Last week during Derek’s Lecture, we had an important input on on Racism and Patriarchy. We looked very closely at society’s views and got told about the disastrous event of Emmett Till and how he received the brutality of Racism. Emmett was so badly beaten that even his mother decided to leave his casket open for everyone to see his face as the evidence of the hate crime. Emmett wasn’t the only person who received this hate due to his colour of skin, there were many other people at that time who were treated differently due to their colour of skin and their appearance.

This lecture really got me thinking of how people with a different colour of skin, still may struggle to be confident and voice their opinions due to them being afraid of what others may think of them. Even though times now are better than before, there are still ‘assumptions’ which are made about people who are from a Black or Asian background. Social media and the news also has a huge impact on society and their views and thoughts. We always seem to assume what we read and hear is true, and make assumptions based on what we have seen or heard. We register the information and start acting according to what we hear without realising. The Islamophobia clip we watched is a prime example of this scenario. How a muslim news reported was placed on top of a news article in which he had no connection to. The reason for this was due to the fact that he was seen to be in the same city at the same time of the incident and then was presumed to be involved as he was a Muslim. He started receiving hate through twitter for something he had nothing to do with.

We also discussed the difference between girls and boys and how society has distinguished between the two. ‘Girls should like pink and boys blue’ I used to get told when I was a child. When our rooms were to get painted, the thought of me or my sister getting a room painted blue would be weird, not normal. Even going to watch a Cars movie at the age of 7 I used to get told its not for me its for ‘boys‘. Now I think back and think as to how I myself was brought up was the same as majority other children. Those children who chose to be different were then bullied and categorised as being ‘different’. Another example commonly said by society is that boys are better at maths and physics than girls and girls are better at textiles and cooking. The gap formed in these statements has a major impact on all children these days as boys who want to cook will feel embarrassed or ashamed in doing so and same for girls if they want to pursue a career in mathematics.

Throughout the years, it is amazing to see how far society has come in terms of Woman’s Rights, Equality and Same Sex Marriages. These have now started to become the norm in society and has allowed everyone in society feel equal and included. Now that these times have changed, as teachers it is very important that we do not categorise genders and make sure that everyone in class feels included and equal no matter what their background. If boys are interested in painting their nails, they should be allowed to do so. If girls want to take part in a bleep test, they can. Gender should not stand in the way for letting an individual pursue their dream and fulfil their passion. We should be accepting to all beliefs, religions, backgrounds and ethnicity and teach children to do the same. This way they will be able to create their own identities rather than becoming what society presumes and what society expects.