Bad Blogger and "Bad Feminist"

I've been a bad blogger lately. No, a terrible blogger! Even though I have added it to my to-do list every day, set reminders on my phone, and left post-its for myself, somehow in the complete and utter chaos that is the first few weeks of school, I somehow managed to fall off the blogging wagon.

But I'm back! At least for a brief blog.  Part of my struggle in the past few weeks has been the lovely assessments I have had to administer to my students.  Not only do they LOVE taking long assessments, but I LOVE losing class time, focus, and the slight semblance of normalcy that I have tried desperately to establish in the midst of pure, unadulterated middle school craziness.

Anyways, I digress...  Before these last few weeks really became chaotic, I was invited to a book reading. My amazing, intelligent, hilarious friend Cydney, also a teacher at the City of Chicago Colleges, asked me to join her. Although I didn't know the book, or the author, I went along and was thoroughly surprised by the evening.  The book "Bad Feminist" by Roxane Gay, discusses the many versions of feminism that exist, and Gay's own struggle to find her way through the conflicting ideas and images.  With a witty, at times self deprecating, sense of humor, Gay discussed her love of Beyonce and the beautiful girls of the book series Sweet Valley High.  She does not apologize for liking the people, shows, books, and music that others may deem "anti-feminist".  She likes what she likes, and can tell you exactly why.

I found her candor and openness refreshing.  It's not often that people open themselves up to the world and say, "Take me or leave me, this is what I like. And don't you dare judge me for it."  Okay, so she didn't actually say that, but that's what I took from her talk.   Though I haven't yet jumped into the book itself (it's waiting patiently on my coffee table), I loved hearing her read excepts and talk about how her own life experiences have shaped her view of feminism. I couldn't help remember a situation a few years back when I met the younger sister of a friend of mine for the first time.  We were chatting at a party, when all of the sudden, a peppy/pop/hip-hop song came on.  She immediately started dancing - clearly enjoying the song.  But then she suddenly stop, looked at me, and apologized saying, "I'm sorry. I swear, I am a feminist." I felt bad for her then, and as I look back, I feel even worse.  I should have said something.  I should have told her what I thought about feminism, and that she could shake her booty as much as she wanted and still be a feminist.  But I looked at her in sheer disbelief (and a little sadness).

I hope my girls, and boys, at school realize they can be feminists and still dance when their favorite (possibly even misogynistic) song comes on the radio.  That they can be straight, gay, bisexual, or totally confused, and still be a feminist.  That they the can want to be a stay at home parent, or kill it in the business world, and still be a feminist.  That they can watch "Bachelor in Paradise" (who watches that???) and still be a kick a** feminist! Much like enforcing the human rights declaration, being a feminist is about finding your own path, your own connection, your own voice.  Because if it's not about you, it's not going to be real.

Jumping Into Human Rights (and happiness!)

I have wanted to blog ALL week about the wonderful discussions I've had with my kids so far, but it has been crazy!  I don't know why I am always shocked by the amount of busy work, on top of real planning and problem solving, that comes up in these first few weeks.  But I have finally put it all aside for the meantime, and want to get back to real gems of the week!

First, we started off by reading an inspiring article in Scholastic's Scope magazine about a young girl battling cancer.  What made this story so powerful was this young girl's message.  She wrote that having cancer helped teach her to be grateful for what she has, even if it wasn't what she had dreamed of.  This is an important lesson for everyone, but especially for teenagers.  We all need to take time to recognize the good fortune in our own lives, and appreciate the little things that make each day special.

I have been working on this in my own life, and I know that it can be challenging.  During the summer, I was dealing with a lot of changes in my life.  So, I decided to focus on the positive aspects of those changes, as well as all of the many blessings in my life, rather than the disappointments. I began the 100 Happy Days Challenge: http://100happydays.com/   I'm not posting my daily thoughts - I'm just keeping a running list for myself.  After reading the Scope article, and taking part in the 100 Happy Days Challenge for a few weeks, I decided I wanted to start off the school year doing this with my kids!  So, we began this week and will continue this challenge for the next 100 days of school.

The next day, I introduced the topic of social justice by reading one of my favorite books, 14 Cows for America ("You say that about all of your books." - one child retorted).  If you haven't read it, you MUST!  I won't give anything away, but the last line sums it up pretty nicely: 

          “Because there is no nation so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort.” 

If that doesn't draw you in, I don't know what will!

And finally, today we introduced the Declaration of Human Rights by using another one of my favorite books (ok, maybe I do say that a lot), Every Human Has Rights and the outstanding Youth For Human Rights website http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/.  We started with The Story of Human Rights documentary, which I would strongly recommend for anyone who is interested in getting some background information about human rights. 

As I have done in the past, we took each of the rights outlined in the book, which are basically a more kid-friendly version of each of the 30 rights from the United Nations declaration, posted them around the room, and the kids did a gallery walk.  As they walked and read, each student added post-its with questions, comments, or connections to the rights.  I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this first day of discussion was for me! Watching their faces as they watched the video, reading every single right, asking questions, making connections to their own lives - it was pretty cool, to say the least.  

I'm going to leave you here, dying of anticipating, since this post has gotten way too long.  But I will be back soon with more details from our journey through human rights.