Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

I never really considered myself a feminist, although my views aren't so black and white. I've always wanted the typical "happily ever after"; meet my prince charming, fall in love, get married. I have to assume that this dream comes from my love of Disney. A couple years ago I decided to end a relationship that I thought was my happily ever after. It took a lot out of me. For a long time I put another person's feelings before my own. When I was upset about something, I bit my tongue. I was complacent, as any other Disney Princess would be. When I was younger these fairy tales that Walt Disney created were so idealistic; being older I see things a little differently. The typical Disney Princess has a symmetrical face and a tiny waist, she doesn't voice her opinions, and waits for a man to come to her rescue. The views of how a woman should look and act are very subtle to a young girl, and also very impressionable. Disney has recently started to incorporate a more powerful female role into their movies, for example, Frozen. Queen Elsa is the protagonist of this film, she creates an empire all on her own without the help of anyone let alone a man. However, if you ask a group of four year olds, the majority of them will tell you that Elsa's younger sister Ana is their favorite. Why? Because Ana finds her one true love. I still have the dream of meeting my prince charming and living happily ever after, but I have other dreams too. I want to be able to stand on my own two feet and create a name for myself and not be defined by a relationship. I decided to include the pictures above from Beyonce's "Flawless" video (all hail Queen Bey). Beyonce is a huge inspiration of mine because she has the best of both worlds; she is a successful, empowered woman and she has one of the most idolized relationships in today's pop culture. WOMEN, WE CAN HAVE IT ALL! It is time for the media to start recognizing that.

On an unrelated note I wanted to share this video of a Special K commercial that is trying to promote positive body image for women, I think it is great and I wish stores like this actually existed!

Speaking the Unspeakable

LGBT is definitely taboo to talk about not only in schools but in society in general. It's definitely the elephant in the room that nobody knows how to address. I think that most everyone would like to turn a blind eye and think "it's 2014, gays are allowed to get married, we don't have a problem anymore". This would be an ideal, but unfortunately it's far from the truth. People fear what they can't understand. School age children are highly impressionable. Most children wouldn't care what the color of your skin was or who you chose to love, they would sit down and eat with you anyways, unless they've been told otherwise. I think it is so important to educate children about the LGBT community. If children are given all of the facts, I believe they are more likely to be accepting and less likely to have prejudice. Everyone is thrown into categories based on their differences; boy or girl, black or white, rich or poor, fat or skinny, tall or short, gay or straight, magic or mudblood (yer a wizard Harry). These differences are apart of who we are, yes, but they are not all that we are. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." The content of their character. Imagine that? 

I took an anthropology of childhood class last year and in it we discussed issues of gender. In class we watched this movie called "Tomboy". It is a French film about a little girl named Laure who decides to identify herself as a male named Mikael after her family moves to a different town. Mikael has to overcome many different hardships involving his family and peers on his path of finding out who he is. This film is about an hour and a half long so if anyone has the time to check it out on your day off from classes tomorrow, I highly recommend it.

Tomboy (2011)

"Why can't she remember that?"

Quotes:



1. "It is difficult to overstate the importance of choosing books that connect to children's lives. This is important to remember for all students at every level, of course, but for none more so than young children who enter school with no prior attachment to books."

• In order to get a child interested about reading, they have to be able to figure out for themselves why it matters to them. Not just because an adult tells them that it should matter. I know from personal experience that it is extremely hard for me to dive into a book if I can't relate to it. I included a picture of one of my favorite books from when I was a child, Jessica. When I was a little girl I thought it was the coolest thing in the world that somebody wrote a book about me. Of course, the book really wasn't about me, but I was able to draw a connection to it which made it that much more important for me to read.

 2. "I have found it helpful to use a puppet to talk with children about known-answer questions and other kinds of book reading behaviors."

• Meier talks about the importance of teaching book reading behaviors to children. Meier talks about how she uses the puppet almost as a model for bad behavior (e.g., calling out answers and other comments, turning his head away and not paying attention, distracting other children). This gives the teacher the opportunity to call upon these bad behaviors to the class and hopefully will allow them to determine what would have been a more appropriate behavior. I decided to include this quote because I really liked this idea. I believe it would be more constructive for the teacher to place blame on the puppet, rather than calling out a child in the middle of class; which could potentially embarrass the child, causing more harm than good. 

3.  "Make books come alive"

• I feel that this is such an important concept. Especially when dealing with young children it is important to make reading fun. Albus Dumbledore once said "words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic". This is one of my favorite quotes. One of my favorite things that happens while I'm reading a really great book is that the words just fly right off the page. I can put myself directly in the plot and feel everything the characters feel. That is what makes reading exciting, and it is important for young children to get excited about reading. I will never forget my 5th grade teacher, for the sole reason that she did not just sit and read to us in a monotone voice. She had a different voice for each individual character, which made it feel so real. It will always be one of my most cherished memories of grade school. 

Questions for class:
Did anyone else have a similar experience?
What helps you get excited about reading?