Karen and Lauren's articles

Lauren’s articles:

I think the electric literature article was a really intriguing read because I’m sure a lot of white males must feel this way when writing. I know last year when I was interviewing a girl and talking about feminism with her, I asked her whether or not she was upset that not a lot of males openly discuss it, and her answer was similar to this. She thought that they might feel like it’s not their place to and that they feel like they’d be quieting the female voices and the movement overall. But it’s just what this article suggests. You are allowed to join the space, as long as you don’t dominate it or overpower those other voices, even though this may be difficult sometimes.

I think Jaded is an amazing outlet for people of color, a safe space for beautiful publications where there is no fear of oppression or being silenced. I almost wish I had heard about this tumblr sooner, and I can only imagine how many more there must be out there. I think it’s important for these voices to be heard, spread, and made aware. I almost feel like my own voice can dominate a conversation, and it really is unfair to others who want to be validated and heard as well.

Karen’s articles:

I really enjoyed the tolerance.org publication because I feel like we often dismiss the fact that we need discourses that are inclusive to all, not just the dominant group. It’s clear form what we’ve been reading and learning that we do need a more social emotional education, but this article also made it apparent that we need an education that highlights oppressed voices of people of color and women as well. Treating others with respect and empathy is very crucial in learning and caring about people and being connected to them, not just caring about yourself.

The Ted article was really eye-opening on hearing about the different ways other cultures run and what their values are. I think it’s very true that Americans pick and choose. We assign as a culture what’s important and significant and discard the rest that doesn’t fit. But that is clearly not the global view, which is definitely refreshing to read. I think America is so traditional in that it doesn’t want to look at other cultures for guidance. We are so set in our ways, and when we run into troubles, we don’t look to other countries for guidance when we could really learn a lot from them if we gave them the chance. It’s time for a change in our education system, and we need to start with emotional literacy and inclusive dialogues.

Kirsten and Allie's articles

Kirsten’s article:

It’s really interesting because this was one of the articles I found while researching my own topic on emotional literacy being taught more in younger children. And I really liked it a lot. The teacher didn’t really baby them, he asked them honest questions and acted as a sort of objective therapist for them to come and talk to, which I know that not a lot of people would like but I thought it was a refreshing difference. It’s very clear in this article that a social emotional education is crucial to learning connectedness with others as well (as shown with the awkward and disconnected principal) and it teaches them to be more in tune with their emotions. I think the overall argument was that an emotional education is as important – if not almost more – than an academic one.

Allie’s articles:

It’s crazy to see how much gender influences not just people, but media, research, and even life decisions. What a lot of people don’t realize is that gender is a social construct. It’s not the binary that many try to prettily paint it out to be. It’s a spectrum, with people falling on different parts of it. It’s also a performance. The gender we’re assigned at birth is sometimes the gender we perform to as we grow, and in other cases it’s not. But gender is also based on the sex we are born with at birth, which was one of the things I took away that I hadn’t fully grasped when reading this. The fact that sex is also a construct. We aren’t really taught about intersex individuals, people born with both male and female chromosomes and/or genitalia, we are taught that you’re either male or female in terms of sex, which is also a very constricting view if you do not fall clearly underneath that binary.

I also really liked the Buzzfeed article because I am appalled when I see advertisements or products labeled as “just for men” or “manly.” Hell, what is so different about it that I can’t use it? It’s too manly therefore females cannot and shouldn’t use it, preserving their own masculinity. What’s so horrible about having feminine attributes? It’s such a sexist, outdated view on femininity and females being inferior and weak. It made me think about how I use a Gilette’s “male” razor, because the ones targeted towards females suck! They are so terrible and don’t shave as well or smoothly as the ones for males.