EVE THE GREAT

Why is teaching the word “would” so very difficult for me?

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:59:31 +0900

Why is teaching the word “would” so very difficult for me?

reactivating: OK THIS JUST BROKE MY HEART FOR NO REASON OK

Wed, 30 May 2012 16:04:07 +0900

reactivating:

OK

THIS JUST BROKE MY HEART FOR NO REASON OK

Photo

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:05:53 +0900

Photo

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:54:54 +0900

coffeejusayo replied to your photo: Personalized teacher’s day present. now we have couple mugs! I...

Mon, 14 May 2012 17:18:32 +0900

coffeejusayo replied to your photo: Personalized teacher’s day present.

now we have couple mugs!

I hadn’t opened it yet! You ruined the surprise!　

Personalized teacher’s day present.

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:57:50 +0900

Personalized teacher’s day present.

I have my black belt test Sunday. I’m a little concerned that I may fall flat of my face and...

Thu, 10 May 2012 22:33:34 +0900

I have my black belt test Sunday. I’m a little concerned that I may fall flat of my face and start crying or something equally awesome like that.

My taekwondo master is much more confident about this than I am.

My stomach hurts. Coffee is poison.

Thu, 03 May 2012 16:17:19 +0900

My stomach hurts. Coffee is poison.

"I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near..."

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 19:10:48 +0900

““I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.””

- Stephen Jay Gould (via pisumsativa)

peaceshannon: shadow art, this is pretty incredible.

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:38:43 +0900

peaceshannon:

shadow art, this is pretty incredible.

Photo

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:38:13 +0900

hiddenmidden: awesome-everyday: New York State Senator Eric...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:28:51 +0900

hiddenmidden:

awesome-everyday:

New York State Senator Eric Adams at the NY State Legislative Session, today.

Yes.

Photo

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:05:24 +0900

One Big Blank: peaceshannon: “White people don’t get to decide if something is...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:56:20 +0900

One Big Blank: peaceshannon: “White people don’t get to decide if something is...:

imnopicasso:

morningcalmblog:

peaceshannon:

“White people don’t get to decide if something is racist. On a much smaller scale, allow me to represent this by punching you in the face. Then I get to decide, myself, whether it hurts or not.”

— Anesti Vega (via anestivega)

When I first read this quote, I felt…

Okay. I’m about to be “no fun” again, so if anyone tends to get a headache when exposed to serious conversations, now’s a good time to look away.

I’m not a person of color, but as one white person to another, there are a few things about what this quote means to me that I thought I might share. I’m going to assume you’re female, and if you’re not, then I apologize and I hope maybe there’s a chance you’ll get what I’m about to say anyway.

Can white people be exposed to singular acts of racially motivated hate or violence? Yes. That’s true. But there is still a reason why it’s not our place to explain racism to people of color, and that’s because we do not experience it ever in the way that a person of color does. Ever. Even in Korea.

Do you know what it’s like when women are having a conversation about sexism as a women’s issue, and that man shows up to point out that sometimes men face sexism, too, so we shouldn’t talk about sexism like it’s only a women’s issue, because that’s sexist?

Do men face discrimination for being men? Yes. That’s true. Society has gender norms and expectations for men as well (which is why this is also not an exactly equal comparison), but also there are women who just don’t like men, and who say or do things based on that, which are not right.

But do men ever face the threat of sexism as a daily issue like women do? No. They don’t. Men have violence inflicted upon them by women, and men also sometimes get raped. But is potential violence or rape one of the first things a man starts to worry about when someone is staring at him on the bus or on the street, or is walking too closely behind him at night, or trying to talk to him in a bar or a coffee shop? No. It’s not. Is every personal choice a man makes as a man scrutinized and judged and limited by the fact that he’s a man in the same way it is for a woman? No.

