RESOURCES and LESSONS for TEACHING ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE - especially race, ethnicity, and culture.
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What's this blog about?
I teach several courses under the broad topic of "Multicultural Education," prioritizing social justice issues of access, power/privilege, & narrowing the academic achievement gap. I am a person of color and I almost always have a white co-teacher. We include topics, such as: racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, ethnocentrism, deculturalization, transforming curriculum, etc. This is a place where I post information that we teach; lesson plans for activities; and resources we use and/or which are shared with me by my adult students.
“One person incredibly committed to one issue, who won’t stop until change occurs.”
In 2012, three young women created a documentary about Alice Paul for
a school project. Joyce Wang, Olivia Hu and Ingrid Ma decided to focus
on women’s suffrage and the result is a fantastic ten-minute video
chronicling Alice Paul’s fight for equality.
A great analysis of how women have been forced to cover their bodies and how the male brain reacts to the amount of a woman's body that is covered by clothing. Men respond as if women were "objects" and as "something to be used," instead of people to connect with.
Her flawless awesomeness is completely encapsulated at 0:39 when she
says what I want you — ladies, hi there, I mean you — to go and say to
yourself in the mirror.
"Watching this public service announcement, created by Women’s Aid in
the UK, was a jolt of harsh reality. Millions of women are violently
‘taken’ by surprise like this everyday, and live in constant fear. I
commend Keira Knightly for filming this. The statistics at the end of
the video, are sadly worse here in the U.S. The message, however, is universal.
Domestic violence is the No. 1 cause of injury to women. The incidents add up to more than all the rapes, muggings, and car accidents women experience each year. One out of every four women in the United States will be physically injured by a lover in her lifetime. That translates into a woman being assaulted every nine seconds in America. Immigrant women are beaten at higher rates than US citizens, and African American women are subjected tothe most severe forms of violence. Not surprisingly, a shaky economy just makes these numbers worse."
There are parts of ourselves we try to hide because somewhere along the way, we created the idea that we are alone in our flaws.http://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/06/the-real-unphotoshopped-me-liz-arch-photographed-by-robert-sturman/
The real me is someone with a normal, healthy body—and yes, a normal, healthy body has cellulite on the back of her thighs and a belly that folds instead of lays flat.
We flip through magazines and see gorgeous models with perfect bodies, then we look in the mirror and feel less than. The photo above shows much more than I
would ever normally feel comfortable displaying, but I share it today
with the hope that we can stop comparing ourselves to others and start
loving ourselves for the beautifully flawed masterpieces that we truly
are.
Sure, my ego loves looking at these “perfect” photoshopped images of
myself, but these images aren’t the real me. I have cellulite and
stretch marks and days when I skip my yoga mat for the couch and a pint
of ice cream. But in our social media driven world, where everybody’s
life seems so much glossier than our own, we’ve managed to convince
ourselves that real is not beautiful and every photo needs a filter. I’m
definitely guilty of editing my public life down to a handful of inspiring quotes and photos on Facebook that only show my best sides.
I never really thought much about it, until I started receiving
messages from people telling me how “perfect” my body was. The thought
of other people lifting me up only to put themselves down broke my
heart, especially since perfect is not a word I would ever use to
describe myself. So I called my dear friend, photographer Robert
Sturman, and asked him if he would shoot the “real” me.
One of the reasons I have always admired Robert’s work is because he
doesn’t do a lot of retouching. He might adjust the exposure of an image
or play with the background, but you will never see a size eight woman
photoshopped down to a size four. As a skilled photographer, he knows
the body’s angles and when angles are not enough, he leaves all
unflattering photos on the cutting room floor.This shoot wasn’t about flattery though, so we threw the old rules
out and created a new set: 1. No photoshopping of my body or face would
be allowed. 2. All angles would be fair game. 3. I would show up to
the shoot as myself (translation: I would not starve myself, workout
excessively, spray tan, or do any of the other absurd things models do
before a shoot).
Jessica Valenti: Helping Men Understand Why Feminism Is Important (VIDEO)
January 2013 research showed that peer influence may impact body image
even more than pop culture, but it's never bad to be reminded just how
unrealistic the bodies of the dolls you grew up playing with are.
Realistic Barbie
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/normal-barbie-nickolay-lamm_n_3529460.html
Artist Nickolay Lamm of MyDeals.com used CDC measurements
of an average 19-year-old woman to create a 3-D model, which he
photographed next to a standard Barbie doll. Lamm then photoshopped the
3-D model to make it look like a Barbie doll.
"If we criticize skinny models, we should at least be open to the
possibility that Barbie may negatively influence young girls as well,"
Lamm said in an email to the Huffington Post. "Furthermore, a
realistically proportioned Barbie actually looks pretty good."
