Social Justice Event: The Vagina Monologues

So. The Vagina Monologues. This was an interesting experience.

First things first, a friend and I went, however we also decided to bring our boyfriends, somewhat against their will, because we wanted them to meet. Let me tell you, they sure bonded over how awkward they felt, and the good news is they're now buddies!

So aside from our boyfriends feeling completely out of place together, it was a really awesome production. In the Vagina Monologues, stories from different women are brought together, about sexuality, about gender, about what it means to really be a woman. These stories are put into a monologue format and read out loud, individually on stage one at a time. A lot of the actresses were really good at being able to read their monologue in a way that was convincing and got the message across, while some fell short. The majority however did a really nice job.

One of my favorite monologues was about the Angry Vagina and all of the basic daily struggles that a woman in todays society have to go through that men would just think were completely unbearable. From tampons and periods to sexual assault, this monologue covered everything, and it was really funny. The girl who preformed it was really good at timing everything right in order to get the best reaction she could out of the audience.

One of the reading I can connect this too would be August. A lot of this production was about sexuality and being comfortable with who you are sexually. By educating us about the different sexualities in this play, we were creating a more educated and therefore more accepting crowd. Safe spaces were created, and after all of the prewritten monologues were over, many of the actresses got up and were able to do their own monologue about their own personal experiences.

This entire production challenged SCWAAMP, realizing that maleness was valued in society and pushing to make a difference. The women in this play were not bashing men at all, in fact they just wanted to be considered as equal. One thing I actually really enjoyed about this production was that not all of the stories of sexual assault were a man to a woman, one of them was actually a woman to a woman. They were not clumping all men into the stereotype that they are the only ones who can commit sexual crimes. The women in this play realized that women can as well and it was very well represented.

If there was one thing that this production screamed, it was Johnson. The entire play was about how no one ever talks about vaginas, we pretend as if they aren't even there and go about our lives uneducated and okay with it. All of the monologues were them saying the words, trying to make a difference.

This American Life Extended Comments

For this blog post, I will be extending the comments on Amy's blogpost.

First things first I always love reading Amy's blogposts because she put the vocal she doesn't know at the top of the page. She includes the definition for the words and it is really helpful to read especially before I read the article, so thanks!

I really enjoyed the quote that Amy selected for the first quote for this blogpost, which was "I think that children can overcome the stigma of poverty. I think children can overcome the stigma of their ethnicity. But what they cannot overcome is the stigma of separation. That is like a damned spot in their being, in their self-image. And that's what segregation does to children. They see themselves as apart and separate because of the language they speak, because of the color of their skin, the origin of their parents." -  563: Part Two

This quote really shows what the problem is with the idea of segregation. While technically the schools have eliminated segregation, things are not completely intergraded yet. Many students are still separated by their social standings and how they are seen in society. They are only pushed to the point their school wishes to push them too, and schools in better neighborhoods will push them to do better. I really enjoyed how Amy connected to Kristof's article about how if you're poor you will typically stay poor. The way the school system is set up, it is extremely true. The same AP class at a poor school rather than a middle class school is so significantly different in the amount of work that you are expected to get out and this doesn't allow the students to learn exactly the same amount as the students in the exact same class at another school.

The second quote she used really helped with her argument as well, which was "In the schools where white families chose to stay, test scores for black transfer students rose. They were more likely to graduate and go to college. After years of resistance, Saint Louis had created the largest and most successful metro-wide desegregation program in the country. And then state officials killed it."

This shows that integration can actually work in a society, and it is helpful to the students involved. If all students were given the same opportunities in the educational system, then they would essentially all be at the same levels with the same experience. Schools that have more to offer the students help them to be everything that they could be, rather than being shaped by the society around them.

Questions/Comments:
Is there a good way to help these students get what they need in order to succeed?
I understand raising school funding would help tremendously, but is there an easy way to help these children? Also, this suggests that children should go to a school that is good for them and not just the one that is nearby, but if you are a low class family how are you supposed to get your child to the school thats good for them when the school thats nearby just picks them up?

Pecha Kucha

Link to my Pecha Kucha

Pecha Kucha

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MIBq0eBB8yYRIiJAF9wcTQJHVW-LY6dnjroR1bMypQY/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=20000

In the Service of What?

By: Kahne and Westheimer

Reflection:

     Service Learning has done something wonderful to they way I view the jobs and duties of a teacher. It has done nothing but solidify the fact that teaching is something to do for the rest of my life. However it has not only been beneficial to me, it has helped the children in my classroom as well. Service Learning is about being able to give back to your community in a way that not only helps the ones you are helping, but also helps yourself. This opportunity has been an amazing learning experience, and I know my students feel the same way as well.

