Missing pieces in history?
I was disappointed in High School when I graduated, feeling like I had not learned anything about what I really wanted to know. As a young adult, they teach you the basics: “you need to know Algebra in case you end up working in a field of Math or Science. You should take a gym class because healthy people get jobs. Let's throw in a few English classes so you don't look like a fool trying to write a resume. Oh, and History...just so you know what kind of MEN helped to build the society in which you live today.� Give me a break! I wasn't getting anywhere and became frustrated with teachers' and their damn textbook's ideas that men were the only people I should care to learn about! (Because, duh..obviously they are the reason I am here today!)
I took an American History class last semester at the U in hopes of learning more about the history of America and what roles women have and had in it. I soon realized that amidst the entire curriculum, there was only one random chapter about the Women's Movement and significant women who had an impact on these changes. Within this chapter, the textbook's authors decided to cram in all the information they could about Lucretia Mott, a well-known abolitionist Quaker, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, two women who organized suffrage movement conventions, and a few other well-known female reformers. I think that the authors felt they owed it to students to teach them about the 'few things American women actually did to make our country what it is today', but why hadn't they incorporated any educational information about women into any of the chapters? All I remember learning about is the way women dressed and their chores in the household during different eras of history. Perhaps they could have better described the way women were treated or what OTHER significant roles they had in creating America instead of giving the blood-thirsty men all the credit! Teachers and authors and educators in general just don't even realize that they are leaving huge chunks of history out of the curriculum because that is just what we are used to.
I do think we need to better educate ourselves about women in history and I think that Iron Jawed Angels is another captivating attempt at doing just that. To me, it is not just another next big Hollywood movie. It is not only an extremely attention-grabbing, emotionally thrilling, prideful film, but it is also educational. If making it to Hollywood is what it has to take to keep people more aware about the history of American women and the reasons why our society is what it is today, so be it!
p.s...if you are a History channel geek like I am, you may appreciate this link. It, like many other teaching tools, gives a brief overview of women's history, but why not obtain a little refresher? :)
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=932&display_order=1&mini_id=1286
Comments
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Posted by: flndmgpfhd | August 5, 2007 05:18 PM