In the reading, Unlearning The Myths That Bind Us by Linda Christensen, Christensen goes into how media secretly shapes and educates young people to accept stereotypes and worldwide views as knowledge. In cartoons, movies, literature, advertisements, and especially now, the internet, children and young people are being exposed to and are absorbing myths on what society believes should be views on life. Through the media, we are all taught how to succeed, how to love, how to buy, how to conquer, what we should look like, how we should act, the list goes on and on. It is incredible the examples Christensen uses that show how racism, sexism, and other important social issues are sneakily put into what kids watch and read.
"Because we can never look like Cinderella, we begin to hate ourselves." Christensen says about how young girls and even women feel because of what media portrays a woman should look like. It saddens me that little girls at such a young age get brainwashed into what society believes the perfect woman should look like and act like. I have a 9 year old niece who is very very bright and earlier this year she told me she believes she's supposed to look a certain way and has hopes that she will soon, and I am quoting her, "blossom". At age nine! I just can't believe that media has been and still continues to dominate opinion and idealistic views on life and how much that can affect a person.
The picture below shows how inaccurately proportioned a "perfect" Barbie Doll would be if she were an actual woman. This is one example on how something every little girl loves can poison their mind into believing that it is possible to have the impossible mutant Barbie body.
Richard Rodriguez's Hunger of Memory is a memoir about his life, being a Mexican bilingual child born in a working class, Spanish speaking household and his experience attending a white catholic school. Rodriguez shares his story of what it felt like to learn with "gringos" and how he believes the reason why he became successful is because of the way he learned. Growing up in a Spanish speaking household and going to a school with whites, Rodriguez was always reminded by Spanish people his difference in power compared to the whites. Rodriguez says that he considers Spanish to be his private language and that he's glad he went to a school that was not bilingual because he felt like he had the obligation to learn the public language of society. Today, the people who support bilingual education believe students that go through Rodriguez's experience miss a lot by not being taught in their first language but Rodriguez thinks otherwise.
This reading reminded of The Silenced Dialogue by Lisa Delpit. Even though Rodriguez says he does not regret his early education it is still a fact that Richard felt that his power of culture was no match to the privileged whites while he was at school. He says so himself that he was shy and did not speak much because he was afraid about not knowing much English. This reading also reminds me of An Indian Father's Plea except for in Rodriguez's life his parents did the exact opposite of the Indian Father and wanted Rodriguez to embrace the "gringos" culture.
Volunteering at a dual language school, I can say that I believe bilingual education is the best choice for a child. They are less afraid to be themselves and can feel comfortable enough to know that the language spoken at home is accepted outside of the home. And for children who just know English, I especially believe since they are so young, it is easier for them to absorb another language and learn it easily which can benefit them greatly later on in life.
After reading The Silenced Dialogue by Lisa Delpit, I realized how important it is for a "culture of power " in an educational environment to exist. In the article, Delpit brings together five rules of power that open our eyes to the realization of the culture of power between both whites and minorities.
Here I list Delpit's rules followed by explanations to support and better understand the reality of the culture of power.
Rule #1: Issues of power are enacted in classrooms
Explanation: The power a teacher has over a student can make the student feel belittled because of the way the student is being taught and the power the teacher uses from the educational system and curriculum can affect how the students learn. A teacher has the power to educate students on what is required
Rule #2: There are codes or rules for participating in power; that is, there is a "culture of power"
Explanation: The codes or rules for participating in power is basically the way we speak,act,dress,our mannerisms.
Rule #3: The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power.
Explanation: This rule applies to class and how the disadvantages and advantages of being a part of certain class can affect how a student learns. For example, middle or upper class children do better in school unlike children of lower class.
Rule #4: If you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier.
Explanation: A person who is not aware of a culture can learn another culture and use that to manipulate their power.
Rule #5: Those with power are frequently less aware of- or least willing to acknowledge - its existence. Those with less power are often less aware of it's existence.
Explanation: A person who has higher power is constantly less aware to acknowledge that they are in higher power and a person who has less power is somewhat less aware they have less power.
