Bending Status Quo Attitudes

Talking about Quotes from Gerri August, Annemarie Vaccaro, and Megan S. Kennedy’s Safe Spaces – Making Schools and Communities Welcoming to LGBT Youth

 

            I was going to do reflection writing on this article but I fear it may turn into a very long tangent on my part. Plus, there are some really profound quotes in this piece about human beings. I cannot believe people still believe that someone’s sexual orientation can be classified as wrong or worst, as a few examples were shown in this piece. That being said, as teachers, balancing what we believe should be taught against parents own beliefs that they have instilled in their children is probably the greatest struggle we have to face.

I was reminded of this fact when I read how Marley used interpretation in her class to show how a teacher from a state who has actually passed a law accepting same sex marriages is in a lawsuit for reading a story about a same sex family. One student in the class says that she things it’s a perverse act because it’s unnatural to love someone of the same sex and that showing that child teaches them that it’s okay. Truly, it kills me that this is still happening. What’s worse is that this student was college aged and was a teacher candidate! I want to be the kind of teacher that challenges the status quo but how can I do so without jeopardizing my livelihood? This article shared a few techniques by teachers who also wanted to bend the status quo assumptions.



In fact, teachers can use “the study of family [to] either reinforce or interrupt heteronormative beliefs and attitudes” but instead “they teach their students the status quo”, which is the heterosexual idea of marriage. (pg. 85) Why? Because you put your job on the line to do so as Marley proved above. By ignoring these types of families, we are not acknowledging the world around us. We are forgetting about the children who are part of these families. Why should it become a debate as to whether or not they should have their family represented under the term of family? It is the teachers who have the platform to bring such things to attention. You don’t have to share your opinion on the subject but you should present all forms of families, in every shape and size. I believe that even though these authors don’t spell this out (because they believe you should show your students that it isn’t wrong or abnormal) this is the message they are trying to transmit. Uncover these truths and say then say the words!

The part of this piece that got to me the most was when Maria said that when she got her graded paper back that told her that the answer to the question on if she had a sweetheart wasn’t novia (female for sweetheart) but rather novio (the masculine) because she was a girl. “Did it always have to be a choice of denying herself or explaining herself?” (pg. 89) The teacher’s assumption that she was heterosexual gave way to bigotry and made Maria question whether she should have to suppress her true answer for the status quo one. You are who you are so why should Maria have to explain her answer to the teacher to show that she wasn’t wrong to write novia? She shouldn’t. But then again, how does a teacher grade accurately if she doesn’t know that Maria’s sexual orientation actually makes her answer correct? Should it ever matter when it’s the difference between an “a” or an "o”? I say no.

When Zeke shares the homosexual family children books in his classroom, he does so because he felt that “the students need to know that LGBT individuals are not a threat to their well-being.” (pg. 90) He does this by sharing books that depict families full of tender love and care. Here he teaches his students that there if nothing to fear because although the families genetic makeup is different, their love isn’t, their support system isn’t and so the family, although looks different, isn’t different at all. Zeke breaks through the confines of the status quo to show his students that families that look different are still families that are good and safe places to be a part of.

           

Marley, Maria and Zeke all show the power that words hold but actually using words that fall outside of the status quo. Marley and Zeke both know that “words invite or exclude, recognize or erase, empower or intimidate, examine or assume” not only in their classrooms but outside of it too. (pg. 95) All three of them show us how true it is that “words are sticks and stones and that they can either build bridges or break bones.” (pg. 95) Word choice is most powerfully shown in the story of Maria’s test where her novia sweetheart answer is refuted by her teacher, a teacher she probably respects and may even look up to. This is Maria’s story shows why we need to say the words instead of ignoring them. Broadening the gap of assumptions by using instead partner and parent instead of girlfriend or boyfriend or husband or wife or significant other and mom or dad or grandmother or grandfather or aunt or uncle so that the children of these constantly evolving families feel included in the simplest of luxuries; the people they call home!

 

Discussion Points for Class:

·         Is it wrong to try to stop assumptions of heterosexuality by using the terms that leave our preference vague like our partner or parent or does that actually add to the covering up of” using the words?”

·         School is supposed to be a place where we teach our students about social justice in the way of tolerance. Are we as teachers out of line when we share our opinions about such subjects as LGBT families? Or should we just share the fact that there are different kinds of families and leave it at that?

Picture Links:
http://adamdyork.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/status-quo.jpg
http://www.sparkpeople.com/blog_photos/main/BigImages/familyG.jpg
http://gaybymama.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/rainbowfamilies-people.jpg http://anthology.typepad.com/.a/6a00e552062b7e88330163000af41d970d-320wi

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7RphrGaTcJAbnA2zW6Ry6SAuxtiTeiMk121WYVpkS-_G2LIb6MQxPYDAQOo_kPTn7slbrawZMX2AzmSH87PYyzClgUE4pzQ9Ne8WaXZ5XT_Cgh-yBgcVIbetLNTfZp3Ak5Y8sU0QxeKC/s1600/WORDS.jpg