There are six areas of diversity consciousness and I have chosen to focus on stepping
outside of ourselves. We have read in our textbook and discussed as a class how it is important
to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. We need to try and see their point of view before we
make judgments or assume anything. When we do this we are able to be more accepting of
people’s differences and experiences and increase our own knowledge by understanding and
enhancing our communication.
Over this semester our class has had the opportunity to learn about the diversity of
Tennessee Williams. We were able to read “The Glass Menagerie” and study his life. We were
able to see the similarities between what was in his real life and what was in his writings. By
putting ourselves in Tennessee William’s shoes, we were able to better understand him more
and the struggles he went through including the relationship with his family, his sexuality, and
drug and alcohol problems. For our final project we videotaped our class discussing his life and
writings. For my part, I talked about the “Catastrophe of Success” and this is what I said:
“In one definition success can be defined in terms of wealth, honors, and position, It can
also be defined as the process of achieving our goals. Everyone can view success in different
ways, usually being in a positive way. However, in this essay, Tennessee Williams did not view
success in a positive way. He wrote “The Catastrophe of Success” which is included at the end
of “The Glass Menagerie.” He began saying, “The Glass Menagerie is an event that terminated
on part of my life and began another about as different in all external circumstances as could
well be imagined. “
At one time he lived in a Manhattan suite where he was waited on constantly. He said
he lost all interest in it. In his writing, he said, I quote, “You should not have too many people
waiting on you, you should have to do most things for yourself. Hotel service is embarrassing. It
is terribly bad for both parties, but probably worse for the one receiving the service.”
He wrote about how he decided to move to Mexico because he was so sick of the
people he was surrounded by including his friends. He believed Mexico was “an elemental
country where you can quickly forget the false dignities and conceits imposed by success.”
Tennessee Williams was accepting of the Mexican culture without changing his own which is
defined in our textbook as transuclturation.
Tennessee ended up moving back to New York. At this time he was really struggling with
severe depression, alcohol and drug problems. Maybe if people would have been more
accepting of his differences the cost might have not been so great. Therefore, we all need to be
more aware of diversity and try to learn and accept people’s differences to help us expand our
own knowledge.”
Being more diversity conscious doesn’t happen overnight. We always need to keep
continuing to work on ourselves and remember we are all different and all come from different
places or backgrounds. By keeping an open mind, it allows us to have more chances for
leadership, new job opportunities, and even friendships.