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Assig.05 Karla Flores

C.J. Pascoe discuses how in River high the topics of gender and sexuality are something strange or taboo, when it comes to the students. We are able to see how when the students performed the skit, they had certain roles that represented something about the way they saw sexuality in their age group. To them, the ‘ideal’ teenage boys would have to be muscular and not show any signs of what to them was ‘femininity’. The nerds were considered to be less due to the way they looked, and not based on who they really were. But as soon as they changed their physical appearance they were more accepted and looked at as ‘cool’. the reaction of the crowd also showed how other students agreed with this stereotype of the perfect guy. But to me it seems like they were just a reflection of what the older staff and administration had not taught them. Whenever we think of high school, we think of a place where kids go to learn and get to know themselves more. In the case of River high, students were treated like they did not have the right to know themselves more and know how different things could be with more knowledge about sexuality and gender. The principal wanted to treat the topic of sex with a blind eye to the adults. Instead of educating the students by an adult, he wanted to keep adults and students from talking to each other about the topic when in reality, the kids needed to hear from an adult how serious and delicate the topic/act of sex really is. Adults should not be keeping sex and sexuality something to be ashamed of, in fact kids need to learn from adults how the topic should be handled and approached with more respect.