How can we address gender inequality in modern society? What is our role as teachers in shaping the next generation?
In my teaching practice I hope to use the language arts and drama to tackle cultural and media literacy. We live in a progressive time but there is a lot of work still to be done. Patriarchy and misogyny are still prevalent in our media. Our young boys and girls are receiving insidious and harmful messages from our mass media. We cannot ignore gender bias literature and popular film. We need to open up the conversation and use discussion as a tool to disarm many of the harmful messages that besiege our youth.
Here is a TEDx talk by Colin Stokes. Here he talks about the types of stories our children are viewing and what affect that has on them. Stories shape how we think and how we view the world. We cannot brush movies off as simply entertainment.
In my teaching practice I hope to use the language arts and drama to tackle cultural and media literacy. We live in a progressive time but there is a lot of work still to be done. Patriarchy and misogyny are still prevalent in our media. Our young boys and girls are receiving insidious and harmful messages from our mass media. We cannot ignore gender bias literature and popular film. We need to open up the conversation and use discussion as a tool to disarm many of the harmful messages that besiege our youth.
Here is a TEDx talk by Colin Stokes. Here he talks about the types of stories our children are viewing and what affect that has on them. Stories shape how we think and how we view the world. We cannot brush movies off as simply entertainment.
There is a certain backlash to these kinds of messages. Someone might use feminism as a derogatory remark, twisting its meaning to discredit the message. Anyone who has read through youtube comments quickly discovers how much toxicity there is on the internet. It is apparent that whenever the status quo is challenged those threatened, the ones who benefit from the status quo, will attack.
Here is another video describing this exact phenomena. Anita Sarkeesian is a pop culture critic who was attacked for criticizing the portrayal of women in video games. This video proves the need for further discussion of gender inequality. The ignorance and hate that is exposed here is staggering and overwhelming. As a future educator it is my hope that I might improve the situation by encouraging discussion. I think it is doubly important for men to be involved in the facilitation of discussion. Men are often enablers if not active members in the push to maintain the status quo. I hope that I can be a role model for young boys. I want to show them what equality really means and how their actions can affect others.
Here is another video describing this exact phenomena. Anita Sarkeesian is a pop culture critic who was attacked for criticizing the portrayal of women in video games. This video proves the need for further discussion of gender inequality. The ignorance and hate that is exposed here is staggering and overwhelming. As a future educator it is my hope that I might improve the situation by encouraging discussion. I think it is doubly important for men to be involved in the facilitation of discussion. Men are often enablers if not active members in the push to maintain the status quo. I hope that I can be a role model for young boys. I want to show them what equality really means and how their actions can affect others.