Imagining WRTC

While considering the WRTC Foundational Document, we are tasked with selecting two poster images to brand our department—or as I've put it in my header, with "imagining WRTC." Because I think our department has so much to offer in terms of ideas, I’d like to focus on concepts and disciplinarity, rather than on people.

OK—my first image is admittedly kind of "cosmic," but I wanted to convey the ideas of writing, communication, technology, and virtually unlimited possibility. Sadly, the idea of rhetoric (my own disciplinary focus) is not directly conveyed here; probably, though, it is implied by the possibility of participating in / changing global discourse through writing and technology. From the point of view of cultural inclusion (not to mention statistical reality, at JMU), it would make sense for the hands to be those of a woman. And perhaps it would be ideal if the skin tone of the hands was tanned / light brown (are they already?).

My second image is one I created, and it’s a simple Venn diagram. Although it is simple, I’m hoping the colors—which reflect the RGB color wheel used for a lot of visual rhetoric—are eye-catching. While our three subdisciplines are peripherally inscribed in white upon their color fields, the centrally-located name of our department is inscribed in black on white, and in a larger font. The font style is intended to be crisp and narrow—to be quick and easy to read and to take up minimal width in relation to height, without visual distortion. In terms disciplinary culture, I’ve given a kind of preeminence to “technical communication” by placing it horizontally and immediately below “WRTC.” Really, that placement was necessitated by the desire to maintain design symmetry, since “writing” and “rhetoric” are more equally sized. The important thing here is the idea of subdisciplinary overlap, which implies the idea of interdisciplinarity.

WRTC Poster

“The School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication is a community committed to preparing its students—both writers and technical and scientific communicators—for lives of enlightened, global citizenship.” I chose to take a different route with these pictures. We aren't a physically diverse group, and I don't want to use people in the images to pretend that we are. Instead, to incorporate the mission statement, I chose two static pictures. The first I took at the WRTC Meet and Greet at the beginning of this school year.

This shows e-Vision, James Madison's journal of first-year writing. Any first-year student can submit to e-Vision for publication and gives these students a chance to have their work published and understand the importance of having their work available for other readers.

The second image I chose was taken on the quad by undergraduate students for their WRTC 482 course. Their task was to design a website and they chose to incorporate campus into their website.

I liked this picture because it incorporates Harrison Hall and the Quad. WRTC and Harrison Hall are one in the same. Incorporating the "global" aspect of the mission statement, this image shows life outside of Harrison Hall. We are located in Harrison, but aren't contained to Harrison. The sky's the limit.

WRTC Poster

I pulled these words out of the mission statement as the keywords from our mission statement: community, writers, technical, global citizenship. I wanted to choose two images that best reflected these words and showed culture of our program. The good thing about WRTC is it has “diversity.” But I’m speaking about diversity in that our student’s don’t have a “type.” We attract all forms of people. I also want to reflect that in my pictures.

The first picture I picked shows students writing. Even the technical side of the WRTC program does an extensive amount of writing. Not only does this picture show the culture the program but it also portrays the students as being studious, productive students.

The second picture I chose is a very generic image of a keyboard. As a web designer, this is the type of image I would look for to put on the homepage of a website and also an image that could be manipulated for a banner or a poster. The picture is generic, doesn’t show a student (so its inclusive) and doesn’t single out either track, major or class. The picture appeals to all aspects of the program and shows the “technical” side.

These two pictures show the culture of our program without secluding either track or concentration in the program. I feel the pictures could help brand our program and portray WRTC in a positive light for incoming students and parents.

“The School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication is a community committed to preparing its students—both writers and technical and scientific communicators—for lives of enlightened, global citizenship.”
I chose these two images to best represent the WRTC mission statement for several reasons. The first image was chosen to show the relationships between not only just students but between graduate and undergraduate students. The picture shows Christy and Katy (both grad students) sitting with an undergraduate student. To get this point across, however, there should probably be some sort of caption explaining the “grad/undergrad sandwich”. Their friendly faces and positioning around the undergraduate student portrays a sense of “community” and “global citizenship”. This picture emulates the writing side of WRTC inherently by showing the undergrad holding up an obvious piece of writing. Unlike many other majors around James Madison, WRTC has classes that give undergrads and graduates the chance to communicate and interact with each other within the learning environment.
The second picture was chosen to reflect the technical communication side of WRTC. The picture shows two students looking over a computer (that just so happens to resemble the same monitors used within our computer labs). The students have smiles on their faces and one student appears to be helping the other do her work. This portrays “enlightened, global citizenship” and “community” by the willingness of students to help each other. The different ethnicity of the students also show a diverse and multicultural feel to the picture that should be welcoming to all persons who see this poster.

WRTC

“The School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication is a community committed to preparing its students—both writers and technical and scientific communicators—for lives of enlightened, global citizenship.”

Although "a picture is worth a thousand words," I had a difficult time selecting the images for this assignment. My first choice (from the Science Communication Center at the University of Tennessee--Knoxville) depicts several icons of writing, rhetoric, communication, and various forms of technology: a pen and paper; a computer; a stack of books. To me, this combination suggests the timeless and multifaceted nature of the writer's (rhetorician's, communicator's) art.

