Presuming they did, in what did these articles and chapters make you think about how you think about your own gendered identity (as a woman/man both in your everyday life and your teacher life)? If they didn’t talk about that instead.
Reading the Wason-Ellam article I was struck by how much that was NOT like me when I was little. My sister had to beg me to play with barbies while my hero was Hulk Hogan. My parents never said anything about it, never discouraged or pointed out that I was a tomboy. I tried watching soap operas but quickly dismissed that option. These girls are so wrapped up in their adoration of MTV stars and soap opera lives that they don't seem to be enjoying their 8 year old lives. They cannot wait to be grown up (wearing make up) and finding their rich prince charming like in the Soap opera. Even the leading questions that Wason-Ellam proposed were taken the wrong way and correlated to Barbie and Shania Twain.
The Cool Boys, Party Animals, etc. didn't resonate with me either because I don't ever remember anything near that caliber happening in my high school career. I think that if I was in a place like that, I would have hated that. Do high schoolers really do that?
I agree with what Tory said. When I was younger I loved Barbies BUT I also had matchbox cars that I played with even more. I never hesitated to join a game of basketball as the only girl because I didn't understand why I wouldn't, or shouldn't, be able to play.
I also think that, unfortunately, high schoolers do think like that and have conversations like the ones in the Cool Boys article. It is important that as teachers we see this and if we are in the elementary grades it gives us motivation to teach our students about how students are different and hope that when they get to high school they change their way of thinking and acting.
The Davies article sparked some different thoughts I had about gender. I found it interesting when Davies discussed the three stories from his preschool study where two of the boys were wearing skirts. When I was growing up and I saw boys wearing skirts, I thought they were girly, especially when it was their outfit and not dress-up time. The last example Davies talked about was Geoffrey, who was the boy wearing a girl's skirt and fighting another boy. When he took the skirt off, the other boy ran away because he thought Geoffrey had more power. Yes I can understand why in the male form he looked more powerful, but what boy wouldn't think a boy wearing girl clothes would be weak? I understand that boys at a young age will play dress up, but when witnessing this as an adult, most of the boys I have seen, dress as a boy's role-prince, pirate, fireman, ect. I was just surprised that this scene was represented from a way that the reader should be shocked that the boy was seen as more powerful in boys clothes, instead of thinking it's just normal-or at least that's the way I understood it.
I really liked the idea of the "Greek Chorus" telling us what to do on the sidelines in the Davis article. This is a form of critical social literacy. This happens at any age. After reading this article and the Wason-Ellam, I related it to a project I did during my student teaching. We had to choose a social action project and I did it based on gender. How many times I called on boys vs. girls in the class. I realized that I called on the boys more than the girls. There were more boys in the class. After awhile I became more aware that I did this and then created a balance. I think this is interesting to see in our classrooms. It is very rare that we come across a class that has an equal balance of boys and girls. Who do we as teachers focus more of our attention on? The boys or girls in the class? Are we hearing both voices equally or is there a "Greek Chorus" telling us to call on a particular gender more or less, because there are more or less of that gender in the class?
I agree with what Tory and Lisa said. I always played Barbies and dolls when I was younger, but I also played with the boys in my neighborhood. I followed along with things that they were doing that would be considered "boyish." While reading the Wason-Ellam article I was really surprised with how much these girls compared everything to their "idols." I can not relate to these young girls. Even when I was playing with Barbies or dolls, I never found myself comparing myself or others to Barbie.
Having read the Martino article I began to realize that the way boys in school define their masculinity is by a certain set of "rules." For example, their "coolness factor" is based on this set of rules and whether or not they abide by them. Their "ranking" in their group also related to their "coolness factor" is true, but is something that makes no sense until you're older. It makes me want to sit each and every one of my classes down and explain to them that one day, the coolest kid in their "group" isn’t going to be that cool, and that once you get out in the real world things like that don't matter anymore. It is interesting though, because I remember a similar thing with girls when I was in school, you aspire to be "coolest" one in your group, or at least the second coolest. It really is terrible what kids have to deal with in school outside of just learning and getting their work done.
