Talking Point 2: Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

Reflection

I thought this was a really interesting piece by Linda Christensen and honestly afterwards my mind was all over the place.

Peter Pan:
I remember in high school talking about the scene in Peter Pan when Tinkerbell is standing on the mirror and consumed with herself, what is that teaching our children?

What else are we teaching kids with this movie?  That racism and prejudice towards others is ok?

Lesson Learned: Why do Native Americans ask you "how?" According to the song, it's because the Native American always thirsts for knowledge. OK, that's not so bad, we guess. What gives the Native Americans their distinctive coloring? The song says a long time ago, a Native American blushed red when he kissed a girl, and, as science dictates, it's been part of their race's genetic make up since. You see, there had to be some kind of event to change their skin from the normal, human color of "white."

Best (Worst?) Moment: 
It's a tie between Tiger Lilly's traditional Native American hussy dance, and the number of times Native American's misogynistic tendencies are played for laughs (hint: It's more than three!)

Cinderella:

I was super excited when I read about Cinder-Elly by Frances Minters in the article this week.  My mom has been a teacher all her life and is on the Rhode Island Children's Book Award so her library of children's books has been growing for years, and in particular Cinderella books since I was born.  We have over 30 different versions in our library.  I grew up reading Cinder-Elly, it was personally one of my favorite versions.  

After reading this piece however, I went back to my mom however, and we pulled out all the "non-traditional" Cinderella and I was surprised how many there were.  Theres:

And Rodgers and Hammerstein's came out with a Cinderella with Brandi and an all African American cast, except the Prince who was Asian, which I also thought was worth mentioning:

Barbie: I was one of those girls that would rather play with Barbies than go outside and play.  And looking back on it I see that it was both good and bad.  My parents poured a ton of money into that industry unnecessarily.  I also look back and see that this is probably where a lot of girl's body image problems begin, and this picture shows us that:

Barbie stands about six feet tall with a 39" bust, 18" waist, and 33" hips. These are the supposed measurements of Barbie if she were a real person. She was built as a part of the first National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (NEDAW) at a high school.