Real Woman Barbie Measurements
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/barbie-body-real-life-infographic_n_3057690.html
At this point, it's common knowledge that Barbie's body isn't the most realistic. But what would it actually look like if the famous Mattel doll was a real woman? That's what Rehabs.com set out to find out.
The search engine for locating mental health treatment centers put together an infographic using data from the 1996 study "Ken and Barbie At Life Size," which was originally published in the academic journal Sex Roles.
The graphic compares the proportions of a Barbie's body to the body of
the average American woman as well as the average model and the average
anorexic woman.
Some of the numbers are quite striking. While Barbie's head would be
two inches larger than the average U.S. woman's, her waist would be 19
inches smaller and her hips would be 11 inches smaller. Since her waist
would be four inches thinner than her head, Barbie's body wouldn't have
the room it needs to hold all of its vital organs, and her uber-skinny
ankles and child-size feet would make it necessary for her to walk on
all fours.
If You Still Don't Think We Need Feminism, You Should See The Signs These Girls Were Bullied For
In a horrifying turn of events, these girls were bullied by many
of their peers for standing up for their rights. Read the full story here. http://www.theguardian.com/education/mortarboard/2013/jun/20/why-i-started-a-feminist-society
This video made me cry. It's the perfect song - We ARE the Champions! The meaning behind it is priceless.
Here's another video (same company).
Here's what a friend of mine said about the video.
Hmmm.
I really like that she is making engineering toys for girls, but
really, why not just simply engineering toys? I hate that she says she
is busting the stereotype, and still making these pink, and princess and
girly. As a little girl I spent a lot of time constructing houses and
castles out of blocks and Lincoln logs. I made furniture for my barbies
with real hammers and wood and nails. My best friend and I made
ourselves a little table and a couple stools out of wood scraps using my
Dad's tools. I needed access to the tools, I didn't need them to be
pink. Don't "pink" our girls, give them the real stuff, the same stuff
you give the boys! This makes me sad. My daughter used my tools, and her grandfathers' tools, and now she has designed
and built sets for dance and theater productions. That's the real stuff!
She has a
point. And now remember that very young BOYS get plastic (not real) tools. I gave my five children all the toys, no matter what their gender, and the girls still wanted to play house and pull dolls in a wagon, while the boys dumped it over and spun the wheels.
I like that the "engineering toys" for girls come in attractive colors and with books, because the reasoning is sound in this society. It may not be genetic, but social pressure, images, and other factors play into girls not being interested in engineering and having certain play practice - and here is a toy that uses research to draw girls in!
Um,
sorry, that sounded snarky, and that's not how I meant it. It's good
that she is getting these toys into the hands of little girls who might
not get them otherwise. I know there are Moms and Dads out there who
feel like little girls must be frilly princesses. It just makes me sad
that this might be the only way that some kids will get to experience
the joy of creating something with their imagination, solving the puzzle
of how to achieve it using only the materials at hand.
And now think about all those parents (and kids) who don't expose
girls to and "real" tools. Then view the video above again, and look for tools.
Teenage Girl Blossoming Into Beautiful Object http://www.theonion.com/articles/teenage-girl-blossoming-into-beautiful-object,31061/?ref=auto- here are snipits of this article which throws barbs at female transformation
ARLINGTON, TX—Calling the transformation both delightful and
stunning, friends and family members confirmed Tuesday that 17-year-old
Ashley Parker was blossoming into an absolutely gorgeous object.
Edmund Powell, Parker’s history teacher, echoed the sentiment of many
pupils, claiming that he was impressed by the junior’s transformation
from an honor roll student and sentient human being into a lovely piece
of meat.
While Parker’s mother Stacey was reportedly certain that her daughter
would make a beautiful and unthinkingly gracious trophy someday, the
38-year-old cautioned Ashley not to get her hopes up about finding the
perfect money bags right away.
“Secretary” was the sort of role most common for women in 1950, when career opportunities were -- ahem -- more limited, to say the least, and only a tiny fraction of women held college degrees. And it’s still the most popular role now, despite the facts that more women earn graduate degrees than men, and women are soaring across a vast number of industries.
Well, at least it's a lot more difficult to envision being something that you can't see. This video is about sexism, and offers great conversations starter with kids:
Do you understand why these comments are sexist?
What if this was said about a man?
Do men have to follow these same standards?
How many men are in the roles that these women are in?
How might this be represented if we made a video of (fill in the blank: African Americans, Native Americans, etc.)?
Micro-Aggressions: Day to day interactions with people which often appear to be a complement, but contain a meta communication or a hidden insult to the target groups. People who engage in micro-aggressions see themselves as "good people." Micro-Aggressions can be verbal or nonverbal. The are unconscious manifestations of a world view, inclusion/exclusion, and superiority/inferiority.
What can we do?
Learn from conscious vigilance of our own biases and fears
Learn about and interact with people of different background
Don't be defensive
Be open to discussion your own attitudes and how they hurt others
