What do you think about when you hear People magazine? Celebrities? Fashion? High- Class Gossip? Or maybe you think of real stories, heart-warming tales and triumphs. In the March 16, 2009 there is a article entitled A Chance to Dance written by Sharon Cotliar and Kristen Mascia (pg 108). This short one page article takes a look at a Boston dance class that works with children living with down syndrome.
The most interesting part of the article? The sentence that reads "for many of [the students], basic coordination used to be a challenge, but now they spin and sashay". The first thing that came to mind when I saw this article was 'aww how nice,' but then the TE came out of me thinking- well why is such a inspiring and information article confined to just one page, when John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston have a two page spread debating whether or not they are right for one another? We talked about in class how many different social groups are under-represented in books, does the same under-representation span across all media? I think so.
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Wow, this is ridiculous. When I was first reading the post, I had the same reaction as you. Thinking "that's great that People Magazine has taken time away from celebrity gossip to touch on an issue of diversity that deals with children." And then I remembered that you said it was such a short article and I got angry for them not elaborating on the story more. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It is always good to keep your TE eyes open when observing the world around you.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. I think magazines like that only right articles when someone from a different culture are doing something out of the norm. Yet they don't have articles about other people with disabilities that are going to college or living the "American Dream" with a family and a white fence.
ReplyDeleteI had the same reaction as you when I read the first part of this blog. It actually reminded me of the book "Ballerina Dreams" that Deb had in class the other week. While the idea behind it is fantastic, it is really a slap in the face to think that they only receive one page for a story like that. It just goes to show what sells in our society, celeb gossip. Disappointing in all honesty but hopefully it's something that is changeable for the future!
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