Reflection Point 2.6

In the latter part of the chapter, you read about David and the work that he and his students did to take up the issues of classism and inequity. What they accomplished was a beginning. Reflect on some other strategies that David could have used to push his students' thinking further. For example, what other kinds of work could he have done to analyze advertisement fliers or television?

I think one thing that David could have done to push his students further would be to begin to analyze other companies in the same market. By having the students examine other companies such as Adidas or Reebok they could draw conclusions about whether the inequity they observed was found solely in Nike, or was more common to the sports/apparel industry. Depending on what they find out, their interests could take them elsewhere.

The students could also begin to examine other forms of everyday texts, such as commercials, and analyze what people were represented (or absent) in their marketing tools. Students could ask the questions, "Why do the commercials either represent males or females, not the two competing together? Are the sports they depict males and females playing different? If so, then why are women and men featured playing different sports?"

Finally, I think David could have pushed his students into more corrective action than boycotting. Perhaps they could produce a commercial that represents different groups of people (in sex, age and race) marketed and appealed to in an equal fashion. This project would be a more age appropriate parallel to the poster created by Jessica in Professor Vasquez's class, depicting equal genders for the Mountie poster. To address the social issue of child labor, students could even create a business plan for Nike that eliminates child labor. Perhaps the social concern of children could find a solution to free children in other nations from the burden of capitalism and outsourcing.