I completed the first Smart-Girls session yesterday with my classmate, Jenny. I feel that we worked together very well, and I was happy with the outcome of the session. Also, our debriefing was helpful because we identified what went well and what could use improvement. I was even more impressed than I thought I would be with all of the girls that showed up to the meeting! They are very sweet and so full of potential, and I have so much hope that one day society will benefit from their promise!
I am very excited and impressed to be working with the Smart-Girl organization because their values allow young people to flourish and hopefully one day extend grace and generosity to others. The females play games that facilitate their understanding of self-esteem, acceptance of themselves and others, diversity, cliques, the media, body-image, stereotyping, and the importance of choices. However, the organization does not only work with young girls; they also have a program involving young boys called Wise Guys. Although I am not currently participating in that particular area of the program, I believe that it is likely as beneficial to the boys as it is to the girls.
The program really does what it sets out to do. I noticed an increase in energy and smiles from all of the participants at the end of our first session. I believe that we as facilitators are trained pretty well, and I think that our enthusiasm and energy is contagious to the girls. However, I do think that the organization might be able to better teach us how to deal with difficult situations without making any girl feel singled out. On the flip side, I understand that those situations require experience. I am excited to continue on this journey!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Smart-Girls Training!
I attended an intense training session this past weekend in order to become a facilitator for the Smart-Girl program. It was foremost fun, but it was also emotional, enlightening, and empowering! I learned so much about the struggles that teenage girls face on a daily basis, and the methods that women in the community can use in order to help facilitate their development in a positive direction. I realized that one of the most empowering gifts we can give them is our time so that they understand that they do have choices.
We focused on issues such as stereotyping, media messages, body image, and self-esteem, and the methods that we used to focus on these issues were very therapeutic. The tactics that the program implements to impart information is ingenious! First, the facilitators introduce a game to capture everyone's attention, and they proceed to ask everyone questions once the game has ended so that the girls are able to form their own conclusions rather than being lectured regarding what adults feel that they should or should not do. These questions are important tools to allow them to apply this knowledge to their own lives. This is also important as they draw their own conclusions and the facilitators are perceived as peers rather than authority figures. Because the facilitators are not perceived as authority figures, the girls are more likely to confide in and recognize them as part of their own support system. I feel that this training was therapeutic for me, and therefore, I can only imagine how important it could become to these young women.
I am excited to begin this journey of giving back to the community!
We focused on issues such as stereotyping, media messages, body image, and self-esteem, and the methods that we used to focus on these issues were very therapeutic. The tactics that the program implements to impart information is ingenious! First, the facilitators introduce a game to capture everyone's attention, and they proceed to ask everyone questions once the game has ended so that the girls are able to form their own conclusions rather than being lectured regarding what adults feel that they should or should not do. These questions are important tools to allow them to apply this knowledge to their own lives. This is also important as they draw their own conclusions and the facilitators are perceived as peers rather than authority figures. Because the facilitators are not perceived as authority figures, the girls are more likely to confide in and recognize them as part of their own support system. I feel that this training was therapeutic for me, and therefore, I can only imagine how important it could become to these young women.
I am excited to begin this journey of giving back to the community!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Verbal Communication
Exciting news! I have been in contact with the Smart-Girl organization and will be attending the training sessions this weekend! I look forward to seeing what this experience has in store for me and others.
During our last Gender and Communication class, we began a discussion regarding verbal communication and the effects it has on ourselves and others. The discussion was incredibly interesting, particularly in light of the fact that I am currently taking an Anthropology of Language class where we are discussing how much language shapes culture. One of the most interesting highlights of these lectures has been that one can see how much a culture places importance on certain things by how many words it has or does not have to describe that thing. For instance, the Inuit have many different words to describe various types of snow (Anthropology of Language, Forgash), but I recently learned from a friend that Arabic has only one word to describe both snow and ice. What a fascinating discovery, especially since here in Colorado see snow and ice as two separate things! I suppose one may wonder why I am rambling on about snow and ice in a gender and communication blog. Well, this is why. I hope what I have just explained emphasizes how the words or symbols a culture maintains reflect where importance or status reside. Isn't it interesting then that it is only in recent years that the word "rape" and the descriptions for particular instances of the occurrence have emerged? This seems to indicate that this horrible crime of violation that should be prosecuted was not deemed to be of any real importance until recently. As Dr. McCarver explained yesterday, we can dismiss things when we have no words to identify them. "Language creates awareness and shapes meanings in culture" (Gender and Communication).
