In a world that is continuously evolving in it's attempt to recognize that families come in multiple shapes and sizes, it can be difficult to realize that progressiveness is slowed by individuals who do not understand or "approve" of the diverse families we see. I am lucky enough to have witnessed the inclusion of marriage equality in the United States within my lifetime and almost every student I have taught thus far has never lived in a world that banned gay marriage. While there is still debate and issues that range from state to state, my hope is that my generation and the generations that follow will be even more accepting so that these issues no longer happen.
However, I do realize it will take time and effort as the media and society we currently live in shy away from homosexuality, even when it comes to material for children. Media catered to children always displays a mother and father, usually from the same race and culture interacting with their child. Besides a few progressive commercials like Campbells with two fathers, children are only witness to heterosexual relationships in the books they read, the movies they watch, and the tv shows they are glued to. Even with Disney movies which show a majority of orphaned children or a parent that dies, it is almost always a mother and father parental unit. There has never been a Disney movie that displays a homosexual character, besides the release of the new Beauty and the Beast movie which hinted at one of the minor characters displaying homosexuality. This alone caused an uproar within the parenting communities with many parents saying they will never allow their child to see it. This instills the same bias as parents who do not want their children associating with other children from different races. Our society does not cater towards the LGBTQ as they are afraid of what the backlash will mean for their businesses. This means that we have children who grow up thinking their friends with homosexual parents are not like them and should not be treated as such. It is up to us as anti-bias educators to instill a love and acceptance for all people from all walks of life.
Hello Emily your post was very interesting. However, I don't agree that we are living in a society that shy away from homosexuality. As I watch television and movies, I see homosexuality themed characters coming more and more to the forefront. When I was a child, you would never see two men or women in a relationship, kissing, or engaging in sexual activity in the media. Now, we have young movie stars like Jaden Smith (Will Smith son) wearing dresses or what we would call girl clothes to make a statement on gender equality. We have family television series like the Fosters that represent a same-sex marriage. Homosexuality probably does not have a big presence in early childhood, yet. Slowly, but surely progress is gradually happening in the media and society. Of course, bias and prejudice is still a problem related to gender identity and homosexuality, but I definitely can't say we live in a society that is completely shying away from the idea. Thanks for your perspective.
ReplyDeleteHello Emily,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading through your post. It is very true that the society at large does not fully support homosexuality,thereby forbid to talk about it and that is why children are mostly not exposed to materials that talks about it. This is as a result of religious beliefs and even natural concept of what we all have known to be a standard family right from the beginning of ages. Now, trying to educate people to accept this lifestyle as one of the individual diversities will take a lot of time. Personally, I am one of those that will never accept to talk about it because my marriage broke up as a result of my ex being a gay, because I see it as very nasty and unnatural lifestyle.
Well going through this diversity course, I have been able to have a changed mindset to at least include children of some of these homosexual parents and also try to work with some homosexual colleagues, as they have a choice to a lifestyle. But that still has not changed my perspective about the lifestyle.
Thanks
Chidimma
Hello
ReplyDeleteI have noticed the same things about the Disney program and other children programs that it mostly only shows a two parent household. There are all types of families such as single parent, same sex couples, foster parents and children need to see the diversity. Some people are afraid to have their children watch programs as such because of homophobia. I do not believe that children will turned LGBT because they are exposed to tv shows etc. that highlight this community. Children have deep seated gender identity sense of who they are before they are exposed to any diverse community. Thanks for sharing.