WorldNetDaily has a post about a teacher who had the nerve to make senior level English students think critically about the ways that the homesexual population is treated by society. She had them fill out a questionnaire that was meant to aid discussion that included the following questions:
- What do you think caused your heterosexuality?
- When and how did you decide you were a heterosexual?
- Is it possible that your heterosexuality is just a phase you may grow out of?
- Is it possible that your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex?
- Do your parents know that you are straight? Do your friends and/or roommate(s) know? How did they react?
- Why do you insist on flaunting your heterosexuality? Can't you just be who you are and keep it quiet?
- Why do heterosexuals feel compelled to seduce others into their lifestyles?
- A disproportionate majority of child molesters are heterosexual. So you consider it safe to expose children to heterosexual teachers?
- With all the societal support marriage receives, the divorce rate is spiraling. Why are there so few stable relationships among heterosexuals?
- Statistics show that lesbians have the lowest incidence of sexually transmitted diseases. Is it really safe for a woman to maintain a heterosexual lifestyle and run the risk of disease and pregnancy?
- Considering the menace of overpopulation, how could the human race survive if everyone were heterosexual?
- Would you want your child to be heterosexual, knowing the problems that s/he would face?
Apparently one of the parents as well as the author of the WND post believe " this was outright indoctrination to the homosexual viewpoint." Even without reading anything from the teacher's point of view, it's blatantly obvious that the teacher was not trying to "make students question being straight" and that they were simply meant to make students think about how they would feel if they were asked these questions due to their sexual orientation. If anyone feels these questions are ludicrous , they should ask themselves why a segment of our population is asked them everyday, and not just in English class.
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I love it.
Of course a lesson plan like that is "outright indoctrination" - into the school of critical thinking and empathy.
Not traits you want people to develop, especially if you want them to stay in your authoritarian, gay-hating sky-daddy religion.
Critical thinking should be taught in all middle and high schools, as well as philosophy and comparative religion. Brava and Bravo to the brave teachers who have started doing this on their own.
I do think it's good that the teacher was trying to promote critical thinking, but I also think that just handing out this survey to a class assumes that everyone in the class is heterosexual.
...but the questions seem more rhetorical to me.
It's conceivable that the teacher had that knowledge to begin with.
Unless she's perfected the gaydar, no it isn't.
I meant by explicitly asking them.
Asking high school students to self-identify as gay or bisexual, especially if they aren't 150% sure that their classmates or teachers won't be asses about it, is guaranteed to get you inaccurate data, to say the least.
"handing out this survey to a class assumes that everyone in the class is heterosexual."
Not necessarily. When I received one of these in my human sexualities class (as a lesbian leaning bisexual) I appreciated the 'spot on' cultural criticism. Its also important to remember (for whatever reason) that heteros are the current majority and our society reflects ignorant views torwards alternative sexual orientations and this helps open the mind to be less conventional and judgemental.
But...how do you fill out a survey asking "When did you first know you were heterosexual?" as a closeted gay high schooler? Just casually out yourself on paper? Or pile on one more lie about your sexuality and feel that much more false and divided? I would feel seriously uncomfortable with this survey now, and inflicting this choice on people trapped in the high school crucible seems just plain thoughtless.
They taught us this on our first day of TA training: some minorities are invisible. Always assume someone in your class is gay, disabled, a Muslim, working class, or mentally ill. It's much safer than making the opposite assumption.
I don't think it was necessarily an assignment where she made students write down the answers and turn them in, it was more of a discussion aid.
The OP said, "She had them fill out a questionnaire..." It didn't say she had them turn it in, but unless they've mastered their own personal form of shorthand, there's nothing secret about anything you write on a piece of paper in a high school classroom.
"They taught us this on our first day of TA training: some minorities are invisible. Always assume someone in your class is gay, disabled, a Muslim, working class, or mentally ill. It's much safer than making the opposite assumption."
Right on!
You know the article's journalistic quality is high when the editor wrote this gem: http://shop.wnd.com/store/item.asp?DEPARTMENT_ID=6&SUBDEPARTMENT_ID=94&ITEM_ID=1679
This reminds me of a sarcastic rant my friend wrote.
"-Heterosexuals are racist. I was at lunch today and a bunch of heterosexuals started talking about how they should all move to England now that that damn n*gger won the election... and these people think they have a right to religious tolorance?
-Heterosexuals are violent. At least once a week in this nation someone is murdered by a heterosexual. We're letting these people decide whether or not we should go to war?