The mission statement makes (excessive?) use of words that begin with "comm-": communication, community, committed, communicators. To honor this choice, and to particularize the WRTC experience to JMU, I felt that my second image should feature people. But which people? Today's students learning their craft, or the professionals that those students presumably will become? The "communicators" themselves, or the people around the globe with whom they will be communicating? I wanted to take race and gender into account on some level, as we have previously discussed. As well, with more and more people going back to school at mid-life, I wanted to find an image that would include an older or otherwise "nontraditional" student; even in our tiny Technical & Scientific Editing class, 25% of us are over 30. Finally, it would have been nice for some JMU colors or logos to make an appearance, perhaps in the form of a sweatshirt. I simply couldn't find an image that satisfied me, so I went in a different direction:

James Madison--an icon of the university, and a writer and communicator of no mean stature (metaphorically speaking, anyway).

WRTC Poster

Below are two images I chose to include in a stationary poster for the school of Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication that will hang on the second floor of Harrison Hall. I chose two images that I felt emphasized diversity of choice students have as opposed to diversity of culture.

I thought a picture of an aerial view of JMU’s campus is appropriate for a couple of reasons. First, all Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication undergraduate students must meet the program’s “depth requirement” by “declaring a minor or a second major to meet the depth requirement.” Also, graduate students also have an option to take cognate courses outside WRTC. During their WRTC career, students will be exposed to classes outside of the department. Essentially, this requirement opens up the whole campus to students. I think this is something that should be emphasized by the program. In my experiences as an undergraduate here in a different major, other programs don’t require students to expand their academic horizons. And in today’s tough job market, I think that is something to stress.

While glue–stick collages aren’t necessarily professional, I felt this photo conveyed WRTC’s mission statement quite well. Collages are works of art that is made up of material usually not associated with each other. Just as the student in the picture sifts through a pile of words, phrases, and icons in order to arrange the items on a poster, a WRTC student can combine his or her interests into a finished product—a WRTC degree.

WRTC Program

First, I felt like the images it had to reflect the concepts of our field. This entails the professionalism that our field often suggests in technical communication and the scholarship that often comes with rhetoric, writing, and editing. This means that the photograph should be clean and hint towards both scholarship and excellence. At the same time, though students can range in age and we do embrace that, if I wanted to reflect WRTC in general, the undergraduate program probably gets more recognition than the graduate program, and therefore the people in the photograph had to look young enough to either be in school or fresh out of school and young professionals.





I chose this first photograph because I wanted to show people as students doing what they do most during school—working. Our field also relies heavily on group work, which is evident through the books, so I wanted to make sure that could be incorporated as well. This photograph shows diversity in gender along with possible diversity in ethnicity without looking forced. Often in group photographs, the diversity issue seems pushed and obvious, which makes it seem fake, but this photograph looks natural.





I also decided to include this picture to highlight the modern aspects of our field. We use technology on a regular basis, and if we are trying to represent the program of WRTC, then what we do is as important as who is involved. The person on the computer could be typing a paper, researching information, gathering or analyzing data, or editing; all of which touch on numerous aspects of our program. Though the hands are indicative of being certain races, the fact that the person typing is faceless to us still leaves room for prospective students to imagine themselves in this person's place.

I actually found this image on Google by searching "global citizenship," which is the last part of the WRTC mission statement. I think it works for multiple reasons. We've already discussed in class the idea of having silhouettes instead of pictures of actual people (on the tall WRTC banner, for example). This picture provides the visual of four people without depicting their age, race, or sex. It also gives that "you could be here" feel to the picture that we've also talked about in class. I think the picture also describes what WRTC does without describing the specifics. Technical communication is global, which is demonstrated by the map behind the four individuals. However, it is not an artistically-drawn map. Instead, it is somewhat pixelated which gives it more of a computer look. Although I like the idea of keeping specifics out of the poster because there are multiple aspects to WRTC, computers are involved in nearly every aspect and should be shown in some way.




Using a picture of Harrison Hall for a WRTC poster isn't the most creative idea. But I do think it is important to show prospective students where they would be studying, especially when the campus looks as appealing as ours does. Not every "culture" has a specific place where it is located. For example, I could not show a picture of the Mexican flag or an outline of Mexico to show the Hispanic culture. But the WRTC department is solely housed in Harrison Hall, so I thought showing the building where it resides was important. It also helps students "put a name with a face," so to speak. It's hard to concretely show what WRTC does; there's not a specific "WRTC" image (aside from our logo, that is). This way, we can show students the actual building where the WRTC "culture" is located.

A post from Katherine

I teach a course in the GenEd Cluster Two curriculum called “Music in General Culture.” The term has always puzzled me. Particularly in the fine arts, culture pertains not only to what we might classify as more or less anthropological distinctions (Western vs. non-Western; Germanic vs. Scandinavian; sacred vs. secular; Catholic vs. Lutheran) but to perceived hierarchies as well (“art music” vs. popular music; highbrow, middlebrow, lowbrow). With so many dichotomies in play, what in the world—literally—constitutes general culture? I suppose I should embrace the ambiguity as a license to structure the course according to my own preferences—to teach X and not Y. And I do tailor the content to my own strengths and interests, as does every other instructor who leads a section of this course. Yet, as much as I cherish academic freedom, the burden of editing culture by inclusion/exclusion rests uneasily on my shoulders. I have only 16 weeks with these students, many of whom never have taken, and/or likely never will take, another music course. I am the “expert” here, and my decisions will shape impressionable minds’ ideas about “culture.” What makes the cut? Is it a greater disservice to my students to nix Beethoven or the Beatles? How to balance their likely interests with my own sense of responsibility as a historian? The answer changes every semester, and I doubt I will ever feel entirely satisfied.

