Recently in Education Category

I am teaching a seminar to my sociology 12 class on feminism. Its a major part of our grade, and I am showing a video, doing an "thought-inducing" activity and yes; a PowerPoint (YAWN).

I am trying to come up with a brief explanation of what the term "feminazi" means, and how to explain that it can be used in a derogatory way, yet there are people who still intentionally identify with it. I'm already comparing the effects of Nazism and feminism to make it a little starker.

Please keep in mind this is for people who know very little about feminism (sadly) to begin with and have trouble with words over six letters long (also disheartening)

My sister, an intelligent and excellent college student, got a C on a speech she wrote for class primarily because the professor didn't like the topic she chose. The topic? Feminism.

The assignment was to write a persuasive speech, and there was one primary rule: no controversial topics. Emily asked me if I thought feminism was too controversial, and I said no. I know not everyone agrees with feminism, but I don't think that makes it too controversial. Any topic will have those who disagree. That's why it's a persuasive speech - because you're trying to persuade people to agree with you. So I loaned her some books and helped her craft an overall message, and she spent weeks working on this thing.

When she finally had to present the topic and outline to her professor, the professor expressed some discomfort with the subject matter. This woman, it was clear, was not a feminist and was not comfortable with the idea of one of her students talking about feminism in her classroom. Emily persisted though and convinced her that she was well within the "no controversial topics" rule.

Okay, so I have to write an argument for my debate class on any topic I like. I chose gay rights, but I sat down to type and had a total brain fart. Here's how far I've gotten:

"Right now, at least 9 million Americans are being denied the most basic of civil rights. I am speaking, of course, about the homosexual population at large (at least those who aren't afraid to admit their sexuality), who are unable even to join the Army unless they keep their sexual orientation strictly under wraps, are unable to marry the person of their choosing in all but one state, and suffer discrimination, taunts, and even physical assault on a daily basis. Should homosexual couples be allowed the same rights as heterosexual couples? Homosexual couples should absolutely have the same rights as heterosexual couples, because they are people who should automatically have the same basic rights as everyone else without specially petitioning the government, they have no choice over their sexual orientation, and "

Could anybody help me?

I really don't know what to say about this. If I were to voice my discomfort, I'd put it down to arguing that the author of the op piece is putting forth the idea that the humanisation of a girl is her heterosexual interest in the opposite sex, and that that nullifies her being "brainy and driven".

It's two in the morning and I'm a bit groggy so I'm not feeling very articulate, but is it just me who finds that post somewhat offensive? Because "talk of boys and complaints about school work still trump debates on world affairs" does not constitute, in my opinion, an optimistic viewpoint.

And I'd personally rather talk about politics than my love life, four out of five times.

It's disheartening that this comes when a recent Feministing featured post was on women in math and science. Especially when considering the future generation of scholars. *sigh*

I am writing an annotated bibliography on teaching evolution(vs. creationism) and I was wondering if anyone knew any good articles on this subject. I would also like to hear the views of everyone else too because I am trying to look at both sides of this argument.

CNN reports that public school officials in Chicago, Illinois are recommending approval of a "gay-friendly" high school because harassment and violence are causing gay students to skip class and drop out at alarming rates.

The school would not be only for gay students but would provide counseling for teens who have suffered from bullying and include curriculum about sexual history and identity in history and literature classes.

Here is the issue. I go to a former women's college. Upon my arrival, its second year of co-education, there was a completely different atmosphere than there is now. I decided to attend because it was still being advertised as women-centered and seemed to be really progressive in terms of diversity, equality, women's issues... basically anything that you do not discuss at the dinner table was discussed at Wells. It wasn't hidden or shrugged off. The issues were dealt with or at least they seemed to have been. Now there is rampant heterosexism, racism, hatecrimes, a new term called "whiteboarding" which is used for when someone writes a word such a "carpetmuncher" in permanent marker on a lesbian's whiteboard, and just in general, people are scared. These actions have led to a big rift between certain groups of students on campus. People are being stereotyped, being deemed responsible for things they didn't do because of the people they hang out with or the sports they play.