In their article entitled Using Popular Culture Texts in the Classroom to Interrogate Issues of Gender Transgression Related Bullying , Happel-Parkins and Esposito examine the importance of providing pre-service teachers with a framework for dealing with issues of homophobic bullying in the classroom. The authors begin by locating themselves and exposing their own positionalities in terms of race, gender, class and research interests. One of the authors identifies as a White, midwestern woman who “ believes in the fluidity of gender and sexuality”. The other identifies as a Latina woman who is “ interested in popular culture representations of marginalized peoples, urban education, and race-based epistemologies”. Although, the authors begin this section of the paper with the assertion that “ our work is inevitably influenced by our past experiences, our lenses through which we see and interact with the world, and the social structures and frameworks within which we find ourselves”, interestingly, neither woman divulges her sexual orientation in the article, despite that the article deals with bullying based on sexual orientation.
In the article, the authors outline the importance of creating spaces for students to discuss issues related to homophobic bullying in classrooms. One of the examples used is the show “Ugly Betty”. In it one of the main characters behaves in ways that many one characterize as “feminine”. Whether or not teachers choose to use Ugly Betty or other television shows or movies in their classrooms, I do agree that it is important to create a classroom culture that resists homophobia and all other forms of oppression.
In the article, the authors outline the importance of creating spaces for students to discuss issues related to homophobic bullying in classrooms. One of the examples used is the show “Ugly Betty”. In it one of the main characters behaves in ways that many one characterize as “feminine”. Whether or not teachers choose to use Ugly Betty or other television shows or movies in their classrooms, I do agree that it is important to create a classroom culture that resists homophobia and all other forms of oppression.