Isabel Millan's Lecture

I really enjoyed Isabel's lecture this past Monday.
I grew up with Disney movies as a child and I never had really noticed what some of the messages that these movies were sending out until Isabel's lecture. As a child, you never notice these things, and well you really can't notice them...but subtly, messages are implemented in your head. Most of the princesses in the movies are white, have super tiny waists, and are damsels in distress. The princes are also white and a strong, masculine persona. Many of the princesses are stuck doing cleaning jobs (Snow White, Cinderella), depicting that that is a woman's job. The stories end "happily ever after" having the princess attained her goal of finding a male figure. During lecture, there was something brought up about Beauty and the Beast that scared me. It was something along the lines of there Belle being there to tame the angry Beast and make the prince come out of it. Beast is verbally abusive and violent, but the movie depicts that its okay, and that it is Belle's job to save him. This implies that women must take care of men, regardless of how they treat them, because it is thier job to take care of them. That just shocked me. There are all these little things that were hidden that I never noticed.

And well, yea, some people are like "oh, no little kid pays attention to this" and well, yea, i didn't really, but it does affect children in some way or another. I used to babysit this girl that grew up on Disney, and well... she showed racist characteristics. When we would play barbies or other games, she always had to be the light skinned and blonde dolls - they had to be the princesses. The villans were the darker haired or darker skinned barbies. No joke. And when we played LIFE on the computer, I chose a darker skinned couple, because well, i wanted the darker skinned couple, but she wouldn't let me choose them. She gave me the brown haired couple, second best to the blonde haired couple that she had. I dunno, these little things bothered me... related to Disney or not, i don't know, but its influenced by something.

Disney has gotten better though...and has racial variety in thier movies, such as Mulan and the Hunchback of Notre Dame, where the heroes are minorities, or not "the most beautiful" people.

Isabel Millan's Lecture.

I really enjoyed this lecture. This wasn't the first time I had heard about the Disney racism. I had actually come across a message board that had some of the top racist Disney characters which I found interesting. Check here. With some of the things I read I found myself getting mad because they are indeed offensive and for Walt Disney to say that those were not their intentions is absolutely absurd. Of course when you are a child you don't look at the movies in the same light that we do now or as we did in class but it's still doesn't make it right to be in the movie. In high school we also had a discussion about some of the Disney channel cartoons with the same depictions about race, sexuality, etc. The media shapes our ideas whether we believe it or not, so we have to be careful of what we are showing children and what they are learning from all types and forms of media.
With the portion of the lecture that dealt with multicultural literature and all types of literature that can be used as learning instruments, we have seen that in past lectures where the children were reading at home all types of things including websites, books, magazines that dealt with their interests and their culture and how it showed that indeed these children were readers that could read and comprehend. All types of different reading materials help in some way to help children develop and perfect their reading skills. The multicultural literature helps keep culture a main priority and helps keep the child interested in reading, in contrast to our Disney movies.

Reflection Post on Isabel Millan's Lecture

I found Monday's lecture on Chicana/Latina children's literature as sociopolitical texts very interesting. I grew up watching Disney movies and absolutely adored the heroines like Pocahontas and Cinderella. It was interesting looking back at these movies during lecture and realizing just how cliche they are. Every movie had the same happy ending with the girl living happily ever after with her prince charming. There was also a great emphasis on whiteness and heteronormativity. Nowadays, however, I feel Disney is starting to lessen these stereotypes. "Mulan" features an Asian heroine, and "Lilo & Stitch" Hawaiian-Americans.

This lecture also explained to us that multicultural literature is used to educate people about race and race relations by promoting cultural awareness and sensitivity. This form of literature sends a good message about diversity and acceptance to children that Disney and other forms of media fails to do. It addresses serious issues faced by people that need to be solved such as gender violence and sexism. Multicultural literature is very important for children because it teaches them to accept all different types of people and that there is no "perfect person". Women do not need to look like the perfect cartoon of Cinderella and men do not have to be white to be prince charming.