Like the previous ladies, I was always girlie growing up. I don't even know how to ride a bike because according to my mother, "Boys do that, not girls." However, I have never felt hampered by my skirt. Even if girls didn't ride bikes, they did everything else and we were encouraged to. My mother was like the one in Davies' piece, except that whereas young Zac does not give his mother credit, I know my mother was doing real work (even in the house).
After reading “If only I was like Barbie,” I can clearly say I did not pride myself with being like Barbie. Personally, I never liked the idea of walking on the balls of my feet in high heels… I guess it was never my style. I also came to the realization early on that I was never going to be a skinny blonde haired girl like so many shows portrayed as their female star, but I was okay with that. I think for me, I’ve always been happy doing my own thing. When I was seven and my dance teacher told me that girls did not whistle, I think it gave me a stronger desire to whistle right in her face. I swear I’m still scarred from that. I knew I could whistle if I wanted to and no one was going to tell me that it wasn’t a girl thing to do. I guess stereotypes and “gender roles” are something I have always tried to steer away from.
This article struck me because I was never like this when I was young. I never wanted to be something because society, books, television, toys, etc. were showing me that this is how a girl should be. It seems that for most of us, growing up we did not just play with Barbie’s or do “girlie” things but rather did all things a kid did. I wish I could say the same for kids today. My sisters are eight and ten and I feel like they are so wrapped up in this world that other people have created. They love these stupid Bratz dolls, which in my opinion are some of the ugliest dolls I’ve ever seen. Now, I don’t necessarily feel that they want to be like these dolls but it is clear that the world today pushes them to be a certain way. I remember my one sister telling me that she loved to play tag with the boys on the playground but wouldn’t because it wasn’t cool for a girl to do that. Whoever said it wasn’t cool to play tag is out their mind. It just makes me continue to think that this world is a crazy place… why can’t we choose for ourselves what roles we want to take on. Why does someone else have to decide for us what our gender identity should be?
8 comments:
Reading the Wason-Ellam article I was struck by how much that was NOT like me when I was little. My sister had to beg me to play with barbies while my hero was Hulk Hogan. My parents never said anything about it, never discouraged or pointed out that I was a tomboy.
I tried watching soap operas but quickly dismissed that option.
These girls are so wrapped up in their adoration of MTV stars and soap opera lives that they don't seem to be enjoying their 8 year old lives. They cannot wait to be grown up (wearing make up) and finding their rich prince charming like in the Soap opera. Even the leading questions that Wason-Ellam proposed were taken the wrong way and correlated to Barbie and Shania Twain.
The Cool Boys, Party Animals, etc. didn't resonate with me either because I don't ever remember anything near that caliber happening in my high school career. I think that if I was in a place like that, I would have hated that. Do high schoolers really do that?
I agree with what Tory said. When I was younger I loved Barbies BUT I also had matchbox cars that I played with even more. I never hesitated to join a game of basketball as the only girl because I didn't understand why I wouldn't, or shouldn't, be able to play.
I also think that, unfortunately, high schoolers do think like that and have conversations like the ones in the Cool Boys article. It is important that as teachers we see this and if we are in the elementary grades it gives us motivation to teach our students about how students are different and hope that when they get to high school they change their way of thinking and acting.
The Davies article sparked some different thoughts I had about gender. I found it interesting when Davies discussed the three stories from his preschool study where two of the boys were wearing skirts. When I was growing up and I saw boys wearing skirts, I thought they were girly, especially when it was their outfit and not dress-up time. The last example Davies talked about was Geoffrey, who was the boy wearing a girl's skirt and fighting another boy. When he took the skirt off, the other boy ran away because he thought Geoffrey had more power. Yes I can understand why in the male form he looked more powerful, but what boy wouldn't think a boy wearing girl clothes would be weak? I understand that boys at a young age will play dress up, but when witnessing this as an adult, most of the boys I have seen, dress as a boy's role-prince, pirate, fireman, ect. I was just surprised that this scene was represented from a way that the reader should be shocked that the boy was seen as more powerful in boys clothes, instead of thinking it's just normal-or at least that's the way I understood it.
