Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Workshops
Today's sessions have really provoked some critical thinking....anyone have good stuff to share?
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
I've been making a list of questions
...well not really questions. Just things I've been thinking about, because it will be interesting to see how my thinking is different after the conference. I guess I'm trying to think of myself now as a "control group" and myself after as an "experimental group."
For example:
If we talk about physical possessions, there is obviously never going to be equality. In any high school, there will be some kids who have more stuff than others. So let's talk about that. In my high school, it was cars. Some of us (like me) had no car, some kids had cars, and some kids had nice cars.
Did I expect the kids with cars to give them away? No.
Did I expect the kids with cars to share them with me? Not in the sense of lending me their cars. But I did expect that if we were all going to a movie, they would pick me up rather than making me get a ride from my MOM.
Did I expect to get a car, too? No. We didn't have the money.
But here is something I DID expect. I did expect the kids with cars not to whine about them in front of me. If a kid with a car complained that he didn't have a nicer one (and these were "he"s in my case - the girls I knew didn't complain about their cars in front of me, the boys did) in front of me, I thought that was rude.
What I expected was that the kids who got cars should at least ENJOY them. Because I wanted to have a car, too. And so it would get me mad that a kid had a car, while I didn't, and the kid wasn't even appreciating it.
It's the same feeling I get when I'm dieting, and someone is eating something that I would die to have (and might die if I did have), and not even enjoying it, or god forbid, complain about it. If I am off red meat, and you are complaining that your steak is a little too rare, no jury would convict me when I threw my fork at you.
-----
So, white male heterosexual privilege. I got it. I'll never be able to see all of it - the system is designed that way - but I see enough to know it is there. Shouldn't I enjoy it? Isn't it a sin not to enjoy it? Even as I fight the institution that gives me a nice car while you walk, when I DO drive my car, shouldn't I at least appreciate it? Wouldn't you want me to?
....
Not expecting answers in this email, but I'm interested to see what I will think when I get back. That's the type of thing I'm trying to document before tomorrow.
For example:
If we talk about physical possessions, there is obviously never going to be equality. In any high school, there will be some kids who have more stuff than others. So let's talk about that. In my high school, it was cars. Some of us (like me) had no car, some kids had cars, and some kids had nice cars.
Did I expect the kids with cars to give them away? No.
Did I expect the kids with cars to share them with me? Not in the sense of lending me their cars. But I did expect that if we were all going to a movie, they would pick me up rather than making me get a ride from my MOM.
Did I expect to get a car, too? No. We didn't have the money.
But here is something I DID expect. I did expect the kids with cars not to whine about them in front of me. If a kid with a car complained that he didn't have a nicer one (and these were "he"s in my case - the girls I knew didn't complain about their cars in front of me, the boys did) in front of me, I thought that was rude.
What I expected was that the kids who got cars should at least ENJOY them. Because I wanted to have a car, too. And so it would get me mad that a kid had a car, while I didn't, and the kid wasn't even appreciating it.
It's the same feeling I get when I'm dieting, and someone is eating something that I would die to have (and might die if I did have), and not even enjoying it, or god forbid, complain about it. If I am off red meat, and you are complaining that your steak is a little too rare, no jury would convict me when I threw my fork at you.
-----
So, white male heterosexual privilege. I got it. I'll never be able to see all of it - the system is designed that way - but I see enough to know it is there. Shouldn't I enjoy it? Isn't it a sin not to enjoy it? Even as I fight the institution that gives me a nice car while you walk, when I DO drive my car, shouldn't I at least appreciate it? Wouldn't you want me to?
....
Not expecting answers in this email, but I'm interested to see what I will think when I get back. That's the type of thing I'm trying to document before tomorrow.
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