TO TEACH
OR NOT TO TEACH…
After reading Erica Jong’s and Hilary Tham’s poems about women’s issues, I find the poems very interesting, but then again the questions about the suitability of poems and materials arises. Are the poems suitable for your Malaysian students? If I were to teach all-girls school, then I will definitely introduce both the poems to them, but if it’s a mix school, then I might have to think twice because I have to take into consideration of my students level of acceptance and how open minded they are willing to be. We as teachers still have to think about society. As for my personal view, I think both genders need to be exposed to such poems which talks about women’s issue. If we do not expose them, then the students might get information from unreliable sources. Women’s issues have been a debate for many years and are still an on-going thing. There are suitable poems which can be used in Malaysian classrooms but the poets/writers are not Asians. The content and the idea will still be the same. Below is a poem written by Annie Lousia Walker (23 June 1836- 7 July 1907 / Staffordshire, England).
Women's Rights
You cannot rob us of the rights we
cherish,
Nor turn our thoughts away
From the bright picture of a "Woman's Mission"
Our hearts portray.
We claim to dwell, in quiet and seclusion,
Beneath the household roof,--
From the great world's harsh strife, and jarring voices,
To stand aloof;--
Not in a dreamy and inane abstraction
To sleep our life away,
But, gathering up the brightness of home sunshine,
To deck our way.
As humble plants by country hedgerows growing,
That treasure up the rain,
And yield in odours, ere the day's declining,
The gift again;
So let us, unobtrusive and unnoticed,
But happy none the less,
Be privileged to fill the air around us
With happiness;
To live, unknown beyond the cherished circle,
Which we can bless and aid;
To die, and not a heart that does not love us
Know where we're laid.
Nor turn our thoughts away
From the bright picture of a "Woman's Mission"
Our hearts portray.
We claim to dwell, in quiet and seclusion,
Beneath the household roof,--
From the great world's harsh strife, and jarring voices,
To stand aloof;--
Not in a dreamy and inane abstraction
To sleep our life away,
But, gathering up the brightness of home sunshine,
To deck our way.
As humble plants by country hedgerows growing,
That treasure up the rain,
And yield in odours, ere the day's declining,
The gift again;
So let us, unobtrusive and unnoticed,
But happy none the less,
Be privileged to fill the air around us
With happiness;
To live, unknown beyond the cherished circle,
Which we can bless and aid;
To die, and not a heart that does not love us
Know where we're laid.
Other useful links:
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/pindx/blp_aindex.htm
Here is something to divert your mind and make you think. have fun
What can you see? An old woman? A young woman?
Can you identify a face in this coffee pile?
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