Dow Critical Care

This article missed the mark for me.  It left me wanting more but not in a good way.  For spending two years at the school she seemed much more interested in talking about theory than the student's responses.  Even though she did use quotes from them, she went into very little detail about each student and for as long as the article was didn't make their situations impact me as much as the books or other articles have.  "My identity, interests, and past personal and professional experiences influenced how I approached this study, as well as how I was able to gain access and build relationships at the research site"(Rolón-Dow 2005).  This quote also scared me a little.  It looked like she went to the school with this paper already written and picked the best fitting quotes to make it work.  Many of the teachers did show evidence of subversive racism, Mr. Rosenfield was a great example.  But I think although she acknowledged it early on she didn't equate some of the teachers' remarks to them being short staffed and underpaid.  If I spent 30 years like that I would likely make some harsh remarks without meaning to be racist.   So although I liked parts of the article, on the whole it seemed to be written more for other scholars or as a self-fulfilling prophecy rather then personal growth or growth of the issue.

Kimmel Article

I really liked this article although it leaves more questions at the end.  If Freud is correct and when going up we compete with our fathers innately, then how do we counter homophobia later on?  And is it really that children fear being gay or are they using that as a cover for their own inadequacies?  I believe it is the latter which then can help answer the first question.  If children are lashing out at each other because they fear being weak that's where the father needs to step in and show the child how to be a man, and where strength and kindness are important in life.  And this can help separate homophobia from  inadequacy.  And when they are separated homophobia becomes easier to combat because it now doesn't conflict with the child's inner desires.  The child can learn that being gay doesn't mean being weak and being straight doesn't mean being strong.  Even though the father is the lead is most of this, any male figures can help show the child how to be an adult.  So as a male teacher I will be a role model for how a grown male should act and respect others.