Unfortunatley in our society, negative behaviors such as bias, prejudice, and oppression exist in many forms. We do not only encounter these behaviors in interactions and experiences from our daily lives but in information from the media, television, movies, books, and in music. I just often wonder if the individuals performing these acts are even mildly aware of the long term damage that they are instilling on the recipiants of the act. Maybe if individuals were a little more aware of it's implications, then they would do it, or maybe they still would?
When I think of bias, prejudice or oppressive behavior in movies, the first movie that comes to mind is Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere The scene that comes to mind is when Julia Roberts walks into the dress store with all of the money that Richard Gere had given her to buy a dress for their dinner engagement they had that evening and the women in the store without even knowing her decided that based on her appearance, she could not have afforded to shop there. I think most people who have seen this movie had that overwhelming feeling of sadness for Julia. The fact that circumstances in her life had led her to prostitution and now even though it was not the best of circumstances someone had entered her life that could rescue her from this dangerous and sad life that had become hers and without hesitation, these two women let her know she did not belong nor did she fit in dressed in her current attire. There was not equality in this situation. Even though, she had more than enough money to shop at this elaborate store, they would not even allow her to try on any of the clothes. Besides for this, they would not show her the common curtosy that they would shown other customers. The incident made me very sad because even though many of us dream of having enough wealth to buy anything we want, the fact that most of us are looking down at our faded black pants that we have had for ten years and hoping that no one will notice that they are not quite black anymore and that we just did not have the ability to buy a new outfit. To turn this situation into an equitable one, the women in the store would have to see past the surface characteristics of Julia's attire and not judge her based on what they could see on the outside.
I often think that some people not everyone have to experience some kind of struggle or disadvantage to truly understand how hurtful it is to be on the receiving end of biased, prejudice, and oppressive behavior. This is not true for everyone, many individuals do encompass empathy for others, but in this particular case and in many cases that I have witnessed first hand, income and wealth or lack of can serve as a foundation for oppressive behaviors to happen. I have witnessed first hand even in my own child care parents who will comments about children who are on vouchers and how they would not put their children in care with a child receiving one. It's as if because a family needs help, there must something wrong with the child. Poverty is not contagious! All children deserve the same equal chance at a good education regardless of their family's income.
Hi Tracy,
ReplyDeleteI loved the example you used with Julia Roberts. I wsa once involved in a very similar situation. When we bought our first home, we had been saving for 10 years to be able to afford nice furniture. After 10 years, we had managed to set aside a substantial amount of money for our furniture. I remember going into a high scale furniture store and being ignored by the sales man. That day, we were coming from a church carnival so we were dressed in shorts and flip flops. After a day in the sun, we decided to stop at the furniture store because they were having a huge Labor Day sale. I noticed that no one was offering us help becaus eof the "simple" way we were dressed. Most people there were wearing their Sunday best clothes with jewelry and designer purses. I realized after a while we were being looked at as people who were there just for the free hot dogs and not as individuals who could afford their product just based on our appearance.
Tracy,
ReplyDeletePretty Woman is one of my favorite movies, the part of the movie you describe I remember as being very disheartening, she was treated like "filth" and I vividly remember the look of disgust on their faces of even entertaining the idea of servicing her. In terms of poverty, I believe that there are no schools where poverty does not exist, and then there are some schools where the level of poverty is strikingly high. It is for this reason that educators need ongoing professional development on issues of poverty to deepen their understanding of the possible challenges families face and ways to support them to empower families rather than allow bias, prejudice, or oppression to hurt the family dynamic.
Hello Tracy,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your wholeheartedly about the movie “Pretty Women,” and I also agree with you about may it would do some individuals some good to walk in someone else’s shoes for a day or two. I worked in an early intervention program for many of years, what I notice from day one all the way up until I left the agency how many of the professional who have not had it hard are so unforgiving towards families who did not measure up to their standards, and as you stated “unfortunately,” some people just do not get it. For example, one of the therapist made a (what I think was a bias comment) about one of our family home visits. The parent was a single parent lived in a very small apartment and had a huge console television set; In fact, the set took up the majority of one side of a room.
After we left (it was three of us a social worker, which was me,, a therapist, and a new employee who was also a teacher came along to observe) The therapist comment was “did you see that big TV they had and as poor as they are why would she get such a huge set? (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, p. 25). My reply to the therapist was, “because even poor people like nice things.” A year later I was at another meeting with the teacher who a year ago observed the above mentioned family. She said to me, “I want to think you for something you said a year ago.” she went on to remind me of that home visit; she explained to me that she thought the same thing as the therapist but being new chose not to say anything. However, she told me “when you said that poor people like nice things to it hit me what you said made sense and it helped me to be much more understanding and compassionate and for that I thank-you.”.
Reference
Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards J. (2010) Ani-bias education for young children and ourselves. National Association for the Education of Young Children; Washington, .DC.
I hadn't even thought of the movie Pretty Woman! It reminds me of an experience I had while shopping in the Mall of Millennial in Orlando Florida. It is an extremely prestigious mall full of fine, high end stores. My mom and I were just dropping in while waiting for someone to land at the airport. We were dressed casually, but had both shopped there numerous times before. As we walked in to Tiffany's we were followed by the security guard at the door as we walked to the back to have my bracelet shined. Once they saw that we had purchased something there before we were left alone, but it made me realize how judgmental we are as humans.
ReplyDeleteThe movie example was perfect. Often we are judged based upon appearances and past experiences. In her former life she was a prostitute and then she had an opportunity to change it. Off screen it takes a special person to see the good in people, the human side of people when they are at their worse. As professionals it is our job to be that special person. We will encounter many differnt types of people and families in our careers.
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