Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 8 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 6 months ago by
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For a class assignment I’m asking students to shop for items hard to find in mainstream culture (for example an Asian Barbie, a book with a lesbian main character, etc.). Any suggestions?
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Name : Sarah S., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 32, City : Mankato, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Professor, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,How about a mainstream journalist who doesn’t think the existence of guns is the cause of all violent crime?
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Name : Ann L. Lowenstein, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Animist, Age : 37, City : K.C., State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : Administrative Assistant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Ask your students to find an ATM that does not ask you if you want to conduct your transaction in Spanish. Or, ask your students why local merchants should stock merchandise targeted for minorities when there non within 100 miles of Mankato
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Name : Cal28903, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 47, City : Lakewood, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class,Non-standard sized clothing, especially stylish clothes for women 5’4″ or shorter are very difficult to find. Sure, there are petite stores or sections at every mall, but selection is often awful. Another thing that is hard to find in mainstream culture: Asian characters in movies or television who are like Charlotte York from HBO’s Sex and the City. Asians are usually portrayed either as restaurant/grocery store workers or, if wealthier, doctors.
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Name : Cynthia28911, Gender : Female, Race : Asian, Age : 28, City : Toronto, State : NA, Country : Canada, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Well Lesbians as main characters in novels isn’t very hard to find now-a-days. Just off the top of my head I can think of two; “Fire Logic” and “Wolf Cry”.
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Name : ItsuwariNo Tengoku, Gender : Male, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Religion : Atheist, Age : 16, City : Allyn, State : WA, Country : United States,I’d love to see a lesbian Barbie Doll and a gay Ken doll. Can you imagine the wardrobe & accessories and companion dolls?! Just Curious
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Name : ShirleyAvery, Gender : F, Disability : none, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : st. louis, State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : writer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,How about any movie where the black/Latino guy isn’t either a gang thug OR President of the United States? Or where the women aren’t emotional basket cases OR rigid ballbusters? Where all the Asians aren’t liquor store owners or math geniuses? Most people don’t live either extreme but you rarely see “normal” portrayed.
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Name : Dot, Gender : Female, Age : none, City : L.A., State : CA, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class,How about challenging your students to 1 month of shopping locally for all of their needs. No big box stores or corporate chains. No Wal-mart, Target, Gap, etc… haircuts at local salons, no franchises. Eat at local establishments. No Starbucks, Denny’s IHOP, Chili’s Outback, Olive Garden. You get my drift. It will teach them how to support the LOCAL economy rather than the corporate economy and how big box stores with lower prices lie Wal-mart and Sam’s Club can cause business blight in communities.
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Name : MaureenK, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA, Country : United States, Social class : Lower middle class,This sounds like a great assignment, Sarah! I think you’re looking to provide a new and exciting experience for these students–to get them into a part of town or a type of shop they have never visited before, so they can interact with people whom they might never meet otherwise. So I’m not sure an “Asian Barbie” is what you’re looking for. Any product or toy mass-produced by a multinational corporation seems pretty “mainstream”–even if it’s marketed to a minority demographic. Others have mentioned that novels with lesbian characters are pretty easy to find these days. This is true in many cities, but I don’t know much about Mankato (except I think it was where the Ingalls family always took Mary when she went blind or got too sick for Doc Baker to handle). It may depend on the town. Now, Mexican devotional candles are fun and inexpensive, and they may be available only in specialty shops in your town. If Mankato has shops like that, they can be really great for a non-Latino person on his/her first visit. Japa beads are used in some Hindu practices; shopping for those is likely to be an experience. If that’s too arcane, try nag champa incense. Send somebody to get something that sounds mysterious and magical, such as dried mugwort (a medicinal herb) or “dragon’s blood” ink (which, despite its name, is made entirely from plants)–that should be interesting. Good luck, and let us know how the assignment goes!
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Name : GordonR, City : Salt Lake City, State : UT, Country : United States,
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