I really liked the idea of the "Greek Chorus" telling us what to do on the sidelines in the Davis article. This is a form of critical social literacy. This happens at any age. After reading this article and the Wason-Ellam, I related it to a project I did during my student teaching. We had to choose a social action project and I did it based on gender. How many times I called on boys vs. girls in the class. I realized that I called on the boys more than the girls. There were more boys in the class. After awhile I became more aware that I did this and then created a balance. I think this is interesting to see in our classrooms. It is very rare that we come across a class that has an equal balance of boys and girls. Who do we as teachers focus more of our attention on? The boys or girls in the class? Are we hearing both voices equally or is there a "Greek Chorus" telling us to call on a particular gender more or less, because there are more or less of that gender in the class?
I agree with what Tory and Lisa said. I always played Barbies and dolls when I was younger, but I also played with the boys in my neighborhood. I followed along with things that they were doing that would be considered "boyish." While reading the Wason-Ellam article I was really surprised with how much these girls compared everything to their "idols." I can not relate to these young girls. Even when I was playing with Barbies or dolls, I never found myself comparing myself or others to Barbie.
Having read the Martino article I began to realize that the way boys in school define their masculinity is by a certain set of "rules." For example, their "coolness factor" is based on this set of rules and whether or not they abide by them. Their "ranking" in their group also related to their "coolness factor" is true, but is something that makes no sense until you're older. It makes me want to sit each and every one of my classes down and explain to them that one day, the coolest kid in their "group" isn’t going to be that cool, and that once you get out in the real world things like that don't matter anymore. It is interesting though, because I remember a similar thing with girls when I was in school, you aspire to be "coolest" one in your group, or at least the second coolest. It really is terrible what kids have to deal with in school outside of just learning and getting their work done.
Like the previous ladies, I was always girlie growing up. I don't even know how to ride a bike because according to my mother, "Boys do that, not girls." However, I have never felt hampered by my skirt. Even if girls didn't ride bikes, they did everything else and we were encouraged to. My mother was like the one in Davies' piece, except that whereas young Zac does not give his mother credit, I know my mother was doing real work (even in the house).
After reading “If only I was like Barbie,” I can clearly say I did not pride myself with being like Barbie. Personally, I never liked the idea of walking on the balls of my feet in high heels… I guess it was never my style. I also came to the realization early on that I was never going to be a skinny blonde haired girl like so many shows portrayed as their female star, but I was okay with that. I think for me, I’ve always been happy doing my own thing. When I was seven and my dance teacher told me that girls did not whistle, I think it gave me a stronger desire to whistle right in her face. I swear I’m still scarred from that. I knew I could whistle if I wanted to and no one was going to tell me that it wasn’t a girl thing to do. I guess stereotypes and “gender roles” are something I have always tried to steer away from.
This article struck me because I was never like this when I was young. I never wanted to be something because society, books, television, toys, etc. were showing me that this is how a girl should be. It seems that for most of us, growing up we did not just play with Barbie’s or do “girlie” things but rather did all things a kid did. I wish I could say the same for kids today. My sisters are eight and ten and I feel like they are so wrapped up in this world that other people have created. They love these stupid Bratz dolls, which in my opinion are some of the ugliest dolls I’ve ever seen. Now, I don’t necessarily feel that they want to be like these dolls but it is clear that the world today pushes them to be a certain way. I remember my one sister telling me that she loved to play tag with the boys on the playground but wouldn’t because it wasn’t cool for a girl to do that. Whoever said it wasn’t cool to play tag is out their mind. It just makes me continue to think that this world is a crazy place… why can’t we choose for ourselves what roles we want to take on. Why does someone else have to decide for us what our gender identity should be?
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