Oh, Beautiful

The Hispanic culture is one of the bigger "minority" groups in the US. Because of our proximity to Mexico and Central America, a lot of the immigrants in our country are from Spanish/Latin American descent. While we claim "English" as our main language, the US has never declared a national language and therefore those who cannot speak English fluently still have a right to be in our country. In some cases, companies, publications, public services and the government have taken strides to make sure those who cannot speak English (most often those who speak Spanish) are able to function in our society.

This includes, but is certainly not limited to street signs in Spanish, the driver's test in Spanish, even the pool I worked at in college had a Spanish version of our rules and regulations. What caught my eye today was a Pringles can that we gave a coworker. The can had not only the nutritional information but also the same information in Spanish. As I investigated other labels, I noticed that they were in English and that was all. There was no Spanish on the boxes whatsoever.

I looked up the FDA requirements for language use on food labels. If we have so many non-English speaking residents in the US, why don't all the foods have some Spanish on them? We don't want anyone to get an allergic reaction to something. The FDA says "Since certain consumers may not understand English, it is the intent of the regulation that they be furnished the mandatory label information in a language they can understand." The regulation goes on to say that common words such as "antipasto" do not need to be translated because that word is used in English as well. So again we have an issue of context.

Why did Pringles decide to use Spanish translation on their label and no other language? The US is open to ALL immigrants and while Hispanics are our biggest group, Italians, Middle-Eastern, and French consumers might also enjoy a can of Pringles every now and then. And where does the FDA draw the line on what must be included in another language on a label? There is already a ton of information labels already, do we need to translate it all?

Here is the FDA regulation if you would like to look at it.

Hispanic Population Boo

In America, the Hispanic population is growing faster and spreading farther across the whole country than ever before in history according to the 2010 Census. With nearly 50 million Hispanics populating the United states, the “people of Hispanic origin now clearly represent the second largest group in the country with 16% of the total U.S. population.” Hispanics now possess 12.5 percent of the total population. Because of this Hispanics, have moved to the second highest population amongst different races. Whites and Blacks still occupy the 1st and 3rd slots. According to the census, there was the largest increase in the southern states who usually posses smaller Latino communities.

An interesting fact about the census though, is that it does not differentiate between legal and illegal residents. So, my question is how does the country react and prepare for such an influx in one population of people? The most pressing issue, I believe is how are we going to educate this thriving population of people. In order for our country to be the “land of opportunity” that many Hispanics believe we need to be able to respond to the fact that “just one in 10 Hispanic dropouts has a General Educational Development credentials”. Without taking advantage of the schooling our nations provides we need to develop more and more programs setup to monitor and mentor young Hispanics (much like young African Americans have the FBLA programs).

I would like to see less discrimination against illegal immigrants and more businesses, foundations and associations are taking an active role in recruiting and scholarship programs to get this populations youth better acclimated to our countries culture so that this population can thrive in America.

Honoring Native Americans

The opening lines of the fight song of the Washington Redskins go: “Hail to the Redskins ⁄Hail to Victory ⁄ Braves on the Warpath ⁄ Fight for old D.C.” According to many fans, the team name and the song pay homage to Native Americans. However, many Native Americans find the term highly offensive.

In 1932, the Boston Braves joined the National Football League and one year later, the team changed its name to the Redskins to honor then– head coach William “Lone Star” Dietz, who was part–Sioux. By 1937, the team relocated to Washington, D.C. Frank Deford, a writer and political commentator, explained in an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered that the term “‘redskin’ was a scalp taken by Americans as bounty. The red in ‘redskin’ is blood red.” From this definition, it's clear the nickname is not a term of endearment.

Even though the Washington Redskins refuse to change their name, many other teams are. In 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced schools with offensive Native Americans would be barred from participating in postseason events if they didn’t change. And in a recent article in the Washington Post, Mike Wise reports there were over 3,000 Native American nicknames throughout high schools, colleges and professional teams in 1970. By 2009, less than a 1,000 nicknames remained.

Despite the decrease of offensive Native American nicknames, many highly–visible professional sports franchises have rejected overtures to change their nicknames. Including the Redskins, the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians and Golden State Warriors continue to operate while using out–dated terminology.

It’s time to honor the wishes of Native Americans and remove offensive language from sport’s teams.

culture jamming

I thought that this was an interesting concept. Culture jamming is a movement meant to disrupt the current social culture as well as the concept of exposing questions and political assumptions behind a certain culture. This could include redesigning a logo that is well-known, dressing a certain way, or, refer to movements that our country has gone through in the past. In a way, it's the idea of anti-consumerism, but what makes up consumerism is a specific culture.

For example: the goth trend. It came about in response to the preppy trend
Another example would be dada. I know no one else in this class is big on art, but consider the following piece of work, by Hans Arp titled "Collage with Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance." It's out of a movement called dada, which was in response to World War I. This piece is now worth millions.



[Materials used: construction paper]

Another example I found is one for Australia's Department of Defence. The ad has a full-black background and looks sleek and clean. It states, "HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES?" It continues, "Why settle for an ordinary office job when you could have an extraordinary and challenging career as a pawn in the power games of politicians? [insert profane concepts here] ... You will receieve over $44,700 per annum upon completion of initial training, which should just about cover treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Gulf War Syndrome... The Defence Graduate Program is an exhilarating way to hand over your life to apolitician and partake in yet another imperialistic land grab."

