Post #2- Understanding race and ethnicity

Link to article: Walmart celebrates Chinese New Year by catering to the neighbourhood

Walmart celebrates Chinese New Year by catering to the neighbourhood
Staff Reporter: Jayme Poisson

For this week’s blog post I choose to discuss an article that embraces Canada’s multiculturalism. We are all familiar with celebrating Chinese New Year, as well as Walmart Canada. Well, for the first time ever in Canada, a Scarborough, Ontario Walmart made special arrangements for 2012s Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year fell on January 22nd celebrating the year of the Dragon.

By now, most large corporations like Walmart, as well as grocery stores, have dedicated and aisle or stocked a few shelves full of ethnic foods. However, now this specific Walmart which is located in a district where 40 per cent of their customers are of Asian descent is first to house an Asian bakery, fish market and butcher.

The new location provides chicken feet. Here it is in a cooked state.

The new location offers whole eel. Which can be used in dishes such as eel sushi.

Last but not least, almond cookies are churned in the bakery.

I felt this new addition of multiculturalism to my local Canadian community was a perfect example of what Dr. Brenda Allen, author and professor at the University of Colorado Denver, described as important, and why this difference matters. In her book, Difference matters: communication social identity, Allen outlines three specific reasons why exactly difference is important to recognize.

1.       We are becoming more different statistically
2.       Social identities are coming to the forefront
3.       Increasing variety of people is increasing demand for diversity programs in the public sphere

It is these three reasons that if understood and embraced can benefit our society's diversity. According to Allen (2004), “dealing effectively with difference and embracing it as a positive force rather than as something to be shunned of feared, can help organizations to accomplish their goals” (p. 5). Allen believes that when organizations (Walmart Canada) broaden their markets (accommodating the Asian market) will increase profits by producing and incorporating the input from such diverse groups.

This newly added accommodation is part of Walmarts “store of the community program,” launched in 2006, which works within the public sphere to effectively deal with difference. According to Poisson, the program works to “identify multicultural clusters across the country.” Poisson said Walmart Canada headquarters takes this data and is able to produce a merchandise selection specifically made for these multicultural clustered locations such as Scarborough.

The article also reminds me that although I am not a fan of how these massive corporations kill local businesses and individuality, their goal was to open a one-stop-shop to accommodate their existing customers (which compromise of almost half their clientele) and satisfy their food preferences.

I also believe that bringing these diverse ethnic foods to a more public sphere such as Walmart can in fact open up the minds of those in the community who are not familiar with Asian cuisine as well as culture. I am an advocate for experiencing other cultures and having an open mind. According to Allen “thinking and talking about difference can facilitate productive and enjoyable interactions with one another across our differences” (p. 5).

References

Allen, B. J, (2004) Difference matters: communicating social identity. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Poisson, J. (2012, January 23). Walmart celebrates Chinese new Year by catering to the neighbourhood. The Toronto Star. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1120080--walmart-celebrates-chinese-new-year-by-catering-to-the-neighbourhood

While in class...

In today's class we learned of the importance of critical thinking. Not only does it open your mind, but it can provide us with a view to improve society, which is the duty of a critical thinker.

According to CriticalThinking.org...

"Critical thinking… the awakening of the intellect to the study of itself."

In class we defined critical thinking as self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored and self-corrective with a commitment to improving society.

This is a new definition to me, however, it won't be for long. I be using it from here on out to analyze and evaluate the rest of my articles!

Post #1

Link to article: Is it a boy or is it a girl?

Is it a boy or is it a girl?
Health Reporter: Megan Ogilvie

The article I chose to discuss regarding Canadian issues has to do with health. More specifically, North America’s obsession with knowing the sex of fetus’ long before birth.

In this article health reporter Megan Ogilvie, discusses how in Canada knowing the sex of an unborn child holds an astonishingly high amount of importance.

Most Canadians recieve ultrasounds 10 weeks into their pregnancy.

By examining the features of critical criticism we can begin to understand and interpret the idea behind why in North American society we place so much importance on knowing a fetus’ sex. In my opinion, I can easily associate female feticide with patriarchy. This understanding will not only reveal how these groups are oppressed but also uncover hidden structures within social conditions.

In a lecture on January 18, 2012, to a COMM 372OU class, Communicating Diversity professor Dr. Tess Pierce spoke of Jürgen Habermas, a German sociologist (very) familiar with critical theory. Habermas looked at the way people are oppressed, and looked for change while combining work, interactions and power in order to show how society cooperates to construct society. (Which is also necessary for society to survive). Habermas focused attention on the greater influence of media’s role in setting the agenda of what society should think is important. In this case, importance of sex and gender of fetuses. But when we think about gender, we know that it is also socially constructed. From head to toe, our gender is simply formulated by society. Society is what influences these stereotypes, and what boys and girls and women and men should be like. These stereotypes further perpetuate patriarchy in our society, and continue to encourage the way in which society treats boys and girls.

In order to alleviate this as well as fight female feticide Ogilvie claims we need social change. She claimes "there needs to be an ongoing national conversation about gender to shake stereotypes and rid the country of gender discrimination — from the insidious kinds that happen every day to female feticide, what some have termed discrimination against women in its most extreme form,” (Ogilvie, 2012).

Although we cannot tell Canadians of any ethnicity how to perceive the value of males or females we can look to stimulate society’s conversation on this topic. Within the article North American’s have been noted to be known as a “knowledge-hungry society,” yet it is also known, in a lecture on January 18, 2012, to a COMM 372OU class, Professor Pierce claimed that within the public sphere people often forget we too have a say. "We forget that we are required to have our say. People want to know more issues and topics, you must talk about it and you must change it.”

Why is the sex of a fetus so important for us to know? What about in regards to gender?
Can’t we raise children gender-free? Maybe it is time to stop talking about the sex before a baby is brought into the world? Is it possible these stereotypes and restrictions are minimizing our diversity?

References

(T. Pierce, COMM 372OU, January 18, 2012).

Ogilvie, M. (2012, January 20). Is it a boy or is it a girl? The Toronto Star. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1119129--is-it-a-boy-or-is-it-a-girl

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog!
My name is Liisa and I’m a third-year communications student at UOIT. I recently created this blog specifically for my Communicating Diversity class. I plan on updating the blog every week with topics regarding diversity. I’ll also be adding what I’m learning along the way, so please feel free to join and come back and visit!
-Liisa