I attended a lecture on Tuesday morning about Racism and Patriarchy which made us aware of what has happened many years ago and what is going on now to do with these subjects.

The first section of the lecture was on Racism. We firstly looked at how the concept of race emerged in the 18th century and looked at the sociological perspectives on racism. We then looked at a young 14 year old boy, Emmet Till’ story. This story was an eye opener for me as it emphasises how much has changed since 1955. It emphasises that everyone should be treated the same no matter how they look or the way they live. This section on racism made me even more aware of the importance of treating every child the same with respect and as a future primary teacher I will bring this attitude with me into the classroom.

The second part of the lecture was on Patriarchy. We firstly looked at the Portrayal of women in power in Greek drama, it was emphasised that Ancient Greek was a male dominated society. We then looked at the sociological perspectives of patriarchy. Equality of women, we spoke about the suffrage. We looked at how in 1922 women were being kicked off the beach for wearing too short swimming costumes. In 2016 women are still being told what to wear or what not to wear. In the late 20th century images it showed how much women were discriminated. We watched a video called #likeagirl. I group of young girls  and boys were gathered and were asked questions about girls for example “run like a girl”. The boys and girls both did actions and both portrayed that girls are not motivated and are much weaker than boys. However some young girls portrayed them as being strong and trying their best. Women have been given this stereotype of being weaker. This has made me realise that it is very important in my role as a future primary teacher to make sure these stereotypes don’t effect the children and that all children should try their very best.

The outcome of this lecture was to make us all aware of the importance of racism and patriarchy and what is going on in society nowadays. This lecture certainly did this and made me realise that it has changed very drastically since 18th century however racism and patriarchy still take place to this day.