-Heterosexuals are sexist. Most of the heterosexual men that I know who were voting for Sarah Palin couldn't talk about her without mentioning how attractive she is (*hurl*). Once again, they think they have a right to demand tolorance?
-Heterosexuals have HUGE mouths. They can't keep a secret at all. My mom's section of her work has been under investigation lately, and most of the people sang like birds the moment the boss got them alone. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", anyone? These people can't keep secrets for themselves, yet they think that they can demand that gays keep a huge secret like their sexuality?
-Heterosexuals HATE marriage. Take me and six of my closest friends. Of the six of us, three of us have divorced parents. Of those three, two of us have had their parents divorce not only each other, but someone else. Three of us have had our parents consider divorce, but not go through with it for various reasons. Only two of us have parents that are happily married. 1:3 aren't what I would call "pro-family" odds. But they think that they should get to determine what does and doesn't count as a "marriage"? Huh.
-Heterosexuals have no sense of decency. Every single day heterosexuals act on, write, and produce TV shows about sex and violence and other horrible themes. Yet they hold themselves the guardians of morality? Pleeeeeeease.
So, if it hasn't occured to you yet, I'm kidding. This rant is actually about how everytime a gay person does something stupid, conservative heterosexuals tend to think every gay on the planet did it. I've seen people claiming that {thousands of} Those Damn Gays got what they deserved when Prop 8 passed because {four of} Those Damn Gays where hanging effegies of Palin and McCain and tearing down Yes On Prop 8 posters on election day. Also keep in mind that {Millions of} Those Damn Gays are pedophiles because {a very small number of} Those Damn Gays founded NAMBLA. KEEP YOUR CHILDREN AWAY FROM THE GAYS."
I'm really looking foward to using this exercise :))
I used this exercise on my husband and he said something like 'gay teachers everywhere would be weird' and that was his only reasoning.
Aside from my latent homophobic spouse, this exercise is amazing and props to the teacher that made it.
It's just great how the mom in the article totally missed the point. I'm surprised that nobody said to her, "This is what homosexuals are asked all the time, and all we're doing is showing straight kids what it feels like." She clearly didn't bother to read the whole thing, and fails critical thinking hardcore. She'd need it explained to her, very carefully.
The title of the article is awful, too - how dumb are these guys to not be able to see the point of this?!?!?
Go teacher go! This is the sort of thing that high school english should be used to teach - how to interact and think about the world around you!
In my first class of my first year of college, my Professor handed this survey out. I love it.
If you guys have any positive feedback about the survey, and are able to somehow get in touch with the school or department in question, PLEASE do it! I know the prof who handed it out is facing major censure from the university, and I received by email a request from a colleague to forward positive experiences and demonstrate this wasn't an isolated incident or an ineffective tool.
I'm glad to see this on here! My Women's Studies prof used this same survey as an introduction to learning about heternormativity and heterosexism. I realize that material like this is more expected/acceptable in a Women's Studies class room but as an English Major, I often do Queer readings of novels/poems. These students and their parents need to be prepared for the fact that modern intellectualism and post-secondary education does not cater to their prejudiced/small/town of 807 people minds. I can't believe a high school senior couldn't recognize the rhetorical nature of the survey and the point that it was trying to make. Good luck in the future without the ability to think critically. Oy vey...
Have y'all seen this? Love it.
Thank you for this. I'm going to print the list tonight and force my sons (15 & 20) and their friends to 'question being straight.' I still have hope that a few of these guys will choose to be lesbians so I can stop worrying so much about those pesky STDs. ;)
Truly, I think this is a great tool for exploring/comparing realities and identifying heterosexual privilege. Critical thinking may be the single most useful skill that we can offer people of any age and demographic. How can we empathize with other realities if we have not examined our own? How will we use the powers of privilege if we don't even know they exist?
I'm kind of amused by the line in the original WND post where it says that the mother is offended by the survey because English class is where her children "should be taught to read and write and prepare for college."
Um. . .questionnaires that challenge your belief system = preparation for college. Exhibit A: most schools randomly assign freshman roommates, with drastically mismatched people being assigned to live together at an alarming frequency. If the children are anything like their mother and, thus, not victims in this situation. . .let's just say that I hope they have some memorable freshman year experiences.
I wish I could have this teacher. There is a huge conservative religious right at my school, and a lot of intolerance goes on. I really, really wish that someone would make those kids think for a change.