Recently
I took my Godson on a trip to the Marine Institute. Once we arrived and were
waiting in line, a man with a bag (very similar to a purse) walked in front of
us. My Godson, VERY LOUDLY asked me, “Nanny why does he have a purse like you!?”
At the time I was holding his hand and I gave it a squeeze and looked at him
with “the eye” and he knew not to ask me anything else about the man with the
bag.
From
my reaction, I think I may have communicated to my Godson that it was
inappropriate for him to ask such a question. He may have gotten the message
that it is not ok for him to ask questions out loud. He may have also gotten
the message that I did not value his thoughts and I was not giving him a fair
chance, rather I was taking the side of the man with the bag.
An
anti-bias educator may have responded to challenge his bias about physical characteristics by providing
images of lots of different ways men and women dress. The educator may have
responded to my Godson by saying, “Just as people come in many shapes and
sizes, they also dress differently and have different accessories that make
them feel comfortable, handsome or beautiful.” She could also add, “I have
friends who boys that have bags that the like to carry their items in." “This
simple comment made a direct positive statement about diversity and used a
teacher herself as a model of other possible ways to think about difference”
(Start Seeing Diversity, Video).
Reference:
Start Seeing Diversity: Physical Abilities and Characteristics
Tasha Marie,
ReplyDeleteYou might have said that it is like a backpack that he wears on the side instead on his back. In the moment we often do not think things through as we might if give more time.
Have not seen you on blog for a time, good to read you blog.
Barbara Tate
Hi Tasha Marie, your experience with your godson created a unique opportunity to expand his mind about how people of different genders accessorize and dress. Just like we learned from "Tina's Story", people of both genders can wear skirts, pants, skirts, kilts and carry bags of all types or no bag at all.
ReplyDeleteLaureate Education(producer) (2011)."Start Seeing Diversity: Tina's Story".
Tasha - We have all been in the same situation! It is hard in the moment not to feel embarrassed! I try to explain to my children that if they see something unusual in public that they can ask me about it in public, but it is not ok to point or to loudly ask questions. It is hard to shape that behavior because there are many unusual situations in public!
ReplyDeleteI probably would have responded the same way you did if I were in your situation that day. But after the fact, I like what you came up with that an anti-bias educator would have communicated to the child immediately. Another idea that I got from the diversity video in this week's resources was the use of picture cards to portray people's different body types as well as style of dress. I guess this idea wouldn't be ideal in the moment, but after the fact, to reinforce your comment about people wearing what makes them comfortable or beautiful, picture cards could send a positive message.
ReplyDeleteCaitlyn