Children's Literature: Disney

I found Monday's lecture to be a very interesting topic.  While I've always been a huge fan of Disney movies, it was interesting to analyze the components or consistent themes that the movies are comprised of.  What messages are they really sending kids?  In lecture we discussed their emphasis on happy endings, whiteness, gender roles and heterornormativity.  Specifically, almost every Disney movie centers around and focuses on a heterosexual relationship.  In doing so, however, they portray men as very masculine, buff, and often violent, while women are sexualized and submissive.  In addition to sending skewed messages about masculinity and femininity, they are anything but works of multicultural literature.  They maintain or sometimes create stereotypes, characters especially those varying in color aren't often portrayed positively, and the movies that do have some historical content aren't historically correct.  Furthermore, while the main audience is children, few Disney movies have a child as the protagonist.  Or if there is a child as the main character, they soon grow up and the majority of the plot takes place when they have matured.  So while Disney movies may be entertaining, it is important to keep in mind that they are a large influence in the lives of children and that perhaps the lessons or characteristics they depict outweigh the magic. 

Tuesday's Lecture (11/18/08)

In my opinion Tuesday's class was one of the best of the semester. I really appreciated the way the hour and 1/2 was divided between lecture and an activity that really allowed us to experience and conceptualize the material in a concrete way. Being asked to "take a stand" regarding particular social issues and ways to address social change/concerns allowed me to attatch concrete meanings to the issues and theories we were presented with in class.

I also appreciate the format of Tuesday's class because it was nice to have the opportunity to get up and move around in a lecture hall, to experience a more interactive lesson instead of a purely presentational lesson. I really liked Tuesday's activities as well because I felt as though it gave me an opportunity to hear the thoughts of classmates in different dicussion sections. I really enjoyed hearing the multiple perspectives in the room.

Most importantly, however, Tuesday showed me that there are many different ways to effect change in our community, that different people will have different methods/comfort levels regarding this. Because of this fact we all should think of the multiple perspectives in society and the multiple ways that exist to effect change.

Obersvation fo the A Day Without a Mexican

I felt this film was very interesting. It informed me about a lot of things that I did not know about the immigrants who come to California to work everyday. The main thing I learned from this film is how much the state profits from these workers. Most of the states economy is based off of agriculture. If it was not for the Latinos working the fields and picking the crops, then California would be in even more trouble then it is now.
From watching the film, we learn how if many Americans achieved their goals of getting rid of illegal works, then our country would not be able to function the way it has been. Many of these people need to do their own research and learn how the Latinos are helping our economy as a whole before they jump to the conclusion of needing to get rid of the illegal workers.

Discussion Questions 11-21

Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation

1. The article describes rasquachismo as an alternative aesthetic - " a sort of good taste of bad taste". What does "rasquachismo" mean to you?

2. How does rasquachismo relate more to the working class Mexican?

3. The sensibility of rasquachismo was codified in the novel Las Aventuras de Don Chipote, by Daniel Venegas in 1928. How did rasquachismo take off from this point prior to the Chicano movement in the 1960's?

4. How did the Chicano Movement in the 1960's reinvigorate the stance and style of rasquachismo?

5. How have Chicano youth conserved and redefined rasquachismo?

6. In the article "con safos" is described as a sign of pride, defiance, and self identity amongst urban youth. How do you interpret "con safos" and how is it a central rasquache symbol?

Discussion Questions for 11-21

Young People as Competent Citizens

1. At the beginning of the article, it says that young people are alienated and disengaged from democracy. What are some examples in the reading of youth being alienated from democracy? What are some experiences you have encountered in being alienated from democracy? 

2. What are the three impacts of participation mentioned in the article?

3. What obstacles to youth participation did the authors of the article cite?

4. The article raises the question, at a time when some young people are creating community change, why does American Society view youth as victims or problems rather than as competent citizens? Why do you think society views youth in this way?

Latino Leadership Development: Beginning on Campus

1. Leadership is a critical part of a community's well-being and advancement. What three elements or components tend to exist in leadership development at the community level?

