Like Hicks, memories of church permeate my earliest recollections. I remember being in the youth choir at church at the age of five or six. I can still remember many of the songs we used to sing – “This Little Light of Mine,” “Zacchaeus,” “Jesus Loves Me,” etc. I was especially thrilled with the song “The B-I-B-L-E” because it meant that I could spell. I also knew my mother loved reading the Bible because I saw her do it every night. I knew singing that song would make her proud – “The B-I-B-L-E! Yes, that’s the book for me!” I remember the draw of the grape juice (the Southern Baptist “wine”) used for communion that my mother made. I wondered why I couldn’t have any during the church service, but then it became okay after the unused grape juice was poured back into a pitcher from the little communion cups. I remember the pleading of the pastor when the invitational hymn was being sung – “Won’t you please come?” – and how to this day any phrasing of a question like that makes me cringe. (In fact, it happened just the other day when reading Nancie Atwell’s book In the Middle for Dr. Robin Groce's class when Atwell is asking her students something like “Won’t you take a few minutes to do ______?”) Until reading Chapters 3 and 4 in Reading Lives, I don’t believe I would have really thought about those early experiences in church as having a big impact in terms of my literacy development, as Hicks described with her tale of going to Vacation Bible School. This also resonated with me due to the fact that, like Hicks, it was my mother who engaged me in these experiences, as my father did not attend church.
I must admit that these two chapters were difficult for me to read, but perhaps not for the reasons you might think. I am not saying that they were difficult in that they were hard to understand. The reason I found them difficult is for a simple reason – I saw so much of myself in them, even though these chapters focused on girls. For this reason, I found myself questioning many of the things that Hicks and others whom she quoted said about girls and whether or not these statements could just as easily be applicable to boys. For example, when she relays the story of bell hooks on page 39 concerning the notion that gendered roles dictated that she should ride in the wagon while her brother pulled, I automatically balked at that notion. On one level, I can understand what she is saying, but as someone who is gay, I do not automatically agree that this would be the case for those of us who knew we were gay or lesbian from an early age. While we may have felt a desire to conform to these gendered roles so as not to “rock the boat” and upset the “security blanket” of family, I think there was always a feeling of why did things have to be a certain way. I can see that there was more of a questioning stance regarding such issues. My hope is that there is even more questioning about such gendered roles among families in today’s world amid a broadened sense of equality between males and females. I especially wonder about those who are transgendered and how they would feel about this matter.
In the section “Someday My Prince Will Come” beginning on page 84, Hicks refers to Walkerdine’s assertion that girls get messages from texts and media images about how they should wait for a prince to come and sweep them off their feet. She relates this information to Laurie playing right into this fantasy by creating a scenario in which her mother was swept off her feet by her wonderful boyfriend who then became her husband. Again, I agree with Hicks and Walkerdine that this absolutely happens, but I know that when I was growing up, I wanted a prince to sweep me off my feet as well, but I did not see this depicted in anything I read or watched. Did I automatically place myself in the female role? Granted, I grew up in the 1970s in rural NC and things have changed somewhat in this day and age. There are books out there today that do depict a prince sweeping another prince off his feet (King and King, for one), but providing access to these books within a school setting can be a controversial issue. Believe me, because I tried it this past April. As Hicks states on page 85, “Such is the power of stories, as they assume moral weight and influence in the context of our histories.” If there is no prince sweeping another prince off his feet or no princess riding in on her trusty horse to whisk away her beloved princess in stories, what message does that send to those kids who are LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered)? The sheer absence of such depictions can place a heavy weight on these children in that they might begin to see themselves as abnormal or wrong in who they know themselves to be.
As a teacher, I know that I have always identified more with my female students for the most part. I have found that I have an easier time relating to many of the girls’ choices of activities and their general demeanor. Just like Laurie, many of these girls possess “an ethic of moral goodness and obedience” (p. 67) that I can relate to personally. Hicks goes on to say “Girls enacted their schoolgirl identities in part by voicing discourses of niceness and conformity to norms of practice” (p. 67). I was such a student so it stands to reason that this particular discourse would mesh well with others expressing that particular discourse. I find that to be an interesting way of looking at my relationships with my female students. Before reading these chapters, I would have attributed my preference to working with the girls as an indication that they were just “easier” to teach because they weren’t typically “troublemakers,” not that our discourses meshed.