Quite the interesting way of viewing that culture, I'd say.

The point is, not only does a culture exist within itself, but it has external ramifications as well. And, if one does certain things to be in a culture, that means others do certain things to be out of a culture. It's just another factor of culture that we have to think about when editing... not only how will it affect the people within that culture, but how will it affect those who are not part of it?

Racism v. Racialism?

Of course, racism is bad. To prejudge or limit others based on what one perceives to be their race(s) undermines their self-determination—affronts their human dignity. And the fact that an individual may derive a significant chunk of his or her identity from a chosen racial identity is fine and good—so long as that's a choice (although racism sometimes finds egress through such articulations).

But what about an idea of race based on something less culturally constructed? Even if we can’t transcend language, some statements seem more empirically-based, yes? Science strives—asymptotically, admittedly—for fact, and biology speaks to us about genes and natural selection. Humanity is a species, which means we’re all basically the same. But within every species is genetic variation.

Physical anthropologists used to classify humans into three basic races—then five, then seven or nine, then twelve or fifteen, then twenty-two… Then they gave up. Since observed variations in “racial” characteristics aren’t discrete, drawing hard-and-fast lines doesn’t seem to have a biological basis.

But if we think of race in terms of geographical-genetic nodes, it might still make scientific sense. Humans didn’t always move around quite as much quite as quickly, and more-or-less isolated populations had time to adapt genetically to particular environments, even if, at their geographical edges, they flowed genetically into other human populations.

Racialism is the idea that particular, primal human populations developed particular adaptations to particular environments. Unfortunately, it suggests the politically incorrect possibility that those different populations may have had particular strengths and weaknesses, relative to other human populations.

We are too close to this problem to study it effectively; due to a cultural-observer effect, the historical unpacking of racialism has typically trailed off into racism. And that’s a darn shame, if we want to know our whole story.

Culture in Elementary Schools

One of the most important things my mother has taught me thus far in life is to never become an elementary school teacher. This is partially because she knows I'm not good with kids, but also partially because she says that so little of what she does anymore is actually the teaching aspect of being a teacher. The school that my mom teaches at is diverse. The number of languages spoken there are in the double digits, and is not matched by the school's staff. In fact, parent/teacher conference are becoming a struggle. There have been times when a translator wasn't available, and the student had to sit in on the meeting/conference in order to translate for both the teacher and the parent.

If I had to define a the "culture" of the school, however, it would technically be an "English" school. The school has a program for what they call "ESL" kids- or, English as a Second Language. The children of each grade level that do not speak English at all or as their first language get together at certain parts of the day and are taught as one group. This way, an instructor can spend more one-on-one time with each student so he or she can learn the material. Having an "ESL" program is good in theory, but interesting to look at in terms of what we've been studying in class. The school does not offer different classes or instructors depending on the student's native language. Therefore all of the students who do not fall into the "English" category are grouped into one non-descriptive group. They are not considered "Hispanic" or "Asian" or any of the other terms we've talked about in class. Instead, they are all clumped together into one "English is not my first language" culture. Their class is known as the "ESL" class. In a way, it's defining them by what they aren't, instead of defining them by what they are. I realize that there aren't many solutions, due to funding issues and the like. It isn't feasible to have separate teachers for each and every language being spoken in the school. And I also don't think that the students feel offended being called the "ESL students" (although I can't speak for them). But it is an interesting topic to look at based on what we've talked about.

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/diversity

During our Culture Unit, we've discussed race and not much else. There is more to a person's culture than the color of their skin or what ethnicity they choose. Yes, I said choose for a reason. I took a Language and Society course during my undergrad and we discussed that race and ethnicity are based on a person's perspective of themself. I could call myself Black/African American if I wanted to, but then during converstation I would need to be prepared to say why I associate myself with this race. On to Sesame Street. Sesame Street has a section within their website dedicated to Diversity. Some of the different topics include who makes up your family, what holidays you celebrate, and why we all look different. These factors, along with others, create diversity between all individuals. There are non-traditional families (single parent, adoption, and interratial, etc). We celebrate different holidays (Easter, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Rhamadan, etc). Physically, we all look different- even identical twins have individual features and personalities for others to tell them apart. Ernie explored why we all look different. He used an example with 4 red, identical, ball-shaped "people." Ernie couldn't tell them apart, and they couldn't identify who the mother, father, son, or postman was. Each "person" knew his or her own identity, but it was not apparent to anyone else. Ernie's point through this was if we all looked exactly the same, how would I know if the person next to me was my mom, relative, friend, or a stranger? Diversity and culture create our identities. Sometimes these identities are positively perceived and sometimes negatively. You can't change who you are (well.. you could but that's more related to the Gender Unit or Michael Jackson).

The Road to Hell . . .

On the first day of our gender-and-sexuality unit, I startled everyone by smacking myself in the face mid-discussion with one of the style guides that Professor Lunsford had brought for our perusal. I regret having caused the disturbance—not least because the gesture had nothing to do with the topic at hand—but I reacted on pure instinct to an example of good intentions gone bad. Permit me to explain.

The problematic word? Concertmaster (the principal violinist of a symphony orchestra).

The preferred alternatives? Concert leader or Concert director.