2. What are the contradictory examples of the Latino community listed in the article? Why do you think they appear in a society?

3. Hundreds of Latino student organizations exist on campuses all over the nation, each with an exact purpose for their group. Although the purposes may differ, what four objectives does the author believe that each group possesses?

Fishbowl!

Hi everyone!
I wanted to thank you, again for participating in Friday’s fishbowl discussion. As promised, I will sum up some of the points I made at the end of class. Please use this space to provide additional feedback, reflections, and observations on your experience with this activity.

In answering the question, What type of space did we create/participate in on Friday’s discussion section?, I proposed the following observations based on Elizabeth Moje’s article, “Powerful Spaces: Tracing the Out-of-School Literacy Spaces of Latina/o Youth:”

A space influenced by institutions: we are at the University of Michigan, which implies a relationship between UM and education/learning

A space influenced by time/temporality: our discussion section length (50 mins); but also, how did your observations/comments in class differ from what you may have thought at the beginning of the semester? Or, how have you changed based on your experience in this class?

A space influenced by things material/physical: your level of comfort varied (depending on whether you were in the inner circle or outer circle); differences between being an “observer” vs. being the “observed.”

A space influenced by identities: how was our space complicated by identity? Which identities did you prioritize? What assumptions were you making about other people’s identities? Which identities were less obvious or not really addressed?

A space influenced by power: your relationship to each other and to me (GSI vs. student); what other power dynamics did you observe? How do these power dynamics affect your participation in class?

Also keep in mind that these categories often overlap.

I look forward to reading your responses!
-Isabel

Professor Ortega's Lecture

In Professor Ortega's Lecture on Monday, he explained that schools expect enrollment to drop as students move from freshman up to seniors, so they do not provide the space necessary for classrooms, books, and teachers if all the freshman were to stay in school and graduate. I find this very interesting and horrible at the same time. I feel as though this may play into the decreased motivation that Latinos may have to continue on through school. If a school's administration is expecting numbers to decline, they might tell teachers to only pass a certain number of students each year. I believe combining a child who may already not be passionate about school with teachers that only can pass a percentage of their class through to the next grade could be hugely responsible for the low numbers of Latinos who graduate. 

I think that knowing many of the students will not make it to their senior year sets the rest up for failure. If a student knows coming into high school that only a certain percent of their peers will make it to graduation, it does not put a lot of pressure on them to apply themselves because they could just put it in their head that it is a common thing to drop out or fail out of school. As we have learned in many lectures, many Latinos are in impoverished areas with highly populated schools. The teachers are usually under qualified and not a large motivating factor for the students. If the students do not have a teacher that makes them apply themselves and always give 100%, they may fall into the statistics of Latinos without a high school diploma. If schools set aside enough funding for the space needed to have all of their freshman be accommodated their senior year, I think they would motivate students more to pass classes because they would not want this funding to go to waste. 

11/14 Discussion

Discussion was very interesting on Friday. Normally our entire class sits in a big circle. Everyone’s participation is expected, but very rarely does this happen. Walking into discussion this Friday class was held in a “fishbowl” type environment. Isabel changed the environment we are used to learning in and the class reacted as a whole and as individuals. As individuals people were given more of a chance to talk. Being split up into smaller groups made discussing easier for some people, maybe because there were less people to talk in front of, or maybe it was the pressure of only a few people in the groups that made these individuals speak. Either way more discussion was initiated. The class as a whole was also more interactive even though only certain people were allowed to talk at a specific time. I believe this for some this created for some, a stronger desire to speak based on the fact they weren’t allowed to. Observing the groups discussing also incorporated the other “silent” class mates into discussion. In this learning environment every student was assigned a role and given more of a purpose in discussion. This was an interesting week to do this type experiment because it reminded me of Prof. Moje’s research. The class was place in a controlled environment, and the class as a whole and each individual reacted respectively.

Hybrid Identities and Latinos in the United States

Prof. Moje's article regarding youth, literacy and identities in relation to the different spaces they must navigate made me question the ways in which the social identities of Latino youth in the United States are constructed. It also made me question the different implications for these identities.

