Blog 4: Masculinity as Homophobia

I found this to be an interesting read for a few reasons. Kimmel brought up excellent points and ideas about masculinity in American society. I was pretty interested in the Marketplace Man. The Heroic Artisan and the Genteel Patriarch seem like nice guys; Marketplace Man seems to have some priorities out of order. The article said he was generally, "an absentee landlord at home and an absent father with his children, devoting himself to his work in an increasingly homosocial environment- a male-only world in which he pits himself against other men" (123). There's no denying this, I feel like. If we look at the successful business men we know, this is true for a lot of them. I think this also sheds some negativity onto these men too when it might not always be the case. When I see the absent father bit, that makes me think those guys don't give a damn about their families. But then I stopped to think. My dad worked in Boston while his family lived in Dracut, which meant about three hours of travel a day because he took the train into the city from Lowell. He had been doing that for 32 years even though he had three kids at home, one of them severely disabled. It's not that he didn't want to be home or didn't care about his family, but he did what needed to be done in order to continue being successful. If you ever asked me if my father did all this in order to impress other men, I probably would have laughed. But now, I'm not so sure.

Psychologist Robert Brannon has four phrases (125-126) that he believes make up the definition of manhood. They are all so true. It's like every boy on his ten birthday gets sat down and explained these rules by the Manhood Monster and is threatened to follow them for the rest of his life. The one that bugs me the most is the one where boys aren't supposed to show emotion and not cry. I keep thinking that someday most guys will get over this but I am really starting to doubt it. Sure they might break down when no one else is looking, but if another guy is around, forget. It's too bad because it's really not healthy to keep things bottled up. They are so set on not letting emotions show and not talking about them they don't realize that there is a way around the pain. But the biggest issue is the first rule, that expressed men should not be at all feminine. For some reason this is the most important. But this also brings up an interesting point: "This notion of anti-femininity lies at the heart of contemporary and historical conceptions of manhood, so that masculinity is defined more by what one is not rather than who one is" (126). Simply, manhood is not feminine. Any ounce of feminine means you are not masculine. I always thought that when people ask me to describe myself or someone else, you talk about what  IS, not what is NOT. I feel like this almost takes away from the person that male is because we're so focused on making sure he's not what he's not supposed to be.

I was really interested in this statement: "We become masculine by identifying with our oppressor" (130). This was following the segment about Freud's opinion on the topic. I never thought of the son being afraid of the father and identifying with him as an oppressor. This really shakes up the family ideals a lot of us have. I'm not sure if I want to believe Freud on this one, but anything could be possible.

I identified with this one a lot: "Our fears are the sources of our silences, and men's silence is what keeps the system running. This might help to explain why women often complain that their male friends or partners are often so understanding when they are alone and yet laugh at sexist jokes or even make those jokes themselves when they are out with a group" (131). This drives me absolutely crazy. Yeah, sure. Some sexist jokes are funny. But when they spew out of a guy's mouth nonstop and they generally get more and more offensive, it's time to stop. I don't take offense to most jokes because I know they do not pertain to me. However, that certainly doesn't mean I like hearing them. They get old real fast and become annoying. When people I know take things too far I always try to ask: who are you trying to impress? It never occurred to me how much guys want to impress each other. Perhaps it goes along with maturity. They say that women mature faster than men. Speaking for myself, I generally don't care the opinions people have of me. Of course there are moments when I care a lot and do things I wouldn't ordinarily do. But there are boundaries I will stay in. For guys, there are no boundaries. They will do whatever whenever (for the most part) to impress and fit in with other dudes.

This article was based on masculinity in American society. So I am walking away with a question. What about masculinity in other societies that treat non-males poorly? Will those men shoot a young girl in the head because she wants to be educated all to impress so other male higher up? I understand that some men view these acts of terror almost as a job or they do it because someone important told them to. But it's still unclear to me.

Blog 3: Minority Stereotypes & Language Diversity

Unraveling the "model minority" stereotype
I always knew that deeming everyone as Asians wasn't really appropriate. There were all different types from all different countries. All are unique. What stuck out to me in this book was that some students actually preferred to be identified as just Asian- not specifically where they are from and what they truly are. They are choosing to leave out part of their identity. Also, I was unaware of the fact that some Asians viewed themselves as superior over other Asians. I know this contradicts my earlier sentence, saying that they all should be identified appropriately, but it's just something I had never thought about. There was also a part about Asian Americans not wanting the "American" part of their identity. On the flip side, there are some Asians who will do nearly anything to be more "American" whether those things are good or bad. I feel like we have so many stereotyped ideas about Asians, and they're all wrong. I guess that was probably the point of this book, huh?













A stereotype I have is the "Asians as class models" meaning that there are high standards for Asian American students. Some Asian students will purposely make poor decisions to get away from being the class model, like not studying or failing exams to avoid being a role model student. But really, it's much more than this. Students are so caught up in identity that it's not even about achievement anymore. Or even when it's about achievement, it becomes about identity. The personal stories included in this book were somewhat scary to see. I felt like it was tying back to my first post where I said I was afraid to say the wrong thing to a student that it might stay with them throughout their educational journey and have a negative impact. We all think that Asians are supposed to be good at math. By questioning an Asian who isn't good at math, and relating it to the fact that they are supposed to be good BECAUSE they're Asian, is really going to hurt their pride and make math even more difficult. It might drive some students to work harder, but more often than not, it can cause students to pull away and perform poorly.