From the perspective of gender neutrality, the substitution makes sense: why preserve a seemingly antiquated, clearly masculine term if a gender-neutral option exists—particularly if the individual thus titled is a female? As Paula Treichler and other feminist linguists emphasize, language both reflects and shapes culture, so linguistic and cultural change must at some point join forces on the march toward utopia. But history and precision, it seems, risk becoming casualties of the more militant movements for equity (of gender, ability, and race). The distinctive (sub-?)culture of Western classical music holds as negative a record toward gender parity as perhaps any other institution. As a woman and a musician, this fact dismays me. As a historian, I have tried to create a more complete historical record by writing and teaching about women in music. I do heed gender considerations as I work; I try, for example, to avoid the phrase “woman composer,” since it suggests an exceptionalism that the historical record does not necessarily support. Yet, I cannot fathom the circumstance in which I would employ concert leader or concert director. Concertmaster, for all its masculine connotations, is as historically accurate as foreman (of a jury; of a plantation; of a construction project). Moreover, it is also accurately job-specific in a way that neither of the suggested alternatives can match. A grain of historical truth accompanies concert leader, in that the concertmaster actually did lead the orchestra before the advent of the modern conductor in the early nineteenth century. Concert director, however, invites confusion with the role of conductor (or director, as a wind ensemble leader occasionally is called) and with the various organizational support positions attached to a professional orchestra. For the sake of historical accuracy and contemporary clarity, I would no more call a 21^st-century woman principal violinist a concert director than I would an 18^th-century male in the same position. Nor would I tolerate an editor who insisted on changing my terminology to align with a personal (ahistorical) agenda, no matter how well intended.

Style guides and “alternative” dictionaries have a place, but the responsibility to gauge and prioritize sensitivity and accuracy lies with the end user.

Starting Early

I came across an interesting article in searching for some topics for this blog. The article, titled "Gender Bias Still Exists in Children's Literature," states that gender bias is still common in many children's books. A duo at Centre College surveyed over 200 childrens books and found that they were still very gender-biased and showed an under-representation of female characters.

The kicker? Most of the books were from 2001, except the seven-year Caldecott winners, which were still recent. We're not talking classic children's literature that ranges from fables to Winnie the Pooh to Where the Wild Things Are, but we're talking modern-day women-can-work-and-make-as-much-as-men, don't-write-he-because-it-could-be-she children's books.

So what all did this entail? Well, as a short summary, and directly from the website, "There were nearly twice as many male as female title and main characters... Male characters appeared in lillustrations 53 percent more than female characters... Female main characters nurtured more than did male main characters, and they were seen in more indoor than outdoor scenes... Occupations were gender stereotyped, and more women than men appeared to have no paid occupation."

Nature versus NURTURE, anyone?

The duo also did studies on books from the 80s and 90s, and found no reduced sexism in the books from the year 2001.

Two other intersting facts: First, in these 200 books, "more than twice as many had more male title characters than female (75 versus 32) and more male main characters than female (95 versus 52)." But, possibly more intersting is the The People = Male and Animal = Male phenomena, or that there exists in us a tendency to assume an animal or a person is male unless there's strong information to the contrary.

And what all does this mean? According to one of the researchers, "Modern children's picture books continue to provide nightly reinforcement of the idea that boys and men are more interesting and important than are girls and women."

It's interesting that, for the most part, I doubt these authors sat back and said "Hm, how can I make this as gender-biased as possible?" but we're still giving children the hidden implications of male-reigning society. Why? Because it's still subconsciously in our heads as well, perhaps. Either that or the authors really are sitting around trying to figure out how they can make it as gender-biased as possible.

See the article at http://www.collegenews.org/x6773.xml

"Why I am a Feminist"

I’m a man, and I’m a feminist. Not only do I perceive no contradiction there, but I cannot understand how it should be otherwise. Let me explain what I mean, starting with a simple definition. Dictionary.com is not considered a feminist (much less a radical) resource, and its first definition of feminism is: “The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.” It’s tempting to say it would take a Neanderthal to disagree with such a doctrine, but that would be an insult to Neanderthals!

I perceive the essence of feminism to be a logical expression of our Enlightenment-democratic / egalitarian impulse. To paraphrase Jefferson, we hold this truth to be self-evident: that all people are created equal. The fact that our Founders were inconsistent in their application of this principle has not been an argument against it, but rather it has been an incentive to realize its full unfolding (a fact not appreciated by those who ungratefully bask in emancipations painfully secured for them by others).

I believe that, to paraphrase MLK, a threat to freedom and dignity anywhere is a threat to freedom and dignity everywhere. From Blacks to Womyn to Queers, groups historically disenfranchised by “The Man” have struggled to acquire the “Rights of Man”—which is to say their human rights (thus I justify the paraphrasing of men here). And recognizing that the smallest minority is the individual, I affirm the rights of minorities not just as a matter of fairness—although it is that—but as a matter of self interest.

And that is why I am a feminist.

Sexism in Comedy

In the world of humor, comedians push the boundaries of taste. They confront uncomfortable issues head on. Today is no different. Daniel Tosh’s television show, Tosh.0, is one of the most popular programs on basic cable. In the show, Tosh gives a scathing commentary about viral videos found on the Internet. Tosh claims, “I’m not a misogynistic and racist person, but I do find those jokes funny, so I say them.” As a result, many of his punch lines are racist, sexist, or homophobic.

http://http://tosh.comedycentral.com/video-clips/web-redemption---cartwheeling-goalie

In one of the episodes, which ran June 30, 2010, Tosh featured a clip, the Cartwheeling Goalie. During the video, Tosh interviews a goalie, known for a viral video where he performs cartwheels before penalty kicks. Throughout the clip, Tosh belittles soccer. In one scene, he suggests the goalie try out for a more masculine sport, American football, and, in another, Tosh parodies the famous celebration when Brandi Chastain scored the game-winning goal in the 1999 Woman’s World Cup.

