Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.9.3/8.9.0.Beta5/980425bjb) with SMTP id JAA15074; Thu, 8 Jun 2000 09:52:13 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 09:52:13 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <s93f6c6f.028@langate.gsu.edu> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:726] Health, sex, culture, and language X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 5.5.3.1 Status: OR Yesterday, I had an experience at work which echoes what occasionally happens in the adult classroom. Over 10 of us (staff, graduate students, and faculty) were sitting around a table having lunch together, when a student from another country shared that she had been feeling tired and went to have a blood test done. She was offended when the nurse asked her if she is sexually active. She added that she asked an American about this practice and felt better knowing that this was common place. It turns out that in her country, it is assumed that women who are not married are not sexually active, and in her culture if a nonmarried woman is asked this question, it has many negative implications and connotations. When it was explained to this student that the reason why the nurse asked her this question, it was because maybe it would help with diagnosis of the problem, another student from another country shared that in her country, people don't expect medical people to ask such intrusive questions. Instead, if they have a problem, they expect the doctor to give them something, and then they go home and take care of it privately. It does not matter why the problem exists, they just want something to get rid of it. This portion of the vignette (there is more) shows, once again, how when it comes to health literacy, reading is not the only important thing and language isn't the only important issue either! It is so critical to think about cultural underpinnings, assumptions, and expectations. The nurse had no idea that her question raised so many issues and concerns for her patient. I shared with the student how it is considered appropriate and necessary in American medicine to ask questions about sexual practice. In fact, doctors often ask who you are having sex with and what kind of sex you are having. At this point, one student blurted out, what do you mean what kind of sex-there is only one kind of sex! This statement totally caught me off guard and I did not know what to say. In my mind, I thought of saying, well, there are all kinds of examples, such as digital sex, anal sex, vaginal sex, oral sex, and you can have sex with the same sex, or with the opposite sex, but for some reason these words did not come out of my mind. All I did was repeat myself, there was laughter in the room, and a student who was sitting next to me, agreed that there are all kinds of sex. It was an awful moment, and I felt like at least 2 people in the room were cast into "the other". The student who had made the remark about there being only one kind of sex is heterosexual. There were at least two non heterosexual individuals in the room. Although, I did not rise to the occasion, in front of the whole group, I have already talked to one of the nonheterosexuals about the experience (I plan to talk to others as well). She validated for me that she was offended but that she understood, how for that person she really could not think about any other kind of sex, but straight sex. She is not sure that she would have wanted me to say anything that would have continued that discussion, but is glad that I approached her privately. I share this second part of the vignette, because it carries so many important lessons that can be translated into the classroom: a. It shows how something that made so much sense to me can be so alien to someone else. b. It shows that when it comes to sex (at least for me), if I say something, I need to be prepared to carry on the conversation and not get stuck. c. Once again, it hit me, how perfectly innocent comments can cast people into the "other" so quickly. As teachers, we have to be on the alert and make sure that we confront it when it happens. However, there has to be an environment in the classroom that is conducive to this type of discussion. Daphne Daphne Greenberg Center for the Study of Adult Literacy Georgia State University University Plaza Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 Fax: 404-651-1415 Ph: 404-651-0400 E-mail: alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 16 2001 - 14:46:37 EST