News
MS Diversity and Inclusion team reflects on stereotypes
December 16, 2011
Participating in a Diversity and Inclusion assembly where they reviewed images of princes and princesses in Disney films were eighth grader Davi Laney and sixth graders Caroline Klette, Alea Harris and Maya Warren.
During the month of November, the Middle School Diversity and Inclusion team invited the Middle School community to reflect on stereotypes.
During the first assembly, the team defined gender stereotypes in the media and gave examples of positive and negative stereotypes. The team asked advisements to look at pictures of Disney's princesses and princes, and to brainstorm about the differences and similarities of the characters. Advisements shared their thoughts and reflections with the Middle School community and pointed out how the media have contributed to gender stereotypes.
During the second assembly, the Middle School Community gathered again to reflect on the short film “The Lunch Date” by Adam Davidson. The film based on the urban legend "The Stolen Biscuits," won both the Oscar and the Cannes Film Festival Palm d’Or for Best Short Film. " It depicts an upper-class woman who, misses her train out of the city and ends up encountering several people at Grand Central Station with whom she normally doesn’t associate. The black-and-white film with minimal dialogue challenges viewers to come up with their own interpretations of events and to consider how we ourselves approach strangers and sometimes makes assumptions based on stereotypes.
After watching the film, advisements answered questions relate it to the film and once again shared with the larger community.
