Sunday, March 2, 2014

Quotes From Unlearning the Myth that Binds Us

Quotes

Let me start off by first saying how much I loved the reading this week. I was totally interested in everything Christensen had to say throughout the reading. I thought that the whole unit of unearthing stereotypes in cartoons and other popular media was a really awesome project. It seems like it's a truly eye opening experience. I mean it's crazy how early on into our lives that these stereotypes and societal rules get drilled into our heads. While reading Christensen's post there were a few quotes that I really liked and felt I wanted to highlight and share with you all. 

The first quote is from page 128 "Many students don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising. No one wants to admit that they've been 'handled' by the media. They assure me that they make their own choices and the media has no power over them - as they sit with Fubu, Nike, Timberlands or whatever the lastest fashion rage might be"

I love this quote because it is just way too true. For me I feel like I've always somewhat been aware of the fact that my decision are usually not just solely my decision. For example. There's a reason that I wake up everyday and put on fitted girly clothes and do my makeup and straighten my hair, cause that's what I've been conditioned to do.
Between watching my mother wake up and do her makeup and hair everyday and seeing countless beauty ads in commercials and on billboards, its no surprise that I turned out liking to do my makeup and hair. This desire to look feminine and pretty all stems back to youth where we're first exposed to these things, with characters like Cinderella and Snow White. Which is one of the points that Christensen was trying to make in this reading. The quote from above also reminds me of a book I read a few years back called Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I won't go into the whole story line of the book but at one point the line "“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.”comes up.  That line seems so entirely true for what Christensen is saying about her students on page 128. It seems like Christensen's students just hadn't realized yet at that point that they too "were the combined effort of everyone" But that's what I thought about when I read Christensen's words on page 128.


The next quote that I wanted to share was one from page 134 where Christensen says "But what am I teaching them if the lesson ends there? That we can quietly rebel in privacy the classroom while practice our writing skills, but we don't really have to do anything about the problems that we uncover, nor do we need to create anything to take take the place of what we've expelled. Those are not the lessons I intend to teach. I want to develop their critical consciousness, but I also hope to move them to action"

I picked this quote cause when I first read it I was really pleased with what was being said. This idea that we all need to have this developed critical consciousness. That we need to be aware of when things like media and television shows are practically brainwashing us and shoving their ideals down our throats. This quote also made me think of something else I had seen in the past. 

One of my favorite artists ever is a man named Banksy. Bansky is an enigmatic character. His real name and identity is unknown. This anonymity surrounding Banksy is what allows him to spray paint his opinions all over the sides of buildings with little to no consequences. However he doesn't always use spray paint, such as the case in his piece "The Advertisers".
This work features a long rant about media influence on our society. I connected this image to Christensen's quote and decided to include it in by blog, not only because I love Bansky's work, because I think this picture epitomizes all the points she is making in the paragraph on page 134.  

But overall I really agreed with everything that Christensen had to say in the reading this week. Another link I found that was pretty relatable to this reading was from newsweek.com. It talks about the struggles of rasing a daughter in today's time with a "princess complex" check it out ! 

Newsweek - Cinderella Ate My Daughter


Thanks for reading this week !

3 comments:

  1. wow. I just read the attached article. I raised a daughter. I could go on forever about that. But I will throw this out there. I found myself a village. She had/has 2 other moms. And sort of an extra dad. I had to get rid of one mom, when I over heard her telling my daughter as she was on her way to Junior prom about how it was OK to go to second base. WT? So in the spirit of how society is responsible for helping raise every generation, I totally believe that everyone should find their kids a healthy village. So when they can't talk to you, they will always have someone they can talk to. Sorry I digressed a little! And thank you for opening my eyes up to the artist Banksy. Great post. See you in class!

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  2. Jen you always have great posts!! I really liked how you talked about that you were aware of the medias influence on you because as a younger girl I sure as hell wasn't! That bottom article is so crazy! I too loved the reading this week! Can't wait to hear more of your awesome points in class! Love your blog in it's entirety :)

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  3. Such a smart post, Jen. Thanks for the Bansky, too. Never seen that work before! I do teach the Cinderella Ate My Daughter book in my other class :)

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