Microaggression

Microaggression are brief everyday indignities that  maybe verbal, behavioral, or environmental, communicated intentionally or unintentionally, contains an insulting message and often causes severe psychological stress and harm (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).

An example of microaggression that I experienced this week is that during a teacher meeting at work we found out that we had a mandatory literacy activity on Monday the 10^th of December and I made a comment that it was going to be rough because Monday nights are boy scout night and the comment that “why can’t you husband take him? It is Boy Scouts after all.  The emphasis was on boy and the assumption that I got was that it should be a father/son only thing.  This left me thinking that because I was a girl I was not supposed to take my son to boy scouts.

The information that I received this week has me watching closely at what is being said and for reactions to those words.  Because people take meaning from words in different forms things that are said maybe misinterpreted.  Watching for a reaction will help me in determining if I said something that offended some one.  I need to know if I am going to be able to monitor and fix the hidden biases that I am not fully aware of.  The two implicit Association tests (IAT) that I took young versus old and thin versus fat.  The test suggests that I have a strong preference towards young to old and thin to fat.  I found this kind of interesting as I am on the fat side and older than most of my peers.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Microaggressions in everyday Life. [Video Webcast]. In Perspective, Diversity, and Equality Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1958978_1%26url%3D

Diversity…? Culture…?

I talked to four different people about what diversity and culture means to them.  They all had similar responses.  Their responses were:

Diversity

·         Diversity is the different ethnicity, cultures, social economics, traditions and values.

·         Diversity is different ways of life; cultural, social, economic, psychological.  It is people coming together, working together.

·         Diversity is things that are different about each other, ethnicity, race, demographics, age, and language.

·         Diversity is race and cultures.

Culture

·         Culture is an aspect of diversity, community values, likes, and dislikes. It can be broad like American culture or it can be regional, or community.

·         Culture is the way of life.  It is a group of people and the way they see and view the world.

·         Culture is everything, demographics, the groups that you hang out with, economics, race, ethnicity, and age.

·         Culture is people’s beliefs, the way they were raised, and backgrounds.

“The word culture refers to how particular groups of people live.  It is the way we eat, sleep, talk, play, care for the sick, relate to one another, think about work, arrange our kitchens, and remember our dead.  It includes the language we speak, the religion or spirituality we practice (or do not), and the clothing, housing, food and rituals/holidays with which we feel most comfortable” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2012, p. 55).  With this being said the people I talked to discussed culture as the way we see and view the world around us, our beliefs and our backgrounds.  They mentioned all the big stuff that people often thinks about we talking about culture; however they did not mention any of the smaller aspects like the foods that we eat, where we sleep, and how we care for each other.

I think that diversity and culture goes hand in hand.  Every culture is diverse meaning that it is different from other cultures.  There is also diversity within cultural groups as no two people are the same. 

Reference:

Derman-Sparks, L. and Edwards, J. (2012). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. Washington, DC; National Association for the Education of Young Children



Family Culture

If there were a major catastrophe and my family and I had to evacuate the three items that I would take would be:

1.      Family photo album

2.      A stuffed doll that I have had since I was two.

3.      A quilt that my grandmother made for me.

The photo album reminds me of my ancestors, growing up years, and my children.  My stuff doll was the one thing that I could tell everything to without feeling like I am being judged.  I hurt no one’s feelings and I was able to relieve some of my stress.  The quilt is a patchwork that was made with love especially for me by my grandmother.

To have to give up anyone of these items would hurt very much.  It would be like giving up a part of who I am and how I survived to get here.  I do not which item that I would choose to keep if I could only keep one.  Though I do not use my doll like I did when I was younger she would be very hard to part with as she knows more about me than anyone else.  The quilt is very special to me it was made out of materials from dresses that I used to wear.  My grandmother signed the quilt with love and made it special for me.  It would keep me warm and remind me of times that I spent with my grandmother.  Pictures are something that cannot be replaced.  Pictures help to tell stories of the past and to see relatives that I have never met, such as my grandpa on my mother’s side.  He died during war when my mom was just four months old. 

I grew up in a large family and I really had to think about what I would take with me.  It might be to my benefit to place pictures on my computer and making my computer one of the items that I take with me.  If I did this I could take a picture of my doll and the quilt to have though it would not be the same as having it in person.