Hi all!
I'm Ashley Almon and I am your dramaturg! I'm still a little new to this online system, so I hope I am posting my information in the right place, but if not, I'm sure I can edit it. But there's only one way to find out, right?!
Below, I have copied down an interesting link for you all to look at. Actually, the credit should go to Rhonda as she told me to check it out, and its really fascinating! It's about this group from the Seattle area (east side specifically) who came together to reteach gender and sexuality to our communities. Currently, the group is on tour across the United States and Canada promoting this new movement. They also made a documentary film last year that was the official selection at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and the London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Interesting stuff! On the website, you can watch the trailer for the documentary as well.
So- if you have time, please go to: putthisonthemap.org
The links on the site can help you understand the issues that we currently are dealing with in our communities.
Oh, and here are some thigns to think about: when you were in high school, did you participate or have outreach programs like these? If so, how did this impact you and your friends? What is the importance of having an outreach program like this? More specifically, do you think that have these kind of programs more accessible to teens, do you think our suicide rate could go down? What are the contributing factors to such traumatic events such as suicide and teen depression (leading into adulthood?)
Hope all is well!
-Ash
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Also, here is a video from Rhonda:
Also have a look at this!
ReplyDeleteIt's a video about parents raising a transgender child. Really interesting!
http://www.oprah.com/own-our-america-lisa-ling/Transgender-Child-A-Parents-Difficult-Choice
Thank you to Rhonda for finding this!
The website posted below is a short "conjugation" table about the gender neutral pronouns. It may help you to further understand the text.
ReplyDeletehttp://santiago.mapache.org/nonfiction/essays/zie.html
Also- check this out: (The Bilerico Project)
ReplyDeleteIts an activism program for those who have transgender parents.... there is a video about it on the website.
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/05/transgender_parents_and_their_families.php
So, at last night's rehearsal the topic of "fortune" came up. Here's some interesting things that I found out!
ReplyDelete"Fortune" is a goddess of Roman Religion. In art, her eyes are painted as if she is blind (typically a muffler before her eyes.) This shows us that fortune itself is blind.
She is also painted with a wheel (which shows us that fortune is always turning and is inconsistent.)
Fortune holds a cornocopia: symbol of her power to bestow favors
Holds a rudder in the other (to change destiny)
She is a fertility goddess (first born of Jupiter)
Fortune is associated with money, advancement, love, and health
Here is a quick link to some basic info (in Rome, she was referred to as "Fortuna")
http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/fortuna.html
And in terms of education in Shakespeare's time... literacy was of the utmost importance! Shakespeare himself, missed out on quite a bit of schooling, which is remarkable considering his genius!
ReplyDeleteMathematics and astronomy continued to be important. (even though the times of Copernicus had ended.)
Its also interesting to note that much learning was accomplished through traveling, but at this time, there were laws that were imposed on those who were travelers, as they had to have a significant reason to travel. (Kind of like us in modern times trying to obtain a visa, etc.)
Here's a link to some more info! :http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-biography-childhood-and-education.htm
So- yesterday, Rhonda and I had the opportunity to meet with Megan Kennedy- the creator of "put this on the map".
ReplyDeleteWe gained some more understanding about the gender neutral pronouns too. Here's a little bit below to hopefully help you out:
Nominative (subject)
ze ran
Objective (object)
I slapped hir
Posessive
Hir skin glows
Posessive Pronoun
That is hurs
Reflexive:
ze likes hurself
Megan also showed us an exercise that involves an interesting diagram that we could show you at rehearsal, and involves asking yourself (or your character) these questions:
1) Where do you identify in terms of gender preference?
2) What was your social class's expectation of where you "should" identify in terms of gender preference?
3) Based on people's perspectives of you, where would you put yourself in your own personal preference?
(these questions might not make sense now, but once I have the opportunity to draw the diagram for you... it will! I promise!)
*i just realized there were quite a few typos in the above post: I apologize!
ReplyDelete*hurself needs to be herself (I'm sure you get the idea)
This is another link I found that I thought was interesting... it talks about the controversy with Christianity and the gender-neutral bible. Have a read if any of you are interested.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bible-researcher.com/gender.html