And the winner is....

So while thinking of stereotypes I began to think of one that was the most alive and well stereotype in the World today:

LGBT!

It is insane how often people use a reference to the LGBT community. How many times a day do you here and maybe even say "That is so gay"? I bet often! I feel the #1 reason for this is the media and the way that LGBTs are portrayed! For instance the movie Mean Girls pokes fun at Lesbians. The most recent and and even more disturbing reference to the gay stereotype is Katy Perry's song "Your so Gay". It in the title.....so yes do judge this book by its cover and realize how HORRIBLE the song is just by reading the title. Don't think it is a big deal? Youtube the video and just see how far she really takes it! UNBELIEVABLE that people are aloud to produce such music.

Now don't get me wrong! The media is finally coming around and creating characters that are gay or lesbian! Shows such as "Brothers and Sisters" are helping to get rid of this stereotype. Hopefully some day there will be progress to get rid of the stereotype and the world will realize that we are all people no matter what!

The Joys of YouTube

I was searching around YouTube and I decided to explore more videos such as the "A Place Called Paradise" one that we watched in class! (which I have revisited numerous times!) I found a website called Youth For Human Rights International and fell in LOVE! On the web site they have Public Service Announcements for The 30 Human Rights!

While watching a lot of the videos all I could think about was how much they connect to not only our TE 448 class but my TE 401 class as well. They would be a great way to introduce rights into the classroom. A lot of the ads are even from the point of view from a child!! It is just another way to have children look at the world around them and how they view the world themselves!

The web address is:
http://youthforhumanrights.org/watchads/index.html

I think that rights #1, #2 and #11 really relate back to the topics of TE 448!

ENJOY!!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Awards for Children's Books

Wow!! There are a ton of awards for children's books. It is amazing to me not just how many books awards there are, but the criteria for the books. I am on the fence still after our classroom discussion! On one hand I feel that good books do need to be recognized and awarded! But on the other, I believe that the criteria to get some of the awards is inappropriate!
I believe a good book, is a good book, is a good book! With this said, I do not agree with the criteria of some of the awards. Specifically the ones that ask for the author to be of the race they are writing about. It just blows my mind that GREAT authors are denied the ability to compete for these awards because of the color of their skin, their background, anything else. Discrimination has no place when it comes to children's books. After all aren't we trying to teach the children of this world to be accepting.
Don't get me wrong here! I do understand that people the feel under represented deserve a chance too! But wouldn't they rather compete against the best of the best to take that title, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
Therefore, I believe that the awards are wonderful but the criteria for some is not!

A look at the Lambda Literary Award...

Lambda Award

Official Website:
www.lambdalitereary.org/award

Purpose:
The award was created in 1988. It is used to celebrate, advocate and educate about the GLBT community.

Selection Criteria:
To be considered books must:
• Have LGBT content
• Be published and distributed in the U.S.A. during the nominated year
• Be published in English
• Not be a reprint

There are 3 categories with subcategories that the books can be nominated for:
1. Lesbian and Gay
• Lesbian
• Gay
• Betty Berzon for Debut Fiction
• Erotica
• General Fiction
• Memoir/Biography
• Mystery
• Poetry
• Romance
2. Additional
• Bisexual
• Transgender
3. LGBT
• Anthology
• Young Adult/Children
• Drama
• Nonfiction
• Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
• LGBT studies
Sponsor:
The sponsor of the award is the Lambda Literary Foundation.

Selection Committee:
The Lambda Foundation board of trustees is responsible for selecting the award winners. The Board of Trustees consists of Christopher Rice, Linda Hill, Teresa DeCrescenzo, Judith Markowitz, Holly Bemiss, Charles Foster and Katherine Forrest.

Past Winners List:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda_Literary_Award