October 07, 2008
A Living Goddess?
As I was checking me e-mail, I ran across this story about a 3 year old that has been cast as the living goddess of Katmandu, Nepal.
I have to say, I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that once she begins puberty, she will be replaced by another "pure" child.
Posted by dvaldesd at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2007
Latinas avoid college because they are fat?
The fact that Latino/as have the highest drop rate in the states in not new, but to discover that Latinas want to avoid college because of their weight is astounding to me.
Wow. I have three daughters, and only one of them is overweight. It took me years to deprogram her into believing that there is nothing wrong with wearing a size 14-I know plenty of men that like women with meat on their bones. Here is the irony of this situation-education is a priority for me, so I made it a point to live in a one of the best school districts in the country. The only problem is (you guessed it!) that it is a predominantly white school district filled with young women who would rather starve than buy stretch jeans (and boys who only want to date skinny girls). So, while my daughter was getting the best education I could provide her with, the price was high. It wasn't until my mother suggested a trip to Puerto Rico that it occurred to me that once she saw how WE define beauty, she would realize that the problem had more to do with ethnocentricity than obesity. I am happy to report that she returned from Puerto Rico scantily clad and proud to be who she was, but what if my mom had not taken her on that trip? How would I have ended the dangerous cycle of depression that she was experiencing prior to that trip? I don't know what I would have done.
The sad part is that it is a lose-lose situation. Education vs. Self-Esteem. If we want to go to the best schools, that usually means that we are not around our own people, unless we reside on our homeland. If we want to surround ourselves with our familiars, then that means we will most likely not be going to the best schools possible. What do we do? To assume that schools will amend their curriculum to include teaching self-esteem to a particular ethnic group is a great hope, but alas unrealistic. If we can't even get new textbooks for many our Latino/a students, how do we begin to actually effect any change regarding this issue?
The fact that it has become so important to join the (ab)norm distresses me, because it means that our culture is being forever impacted by another culture's standards...is that one of the tenets of colonialization?
Posted by dvaldesd at 04:54 PM | Comments (3)
Latinas avoid college because they are fat?
The fact that Latino/as have the highest drop rate in the states in not new, but to discover that Latinas want to avoid college because of their weight is astounding to me.
Wow. I have three daughters, and only one of them is overweight. It took me years to deprogram her into believing that there is nothing wrong with wearing a size 14-I know plenty of men that like women with meat on their bones. Here is the irony of this situation-education is a priority for me, so I made it a point to live in a one of the best school districts in the country. The only problem is (you guessed it!) that it is a predominantly white school district filled with young women who would rather starve than buy stretch jeans (and boys who only want to date skinny girls). So, while my daughter was getting the best education I could provide her with, the price was high. It wasn't until my mother suggested a trip to Puerto Rico that it occurred to me that once she saw how WE define beauty, she would realize that the problem had more to do with ethnocentricity than obesity. I am happy to report that she returned from Puerto Rico scantily clad and proud to be who she was, but what if my mom had not taken her on that trip? How would I have ended the dangerous cycle of depression that she was experiencing prior to that trip? I don't know what I would have done.
The sad part is that it is a lose-lose situation. Education vs. Self-Esteem. If we want to go to the best schools, that usually means that we are not around our own people, unless we reside on our homeland. If we want to surround ourselves with our familiars, then that means we will most likely not be going to the best schools possible. What do we do? To assume that schools will amend their curriculum to include teaching self-esteem to a particular ethnic group is a great hope, but alas unrealistic. If we can't even get new textbooks for many our Latino/a students, how do we begin to actually effect any change regarding this issue?
The fact that it has become so important to join the (ab)norm distresses me, because it means that our culture is being forever impacted by another culture's standards...is that one of the tenets of colonialization?
Posted by dvaldesd at 04:54 PM | Comments (3)