But, is this ok?

Comedy provides an outlet for taboo subjects to be discussed. Bill Maher, host of Real Time, explains, “There are a lot of issues you need to tread carefully on, but sometimes the best disinfectant for a messy topic is sunlight, and it's comedy's job to be that sunlight.”

Personally, when I hear a joke that goes too far, I think to myself: is that how that sounds? It makes me more aware. By forcing us to confront the elephant in the room, comics like Tosh may be doing us a favor.

Looking at it the other way

Throughout this unit, we've been focusing on gender equality from the feminist perspective. That is, we've been looking at the ways our society is sexist against women by using language in certain contexts to "put the man first." For years we've been using this language but recently there have been some situations where this type of "sexist" thinking is reversed. What I mean is, there are jobs, hobbies, occupations, activities, etc that are specific to women and when men do them, they are addressed by putting "men's" first to distinguish that they are a man in a woman's world. When we think of gender equality, we think about making it equal for women. But the same goes for the other direction as well.

Typically, the nursing profession is a female dominated profession. When a man becomes a nurse, they are referred to as a "male" nurse whereas a woman is just referred to as "nurse." The same thing happens for the word "widow." When we have a gender specific word (actor, steward, waiter), the male version is always the root and the female version has the added letters to make the difference between the genders. For widow, the female version is the root word and "widower" is the adapted version. (This goes back to the time when women were more often widowed because of the men's travels, work, wars, etc.).

Another example is the sport, volleyball. Volleyball is traditionally a woman's sport and the net height is set at 7' 4 1/8''. Men play on a net that is at 7' 11 5/8''. Only recently did they begin to distinguish between "men's volleyball" and "women's volleyball." Originally it was called "volleyball" and "men's volleyball."

The position of stay-at-home-dad is also a term that has popped up recently. More and more men are staying at home with their children while their wives work. Sometimes, men in these positions are often called "Mr. Mom." In most societal settings, it it okay for women to stay at home and take care of their children and household, but when men do it, they run the risk of ridicule from their male friends.

9 times out of 10, we look at gender issues based on making it equal for women and removing "masculine" dominated language. My argument is that that 1 time out of 10, it goes both ways and we need to be editing for both sides of the equality. Though these instances rare and only occuring in certain situations, we need to edit in both directions in order to be completely equal.

Gender-Neutral Housing

We recently discussed the issue of gender-nuetrality during my weekly meetings within the Orientation Office. The issue is that the NEw Jersey state university has taken steps towards allowing male and female students to share rooms in an effort to become a more inclusive community for gay students. In a statement made by the university, they layout their plan for implementing this decision, "Starting this fall, all students – whether gay, lesbian, transgender or heterosexual – can choose either male or female roommates under the pilot program. Men and women will share bathrooms." This pilot program was created after the highly publicized suicide of a gay student last year at Rutgers. The student killed himself after his roommate invaded his privacy by recording him during sexual interaction with another man via webcam. Since many other universities are following suit and offering similar housing options (University of Maryland, Columbia University, George Washington University) it seem pertinent that we discuss the option being made available at JMU. During the meeting we couldn't really come up with a consensus. Many people agreed that yes, it "seemed" like a good idea in a perfect world but how would you be able to control whole gets access to mixed sexed dorms? Wouldn't this cause further discrimination by delegating a specific section of housing to gay and transgendered this pilot program is among the campus and how the university plans on monitoring or "screening" individuals that apply for the housing.ed individuals? Although this is a step in the right direction for creating a more inclusive campus, I am curious to see how well reci

Gender Neutrality in the Bible

The newest editions of various versions of the Bible, including the New International Version and the New American Bible, contain changes including attempts at converting the typical historical language with more modern language. “According to the Rev. Joseph Jensen, executive secretary of the Catholic Bible Association, the new edition uses more "inclusive language" by rearranging words so that masculine pronouns do not appear when referring to both men and women. It also replaces "He" with "God" in many places” (taken from an article from the Duquesne Duke).

The changes have received some backlash, and I can understand both sides of the argument. One of the main goals of the editors was to make the Bible easier to read by using modern language. Their argument was that we do not “technically” know what sex God actually was. Keeping things gender neutral would actually make things more accurate. They also wanted to equally represent both males and females in the passages. The passages that were directed specifically toward males were edited as such, while passages directed toward everyone were edited from masculine-derived words to all-inclusive words (“humankind,” for example).

I think as editors, part of our job is to make sure that what we are saying as being represented as accurately as possible. Therefore it could be necessary to edit something from “man” to “humankind” if, in fact, the phrase was meant to be all-inclusive. The problem (well, there are more than one) with editing a text as historic as the Bible is that the text has already gone through a number of edits, including translations from language to language. Things get lost in translation easily, especially after being translated over thousands of years. Furthermore, when translating something from one language into another, there often times is not an exact word or phrase for the translation, and the meaning is slightly altered. Going back to my original point of making things gender neutral- it’s hard to judge when things are supposed to be gender neutral and when one specific sex is being referred to when the original meaning of the text is not clearly known to begin with.

