Thank you so much for your words. I just got out of class this morning and was frustrated. I get one class "through it" and then along comes another and there we are at the bottom of the hill again (Sisyphus is a great comparison!)
I think you must be talking in your first example of Dream Worlds. I will certainly use that and parts of Killing Us Softly.
Last semester I had someone come in from the Rape Crisis Center and I think she was amazing (since I'm volunteering there now, I know that is true of her and not a fluke), and I'll have her back later.
I also think that one of the most pervasive aspects of American culture - the adherence to the concept of individual responsibility - is a very, very, difficult bridge to cross with many students. I see it with students in teaching social stratification, poverty, discrimination, etc. The first big hurdle is always the "blaming the victim" position.
This is exactly what started us down the road of victim blaming in class today. We had been discussing script theory and how that applies to how people "see" rape and how they interpret experiences that they have as rape or not-rape, and though it was completely not relevant to our focus, one of the men raised his hand and said "I think it's about personal responsibility".
And of course, as always, 5 female hands went up and instead of protesting like they should, every one wanted to chime in and agree that if a girl goes out and gets drunk, she's making a choice, blah blah blah.
Luckily I was able to eventually lead us back but I had no help from anyone in the class who already saw the flaws of this argument (even just from a logical standpoint), and it was disheartening. And of course my emotional reaction is to get intellectually superior and "win", but that's not what teaching is about of course.
Your post has given me a lot of ideas and I very much appreciate that.
I'm glad that whatever I shared is useful to you. The offer stands: if you want to chat, just call me after 7 pm. What you're doing is extremely difficult - as you know, of course. :-\ Changing their paradigm is the hardest thing to teach, IMO. Kudos to you for doing this -especially in a summer course.
A speaker from the Rape Cristis Center is a good idea.
What would happen if, instead of focusing on a female victim, the focus changed to a male victim? would it still be "a matter of choice" about getting drunk, etc.? or a child? still "a matter of choice"? if it's choice for a woman, then why not for a man or a child? Also: what about the concept of rape as used in other cultures - like the Yanomami, where the word for "marriage" is "dragging something away"?
I think you must be talking in your first example of Dream Worlds. I will certainly use that and parts of Killing Us Softly.
Last semester I had someone come in from the Rape Crisis Center and I think she was amazing (since I'm volunteering there now, I know that is true of her and not a fluke), and I'll have her back later.
I also think that one of the most pervasive aspects of American culture - the adherence to the concept of individual responsibility - is a very, very, difficult bridge to cross with many students. I see it with students in teaching social stratification, poverty, discrimination, etc. The first big hurdle is always the "blaming the victim" position.
This is exactly what started us down the road of victim blaming in class today. We had been discussing script theory and how that applies to how people "see" rape and how they interpret experiences that they have as rape or not-rape, and though it was completely not relevant to our focus, one of the men raised his hand and said "I think it's about personal responsibility".
And of course, as always, 5 female hands went up and instead of protesting like they should, every one wanted to chime in and agree that if a girl goes out and gets drunk, she's making a choice, blah blah blah.
Luckily I was able to eventually lead us back but I had no help from anyone in the class who already saw the flaws of this argument (even just from a logical standpoint), and it was disheartening. And of course my emotional reaction is to get intellectually superior and "win", but that's not what teaching is about of course.
Your post has given me a lot of ideas and I very much appreciate that.
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I'm glad that whatever I shared is useful to you. The offer stands: if you want to chat, just call me after 7 pm. What you're doing is extremely difficult - as you know, of course. :-\ Changing their paradigm is the hardest thing to teach, IMO. Kudos to you for doing this -especially in a summer course.
A speaker from the Rape Cristis Center is a good idea.
What would happen if, instead of focusing on a female victim, the focus changed to a male victim? would it still be "a matter of choice" about getting drunk, etc.? or a child? still "a matter of choice"? if it's choice for a woman, then why not for a man or a child? Also: what about the concept of rape as used in other cultures - like the Yanomami, where the word for "marriage" is "dragging something away"?
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