AED 813 "2: Public Pedagogy of Upstander Art” Part 2
In response to “Can Women Be Called Fierce, Can Men Be Called Gentle?” :
Imagine being insecure with the very essence of who you are until you are upwards of fifty years old. I can empathize but I can never truly know what it must feel like to struggle with identity- being straight and cisgender. It must be pure torture. I remember how cruel my peers were to me, and I was pretty typical as far as societal norms go. The kids (bullies) I walked home from the bus stop with ridiculed me every time I referenced current events, threw my library books across the creek and played keep away with my stuffed animals. One of my lifelong friends walked with us but he stayed a bystander to remain masculine or macho with the neighborhood boys. The idea of how children hold and perpetuate gender norms and stereotypes inspired my game this week.
I think about all the ways my romantic relationship fits typical gender roles that have been projected onto us like me cooking dinner and cleaning while he does the more strenuous tasks around the house. I also think about ways that we break this, because I am now both fierce and gentle as is my partner. But we are adults and I know as children both he and I fell strictly in gender norms where I was ever so gentle, never standing up for myself and he was a rough and tumbling boy showing his toughness with his fists. Picking apart the code is very interesting. My partner is an immigrant and does not have the established American-specific gender pressures nor is he white. I question what the real drive is for white men to commit mass violent acts- the “blaze of glory”- because black men and boys were raised with identical language about manliness. Women are criticized in a plethora of ways by society not just about their character but appearance too, so I still question why strictly white men commit mass murder? This doesn’t fully connect for me.
Added to the conversation on Judy Chicago’s dicussion board:
The main point I took from Donald Woodman’s presentation “What about Men?” is this: feminism’s not called humanism for a reason. “All Lives Matter” is not a coverall for the Black Lives matter movement. So Feminism it is! As men are the privileged sex in the work of gaining equal rights for women, they play a crucial role in changing all of the small perceptions and gender understandings we continually push both subconsciously and consciously in the 21st century, even though we often acknowledge their sexist connotations in our minds. I think feminist men have a job to be the ones in everyday conversations or discussions to question the way we deem things according to gender in archaic ways such as behavior and consequences. A question is where it starts, because people do need to stop and think about the assumptions and prejudices we all make. Change starts with small actions like these that are woven into our culture at our local schools, governments, and our places of work.
Inspired by Linda Stein’s “Picnic Case with Mirror 930:”
I fled and I flew to somewhere totally new. I took some of my most prized possessions, a couple of utensils to eat and drink with, a mirror and measuring tape. Three years ago I made it to Toronto; I had been dreaming of a new life and I finally have one. There are a lot of different people here from different places speaking different languages and making different cuisines. We all look different and that’s okay. You could say our community is like my suitcase when I came- kinda random and jumbled but a beautiful mess of people that all serve a greater purpose. I am finally pursuing my dreams of becoming a formalwear designer. I help the members of my community customize their formal wear for the most important moments of their lives- graduations, weddings, baptisms, fundraisers, and work occasions. I still use my measuring tape from the old country, and I always tell my story of how I came here to my clients.
My story board is below: Game is live here. As a middle school teacher, I wish I heard more students standing up for one another which inspired my game. It's pretty primitive, but it took a surprising amount of time to figure out. I am interested in how to get a more professional interactive game that could change some cultural perceptions and practices of bullying at my school.