Prof. Moje writes about hybrid identities in the youth she studied stating that while navigating different spaces the youth with whom she worked they were constantly adjusting yet bringing markers of their ethnic identity into mainstream spaces and markers of mainstream spaces and identities into their ethnically constructed spaces. She also states that they youth were constantly subject to and were constantly engaging in ethnic labeling. These findings make me realize that the formation of Latino identities in the United States, or any other identity for that matter, must be a complex combination of the messages and interactions that are received and that take place in different social settings. How does what you take away from each space you must navigate effect the person you become? What implications does this have for Latinos in particular?

The article also highlighted the fact that the youth Prof. Moje worked with often sought out spaces in which the youth could construct and maintain certain ethnic/personal identities. Her discussion of Virnot Street, for example, illustrates this. This causes me to wonder about the importance of the existence of, or the importance of creating opportunities for the development of, spaces for the exploration of/expression of ethnic identities in places such as schools. How would this effect the sentiments of different groups, such as Latinos, regarding such institutions and their feelings of efficacy within those institutions?

Shock

Monday's lecture by Dr. Ortega from the UM School of Social work was eye opening for me. I was particularly shocked when he mentioned the statistic that 8/10 Latino students in Seattle, Washington will not graduate from high school. I think that this stat. was particularly hard for me to swallow because I am a native of Seattle, Washington, born and raised in the Seattle city limits and a k-12 product of the Seattle public school system. I had never realized the gravity to which Latino students were suffering within the system in my own community.

After hearing the stat. regarding Seattle and after listening the lecture and reading Dr. Ortega's article I was left with a deep realization of the ways in which social systems in the United States, such as the education system and/or the child welfare system, often marginalize and disadvantage certain groups in the population/community.

I couldn't help but wonder how this could happen? Are there fundamental gaps between social institutions such as school systems and the needs of different groups such as Latinos? In what ways are these institutions structured to favor the privleged in society and leave so many disadvantaged?

Dr. Ortega stated that programs designed to meet the needs of Latinos must encourage and support Latino participation. He also stated that an understanding of cultures, languages and factors such as accountability and accessibility are crucial allowing social institutions and programs to meet the needs of Latinos. So the questions that we need to ask should revolve around how to incorporate these needs into social programs and systems such as the education system.

In conclusion while thinking about the 8/10 stat. tied to Seattle accountability needs to be a major concern. 8/10 Latino students not receiving high school diplomas in a given school district is unacceptable and recognition of the problem/figure is not enough in my opinion, we need to think of ways to serve the needs of all of our students, even if it means restructuring. As a future public school teacher (from Seattle) I am frightened that I will become part of the system which disadvantages certain students. For me the challenge rests in participating in the system while being cognizant of its flaws enough to be able to work to help all of my students and possibly effect change.

Spanish as a second language

Personally, I have always felt that Spanish was an important language within the United States, though many may disagree. I do not like the fact that many people feel they can go by with a few words such as, por favor and gracias. It isn't ok, and it can be especially hurtful if by doing so they are simply making fun of the beautiful language. We should all strive to learn as much as we can about Spanish.

Discussion Questions for 11/14

Latinos and Child Well-being: Implications from Child Welfare

1.) Describe the difference between child welfare and the well-being of Latino children

2.) What are some of the "risk factors" Professor Ortega identifies which tend to increase the likelihood of child maltreatment?

3.) What are the 2 main gaps / problems that he mentions relating to Latino child welfare services?

4.) Define the Latino Paradox with regards to child welfare. Do you agree with it?

5.) What does Professor Ortega suggest for future direction and improvement in regards to the current situation of child welfare?


Powerful Spaces: Tracing the Out-of-School Literacy Spaces of Latino/a Youth

#1.) What methodology does Professor Moje use to conduct her studies?

#2.) What were the four perspectives used to examine self-enactment? What was the fifth perspective that Professor Moje suggested in the reading?

