The first topic I wanted to discuss was this idea of opposites. For example black and white. I think a lot of people brought up a good point; that our society focuses on categorizing individuals into one group or another. You are either white or black. With the issue of race, I think it was clear with examples students gave in class, that people still consider an individual to be "black" if they have black heritage. Why can't there be gray areas in our society? Kim gave a great example with bisexuals. Our society automatically places them with the gay community. Another example that I thought of was the issue of sex. Male or Female. A feminist named Anne Fausto-Sterling proposed that instead of the the original two categories, that we create 5 categories of sex; that way, people who are born intersex don't have to make such drastic decisions to call themselves male or female. It gives a "rainbow" effect, like someone has said in class. I believe this example should be used when discussing race as well. People shouldn't have to label themselves as just black or white.
Another topic that I found really interesting was how people talk differently to people of the same ethnicity/race than they do to people who have a different ethnicity/race. I understand that it is a sense of comfortability. For example, I feel comfortable enough to talk about certain things with other females than I would with males (including my boyfriend). But I think that causes two issues. One it creates a gap between different ethnicity/races. Also, I think it might make students in the class room feel uncomfortable on what they can and cannot say. We are obviously in a safe zone in our class where we can talk about ethnic/racial issues. Which I think is fantastic. But I think it can make things hard when we feel like we have to walk on egg shells so that we don't offend another race/ethnicity. I believe it's a tough situation, because we want to make sure everyone feels comfortable in the classroom. But at the same token, isn't this class supposed to discuss difficult topics that should push us out of our comfort zone??
Really great observations and examples, Shawna. You are right to point out that within Western culture we are taught to think in binaries--black/white, man/woman, gay/straight, etc. and if one falls outside of the binary they are either incorrectly placed back in it, or viewed as abnormal. The purpose of the binary is also to create a social hierarchy in that one term of the binary is always seen as being superior to the other (white, man, straight). Binary thinking is another way of justifying the unequal distribution of society's resources.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to your second point, I think it's important to remember that becoming aware of issues of race and ethnicity and gaining the ability to think critically about them is a process, and we all start at different points along this process depending on our identities and experiences. One of the most important things we are trying to learn in class is the ability to think outside of our own personal experiences and to learn to recognize and be sensitive to the experiences of those whose identities may be different from our own. No one should ever fault you for the point at which you being this process. It's not where you start that is important, but where you are going and what you learn along the way. If we stumble as we go along we can count on the fact that other members of our classroom community will help us to fill in the gaps in our knowledge in a respectful, professional, and supportive way.
Just some food for thought.