Gotta get ready for class! Signing out for now.
During our last Gender and Communication class, we began a discussion regarding verbal communication and the effects it has on ourselves and others. The discussion was incredibly interesting, particularly in light of the fact that I am currently taking an Anthropology of Language class where we are discussing how much language shapes culture. One of the most interesting highlights of these lectures has been that one can see how much a culture places importance on certain things by how many words it has or does not have to describe that thing. For instance, the Inuit have many different words to describe various types of snow (Anthropology of Language, Forgash), but I recently learned from a friend that Arabic has only one word to describe both snow and ice. What a fascinating discovery, especially since here in Colorado see snow and ice as two separate things! I suppose one may wonder why I am rambling on about snow and ice in a gender and communication blog. Well, this is why. I hope what I have just explained emphasizes how the words or symbols a culture maintains reflect where importance or status reside. Isn't it interesting then that it is only in recent years that the word "rape" and the descriptions for particular instances of the occurrence have emerged? This seems to indicate that this horrible crime of violation that should be prosecuted was not deemed to be of any real importance until recently. As Dr. McCarver explained yesterday, we can dismiss things when we have no words to identify them. "Language creates awareness and shapes meanings in culture" (Gender and Communication).
Gotta get ready for class! Signing out for now.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Socialization and Gender Roles
I enrolled in the Gender and Communication class for the Spring semester of 2011 at Metro State College of Denver because I am curious to learn more about how we communicate with one another. More specifically, I desire to learn ways in which we can have more open, effective communication with each other in order to make life in general a more fulfilling and satisfying experience. Why not try to make the most of things? This blog is a requirement for my Gender and Communication class, and I assume that part of the reason it is necessary is so I can reflect on lessons in order to strengthen my understanding of the subject at hand. Hopefully, this will provide an avenue for others to learn as well. Beginning February 11th, I will be working with the non-profit organization known as Smart-Girl. I imagine that this work will contribute greatly to this blog.
Our class was asked to provide an example of both one of our earliest interactions and a recent interaction that communicated to us expectations about our gender. My grandmother is a very important person in my life, and one of my first experiences regarding gender roles involves her explanations to me of things that were and were not very "lady-like". As a young child, I was told that I should never use any words that could be even remotely mistaken as vulgarity. I specifically remember my grandmother telling me that when I needed to use the restroom, the "lady-like" way to explain this was to tell someone that "I needed to tinkle". Of course, she also explained that I should always cross my legs anytime I wore a dress.
My recent interactions that have communicated my gender role to me are those regarding children. When I explain that I am uncertain about having children for some legitimate reasons, people generally give me weird looks as though they do not understand my reservations. Furthermore, I have also been dismissed by some close friends when I mention this issue, and I am told that I will eventually change my mind. Perhaps I will decide at some time that I desire to have a child, but it certainly feels as though people may sometimes assume that my "biological clock" just has not started ticking. It is not that I do not like children; I adore them. However, I do not want to make such an important decision simply based off of societal expectations.
Signing off for now.
Our class was asked to provide an example of both one of our earliest interactions and a recent interaction that communicated to us expectations about our gender. My grandmother is a very important person in my life, and one of my first experiences regarding gender roles involves her explanations to me of things that were and were not very "lady-like". As a young child, I was told that I should never use any words that could be even remotely mistaken as vulgarity. I specifically remember my grandmother telling me that when I needed to use the restroom, the "lady-like" way to explain this was to tell someone that "I needed to tinkle". Of course, she also explained that I should always cross my legs anytime I wore a dress.
My recent interactions that have communicated my gender role to me are those regarding children. When I explain that I am uncertain about having children for some legitimate reasons, people generally give me weird looks as though they do not understand my reservations. Furthermore, I have also been dismissed by some close friends when I mention this issue, and I am told that I will eventually change my mind. Perhaps I will decide at some time that I desire to have a child, but it certainly feels as though people may sometimes assume that my "biological clock" just has not started ticking. It is not that I do not like children; I adore them. However, I do not want to make such an important decision simply based off of societal expectations.
Signing off for now.
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