#3.) What concept is Professor Moje developing when she refers to the concepts of time and space? In what ways do you think these "spaces" affect adolescents? What were some examples given in the reading?

#4.) What was the model / diagram Professor Moje used to categorize readers?

#5.) What myth does Professor Moje's research try to combat? What two specific results did she focus on in lecture?

#6.) What does Professor Moje suggest to improve the reading proficiency of Latino adolescents?

A past film...

So, I've been meaning to comment on the film about the Proposal keeping children who were not legal from getting an education. I DISLIKED the woman (I believe her name was Debbie) who would not learn how to speak Spanish and help accommodate the children. I am elated she left the school because a teacher is supposed to better her students not discourage them. With her mindset, she would be better off editing a schoolbook. Between her and the male teacher who tried to blame the children for  throwing gum wrappers on the street, I do not know who was worse. I was happy that the children were standing up for themselves and did not allow him to walk over them. I can  understand why the lady teacher who was Latina voted yes on the proposal; it was from her own experience and she did not have the children in mind. However, the above mentioned woman did. She purposely did not want those children there who "did not belong". I know it has been a minute since we have seen it: Agree or disagree? 

Spanish Language

I always felt that the Spanish was an important language to learned in the United States. There are many people in America who do not feel the same way. These people may know only a couple words in Spanish and feel that it is okay for them to state the words anyway they want or for them to make fun of the language. They feel it is okay for Americans to do this to the Spanish language, but when Spanish speaking people mispronounce an English word they feel the Latino people are mocking the English language. It is not fair for any person to to mock another person's language. No group of people deserve to have their language be considered a way to humor others.

Sec. A Discussion Questions

Natalia Espinoza
Carla Fernandez
AC213 Section A
November 5, 2008
Discussion Questions

Is “Spanglish” the third language of the South?

There are different views on the use of” Spanglish. What are those views? And how does each view justify their assertions? From what community do these views or perceptions about “Spanglish” come from?

People use “Spanglish” in different ways, according to the circumstance. What are the different ways in which Spanglish is used and who are the people that use it? (pg 334)

What are some of the arguments in favor of the use of Spanglish? What are some of the arguments against the use of “Spanglish”?


“Jose, can you see?”

What are the ways in which some Anglo-Americans display racist views through their use of the Spanish language?

Does the author of this reading believe there is a “way out” of these racist practices? Why or why not? (pg 53)

Immigrants in this country are pressured to assimilate to American society by learning English. How are they able to demonstrate membership in this society as well as maintain membership in their original culture?


Chicano Men: A Cartography of Homosexual Identity and Behavior

When talking about Chicano male sexuality, Almaguer delineates two distinct sexual systems: the European-American and Mexican/Latin-American systems.

Discussion: How do these two systems differ and in what ways do they help us understand Chicano male sexuality?

From this reading we gather that the gay identity of Chicano men in the U.S. takes a different shape than that of white American men.

Discussion: What are some of the reasons why gay identity shapes itself differently for Chicano men than white American men?

As Almaguer writes, “…the extraordinary work of Cherrie Moraga articulates a lucid and complex analysis of the predicament that the middle class Chicana lesbian and Chicano gay men face in this society” (90).

Discussion: What are some of these predicaments that queer Chicanas and Chicanos face in their society?

Playing with Fire: The Gendered Construction of Chicana/Mexicana Sexuality

Zavella decided to tackle questions of Chicana/Mexicana sexuality through the use of ethnographic interviews.

Discussion: What are some of the drawbacks she discusses about using interviews to understand sexuality and what do these say about Chicana/Mexicano society?

This article itself is titled “Playing with Fire.” Zavella discusses the use and prevalence of the metaphors “playing” and “fire” amongst her interviewees.

Discussion: What are some of the implications of these metaphors and what do they have to say about Chicana/Mexicano queers and their society?

Sylvia Rivera’s Talk at LGMNY

In her article, Rivera outlines the changing relationship between the trans community and the gay community.

Discussion: What was this relationship like? How has it changed? How is it now? How have these relationships helped with the evolution of the gay liberation movement and the trans movement?