While reading Chapter 4 concerning Laurie and her struggles in school, I immediately thought of a former student who would have now finished third grade, provided she was not retained. (She is no longer at my school, so I can’t keep track of her progress.) This child lived with her mother. There was no dad in the picture, although the mom did have a “serious” boyfriend. Like Laurie with The Valentine Bears on page 62, this child had a knowledge of book language in that she could “pretend-read” stories, sounding very much like a storyteller in the process. Like Laurie, she would draw and “pretend-write,” although she did not have much familiarity with letters in terms of recognition or sound awareness. In approximately mid-October, after we had been in school long enough to know some of the things of which the kids were capable, this child surprised my assistant and me. We were having bananas as one of the sides for lunch and as soon as this child saw them, she immediately started singing, “Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S” from the song “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani. It seems that she was more literate than we had initially given her credit for! We had just not found the right channels or discourse to uncover some of this working-class girl’s knowledge.
Clyde Rice
Comments (6)
Why should things be a certain way? Just like Laurie and the wagon, females today are different than they were years ago. Why can’t we pull the wagon (drive) instead of the man? There are so many things that girls are doing now that defy what others are/were saying we should be doing, but it’s the time period we live in and we should be able to be who we are and do what we desire without comments or questioning from others. Many students do things because it’s right or it’s what everyone else is doing in their social group, so how can they truly find out who they are? It has taken me years to figure out who I was and that I had to make me happy before anyone else. Now that I have figured that out, I look at the world with a different set of eyes. “Wait for your Prince to come…” that is a statement all girls hear growing up, but in actuality why wait, be who you are, and do what you want, because only you can make you truly happy. We have to learn that life isn’t a fairy tale and even though we’d all like to have no worries in the world, there will always be difficult times in our lives. After reading your post and thinking about my life, I now know that I need to go to the memories of the good times and moments in order to help me through the bad times.
Meredith
Posted by Meredith Bromley | June 24, 2010 9:25 AM
Posted on June 24, 2010 09:25
Hey Clyde- I absolutely love your titles! As I was reading your blog I identified with several points you are making. I think it would be possible to substitute boys in for girls in the feelings and perceptions noted by Hicks. I have thought that about several research studies we have read about. We could sub different genders or races for many of them. When you talked about waiting for your prince to come it made me wonder- is it our role as educators to help break gender barriers? I am torn on that one. I also ask myself is puplic schools are ready for literature that depicts princes and princes? If we are trully wanting to teach every child, we need to take into consideration that children come to us with different sexual orientations. If our goal is to differientiate and meet the needs of every one, we need to provide literature for everyone. Have you ever thought about writing for children? I think you should seriously consider it!
Posted by Carol Sherrill | June 24, 2010 1:00 PM
Posted on June 24, 2010 13:00
Clyde,
"Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he"....I would be willing to do a sing-a-long sat. if you're up for it!!! Seriously, I, like you, never thought about my religious upbringing having an impact on my literacy development, but after this reading, I see that it does. For example, I had to memorize bible verses and recite them. I had to memorize lines and perform in church plays. I read along with the preacher during Sunday services and learned to interpret the text literally- no room for figurative language when it came to your soul! There were the weekly sunday school lessons that you read on Saturday nights so you were ready for Sunday school the next day. I would have to say that a great deal of my early reading experiences probably did center around church. When I read about gender roles, I couldn't help but think about the daycare I attended. We had a block room for the boys to play in and a family room for the girls to play in. We were NOT allowed to go into the opposing gender's domain. It has always just been a funny memory to me, but now I wonder how I processed that? If I think of that experience and relate it to watching my mother take care of all the household duties, it must have really helped shape my ideas of what my role in society should be. Would I have been a different person if I had played in the block room?There have been studies done that show kids will gravitate to gender specific toys even when given an option. I know that my observations of pre-schoolers shows that many boys will play with more feminine toys, but they will use them in completely different ways then girls would; and vice versa. I had a situation occur with my two children yesterday that I think gives some insight into this. While at Target, my daughter (who is 12) tried on a pair of 3 inch heels for fun. She pranced around and was feeling pretty and girlie. My 10 year old son wanted to try them on next. When he did, he stomped around saying, "man, look how tall I am! I can't wait to be this tall!" Same gender specific item, totally different views.
