Women in East Asian History 8-6-08 (Morning Session)

[Anonymous]

I think allowing myself to become vulnerable in an educational setting is how I learn the most. Many people have spoken about going outside of their comfort zones and this is what I have tried to do here. I have never had any interest in comics (pornographic or otherwise), well not since I got into trouble in sixth grade for doing a book report on Beetle Baily. Anyway, I purposefully try to do things in my life that are a little uncomfortable, things I haven't mastered. This allows me to grow in ways I did not know were possible. Hence, here I am learning about trafficking and other horrible actions people are involved in. The more I know about these problems, the more I will be able to do what little bit I can to educate younger people and hopefully prevent these atrocities in some small way.

[Anonymous]

to ppeterson,

I agree with you and I think that the "one child policy," has been a tragic mandate that only led to the abandonement of thousands of female babies. I have four sons and although I love them very much; I was left with the desire of having a daughter. I know a couple from church that adopted a little girl from China and they had such an ordeal with the whole adoption process. The Chinese adoption guidelines are so strict; I was browsing through a very reputable Chinese adoption agency and according to their health requirements I wouldn't be eligible to adopt because my BMI (Body Mass Index) puts me in an overweight category, which makes me vulnerable for heart disease or diabetes.

I am glad that National Geographic had the courage to expose this phenomenon. I ask myself what were the Chinese leaders thinking when they came up with the stupid idea of favoring males over females. I completely understand that their intentions were to curb the exploding population, but they were obviously not thinking of the repercussions of such policy.

There, I got that off my chest. I can't believe I am considered overweight! :@

Interested in Chinese adoptions? Check this website out: http://adopt.childrenshope.net/programs/china/qualifications/

[Anonymous]

This session sparked the biggest reaction in me because it makes me feel so helpless. How can I make any real difference? Such long history ingrained beliefs are difficult to battle. Oprah, a while back, had an episode that touch on the subject of human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution, her audience is largely women, adult women. Since the seminar, I've considered what topics I should bring into my classroom and I can't find a way to incorporate this extremely important truth into a high school English classroom.
Does anyone have any ideas about it? I could see it as a research paper option, but I am convinced that a discussion would be critical to really reach students'. How would something like that be structured? I sense that it would either be a very heated discussion or a completely flat unresponsive flop because of the subject matter. If anyone has ever included this in their curriculum, please email me or bring it to our reunion in October.

[Anonymous]

This session was interesting but very painful to hear about. As a high school teacher it is difficult to bring about these issues because some parents don't feel as comfortable having their children talk about these subjects in the classroom. It is still very important to share this information with students in the classroom so they can build awareness and change the status quo. I am curious if watching a film about this might be too much for students in the classroom and instead finding some written statements or at least transcripts of conversations might be easier for students to manage.

[Anonymous]

I heard a saying or quote about judging a culture by how it treats women, of course it was stated that the most highly evolved cultures treated women with the most respect. When I think about these girls in the sex trafficing it really has to do with how a culture treats its children. Children in some situations are so neglected and grow up so impovershed and ingnorant of the wold they fall victim to the glamor of sex drugs.

Being origanally from the Hollywood area I would see a lot of this kind of stuff. Kids running away from home to glamorous Hollywood, with the hopes of some glamour and attention. Most of these kids are from some podunk town where poverty exsists so many of them have this fantasy in mind like in the movie Pretty Woman that some rich person will find them and give them the things they desire. I really hated that movie for that reason. There were some outreach programs for these kids in Hollywood called Children of the Night, etc.

This is such a complicated subject I could go on and on about it. The poem about the women who have been spoiled is so illustrative of this problem. I really appeciated reading it.

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