"In normalizing communities, identity is typically constructed in rigidly oppositional ways, with one pole of identity privileged and viewed as 'normal' and the other pole viewed as deficient and 'abnormal.'" (P. 245)
I feel like this statement gets to the heart of the what we have been discussing throughout this course. I also truly believe that we are incrementally starting to move away from being a society that holds onto this "rigidly oppositional" way of looking at difference vs. normalcy. As future teachers, I think it is of the utmost importance for us to work towards continuing to unlearn the idea that what Carlson refers to as the "normalized culture" is somehow the right culture and that cultures that don't fit into that scheme represent an abnormality to be marginalized.
"For the most part the institutions that make up the gay community are not open to adolescents, so that most gay youth continue to stay unattached and even unaware of this potential community of support." (P. 246)
When I attended high school in the mid to late '80s, there were no openly gay students in my very white, very middle class school of over 600 kids. Statistically speaking, I find it very hard to believe that there were no gay students in my high school. Having gone through that school, however, I find it very easy to understand why gay students would have been reluctant to come out in that environment. Gay slurs and stereotypes were commonplace at the time, I would even go so far as to say they were rampant. It was in no way an environment that accepted difference of any kind very readily.
Some of my classmates here in this course have mentioned that their high schools had Gay and Lesbian Alliances and other support groups for gay students. This is a positive step, and helps to confirm my belief that our society is making steps towards being more accepting and open to people who in some ways don't fit into the "normalized culture."
"One way to rupture the boundaries between groups is to emphasize the multiple subject positions (class, race, gender, sexuality, etc.) we all occupy." (P. 250)
Carlson mentions the major markers of cultural advantage in the parentheses before giving us the etcetera. If he had gone on to list all the cultural factors that make up who people are, that list could fill a whole page. The point being that people are generally so much more than the larger cultural classifiers that we often use to make superficial judgments on who that person is. As citizens, and more specifically as teachers, I think it is important to not judge our students' needs, abilities or backgrounds based purely on these superficial factors.
I really enjoyed this reading and found it very thought provoking. I think that adolescence is a difficult time no matter what your sexual orientation is. The teen years are an often angst filled time of self-discovery and identification. There is a lot of pressure for youth to fit into the norm, in whatever ways that "norm" happens to be constructed.
I think that adolescence can be a ruthless time for kids, regardless of sexual orientation or whatever other cultural factors that might mark someone as an outsider. I also feel that the kids who feel the most adrift are often the ones who get the most overlooked by their teachers and other adults whose job it is to help the youth grow positively into adulthood. The kids who are the most self-assured or feel the most like they understand and belong in their own space often command the most attention as they are likely the easiest to deal with and to teach. Hopefully, as good teachers, we will learn to be able to reach those kids who need our help the most, but are unable to ask for it, due to feelings of not belonging.
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