Posted by Anonymous | June 24, 2010 1:50 PM
Posted on June 24, 2010 13:50
Clyde,
"Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he"....I would be willing to do a sing-a-long sat. if you're up for it!!! Seriously, I, like you, never thought about my religious upbringing having an impact on my literacy development, but after this reading, I see that it does. For example, I had to memorize bible verses and recite them. I had to memorize lines and perform in church plays. I read along with the preacher during Sunday services and learned to interpret the text literally- no room for figurative language when it came to your soul! There were the weekly sunday school lessons that you read on Saturday nights so you were ready for Sunday school the next day. I would have to say that a great deal of my early reading experiences probably did center around church. When I read about gender roles, I couldn't help but think about the daycare I attended. We had a block room for the boys to play in and a family room for the girls to play in. We were NOT allowed to go into the opposing gender's domain. It has always just been a funny memory to me, but now I wonder how I processed that? If I think of that experience and relate it to watching my mother take care of all the household duties, it must have really helped shape my ideas of what my role in society should be. Would I have been a different person if I had played in the block room?There have been studies done that show kids will gravitate to gender specific toys even when given an option. I know that my observations of pre-schoolers shows that many boys will play with more feminine toys, but they will use them in completely different ways then girls would; and vice versa. I had a situation occur with my two children yesterday that I think gives some insight into this. While at Target, my daughter (who is 12) tried on a pair of 3 inch heels for fun. She pranced around and was feeling pretty and girlie. My 10 year old son wanted to try them on next. When he did, he stomped around saying, "man, look how tall I am! I can't wait to be this tall!" Same gender specific item, totally different views.
Posted by Sally Elliott | June 24, 2010 1:50 PM
Posted on June 24, 2010 13:50
Did you sing the “I am a C, I am a C-H, I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N” song too? If you didn’t you’d have like the spelling in this one, too! Ha-ha! Those memories too resonate in my mind, as I too have grown up in the Southern Baptist Church.
On a more serious note…I can understand how the “gendered” comments could offend some. This past school year, I had a student who liked to paint his fingernails, his favorite color was purple, and he even dressed up as Hannah Montana for Halloween. His mother once asked me at a parent/teacher conference if I was offended if he wore lip gloss to school. My response was no…To each his/her own. I was not the typical girly girl, until more here recently. I played in the dirt and worked with the horses; all “boy” jobs. I can promise you this; I can clean and wash up a horse just as good as any male! When I was very young, I often wondered why boys could go around with their shirts off and girls couldn’t…Ha-ha! We all have things that make us not quite “fit in the box”. That’s what makes us all unique! Let’s uncover those things that makes our students “tick”!
Posted by Angela Steele | June 24, 2010 4:52 PM
Posted on June 24, 2010 16:52
Clyde-
I like that you stated that you feel you connect more with your students who are females. As I read, I began to reflect on which gender that I relate to more.
I think I subconsciously try to relate the males rather than the females because I am one. When selecting texts for boys, I find myself reaching for adventurous novels, novels about war, animals and sports. On the other hand when I find novels for my girls, I think about animals, sometimes fairy tales and books about relationships between school age children.
I need to step back from this idea of "these books are fore boys while these books are for girls" and simply ask my students what they would LIKE to read about =)
Renee Hennings June 24 2010
Posted by Renee Hennings | June 24, 2010 8:53 PM
Posted on June 24, 2010 20:53