There also comes a point where historical rhetoric has to be taken into account. We use “slang” gender terms today (for example, “man, that was a tough loss” does not refer to a “male,” but instead is a common phrase) that do not link the gender reference to the actual sex. Who’s to say that thousands of years ago they did not do the same thing? At that point, editing for gender neutrality could alter the meaning as well. The editors were attempting to edit for clarity, which can be accomplished by using modern language. But at the same time, they are also making assumptions about the text that may not be true, therefore changing the meaning of the original text. I can also see the benefits of changing the “He” references to “God,” because the meaning is not lost and could actually make things clearer in terms of who is speaking. I can see some benefits of editing the Bible to be gender neutral, but I can see the setbacks and issues as well.

Editing Speech for Gender and Sexuality

I actually have had first-hand experience editing my speech with gender and sexuality. A fraternity brother requested to be referred to as "Nathan*" and "male" within the fraternity because he was considering a sexchange. For the past four years, I have referred to my friend as Nathan and never questioned the choice.
His facebook was set as Nathan, later changed to W.N., but is now set as Wendy*. (There is no gender specified on his facebook, but I don't have one specified on mine either.) We took a motorcycle course together the summer after we graduate from VT and she made sure that while we were in class to refer to her as "Wendy."
During our senior year, she actually decided that she wanted to remain female and keep her name as Wendy, but did not bring this request to the fraternity because she did not want to raise any further confusion (I only found out about this last week).
Over spring break, I went to Hampton to visit Sarah* and Nathan with Rachelle*. (Sarah, Rachelle, and I were roommates and Nathan is now roommates with Sarah, but we're all really good friends). Before Rachelle and I left my mom's house in Richmond we raised the question to each other, "How do we refer to Nathan? Is he still Nathan, or is she Wendy?" I voted we just not make a direct name mention until we figure out one way or the other. Luckily, Sarah immediately began reffering to Nathan as Wendy and our question was answered. I brought up our questin to Sarah in private and she informed us about Wendy's choice to remain female and how she decided this while we were still in college and it made entering the professional world much easier.

Editing myself to write the above blog entry was difficult. To edit, I referred to Nathan as him when he was Nathan to me. But once I found out she decided to remain female and Wendy I respected it by referring to her as she. This scenario is similar to Donald vs Deirdra McClosky that we talked about during class. My theory is to define the person in the context in which you knew the gender. When Nathan was known as Nathan, I refer to him as him. This past week, when I was made aware Nathan chose to be Wendy, I refer to her as her.

*Names have been changed for privacy purposes

Return to Reverse Disability

I've already posted, but two things:

1. I spelled Asperger's incorrectly (no "b").

2. Today, I heard an individual (allegedly) with Asperger's refer disparagingly to someone without as "a neurotypical." Her contextual meaning was clear: neurotypicals (kind of like muggles) are an occluded lot, while individuals with autism (kind of like magical folk) are in the know. When I suggested this to the individual in question, she told me the term was technically accepted; when I pointed out that her use of the term seemed more slang than technical, she said: "You wouldn't understand"!

Disability and/as History

To edit language about disability is, to some extent, to edit the disability itself—to shape for a reader the identities and experiences of individuals for whom a “disability” is the norm. From Riley to the RTC, we have sampled the (often conflicting) demands that a conscientious editor must satisfy: fidelity to the author’s voice, the audience’s expectations, and advertisers’ agendas; conformance to house style and/or external guidelines; concerns of layout and location; and, not least, the subject’s own experience. What additional challenges arise when the individual under consideration is not a contemporary celebrity like Christopher Reeve, but a cultural touchstone from the distant past? A short list of issues might include how or whether to “translate” historical terminology for a modern audience (either from a foreign language into English or from antiquated expressions into contemporary euphemisms); how to accurately assess the extent of a disability and/or the individual’s experience thereof; and the role allotted to the disability in shaping the overall narrative.

Consider the following excerpt from a recently published music appreciation textbook:

“Beethoven cut a strange, eccentric figure as he wandered the streets of Vienna, sometimes humming, sometimes mumbling, and sometimes jotting on music paper. Adding to the difficulties of his somewhat unstable personality was the fact that he was gradually losing his hearing—a serious handicap for any person, but a tragic condition for a musician. Can you imagine a blind painter?”[1]

The passage goes on to describe Beethoven’s progression into total deafness and his consideration of a suicide attempt; subsequent passages describe the music Beethoven composed in the years following his realization that the hearing loss would be irreversible (1803-1813, his so-called “Heroic” period). As an example of modern standards for writing about disability, the excerpt fails miserably; I can imagine Charles Riley recoiling in abject horror from the textbook, and the reference to the “blind painter” strikes a sour note even to my less acutely sensitive ear. Yet, the romanticized discussion of Beethoven’s deafness participates in a well-established historiographic tradition: for reasons not exclusive to his personal challenges, Beethoven long has been considered the first (and, by some, the greatest) exponent of the “Romantic” era of Western classical music history.

Graduate students in music history read—in German—the historical documents from which the language of this excerpt is derived: contemporaneous descriptions of the composer by his friends and associates, as well as his own accounts of his condition. They come to understand as well that the designation “heroic” refers less to Beethoven’s personal challenges than to his outlook on contemporary politics (the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte) and his choice in dramatic texts (the opera Fidelio, about a political prisoner and his wife). I would even venture to suggest that, for many historians, Beethoven’s deafness ultimately becomes more a piece of trivia than the central concern that it appears to be in the excerpt above (admittedly, only one paragraph out of an entire chapter devoted to the composer).

