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And just an addendum about woman as teachers. Does this then elimnate Laura Ingalls' biographical writings, Little House on the Prarie, and, in fact, the whole history of the one-room schoolhouse and the "schoolmarms', most of whom were very young ladies, as young as 15?
I think it builds esteem and confidence for young girls to learn there were such young women willing to take on so huge a responsibility. And then there was the heroic 15 year old schoolmarm in Nebraska during the Blizzard of 1888, when hundreds of one-room schoolchildren and teachers were trapped and perished, who saved her entire class by tying them together as the schoolhouse blew apart and led them all to safety through the blinding storm (I have this info, but I'd have to LIU). A wonderful story which should be more widely known.
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I'm amazed that there seem to be two sides to this discussion! To me, it's like banning books. Books shouldn't be banned, they should be read and discussed and ripped and shredded metaphorically. Same thing with words; unless we talk about why negative icons exist we'll never break the molds.
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The trouble with the language police is that they try too hard to demonstrate their purity
and superiority.
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To me, it's like banning books. Books shouldn't be banned, they should be read and discussed and ripped and shredded metaphorically. Same thing with words; unless we talk about why negative icons exist we'll never break the molds.you're absolutely right. perhaps when images and phrases are used in a textbook, the teacher would have time to have that discussion. I know I try when we(my choruses) come across a stereotypical use in a song. however, in a standardized test, there is not the chance to have that discussion, and the problem of perpetuating those stereotypes still exists. again, I will say that, for me, the PC discussion is centered around the way we use words and phrases and images, and being aware of the way those can be interpreted. if we can change the way we use words, to affect how someone views something, to expand their perception of the world around them, isn't that a good thing? Stereotypical interpretations exist, I know, I grew up with a lot of them, even in an open, tolerant, loving family. <ok roger, deep breath, relax, this is a friendly, open discussion  >
formerly known as etaoin...
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WON:
Basically, these are people with:
a. WAY too much time on their hands.
b. WAY too little sense.
c. WAY too many delusions of their self-appointed authority.
I am a sterotypical middle-aged white guy. Balding on top, overweight, not the greatest eyesight, etc. And you know what? I don't give a rat's patoot that people perceive me the way I am because, dammit, that's the way I am.
I'm sure when I eventually see a picture of the author of that book I will NOT think, "What a pair of boobs." I will be thinking in the singular.
The one that offended me themost was about the Indians' living on a reservation. Most middle-class whites have not been to a reservation other than to gamble at a casino. Many of the people inhabiting some of these reservations, Navajo, Hopi, Rosebud all coming quickly to my SW mind, live in conditions worse than your dog's. What does this idiot author want us to do, close our eyes and forget they exist? I make substantial donations to the Rosebud Reservation because I want to in some small way share what I have been fortunate enough to earn over the years. And I only found out about these places when a friend of mine showed me pictures of Rosebud some years back. Tin-roofed shacks with no windows, no insulation, no running water, nothing but a one-holer out back. Wind, dust, snakes, tumbleweeds for neighbors. And if we don;t share these images nothing will ever change.
[/rant]
TEd
TEd
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Agreed, TEd. And eta, just another point which struck me about the hypocrisy of the person who "developed" this list of criteria. They evidently have no problem lumping together about 25 diverse nationalities and cultures into the generic Spanish-speaking sterotypical term, Hispanic; and, yet, they have a problem with saying that some Hispanics are migrant workers? The US farming industry could not survive without the migrant workers, so then it's taboo to teach anything about farming here? And , as TEd says, if you deprive the teaching of sociology, and the stratums of class and the conditions the poorer classes labor under, how will these children ever develop compassion for the plight of others? I know from my own experince in a nice neighborhood in a good public school, when I was in grammar school, how insulated within their easy middle-class existence a lot of these young students can be.
And that part about not mentioning men playing sports, or using tools? Not even Jesse Owens' Gold Medal triumph at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a black man defeating Hitler's "ideal", not even that? That's crazy.
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etaoin: >there is nothing wrong with being a bookworm, I take pride in it as well, but I think that it is, generally, a negative term. that is, it gets used most often, negatively. if that is changing (and perhaps it is, with schools encouraging kids to read 25 books a year, and placing lists of kids who do on a big list to be admired), terrific, then more kids can take pride in it.<
Good point, etaoin......that it is because the word is *used* negatively that it has that connotation.
The schools trying to change that connotation is admirable. Unfortunately, it will never work.......it is still not "cool" to be one of the bookworms. The only way that will ever happen is if children reading books becomes as mainstream as, say.......being a computer aficionado is now. Most of us remember when only the geekiest of the geeky were into computers. The Commodore 64 comes to mind.
Having one child who consistently exceeded the 25 list by 10 every year and graduated early, at the top of her class, and one child who is a sports enthusiast, an average student who has read only a handful of books in his whole life.......I have to say the sports son is waaaayyy more popular than the bookworm daughter ever was. And sad to say, she stopped reading as much when she realized it wasn't gaining her any popularity. (and guess who the daughter takes after, and who the son takes after?!)
<looking around for my point....I know it is here somewhere.....> I guess I didn't have one, other than the mainstream comment. Even then, I don't know if bookreading will ever become "mainstream, given that bookreading is a singular activity and sports is usually a group activity.
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Whitman: >In one breath it seems some folks want to stress cultural diversity, and then in the same breath they want to strip all character and individuation from people and cultures...<
Have to agree, Whitman.......
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Having one child who consistently exceeded the 25 list by 10 every year and graduated early, at the top of her class, and one child who is a sports enthusiast, an average student who has read only a handful of books in his whole life.......I have to say the sports son is waaaayyy more popular than the bookworm daughter ever was. And sad to say, she stopped reading as much when she realized it wasn't gaining her any popularity.
I read in great quantities and I'm relatively popular. Granted, most of the other kids don't read outside of homework.
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Ah, yes, Canis, I see your point. Don't mistake me, my daughter had plenty of friends.....just not the "popular" friends. My son, on the other hand, is in "The" popular clique because he plays for the basketball team, which is held in high esteem by classmates and adults alike. My daughter was in a bookclub, but the bookclub was not held in such esteem as the basketball team is, lol! Nobody cheered her from the sidelines "Go! Turn that page! Read those words! Finish that chapter!" People come up to me all the time and tell me how wonderful my son is.......just because he can dribble a ball and hit the net. No one ever came up to me and admired my daughter for her brains and reading ability. (this sounds like a bitter diatribe on my part.......not so! Both kids are well adjusted people, I am merely pointing out how reading is not such a popular activity for kids, hence one of the original points of this thread: that our perceptions of words and their meanings is indicative of how people are perceived.) <And she smoothly unjacks the thread>
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