This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions
Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.
“Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids” (Charles Barkley)
Athletes and other celebrities are routinely held up as “role models” for children, youth, minorities, and others. According to this popular idea, members of underrepresented or disadvantaged groups simply need to see “someone like themselves” doing something spectacular – winning Olympic medals, sitting in the Supreme Court, serving as US vice-president – to demonstrate that such success is possible. Simple problem, simple solution? No, it’s not an individual’s lack of imagination that’s the problem, it’s a systemic problem, and celebrity role models are not the answer.
Our featured speaker on this topic will be Helen Lenskyj, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto, where she taught sociology. Helen grew up in Australia and has lived in Toronto since 1966. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in 1983, and was a professor from 1986 until retiring in 2007. As well as writing books, she enjoys swimming and kayaking. Her website is www.helenlenskyj.ca; TWITTER: https://twitter.com/helenje63185798
Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!
This meeting has been recorded:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aGOUUjN9rvfGk4BkyNQyEh3eULlBgloy/view?usp=sharing