I don’t know how many times I’ve been in some mixed gender setting where another person calls out for physical help and automatically signals the males out to do the ones to do it. Give me a pillow and him a 46’ screen TV? Give me a break!
Anyways, as you can see it’s very easy to get on an extremely long and never ending discussion of stupid so-called ‘differences’ between genders that are nothing but learned, however, it just brings us further off-topic.
It’s these types of issues that make a segregation of genders in school a horrible idea. Even if gender co-mixing is causing a problem, it’s one that needs to be overcome by changing attitudes of what it means to be a girl or a boy. Think of how girls and boys would be treated differently if they were kept separate. Anyone remember that Simpsons episode as an extreme, but scary reminder? How would this be different than separating schools by race or SES, I’m sure they all have ‘needs’ to.
What happens when children get no socialization with the opposite gender throughout their childhood, then have to deal with them for the first time in the workforce, or university? Segregation would cause a lot more of these long term social problems….but at least we’d all have PhDs.
On the other hand, I have a better suggestion. REDUCE segregation in schools. Amalgamate gyms classes and sex ed. Amalgamate sports teams. Don’t put ideas in girl’s heads that they’re not capable as being as strong and fast as boys. They are.
And for gods sake, stop buying your girls Barbies and your boys Hot Wheels.
I completely agree with you. I believe that separating boys and girls to different schools will only shift the level of equality amongst them. Boys, girls, minorities and everyone in the middle should all learn to live with eachother in and outside the school board.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments, having a an all boys school and all girls school, would only amplify the gender differences that already exist.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of your ideas however, taking a course on Gender and Politics (3p17) one can see that sometimes we try to be too politically correct in many areas of feminism. Last class we were discussing women and combat roles in the army. The truth is, women AREN'T as physically strong as men (or one can argue based on statistics that majority of women aren't) and most women are not able to carry on the many role, such as carrying a certain amount of weight during combat roles. It was something like, 1 out of a 100 women who were able to pass these boot camps and were able to join men in combat roles.
ReplyDeleteArguing that women should be treated as the same as men, in my opinion, emphasizes society's roles that we should all adhere to MEN's standards, rather than create our own. Why do we have the army standards that we do now? Because in history, it's been the majority of men that are involved in combat roles. So today, saying that women should be treated as same as men, in my opinion reinforces the masculine roles that society has imposed on women.
A valid point Deniz, but that's why I mentioned my 'feminism' view was a little different than typical, because I'm all for reinforcing masculine roles.
ReplyDeleteIs a difference in strength between men and women entirely on the basis of genetics? Or maybe that's linked with society's pressure too. Do you not agree that men have more incentive than women to be fit and strong, possibly by lifestyle choices such as being more active in sports or doing labour which is more physical? Role filling is a strong influence on how we behave.
As for being politically correct, I don't agree with giving women jobs just to say we have some women in there...the best person for the job should get it period. So if society IS responsible for at least some of the difference in strength, then I don't think women should just get an easier ride into something like the army just so we can say we're being fair.