Reading Discussion #3

I found Michael Kimmel’s piece Masculinity as Homophobia to be interesting. The part that stuck out to me was the idea that men are most fear being laughed at and ridiculed. I would content that this may not be just about trying to be masculine. The desire to not be rejected is not just a male issue. This seems to be fairly universal to all people to not want to be made fun of. And the idea that men commit suicide mainly based on feeling less manly seemed a bit far fetched to me. Excluding mental illness financial issues and personal ones are prevalent to suicide. I am doubtful a man who is suicidal is going to leave a note saying he offed himself because he didn’t feel masculine enough. He would be more likely to leave a note saying he blew all his money and his wife left him because he was a drunk not because he didn’t feel manly enough. I don’t know this article was an interesting read but just isn’t sitting with me well.

Reading Discussion #2

I decided to cherry pick for this reading of Children of Immigration. I decided to jump into chapter 3 The Psychosocial Experience of Immigration. I found this to be interesting. The first thing I found interesting was the separation and reunification process. The book mentioned about Caribbean countries and that "there is a long standing cultural practice of 'child fostering'" (p. 67). These children would be placed with other family members either for better opportunities in life or in response to a family crisis. I thought about this a realize one does not hear about this as much in the United States. Usually whole families move and this can be troublesome for the children at times - and that is while staying within the country not moving to a new one. The text did touch on P.T.S.D. which I feel is something often overlooked. I have a friend who has it and there are times where she will become upset and not know exactly why. I can imagine already having some kind of trauma and then having to endure the stress of moving to a whole new country. I found the idea of learning a new culture and taking on different roles in the family unit interesting as well. It can be stressful to have to learn all new customs and ways of living life that in some case may be totally opposite of their old traditions. If the child is able to acclimate sooner and learn the vernacular they can often become the unofficial head of the family. They may become the one to fill out papers and answer phone calls and speak at appointments. This would be a great burden I'm sure. And to think that all of this can follow them into the classroom. A student with undiagnosed P.T.S.D. may have and episode during a class and not be able to explain why. The teacher may just feel they are being unruly. One that has to take on the daily tasks of adult life may not be able to complete their homework on time or if at all. I guess in many respects this could apply to non-immigrants as well. It just reminds me that I should keep these kinds of things in the back of my mind when in a classroom.