Jesuit Mission

come into play. Social Justice dinners get to have a huge impact on the student

community in how they view the world and what they can bring back to their

communities. I think it’s great that Loyola makes this a priority and is making it

accessible for our student community.

I took this picture while I was on the train and believed that it really encompassed

social justice on a large scale. I think that runs or walks that address certain illnesses are

important for the community in that it gives people a platform to talk about these issues.

HIV/Aids is a serious disease that might effect our friends or family members and these

people are often treated differently. The reason I believe this can be considered social

justice it because people don’t need to have the disease, but the want to run to help others

and bring this to light for others. When people give the money for this cause they are

helping in research to try and find a cure for this disease.

It’s funny how I constantly use public transportation that I don’t really notice the

fact that they constantly have signs for handicapped individuals. I believe this is a great

example of social justice at work. Sure, it sounds easy enough to give your seat to the

older woman because that’s the courteous thing to do, but it’s more that we in our society

know to help our older generation. I think that these signs are put in place not only to

remind people of that, but they are used to advocate for that population of individuals that

need that extra assistance. After seeing this sign it just brought up to light that there are

constant signs like these everywhere just to help those in need.

I was walking through Belmont and came across the Illinois Equality office where

they help with issues surrounding the LGBT community. In this office they focus on

helping that community by providing different resources and constantly try to bring

awareness to marriage equality. Places like these are all over the city and they are great

resources for young people as well that are still trying to figure out their own identity.

Having these resources show that there is a need for this type of work and hopefully are

trying to bring awareness surrounding different issues.