Review #1 Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Books

Pick up a handful of children books; you’ll notice (if looking) that most of them depict some kinds of gender stereotypes, gender roles, or even racisms.  Where most books show the female characters being dependant on males, in the Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munch we see the female character illustrating a much different idea. The Paper Bag Princess is the story of a resourceful princess and her useless prince. The book starts off with a very beautiful princess, who lived in a castle, wore expensive clothing and was to marry a very handsome prince. Until one day a dragon smashed down the castle, burned all her clothes, and took the prince. The princess was furious and decided to chase the dragon. Once she found the dragon she used her creative thinking to trick the dragon and save the prince (who turned out not wanting to be saved). The princess in the book depicts a strong, resourceful, unafraid female that can achieve what she wishes. The story reverses the "princess and dragon" folklore stereotype and respects female characters as independents. I believe we need to see more neutral children’s books or even some with reversed roles so that parents, teachers, ECE’s and others can teach children to be who they are and stand up for what they believe in not just go with what society deals for us.

Reflection #5

Issues in the classroom

In class on November 16^th 2010 we discussed aboriginal issues in the classroom. We had a guest speaker come into the class and give us a presentation on aboriginal people, including a video on how aboriginal people feel. Following this presentation one of our fellow classmates gave a presentation continuing on the subject of aboriginal people. Although these presentations were interesting and indeed a good contribution to our course concepts, I still feel very uncomfortable discussing certain issues for possibilities of offending others.

For the first presentation we watched a video of aboriginals describing class situations in which they were offended. By all means the majority of comments made towards aboriginal people were very rude and uncalled for. Personally, I would have liked to see some positive situations discussed in the video as well. Once the video was done we were asked our thoughts and opinions on what we saw in the video. Not very many people spoke up in front of everyone and therefore we discussed our opinions in small groups, and then as a group to the class. This is where I felt very uncomfortable. No one wanted to offend people with our answers and when my group tried to express how we felt it was as if some people felt we thought this was an unimportant topic, which was definitely not the case. My opinion (which happened to be the same as the rest of my group) was that no matter what race, religion, language, or personal belief one has, everyone at some point in their life is going too be offended by what others have to say. We saw it as everyone has the right to their own opinion and that everyone also perceives things in different ways which may alter from the way something was meant. Personally, I have not had any education on aboriginals and as stated in my second reflection the 2010 winter Olympics was my first major exposure to aboriginal culture. As a result I don’t know much about aboriginals and have not made any comments or even asked any question concerning this topic as I don’t want to offend anyone. There was a misunderstanding in our class earlier in the semester of someone not having enough education on aboriginals and someone else perceiving the other students comment negatively, instead of understanding that this person simply did not know. In this situation I believe it was clear that the student was not aware natives had a government and immediately agreed/understood that they did when told they did. I may be wrong but what I got from this situation was that I needed to be very careful about expressing what I felt because not only may I offend someone when that’s not the intention but be confronted about it in an uncomfortable way or judged by others. After this situation I believe several students in the class did not feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and feeling towards certain subjects. To reduce these feelings and misunderstandings I believe it would be a good idea for not only education on aboriginals but other cultures as well to be implemented in the school system.

For the second presentation we watched several video clips. One in particular was a comedian (I believe Dave Chappelle) who was talking and making jokes about aboriginal people. During this video everyone was laughing in class (even those of aboriginal background) and that is where I was a little confused, seeing as we just had a presentation on comments that offended aboriginals.  I understand that this student was showing us how racial comments are even portrayed in the media but what I don’t understand is how it’s funny when a comedian make comments about aboriginals but a random person makes a comment it is offensive.

This is how I feel about class on November 16^th 2010. I still do not feel comfortable sharing my opinion on this issue but I am pleased to have witnessed these presentations and plan to do some of my own research on aboriginals so that i am more aware of their culture. I would also like to clarify I am not saying that the people spoken about in the video had the right to directly discriminate/offend aboriginals, I am just saying out loud that everyone has been or will be offend by other people in life and it is up to us to choose whether we will let it affect us or not.

