How do these articles and chapters build upon and extend ideas presented in earlier readings and in our discussions? How do these articles and chapters help you deepen your understandings of earlier readings, say Luke or Reder or Gee or Alvermann or Hicks or Purcell-Gates?
5 comments:
I think talking about all the articles I've read this week on gender are easily related to Gee's ideas on Discourses. These gender biases come directly to us from the environment we are brought up in, also known as our primary Discourse. Society teaches us that girls are supposed to do and like certain things, and that boys are supposed to do and like different things. If boys do girl things it is seen as being out of the norm. A young boy may be brought up knowing that only girls knit, play with Barbies, and cook. He can grow into a young man, and most likely do one of two things, become a boy who wants to cook and knit, and feel like he can't because it will be unaccepted. Or, he can become the young man that calls the kid on his soccer team who likes to cook a "fag" or any one of the other derogatory names for homosexuals mentioned in the Martino article. Either way, our society and upbringing are to blame for how this boy will behave once he is older. We can only hope that students will learn their own secondary discourse and choose not to behave in either of these ways.
Who we are is a function of the influences in our lives (mentors, experiences, parents, etc.) real or imagined. Whether we aspire to be Shania Twain or like our favorite soap opera star, our mothers or fathers depends on what we perceive as desirable. Unfortunately, as many of the readings this week show, what we desire in often times constrained by our perception of the role we are meant to fulfill. Thus, I have female parts and must choose from the female possibilities the world affords me. When we tell our children that they can be anyone or anything they want to be, do we truly mean that it's okay for a son to wear a skirt and a cape to school? How many of us would truly validate that choice? I guess I would have to teach my son karate or how to wrestle, so he, like the boy in the reading, can take the skirt off and school someone like a "real" boy. (It hurts to say that.) I am exaggerating, but my point remains that even when we say we are open-minded we are often paying lip service to true open-mindedness. If we work out our sense of identity as we grow and use people around us as models, what do we expect except to raise clones? Only as mature adults (maybe mature adolescents) can we truly begin to work on exploring identity honestly, free from the constraints of Discourses that scream, "That is UNACCEPTABLE!"
Kristen- I was thinking along the same lines that our gender perceptions are due to our primary discourses. If I was brought up in a family where it was the "norm" for girls to take out the trash and boys to do the dishes, I would think that was what girls and boys are supposed to do. Our views on gender develop from the time we're born. After reading the Blair article, it made me think about the gender differences in the classroom. I was surprised that they found boys to be more boisterous in the classroom than girls. I think that girls are frequently getting redirected for their side conversations and really don't see as much of a difference in generlects there, however, I do think when looking at talking as a tool, girls and boys do continue to use them gender based. Girls do talk more in private contexts than boys, which could be due to the space for gossip (just kidding).
I agree with Kristen in that I thought a lot about Gee's Discourse. In the Wason-Ellam article, they mention the stereotypical gender roles presented in Sweet Valley High and Babysitter's Club books -- the books I loved so much growing up. It was my choice to read them, but I was undoubtedly influenced by the gender roles that were appropriated by my primary Discourse. It is interesting to think about that, and realize that these books had to have shaped a lot of my understanding of gender and gender roles as a child and, now, an adult.
I agree with Wason-Ellam in that literature is a powerful tool, and that we should use it as teachers to show our students, both males and females, that the way we act is determined by the way we are raised. Students come to school with well-developed notions of gender. I don't think that these should be ignored. Rather, as the article seems to also suggest, we should work through these ideas, and maybe help students realize that what they think is not necessarily "wrong", but there are other ways to think about our own gender and the gender(s) of others. We do not necessarily have to fit into the molds created by our families or our society -- we have a choice.
After reading responses in both this prompt and others I am starting to realize that a lot of people are mentioning that we have the choice of what roles we fill in society. I do think that this is becoming more of a fact; however I think we have a long way to go. For example, Kate mentioned feeling as though she could be and do whatever she wanted and felt no pressures from the outside world. This is her prerogative, but also her personality type, some children may be forever discouraged by the ridicule they may endure for not going along with what is acceptable to society. And I saw Mickey talked about her son, and whether or not it would be acceptable for him to wear a skirt to school. I say, if a young boy wants to wear a skirt, he should definitely go for it, but should be prepared for the response he will receive for his choice in attire. It is the fact of the world we are brought up in, the primary discourses. Hopefully, the next generation of parents will provide their children with a primary discourse that is more accepting of breaking gender "rules".
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