Modern Shakespeare, Wednesday, Period 1 & 2

[glacial_queen]

"We briefly touched on feminism in our last class," Karla said, handing out summaries of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew as well as a very basic introduction to the concept of feminism. "This play has vexed feminists and feminist scholars for years with its depiction of the relationship between the two main characters and the change in Kate from the beginning of the play-within-a-play to the end of it. While you're watching today's movie, I want you to keep that in mind. Is the relationship in the movie better than the one in the play? Do you believe in Kate's transformation--and what do you think of it? How do you feel about her father's rules?"

as always, there was popcorn to be had while the movie played, and comfortable chairs and beanbags for the students to sprawl out on. Karla, of course, had very strong feelings about both the movie and the play that inspired it, but then, she was from a matriarchy. She looked forward to hearing what her students had to say about it.

Working with Jerks, Wednesday, Period 3

[heroic_jawline]

"In every working situation," Steve said, "there's at least one person who has difficulty focusing on the task at hand."

No, he wasn't side-eying Tony! Why would you think that?

Tony just smiled and pretended he didn't notice Steve's complete lack of subtlety. And his ability to focus was legendary. His ability to multi-task as well. It just looked like he was goofing off sometimes. Honest. "These days it can be due to social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram... whatever. Because almost everyone has one of these," he said, holding up smart phone that might have had 'Stark' written on it. "And sometimes this also features sharing things that are wrong to anyone with half a brain."

"Like inspirational photos with egreigous misspellings on them," Steve said, "or stories about history that aren't close to being true."

"Or supporting political candidates that who are basically corporate Hitler. And I'm not even using that in an internet context of winning an argument," Tony added quickly. "You will have coworkers who like to share these uncomfortable things with you and be faced with the very real choice between saying something or ignoring them."

He wasn't going to judge either choice here because it wasn't exactly a black and white scenario if you asked Tony. Steve on the other hand...

Yeah, they were getting the Jaw Clench of Righteous Indignation. "Of course you say something," Steve said.

All capitalization necessary for it! "You're not always in a situation where you can say something," Tony replied, turning his focus away from the class. This would end in an argument, kids. Maybe it was time to duck and cover?

...and this was why Steve spent most of his pre-serum days getting the stuffing kicked out of him. "Like when?" he demanded.

"Like lower income households, like with women, like with people of color, like with any group who don't have power over the situation," Tony replied, narrowing his eyes at the tone. "It's not an ideal situation, but when it's between unemployment and ignoring some assh--jerks, it's not so easy."

Steve, not shockingly, had been fired a lot. He frowned thoughtfully, then nodded slightly. "But if any of you run into these jerks in real life and you feel like you can't call them on their idiocy, call me. I'll do it for you."

If he wasn't on 4chan starting fights.

Tony just threw his hands up in the air at that, turning away as he mouthed 'oh my god' to himself. "Okay, today you get to decide how to respond to this kind of situation. No starting a fist fight."

Steve.