Gender Roles in Advertising

The following link is a very interesting video on gender roles in Advertising by Kim Schultz. It is about 8 minutes long, but depicts gender roles and stereotypes really well. It also contains some fun facts about men and women in reference to gender roles and stereotypes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks0gAKlVxmQ 

Reflection #4

Gender

Gender and sex; what’s the difference? Many people believe there is no difference between the terms gender and sex but in fact there is a difference. “the term “sex” is usually reserved for those features that arise from biological differences [and] the term “gender” has been adopted in order to acknowledge the extent to which femininity and masculinity are also moulded by historical, social, cultural, economic, political, and psychological influences” (Roger, W. (2007)pg. 181). Although there are many ideas/controversies on sex and how many sexes exist, I am going to focus on gender and gender stereotypes.

According to “The Social Construction of Sex, Gender and Sexuality” ““Gender” is the best available term that focuses our attention upon the vital contribution of social and cultural components of femininity and masculinity” (The Social Construction of Sex, Gender and Sexuality(N.D.)pg.144). People usually acquire the different components of femininity and masculinity through childhood experiences, upbringing, and societal expectations. In other words people essentially acquire feminine and masculine stereotypes that society has created and labelled for each gender.

Gender stereotypes start when a child is first born. For example, baby girls are dressed in pink and purple colours, and put in dresses; baby boys on the other hand are dressed in blues and greens and never in a dress. As children get older they are given distinctive feminine and masculine toys to play with. Girls are given Barbies, princess objects and apparel, dress up clothing, cleaning and cooking supplies, and dolls. Boys are given action figures, cars, trucks, sport equipment, blocks, construction/building toys, army men and toy guns. On top of stereotyped objects given to children, there is also gender stereotyped roles/behaviours encouraged/enforced by society. Girls are stereotyped as being gentle, calm, non-active, caring, clean, afraid to get dirty, and having good hygiene; boys are stereotyped as being rough and tough, dirty, aggressive, sporty, outgoing, rebellious, and outdoorsy. Gender stereotypes continue into adulthood. More frequently we see these stereotypes in the roles/responsibility people take part in. For example, women (moms) are seen as being house wives, caring for their children, nurses, cleaners, elementary school teachers, models, or dental assistance. Men (dads) are known to go hunting, to be athletes, construction workers, trades men, doctors, lawyers, persons of authority, or military. These gender roles parents take part in are also seen as gender role modelling for their children. Children are likely to do the same things as their parents. Therefore, if girls see their moms playing sports and engaging in “masculine” activities they will see it as ok for themselves to do so and if boys see their dads caring for his children then boys will perhaps do the same.

In spite of these gender stereotypes that society has overtime created and labelled as a norm I feel otherwise. Personally, as a child and in adolescence I did not follow these norms. I played with my brother’s toys, begged my dad to not have to wear a dress, jumped out of barns, played many sports, and most of all decided what career I wanted for myself despite gender stereotypical careers. As a result I was considered a “tomboy” and different from all the other girls, which had its difficulties but not enough to deter me from what I love doing. Gender stereotypes are going to be around in society for awhile and one by one I believe this can change if we focused on embracing everyone for who they are and what they enjoy; as well as by introducing neutral gender toys.

Reference

(N.D.). The social construction of sex, gender and sexuality. Chapter 1.

Leroux, D. (2010). Thinking Gender [Power point slides]. Retrieved November 7^th, 2010 from http://webct6.carleton.ca/webct/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct.

Reflection Paper #3

While reading Mackey’s chapter “Managing the House of Difference, Official Multiculturalism”, one section that stood out the most for me was “Making the Indians’ Ethnic”. This segment talks a lot about “the celebrations of 1967 put[ting] great emphasis on the inclusion of native people” (Mackey (2010) pg. 60). This stood out for me as it reminded me of the recent 2010 winter Olympics in British Columbia this past year. Both of these Canadian events had strong emphasis on including native people and their culture into the celebrations. At the 1967 expo according to Mackey they “focused on the rich heritage of the native costumes, legends, stories, songs and dance...displayed in pow-wows, potlatches, sports meets, pageants, exhibitions and ceremonials (Mackey (2010) pg.60). In this year’s winter Olympics the above was seen a lot during the opening and closing ceremonies. As well during the Olympics we saw the Native chiefs being treated with high authority. For example, we saw them sitting in the same box as the Prime Minister Steven Harper and Governor General Michaele Jean during the opening and closing ceremonies.

