School Boys
Jan. 26th, 2006 10:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
astra_nomerSo, apparently, a student at a New England high school is claiming gender discrimination. The interesting thing is, the student is a boy. A white, middle-class male, suing for discrimination.
Certainly it's true that more women are entering college these days than men. But shouldn't we be saying, "You Go Girl!" instead of "ZOMG!! Save the boys!!!"
I cannot believe that education has changed so dramatically in this country over the last 10 or even 20 years that it's suddenly become biased toward girls. The educational system in this country was originally just for white males. Just 40 years ago, Harvard University did not allow women in some of its libraries. At the same time, the majority of elementary school teachers over the last century or more have been women, and while I won't rant about that issue now, it didn't seem to have hurt the legions of boys who were educated by them and went on to become successful men within the patriarchy.
Yes, it's true that boys have more behavioral issues than girls, and that will affect their educational opportunities. But is this really more of an issue today than in the past? Has boyhood really changed that much?
I recall being one of just a handful of girls in my high school science and math classes. I recall that when my calculus teacher handed out M&Ms to highest achievers in her class, that my candy was sometimes stolen when I turned my back, and at least one student complained that the girls always got the awards, even though we were vastly outnumbered by the boys.
Now I'm the mother of two boys myself. But I expect them to exert self-discipline in school. I expect them to do their best with their studies. I will help find opportunities within the educational system for them to get ahead. I will not tolerate them making excuses for themselves by saying they were discriminated against. If I've managed to succeed against the odds, they can too.
Certainly it's true that more women are entering college these days than men. But shouldn't we be saying, "You Go Girl!" instead of "ZOMG!! Save the boys!!!"
I cannot believe that education has changed so dramatically in this country over the last 10 or even 20 years that it's suddenly become biased toward girls. The educational system in this country was originally just for white males. Just 40 years ago, Harvard University did not allow women in some of its libraries. At the same time, the majority of elementary school teachers over the last century or more have been women, and while I won't rant about that issue now, it didn't seem to have hurt the legions of boys who were educated by them and went on to become successful men within the patriarchy.
Yes, it's true that boys have more behavioral issues than girls, and that will affect their educational opportunities. But is this really more of an issue today than in the past? Has boyhood really changed that much?
I recall being one of just a handful of girls in my high school science and math classes. I recall that when my calculus teacher handed out M&Ms to highest achievers in her class, that my candy was sometimes stolen when I turned my back, and at least one student complained that the girls always got the awards, even though we were vastly outnumbered by the boys.
Now I'm the mother of two boys myself. But I expect them to exert self-discipline in school. I expect them to do their best with their studies. I will help find opportunities within the educational system for them to get ahead. I will not tolerate them making excuses for themselves by saying they were discriminated against. If I've managed to succeed against the odds, they can too.
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-26 06:30 pm (UTC)And Boy Scouts should learn to accept homosexuals, while they're at it!
no subject
Date: 2006-01-26 07:09 pm (UTC)Amen, sister...
Date: 2006-01-26 09:58 pm (UTC)It seems my school system (suburban NJ) was secretly, subversively progressive when I was there: we had a woman teaching mechanical drawing, a good gender balance in both art and science, a kick-ass bull dyke honors chem teacher, etc. That said, I did see some of the problems mentioned---at a much earlier age---particularly the assumption that male students were the rebels and subject to extra scrutiny (4th grade was particularly notorious in this respect for me).
I don't think there was a male teacher in my elementary school until I hit 4th grade, and I didn't have one as a teacher until 6th grade.
I did also notice that science at the elementary level is kinda wussy, such that you needed to be a pretty hard-core nerd to know much about science before middle school. By that time, puberty and image consciousness set in. I don't know how they broke us of the habit, because the peer pressure was pretty intense (even for guys); the folks who went into science were not particularly science junkies in 7th grade. Arguably art was pretty wussy until puberty set in, too, but I vaguely remember at least being called on to attempt a credible still life in watercolor. I think I even kind of enjoyed it enough to try it again at home.
Anyone else think getting the right messages in before puberty sets in is a Good Plan?
-JWM
Re: Amen, sister...
Date: 2006-01-27 01:56 am (UTC)In fact, I'm hoping to put in insidious little gender equality messages into our educational software. Our main character has a little sister. It's one of my dreams to show him bottle feeding a doll, next to his mom who is bottle feeding the baby. Sadly, it'll be really hard to do, since on the technical side, animating three characters on screen at the same time is seriously time intensive. It'll be a hard sell, but it's on my list.
It's always also struck me as particularly one-sided that liberation movements encourage women in the workforce, but do not encourage homemaking men. It's supposed to be about choice, freedom to do what you're best suited to. And, let's face it, I would totally groove on a househusband.