And is sexism perceived the same way when it happens to a man as to a woman by society at large? Mostly, no. Mostly, women may be doing something that caused it, or are probably being too sensitive, or are not realizing that there just are differences between women and men, and not wanting to face the truth. They’re complaining for no reason. They’re making a big deal out of nothing. It was just a joke, or there’s a scientific report that says that it’s true.

Sexism used to be (and in a lot of ways, still is) the accepted norm in our society, to the extent that sexism is a concept that we had to invent and construct. Women had (and have) their place. It was just the way that things were, “naturally”, and the way that God wanted it to be. We are lower than men, products for consumption, something that existed to benefit and improve a man’s life. This was, and in a lot of ways still is, a given. That’s never been the case for men in our society. And what has been the norm in our society means that, even if men are not intentionally sexist, what’s considered normal means that there’s pretty much no way a man will go through life never, ever saying or doing anything that’s sexist. Even if his intentions are always good.

For all of those reasons, sexism is a women’s issue. And women should have the right to talk about it as a uniquely women’s issue, without having men step in to point out that men sometimes are hurt because they are men, too. They do. But it’s not the same issue you are born into facing as a woman, just by the nature of being a woman. Which is why it’s not okay for men to explain sexism to us, to set the perimeters of what is and isn’t sexism, and how damaging sexism as a concept and a realism is to our community, or to interrupt our conversations about it.

In the same way, it’s not okay for us as white people to step in and explain racism to people of color, when it’s a constant threat they face in all of their interactions with white people, when it’s a daily issue, and something that has been a functional and acceptable part of our society toward them for as long as history exists.

Is it hard not to get defensive when we see the phrase “white people” followed with instructions? Yes. But it’s fair. And the more we listen instead of talk, the easier it gets to see that. In the same way that men really do need to listen when we talk about sexism, instead of getting distracted by seeing themselves placed in a category and told what they need to do. That very defensiveness itself is a functional part of our privilege, just as men expect to have the right to dominate women’s conversations about sexism. And we have to watch that, and learn how to hear what’s really being said, instead. Because, due to the way that society is established in the first place, we as white people are literally bound to say and do racist things at times, no matter what our intentions are. And we need to figure out what that’s about.

It’s a struggle, but I think it’s part of our responsibility, and it’s really important.

I have a one-on-one class with a 6th grade boy. His English level is very high and he is good...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:41:32 +0900

I have a one-on-one class with a 6th grade boy. His English level is very high and he is good student. We decided not to do a textbook this term, instead he is just going to do independent reading at home. Then we’ll discuss the book and talk about new vocabulary once a week.

Anyway, I’m looking for book recommendations. Preferably less than 250 pages… I want him to read both nonfiction and fiction books. He likes science a lot, but I’d like him to read about a variety of subjects. Also, I’d like to avoid mentions of sex to be honest. We are reading The Time Machine right now and I was reading a page to him that said “playfully making love”. And… it was displeasing to me, haha. I’ve found a lot of lists online, but I’d like a lot of suggestions. We’ve previously read: Hatchet, The Westing Game, and a young adult version of Shakespeare’s Tragedies.

The tamagotchi that I bought for 2,000 won at Alpha keeps dying. Good thing I’m not planning...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:09:10 +0900

The tamagotchi that I bought for 2,000 won at Alpha keeps dying.

Good thing I’m not planning on raising any children.

Photo

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:16:22 +0900

satifice: tranqualizer: [photo: black and white picture from...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:00:31 +0900

satifice:

tranqualizer:

[photo: black and white picture from political demonstration by yellow peril, black panthers, and brown berets outside of the courthouse where huey newton was being tried in in 1968]

dregsone:

black history month.

yellow peril, brown berets, and black panthers protesting outside a courthouse where huey p. newton was being tried. a beautiful example of different cultures coming together for change.

holla

This is the kinda solidarity I wants.

I think it might be beneficial for me to develop some aspirations.

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:06 +0900

I think it might be beneficial for me to develop some aspirations.

Tumblr...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:33:29 +0900

Tumblr Crushes: