Bluey Culture

 I am a part of MANY cultures, but my excitement over this recent discovery clearly proves my membership in the Bluey culture. Bluey is a children's show that takes place in Australia. This show brought my family together during the early COVID lockdown because it was something we all enjoyed. It has even changed some of the words we use as a family as well as the games we play. There are things we reference from the show that may not mean anything to another family, but because of Bluey, it means something to us. An email I received today shared an Airbnb in Australia that brings Bluey's house to life!

Bluey's House

I even wrote a blog post about this culture for Rochester Mom here. 

source: https://m.facebook.com/OfficialBlueyTV/photos/a.324963251651139/1024143151733142/?type=3

Reading body language

 While working on research for one of my classes for my Master's, I came across this article. It lists 10 examples of body language the author uses to assess the feelings of his program users. As I was reading the list, I realized these are many of the examples of body language I use to assess how students are doing with new content/knowledge. You can check out the article here: Full article

Or read the list I am referencing below: 

1. Frowning. If a user is frowning, it can be a sign of a necessity to concentrate, displeasure, or of perceived lack of clarity

2. Brow Raising. When users raise their brows, it can be a sign of uncertainty, disbelief, surprise, and exasperation. While surprise isn’t always negative, we don’t necessarily want our users to be surprised or uncertain of the experience on our platform

3. Gazing Away. When a user gazes away from the screen, they may feel deceived, ashamed, or confused. They could also very possibly be bored with what is on the screen in front of them

4. Smiling. A smile is a sign of satisfaction in which the user may have encountered something satisfying or joyful

5. Compressing the Lip. Seeing a user compress their lips is a sign of frustration and confusion. I see this a lot when a user intends to do something, but it does not work, causing frustration and anxiety

6. Moving the Mouth. If the user is speaking to themselves, trying to understand or complete a task, this indicates them feeling confused or lost in the experience

7. Expressing Vocally. Vocal expressions such as sighs, gasps, coughs, as well as the volume of the expression, the tone or quality of the expression may be signs of frustration or deception.

8. Hand Touching the Face. If a user is touching their face during the interview, they could be tired, lost, or confused. This can also indicate a high level of concentration and frustration with a task.

9. Leaning Back on the Chair. When a user (or anyone, really) leans back in a chair, it is an indication they are having a negative emotion and would like to remove themselves from the situation. This generally shows a fairly high level of frustration

10. Forward Leaning the Trunk. Leaning forward and showing a sunken chest may be a sign of difficulty and frustration with the task at hand. At this point, the user may be close to giving up on a task or experience.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

 Today is National Holocaust Remembrance Day. As fewer and fewer survivors of the Holocaust exist, it becomes more and more important to remember this historical event. Ever since I first read The Diary of Anne Frank in middle school, I have been fascinated with the stories of those who experienced the Holocaust from all perspectives. To this day, some of my favorite things to read are memoirs from the time period or historical fiction from the time period. I bring this up because the Holocaust represents many cultures. There were those who were taken and killed because of the cultures they represented: Jewish, Gypsy, Homosexual, Disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, Blacks, and more. It's important to remember and respect these cultures and what they experienced just because of the cultures they identified with. 

Masculine, Feminine, or Both?

 Today in class we were discussing feminine and masculine cultures. We started by analyzing The Giving Tree and how it represented these cultures in 1973. We then brainstormed on what these cultures/labels mean today. I couldn't help but think of two of my favorite fictional characters and how they each walk the line of being both masculine and feminine equally. 

source: https://mindlifetv.com/movies/disney-didnt-want-luisa-to-be-muscular-in-encanto/

The first character I thought of was Luisa, from Disney's Encanto. She is incredibly strong and expected to do lots of physical labor, which is often representative of masculine culture. She often tries to hide her emotions, which is also seen as masculine. When the pressures pile up on her, she becomes incredibly emotional and breaks down often, which is seen as more of a feminine characteristic. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_(Marvel_Cinematic_Universe)

The second character I thought of was Thor from the Marvel Universe. He, like Lusia, looks quite masculine. He's strong and eager to fight, but when it comes to relationships, taking care of those he loves is what is most important to him, even when those people continue to trick and hurt him (Loki). He might look masculine and his aggressions in battle would be considered masculine, but when interacting with Jane, his father, his mother, or his friends, it is relationships that matter most, which is a feminine trait. 

If I keep allowing myself to slip down this mental rabbit hole, I'm sure I could think of other fictional characters that walk the line between these two cultures. What are some you can think of? 

Amish Culture

 I was just reading a student blog post on Amish culture, and it reminded me of a Yes Theory episode where the guys live with an Amish family for a couple of days. It was incredibly eye-opening for me! Here it is for you if you are interested in learning more about Amish culture:

Stories and their power on self-concept and perception

 As children, we were all highly impressionable. Our world and our perspective mirrored what was around us, whether that be the influence of our families, the influence of our friends, the influence of school, or the influence of media through books and screens. In this TedTalk, the speaker shares our children's books influenced her as a young writer and beyond. Her self-concept was altered by the books she read as were the stories that she wrote 

Culture and Perspective

 

I recently read an incredibly haunting book, This Is Where It Ends. The book takes place over 54 minutes during a high school shooting. This book has been recommended to me by students for a few years, and I was grateful to make time to read it for my Young Adult Materials class I'm taking through Mankato to get my Master's. As I was reading the book, this video came to mind. In it, we can see a couple of things from class illustrated. One, I think it gives a pretty realistic portrayal of high school culture in America. Also, it offers a great lesson in perspective. Watching the last part of the video shows us all the things we most likely didn't notice the first time. Have you seen this video before? What did you think of it?