I recently read something from a commenter who stated that because she had had a child before having a full-time job or going to college that she had "done things out of order".
Whose order? Who has the authority to essentially dictate in what order people should arrange their life-events? And why is this the norm? Why can't people be free to choose how they go about their lives?
I believe it's rather obnoxious for people to go about proclaiming that they have some type of clairvoyance and "know" how things ought to be, in any realm (religion, law, parenting, etc.).
I recently heard a radio show about the Textbook War of 1974, where citizens of a West Virginian town confronted the school board on the assigned textbooks. Essentially, anything that deviated from their conservative belief system was put under fire. It divided the town and left the public education system at a sub-par level; to this day there are still certain literary works that aren't studied by students, i.e. The Grapes of Wrath, due to it's racial and classist overtones.
But even looking at mainstream media, much of it is from the point of view of a W.A.S.P. Although other cultures are beginning to permeate this very skewered viewpoint, it's often misrepresented. Let's take for example The L Word. It's an interesting show, and perhaps portrays life accurately based on its characters (I'm not a middle-class White woman living in LA so I can't say), but it's a very narrow scope. Sure lesbians of that particular demographic are satisfied, but what about Latino and Hispanic lesbians? What about African-American and Middle Eastern viewers? Asians? I understand that a show can't hit on all demographics, I think more bases could have been covered, at least racially (which would hit on class as well).
I just find it extremely frustrating that more populations aren't represented. Stereotyping persists when we don't address the issue, and we've been turning a blind eye for far too long already.
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