     The drastic change in the children has been something amazing to see. In the classroom, I am seen as a "reward" for good behavior, or an incentive to make good art work in ways such as "If you are able to fill the WHOOOOOOLE page with artwork, I'll let you get up and show Ms. McCulley what you have done!" and "If you guys behave, then Ms. McCulley will be happy to come into class today and see all of you!", and that has helped the overall atmosphere in the classroom.

     As the article explains, the purpose of service learning is to "Improve the community and invigorate the classroom, providing rich educational experiences for students at all levels of schooling...[we] aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students." and I believe that this service learning project has done just that. I have helped the students I am with while also learning many things myself. Service learning is an important part to the community as a whole because in doing these projects in schools, we are raising well rounded students who are aware of the social problems in their community and willing to fix it. In that, we are also helping the community heal as a whole.

Questions/Points to Share:

     As I saw in some of the other blogs, people were required to do community service projects in order to graduate high school. While a lot of people saw this as normal and thought there was no other way, I was the opposite. My school did NOT require any form of community service in order to be able to graduate. I feel as though if we were required to, this project would have been a lot easier since day one because I would have know exactly how this was going to work. 

Kliewer: Quotes

First things first, I think everyone should have a better understanding of Down Syndrome, because everyones heard of it, but not everyone knows exactly what it is.

"Justify a competitive ethic that marginalizes certain students or groups of students ...[that] legitimize discrimination and devaluation on the basis of the dominant society's preferences in matters of ability, gender, ethnicity, and race... and [that] endorse an elaborate process of sorting by perceived ability and behavior" (73)

     This quote reminded me of a lot of things that we have learned in class so far. The main two would be SCWAAMP and the piece by Oakes. One piece in SCWAAMP says society today values "Able-bodiness" as one way to be able to obtain power in society. This quote just solidifies the fact, because it discusses about how in todays schools, children are sorted into classes of Able-Bodied and Unable-Bodied. Also, this backs up the piece from Oakes about tracking in schools. The schools are tracking these children by ability and behavior giving some of them a worse education then others. 

"He didn't get credit for it because he didn't do it right, but he clearly knew which was the block, which was the spoon. And he followed directions in an organizing sense." (Page 84)

     I feel as though this is an important quote because it shows that these children with down syndrome are being looked down upon. Even though this child was able to clearly know the difference between the blocks and the spoons, he was not given credit because he didn't do it the way that they told him to. Some students comprehend things differently, and the fact that he wasn't able to get credit even though he came to the same end result of knowing the difference between the two disgusts me.

"I have Down Syndrome, but I am not handicapped" (93)

     I feel as though this is a subject that is having it's "glass tapped" more often now than ever. Being able to see people with down syndrome for more than just their extra chromosome, but for who they are as an individual. People with Down Syndrome are beginning to push the boundaries of what people thought they were capable of. Two of the top people of this movement are Jamie Brewer of American Horror Story and also the first model with Down Syndrome to walk New York's Fashion Week, and Madeline Stuart, a very successful Australian model with Down Syndrome. Both of these women are spreading the word that maybe Down Syndrome is not a handicap, but an obstacle that can be overcome.

Questions and Points to Share:

At my little brothers elementary school, they are beginning to merge the special needs classrooms with the regular classrooms in order include all the children on the same level of learning, however the helpers of the children with disabilities and some of the problems they have tend to distract the class from learning and divert their attention to the special needs children. Is there a way to incorporate the children better without compromising learning time in order to get all of the children focused again?

Aria by Richard Rodriguez

Reflection:

Richard Rodriguez talks about the necessary evil of giving up ones private identity for a public identity. He uses the example of him giving up Spanish in order to convey this message. When Richard was younger, his family only spoke Spanish, and he spoke (or tried to) at school. However, during his schooling, his teachers forced him through an Americanization to phase out the Spanish he and his family spoke. Personally, I don't believe that someone should have to give up their private identity for a public one, because no one should have to give up what they love in order to look right in the public eyes. Now I'm not saying that it wasn't beneficial for Richard to learn English in a way where he could have intelligent conversation, but I don't think it was necessary for him to completely phase out his Spanish side, and I know that it can work. Some people that I work with only speak Spanish at home, and can have a very normal conversation with you in English as well. It wasn't necessary for them to have to give up their private identity for a public one, because they are able to have the best of both worlds.

Questions/Points of Discussion:

Is there any point where it would be necessary to have to give up your private identity for your public one? Not necessarily Spanish or any other language, but anything that you use to identify yourself in private.