The Making of Heroes in Composition

When the ideology of individualism is used in composition studies to create a hero image for the writer/teacher, the effect is to exclude from the "hero status" people who do not fit the requirements of the ideology. However beautiful and powerful a story it may be, for instance, Mike Rose's "Lives on the Boundary" puts forth an image of academic heroism that equates intellectual advancement and success in the university with maleness. Further, it employs language with sexual implications, implications that would be inappropriate when applied to a female teacher because of society's perception of a woman's role in romantic relationships. It may be that teaching is sexual--Peter Elbow thinks so--but if academic heroism adopts this paradigm, then there is the possibility that women and men, students and teachers, will be relegated to the unequal positions in which they are traditionally placed in a sexual relationship, particularly when there is a question of being natural or unnatural, legal or illegal. Offering an alternative to exclusive hero models, Lynn Bloom's "Teaching College English as a Woman" and Victor Villanueva's "Bootstraps" define heroism in terms of endurance and perseverance in the face of unfairness and inequities. Despite the fact that men collectively give Bloom the worst sort of liberal education, she continues her fight for a place in the English Department. Similarly, Villanueva argues beautifully for the importance of recognizing the contributions, the capabilities, and the belongingness of minorities, both in the profession of composition and rhetoric and in the United States. (TB)