Challenging the Idea of Normalcy
October 10, 2008 by James Hipps · 1 Comment
From emorywheel.com:
Social justice advocate Jessica Pettitt, who is often referred to as the “Margaret Cho of diversity training,” encouraged students to confront the prejudices of their subconscious on Tuesday night through her workshop “Just Rescue.”
The event, held as a part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month, was sponsored by the Center for Women, Office of LGBT Life and the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services.
A self-described lesbian married to a man that used to be a woman named Lauren, Pettitt’s interactive workshop was designed to help students identify assumptions about people’s identities, through unconventional methods.
“I’m not here to tell you not to make judgments, but in order to make change it’s important to be aware of your judgments and what they do. We’re all imperfect,” Pettitt said in her opening statement.
She then grouped off audience members and presented each team with a scenario requiring them to save 10 of 14 storm victims stranded on a rooftop based on descriptive titles of the victims, which included an HIV-positive person, a pregnant black teen, a 330-pound man and a drag queen, among others.
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