Too much emphasis on Beethoven’s auditory issues risks descending into caricature; too little ignores the certain fact that his condition mattered to him and to his art. Is there a “right” approach to writing about Beethoven’s deafness?

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[1] Craig Wright, Listening to Western Music, 6^th ed. (Boston: Schirmer, Cengage Learning, 2011), 214.

Reverse Disability?

Recently, I’ve become aware of a trend in the perception of autism (this awareness is based on scattered and informal observation, as opposed to deliberative research). Traditionally, autism has been associated with varying degrees of what could be considered left-brain isolation; while a person living with autism might display competencies related to logic and memory, they exhibit deficiencies related to communication and social interaction—and these deficiencies have defined the disorder.

The number of autism cases is on the rise (i.e. its rate of diagnosis has increased) and the reason for that is unclear. While I sympathize with those living with autism, I’ve noticed that the less extreme form—Aspberger’s Syndrome—has become almost hip. Especially in high schools and on-line, people have been using their alleged condition as an excuse to behave poorly and dismiss their critics as intolerant jerks. At the same time, I’ve seen people claim that autism represents the next phase of human evolution. Persons with autism are actually enlightened; since they are not obsessed with primate politics, they are less petty, deceitful and cruel.

At first I thought they can’t have it both ways: either autism is a disorder that can excuse otherwise inexcusable behavior, or it’s a different set of competencies that can show us new ways. But then I realized that autism—or at least Aspberger’s—could be both a set of deficiencies and a set of competencies, based on a different cognitive emphasis. And I don’t know how I feel about that…

Disability Community and Spending

In the espionage community, there’s a word for harmful, unintended consequences: blowback. For example, in 1980s, the United States armed Afghan warlords in their fight against the Soviet Union. Years later, those same warlords used American–made weaponry to fight US soldiers.

Today, the United States could experience blowback of a different kind. Across the country, federal, state and local governments are embroiled in bitter disputes to balance budgets. Right now, it seems all kinds of services are in danger of being eliminated. Even though coverage of the political battles has been thorough, the consequences these cuts will have on certain communities has been underreported.

Up until 1990, with the passage of the American with Disability Act, the disability community has been a marginalized group. Even though ADA prohibits discrimination against the 54 million Americans living with disabilities, many of the proposed cuts target government services for persons with disabilities. In Texas, lawmakers are considering 25 percent reductions to health and human service spending, which would greatly affect the disability community. Disability advocates in Minnesota fear cuts could limit the independence of persons with disabilities. And in Florida, lawmakers are considering cutting mental health services. All of these cuts would impact many people.

In the short–term, budgets would be balanced, but what blowback would these proposed cuts? Right now, the immediate concern is fiscal responsibility, but, if history’s any indication, we need to look to the future as well.

Disability Guidelines and Sports Articles

The guidelines set forth by AP and RTC articulate very specific (and often contradictory) ways of writing about a person who has a disability. They state that the writer should not refer to the disability unless it is pertinent to the story. The person should be focused on, not the disability. The person should be living with the disability, not suffering from it. And the person should not be considered as a superhuman for living with the disease, merely a person going about his or her everyday life. Regardless of my personal opinion of the guidelines, I have seen many articles succeed in following them and many that fall short. Where I think writers fall shortest of those guidelines, however, is with stories focused on sports figures.

In 1998 at the Goodwill Games, Chinese gymnast Sang Lan was performing a warm-up vault when she miscalculated where she was in the air and landed directly on her head. After being rushed to the hospital, doctors determined that the damage done to her spine was irreversible and, at least until further medical discoveries arose, she would be paralyzed from the waist down. Sang spent 13 weeks in the hospital until finally being able to leave, although she would permanently be in a wheelchair. Multiple articles were published about Sang’s accident following the event. One article in particular was published by the New York Times. It detailed Sang’s journey as an athlete up until her accident. However the focus of the article was not on the actual event- it was, instead, an emotional build-up of her emotional story as an athlete (being taken from her family at age 6, training every day for hours on end, finally reaching the highest level, etc.) just to have it all taken away from her when she became paralyzed. The article, as many others did, focused on how her dreams were taken away from her and her life would never be the same because she would now be living with a disability.

The issue with this is that the writers of sports pieces often portray the person as being an athlete and only an athlete, not a person. So when they do become disabled and cannot participate in their sport, they are portrayed as though there life is now over. When I looked through the articles following Sang’s accident, words like “devastating” and “catastrophic” were used more often than not. But putting so much emphasis on one’s sports career ending because of a disability is identifying that person as their disability in a fairly obvious way- something that goes against the “person first” guideline. They are portrayed as being defeated because they can no longer continue in the sport, yet the guidelines state that the writer should not depict a person as being held back by their disability. I think it is fairer to focus on the person and how they are living with the disability instead of focusing on how the disability affected one part of their life.

R-Word

I know I've already blogged once, but one of my best friends is at GMU for her Masters in Special Education and specializing in children with autism. One thing I've learned from her is it takes a special type of person to continually work with a person with autism because each child is different. Today, I found this on her Facebook and wanted to share with everyone.

Spread the word to end the word.

http://www.r-word.org