The Fallen Woman

I was browsing through Gilbert and Gubar's "The Madwoman in the Attic".  Essentially it analyzes the crazy lady thrown in the upstairs attic in Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre". Apparently her husband decided he didn't want her anymore, and the easiest way to get rid of her was declaring her mentally unstable. This is an interesting topic.  It can not only be a topic of concern for literary critics, but for women in general.  What sets up the dichotomy of the pure, angelic woman versus the fallen, dirty woman? Why is there no in between? I haven't read far enough into "The Madwoman in the Attic" for the authors to answer my questions, but I have a few suggestions of my own.

A woman cannot be seen as both sane and sexual.  Once a woman displays any ounce of insanity, no matter the level of her attractiveness, she becomes an unfit partner. One example the book gives is from the story "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."  The authors compare Snow White and her wicked step-mother to reveal their levels of attractiveness against their personalities.  Snow White is the sweet and naive girl who enjoys cooking and cleaning for seven dirty, incompetent men.  She is perceived as beautiful, while her step-mother (who is the fairest in all the land, by the way) is portrayed as wicked, evil, and threatening.  True, this step-mother may have been a tad vain, but is that what makes her so undesirable? No. The reason she is threatening is because she is assertive, proactive, and makes her own decisions.  Is this considered insanity, or progress? Perhaps our society thinks of women who display traditionally masculine qualities as "insane" or "out of line". This type of woman is someone to be censored, muted, and locked away in a closet.

What is it that we as a society are teaching our children about gender roles?

(dis)ability

The word disability is defined as "the condition of being unable to perform as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness".  The word disability implies the inability to do something; to learn, to comprehend, to be seen as fully human.  Something about this prefix deeply bothers me. The words disconnected, dissatisfied, and disoriented all share the same prefix.  Not connected, not satisfied, not oriented. Then we come to disability. Essentially translating to "not able".

Are students with disabilities "not able"? Not able to do what? Depending on the disability, students may not be able to read at level, move around in a conventional manner, or function the same cognitively.  Even so, people often solely concentrate on the prefix “dis” rather than the word “ability”.  It is important to recognize that all of our students have abilities, even if they are different from the standard.

For example, a student who may not be able to read or write may be able to translate pictures and symbols wonderfully.  Students who find the English language difficult may be fluent in mathematics.  It is no secret that everyone’s brain is wired differently.  Depending on how you define “different”, some students deviate further away from the norm than others.  As educators, it is important to recognize the way in which these students learn.  The educator must modify their lessons to fit a student's particular strengths and abilities. 

Rather than concentrating heavily on what a student cannot do, I think it is time to allow them to bloom into who they can become.

K.J.S.

My first blog.

 This is my first blog. Ever. I'm not quite sure what to write about or how to write it.  Someone suggested I use it to record my experiences in the world of education.  I suppose I will be sharing stories (both good and bad), tips, and lesson plans, and things of that nature.

 I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you about myself. Well here it goes. My name is Kate and I am a recent college graduate.  I majored in Secondary English Education with a minor in community service studies.  After years of working with students both in and out of Chicago's projects and public schools, no job was awaiting me after graduation.  After 5 months of searching, I managed to land a TA position in a suburban school district.  Although this was not initially my "dream job", I am learning many valuable lessons of my own along the way.

This is the part where I let you into my head.