I feel that there are still many problems that need to be dealt with in regards to having such a variety of students in our classrooms. There is still racism, and we still have foreign students in the lower performing tracks of our education system simply because they have trouble learning the language. It's overwhelming; I feel there are so many things that need to be taken into account to make it all work, and no one wants to do anything about it. We can sit around and talk about the problem all day, but what can we actually do to help?
Affirming Diversity: Chapter 7 (p.228-262)
Last week in class we discussed the lack of support for ELL students in the Massachusetts classroom. It's frustrating to read how successful it is, apparently, to have in the classroom when it's been deemed not appropriate to have students use their native language in the classroom and preferably not at home. This also leads teachers to feel unprepared to teach students of diverse ethnic backgrounds. It's unfortunate because the right thing to do would be to put the extra effort in for these students but all we seem to care about is taking the easy way out by deciding to keep other languages out of our public school system.

It was enjoyable reading the case studies and seeing what students actually went through and what they are currently going through. The interview of Manuel Gomes struck me because of how much he was able to see and acknowledge while being an immigrant himself. Learning about how different life was on Cape Verde compared to life in America was fascinating. I almost felt bad when he said he was disappointed when he actually got to America, because we all know America is supposed to be the place everyone wants to be. The violence in this country is apparently easy to pass on to new people to the country; I guess it's an easy way for people to fit in, and THAT is sad. I also felt bad because he said it was hard to make friends with the American kids because of the different cultures, and that students looked at him and laughed in the beginning (243). I know this is getting away from language diversity, but this part of the interview ended with this student saying he didn't want to be an American citizen because he really didn't like America. He just wants to work and move back to his country in ten years when he's made some money. America is a dangerous place, and a lot of people know that. Why are people still trying to come here and suffer through all this trouble with language and culture shock?

Blog 2: Race & Ethnicity

Hollins: Relating ethnic and racial identity development to teaching 
The first thing that jumped out at me was the phenomenon known as codependent racism. An African American teacher wanted to avoid being identified with African American students and even allowed racism from other students to avoid identifying with them. This will no doubt cause problems in the classroom. It will practically divide it in half. When students begin to feel uncomfortable due to the fact that they can be openly mocked or criticized because of their race and their teacher does nothing to stop it, they will more than likely withdraw from the classroom and from school itself. School will be associated with negativity for these students and learning will be the last thing on his or her mind.

It's sad to read that people who are considered the minority sometimes try to dissociate themselves from their race in order to try and associate themselves with the majority. This is a complete denial of culture and ethnicity. First of all, this is not supposed to be what America is about. We're supposed to welcome the variety of culture because it was what our country was founded on. This issue can have a negative effect on the classroom because it can go hand in hand with peer pressure. If a school is mostly white, and there are a handful of African American students, they most certainly might try to assimilate into the school culture that revolves around white students. Then, these African American students might spend more time trying to fit into the school culture than to their academic performance.

Seeing the Type I and Type II teachers really shocked me. Type I teachers seem to think that "good teaching is good teaching" and that as long as it's "good" it should work for any and all students. That is something I learned to definitely not be true with the classes I've taken about education. Students all learn differently and a lesson plan that worked one year, might not work the next. I can see why these teachers might not want to change their instruction for some students who are falling behind; they might not want to teacher to the lowest standard because it does nothing for those who are able to understand and keep up. But by almost blaming the students for their lack of learning or struggles in the classroom is unfair and as a result, absolutely nothing is being done for those students either. Perhaps I'm missing something, but Type II teachers seem to have a much better grasp on things. They realize that there is cultural diversity in this country and that the classroom is not filled up with students at the same level and with the same background experience. Type II teachers are willing to go the extra mile to make sure all their students are understanding the lesson and realize that power over their students is not the priority. It's about support, comfort, and safety. Without these things things, students simply cannot learn.


Gay: Ethnic identity development and multicultural education
I liked that multicultural education is viewed as crucial to ethnic identity development. I thought it was interesting that the connection between these two had been overlooked, possibly because that connection is so obvious. It is a great thing that this is becoming more of a priority in the classroom because it fits so much better into the American culture that is growing today.

Suarez-Orozco: Children of Immigration
I did not have the opportunity to finish this book. but what I was able to read was thought-provoking and eye-opening. Ultimately, I had never had the viewpoint of what it must feel like to be a child of immigration. I always imagined that these children would simply be happy to be here and have these opportunities. It never occurred to be that they might feel like such outcasts in a land that might not be considered home. I feel like that should be the most obvious thing of all: people tend to feel out of place when not home. I felt selfish for not relating more to this issue and being more understanding of what people in this situation might be going through. Just like the other articles we read, I see the importance in involving other cultural studies into the classroom because it fits so well into today's American society.