As a young generation I have not had much exposure to Native culture until the 2010 Winter Olympic ceremonies. There was much publicity of the 2010 Winter Olympics and many people perceived the Native involvement in a range of different ways; some liked the fact that the Native people and their culture was incorporated into the ceremonies as they are a part of our Canadian history and other believed it was a pointless part of the ceremonies (Public people asked on October 14th 2010). Personally, I found their involvement very interesting and fascinating to see. I saw it as Canada incorporating our Canadian heritage into the worldwide viewed event for all to see. Seeing the Native involvement at the 2010 Winter Games exposed me that much more to a different culture then mine that I didn’t know much about and lead me to research more about Native cultures (costumes, songs, and dance).

 This year’s 2010 Winter Olympics exposed many generations since the 1967 Expo to Native people and their culture. Whether people saw the involvement as a positive or negative thing the Native participation nonetheless exposed people worldwide to parts of Native culture. I believe the same was done at the 1967 celebrations as a participant of the celebrations states “If the goal of the festivities was to ignite pride of nationhood in the population, the government seemed to have been very successful” (Mackey (2010) pg. 63). I know the Winter Games definitely exposed me in a positive way to Native culture and pride.

Reflection Paper #1

As children we are taught to respect and trust persons of authority. We are told by our parents to seek a person of authority in times of need for example, if we are lost to find a police officer and he or she will know what to do and keep us safe until we can return to our parents. We paint ourselves a picture of how positive and safe persons of authority are and believe they can do no wrong. After reading Kinsman and Gentile’s Queering national Security, the Cold War, and Canadian History, as well as watching the clips on the G20 summit we see how the pictures we have painted may not always be so positive. These two events also show how in five to six decades some things have not changed.
Kinsman and Gentile’s reading Queering national Security, the Cold War, and Canadian History exposes us to components of the “war on queers”. Within the reading we see how RCMP officers used their authority to threaten homosexuals in the 1950s and 1960s. They would follow and interrogate those suspected of being gay, bisexual, and lesbian. Throughout the interrogations RCMP officers would threaten to expose their homosexuality to employers and family members if they did not give them names of other homosexuals. At this time “in the national security discourse, homosexuals were constructed as suffering from an unreliable and unstable character, which made [them] a threat to national security (Kinsman and Gentile). As a result once their names were released to employers many were demoted to a less important position, released all together, forced to resign or take their retirement. Authorities were segregating homosexuals, leading others to believe that they were weak, unreliable, vulnerable to blackmail, and unethical making them a security problem to all. Due to the authorities misuse of power homosexuals’ human rights were being abused and neglected. Reading these stories of what happened to homosexuals does not paint a positive picture for authorities in my mind.
Five to six decades later we still see persons of authority misusing their power at the G20 Summit in Toronto. I could not believe how police officers were treating people in the videos watched in class. From just the few videos seen police officers were being extremely violent without reason, disregarding press badges and stealing belongings. In one clip we see protesters sitting in Queens Park (an area set up for peaceful protesting) and group of officers surrounding them pushing them out and spraying them with pepper spray until they got up and moved. Another incident we see in Queens Park is a man being run down by police officers on horses. From what I see these people had come to the area where it was suppose to be peaceful protesting and police appeared to take things into their own hands and force people to leave. In other clips we see press being punched, thrown to the ground, their press badges removed, and belongings taken from them. One journalist asked to speak to a supervisor after being punched by a police officer and all that was said by other officers was to punch him again. Shortly after his microphone was taken by police, eventually returned after several press members got involved. Another press member shares her story of how her press badge was taken from her and she was thrown in jail (the cages they had set up). I was disgusted by some of the stories shared about what happened inside the cages especially stories of what happened to women.
Both these stories show how persons of authority abuse/misuse their power and how the human rights of other are mistreated. These events make you rethink how positive some things may not actually be. Now I don’t believe all police officers are corrupt and abusive of their powers/title but many do overuse their title in negative ways. These events really make us wonder how safe our security system is if these people can abuse their power how we have seen done in both the reading and video clips.