I’ll
take a page out of Johnson and Bhatt’s (2003) book article and call on
my own experience this week.
In
COMM 1010, we somewhere in the middle-to-end of our unit on rhetoric. I typically enjoy this unit because it allows
students to access concepts that we have learned throughout the semester and
channel it into their final paper, a rhetorical media analysis. We deal with fun concepts like
co-constitution, resistance, and representation. I was so excited when I realized that I could
use a topic of discussion from one of my grad classes and bring this into an
undergrad class. To discuss
representation, I called on the Bechdel test.
[for
more information, see www.bechdeltest.com]
I
stopped in my tracks and had to reevaluate where I wanted to move from
there. My first instinct was to PROVE to
her that she needs feminism because I say so.
She’s clearly not seeing things how she’s supposed if she can’t
UNDERSTAND my way of thinking. Sit down,
child. Let me tell you the way things
are.
I
side-stepped the whole issue and did not talk about my experience or representation
of gender or power or any of that. I
chickened out and reframed the argument in terms of representation of
entertainment. I felt the pressure of being the sole representation of feminism
in the classroom and I did not want to perpetuate the stereotype of the angry
feminist.
To
me, this turned into an either/or choice. I did not acknowledge the options I
had to use this to move forward. Johnson
and Bhatt (2003) discuss the opportunity of “modeling a kind of vulnerability that,
hopefully, provides them space to do what might feel like risky
self-exploration” (p. 235). Even within
this alternative course of action, I feel almost fraudulent; I feel as if my
voice is not marginalized enough to warrant exploration of my experience. Yes, I am a woman, but I am also a white “middle
class” female. The game of “which voices
are worthy of expression” is always a losing game and I know this.
I
appreciate Johnson and Bhatt (2003) acknowledging that I will not have a classroom
full of engaged students who are happy about the course content, as well as framing
a way of disclosing with purpose.
If I postpone teaching from experience until I have the perfect
classroom and the perfect experience (what does that even mean?), then I feel
that I am doing an injustice to my students.
-C.H.
What an interesting post! Your last paragraph speaks of my own conclusion that I have reached after teaching for two semesters now. Indeed, we need to pay attention to the fact that waiting for the perfect moment and the perfect students is not The approach nor the goal.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that I would like to mention here is about your experience with this student who thought that talking about representation of women does not matter. Not only does that show us that teaching students such critical issues is so hard at times, but also we need to pause and wonder whether we need to come up with different approaches to teach such thorny issues.
I feel that I should include some glimmer of hope in my uncomfortable experience. I have overheard the post-feminist student speaking with another student who identifies as a feminist. Their conversations have included dating, dealing with ignorant family members, and endearing pet stories. I just wish I could figure out how to generate these discussion in a guided class discussion.
ReplyDelete-C.H.
Noura makes a very good point about not waiting for a perfect moment with perfect students. I've come to find this very true despite still finishing up my first semester teaching. I feel as if this would be a great teaching moment through self-reflection for your students. Perhaps if this were to happen again you might ask that student why they think it's unimportant, followed by a class activity in which all students write down an instance of injustice they've witnessed regarding gender, after which then you might feel a little more comfortable sharing your own thoughts on the issue.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that you found a little Easter egg in your experience though!
C. H. and David,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you David! When I was reading the story it immediately made me think "THAT is why it need to be talked about!" I like Davids idea of how to talk about it. Even though my first response is that it should be used as an example of women oppressing and policing other women, it is a lot harder to find a productive way to talk about it. One that doesn't make it feel unsafe for the student who made the comment in the first place, but also addresses it. Maybe asking the other students what they think about it and let the students have a discussion and then later point out that comments like those are why it is still an important topic to talk about. After there has been a little distance. C. H. Thank you for sharing with us so openly about this!