12th Grade Part 2: Chivalry, Gender Roles, and Feminism

Blog 2 – Chivalry, Gender Roles, and Feminism

Gender is a weird topic in our society because it doesn’t carry quite as much weight as race does, but it is still is a prevalent issue. But I think because it is a prevalent issue, people try to talk about it as politically correct as possible – and in doing so, some issues arise. 

For example, “The Gingerbread Person v2.0” claims that people should think of femininity and masculinity as playing tug-a-war. People can have masculine-ness and feminine-ness without one taking away from the other. The article is just trying to point out that someone can be masculine and feminine at the same time, i.e. they want to be progressive in the way people look at gender roles. But when I read this, all I thought was: why is there feminine-ness and masculine-ness in the first place? Do we need to take character traits like “sensitive” “kind” and “familial” and apply them to woman-ness? Character traits shouldn’t be categorized. Character traits are character traits, and people either have them or they don’t. I like sports and kids, but when I say that I like sports and kids I don’t think: my liking for sports is part of my masculine-ness and my like for kids is part of my feminine-ness. The fact that I like those things is just part of me. If we want to be progressive in the way that we think about gender roles, then we shouldn’t categorize character traits in the first place. Why don’t we just take away those labels and just say that someone is both assertive and kind at the same time and be done with it. They aren’t both masculine and feminine at the same time, they just are. 

The article, “Are these the most PC parents in the world? The couple raising a 'genderless baby'... to protect his (or her) right to choice" is all about this need to be PC about gender roles. And as the article discusses, it raises the issue about whether or not the parents are actually imposing their beliefs on their child by trying not to make a choice for him or her. I think at the end of the day, what the parents are doing is good in that they are giving the child freedom to be whomever he or she wants at a very young age – but I think keeping the gender secret is actually giving the child less freedom to be whomever he or she wants because the parents already made the choice this big deal. When that baby comes out with what gender he or she wants to be, everyone is going to be tuning in because it has gotten so much media attention. If they simply raised the child in accordance to what they like to play with and wear and do, then the choice would come naturally to the child rather than feeling like they needed to put a lot of thought into whether or not he or she wants to be a boy or a girl. Like one of the doctors in the article said, there is something innate about gender. Children are not in-tune to society’s stereotypes until an older age, so the baby’s choice would be her or his own. 

It is so hard to talk about gender roles and feminism because people are so worried about not offending anyone and being very PC. But by doing so, all these definitions and categories are created about gender roles. I think if we really want to be progressive, we need to simply think of people as people with certain character traits rather than boy and girl with either boy or girl character traits.

12th Grade - Climate Change

Emily Neeleman

ENG 323.01

Blog 1: 12^th Grade

January 22, 2014  

Climate change has become a major topic of the 21^st century as a global issue that needs to be fixed – fast. It feels as though environmental studies are becoming more integrated into the education system than ever. In high school, I took a class called “Global Citizenship”, which was required of all seniors, and it had a major focus on climate change and sustainability. In college, I took Environmental Science 101, which is a popular class among underclassmen at WSU. I did not go out of my way to become educated about the environment, but I did become educated, and what I learned was fascinating. After taking my environmental science class in college, I even considered changing my major, even though I had wanted to be an English major since my junior year of high school. Environmental studies are so important right now. I notice that my peers would maybe put it on the back burner of the problems of the world because it’s hard to notice environmental change if you’re not looking for it. However, I believe it to be extremely important that people are well educated about environmental change because although I cannot invent new sustainable systems to provide energy, I can do my part in trying to conserve. So, when I decided to become an English teacher I thought to myself that I would educate students about the environment through our English studies. The 12^th grade unit on nature we are discussing is a perfect opportunity to do so.

The videos, pictures, and story we read do not lead to a climate change discussion in an English class. I would have to dig pretty deep in an Environmental Science class if I wanted to discuss climate change in each of these mediums. However, what they do all posses is a way to promote respect for the environment in my students. The first step to educating people about the environment is making them care. “Snowfall” has a constant underlying tone that nature is this great force to be reckoned with. Nature should be taken seriously, and the skiers did not take the mountain seriously and paid the price – as grim as it is. Even the most experienced and professional skiers, who have a love for the ice, snow, and mountainside that I will never understand, did not respect the fact that that mountain was beyond their reach that day. There are forces that can be greater than mankind.

Hurricane Katrina falls under that category – a force greater than mankind. The images in the video show the destruction that a hurricane can cause, and the directors of the movie were trying to convey that in their film. People forget what nature can do until it happens. The BP oil spill included in the video is a perfect example of people not respecting nature, and the damages that follows. Using this video in the same lesson as the “Snowfall” article promotes the same idea of respect for nature in both the destruction it can cause, and the destruction we can cause. The hydraulic fracking video shows the same sort of destruction the BP oil spill caused. The best line in the video was when someone pointed out that something that nature has been creating for millions of years is destroyed quickly just with some heavy machinery. This video would hit home for most students – if we don’t respect the environment, then it can seriously affect our personal lives, in the way that fracking affected people’s drinking water.

Finally, the images in the “Vanishing Ice” exhibit promote respect not because nature is dangerous or affects our personal life, but because it is particularly beautiful. Climate change seriously affects the melting snow and ice, and if it continues, the icepack in many areas will be gone. The exhibit showcases the most beautiful images of snow and ice around the world, and to think that these sights might not exist because of a lack of respect for the environment is very saddening. I want my children to be able to visit Glacier National Park and Patagonia, but with the continuing rate of rising temperature, these parks will be seriously depleted by the time they would get a chance to.