Diversity resources?
January 29, 2010 10:15 PM Subscribe
Looking for materials (readings, film clips, audio, etc.) to use to stimulate discussion around transgendered issues and body diversity for a seminar on diversity.
My grad program has a weekly 50-minute diversity seminar. I want to use one of these meetings to stimulate discussion on oppression against transgendered people, and another to discuss body diversity. The audience is 10-15 clinical-community psychology graduate students and faculty who know in general what each issue is (we are highly oriented to social justice/oppression issues on the whole), but probably need some orienting to key points from a social justice standpoint. The setting is very informal, and my goal is to start a productive dialogue using the materials you suggest, rather than to monologue to them for 50 minutes.
If you recommend movies or TV shows, it would be helpful if you could direct me to a particular episode or part.
My grad program has a weekly 50-minute diversity seminar. I want to use one of these meetings to stimulate discussion on oppression against transgendered people, and another to discuss body diversity. The audience is 10-15 clinical-community psychology graduate students and faculty who know in general what each issue is (we are highly oriented to social justice/oppression issues on the whole), but probably need some orienting to key points from a social justice standpoint. The setting is very informal, and my goal is to start a productive dialogue using the materials you suggest, rather than to monologue to them for 50 minutes.
If you recommend movies or TV shows, it would be helpful if you could direct me to a particular episode or part.
I spotted this when I searched for those two YouTube series: The ladies of The View touched on gender identity back in 2007. Simplistic explanations, but it's an interesting juxtaposition of tolerance and intolerance.
posted by zarq at 12:27 AM on January 30, 2010
posted by zarq at 12:27 AM on January 30, 2010
TransGeneration is a short documentary series from a few years back tracking the lives of four trans college students (two MTF, two FTM) for a school year. I can't really recommend a particular scene because I only watched the first episode at a school showing (dorm TV didn't have Sundance, obviously) and that was five years ago, but on the strength of that episode I highly recommend the series.
posted by bettafish at 7:21 AM on January 30, 2010
posted by bettafish at 7:21 AM on January 30, 2010
This is more a pop culture source, but Oprah has had a couple of shows about transgender people and their families that I thought were sensitively handled and informative and could give you some soundbites to generate discussion. Here are links to the episode highlights and a video of a few guest's stories.
posted by cecic at 11:16 AM on January 30, 2010
posted by cecic at 11:16 AM on January 30, 2010
If you're able to assign readings ahead of time, Betsy Lucal's "What It Means to Be Gendered Me" might be good preparatory reading for your seminar participants. The author uses personal anecdotes to explore assumptions about gender, so while it is academic, it's still engaging and accessible (I have had success using it with students who were brand new to gender theory).
This article has some good examples of transgender in film and suggestions on how you could use them to frame discussion.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:12 PM on January 30, 2010
This article has some good examples of transgender in film and suggestions on how you could use them to frame discussion.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:12 PM on January 30, 2010
MSNBC did a documentary called 'Born in the Wrong Body' that looked at a few people's experiences. I liked it because it looked at different kinds of stories that you don't always hear, like one person who transitioned to female and was pressured to go back to being male and then made a snap decision for surgery and then regretted it (of course, I realize you don't always hear many or any stories about transgender people, but this was more complex than usual, I think).
posted by iliketolaughalot at 4:57 PM on January 30, 2010
posted by iliketolaughalot at 4:57 PM on January 30, 2010
Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein. Also, Georgie Girl is a doc about Georgina Beyer. She's transsexual and was an elected MP in New Zealand. She's also half-Maori, and was a sex worker. Talk about an incredible life! I actually haven't seen the doc myself, but I actually saw her speak in Toronto a few years ago and she was amazing and inspirational, so I assume the film is amazing too. :)
posted by foxjacket at 9:58 PM on January 30, 2010
posted by foxjacket at 9:58 PM on January 30, 2010
try Deirdre McCloskey's website, specifically the pages on gender crossing; am reading her memoir Crossing just now, and would highly recommend it
posted by davemack at 5:28 AM on January 31, 2010
posted by davemack at 5:28 AM on January 31, 2010
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Also see My Transgender Life, a YouTube documentary, and the Transgender Training Video, which is shown to Chicago police officers.
posted by zarq at 12:24 AM on January 30, 2010