I thought more people would chip in on ideas for your daughter and the boys in class mimicking the girls’ voices on tv. Have you considered providing her with a universal remote so that whenever the boys do this she can change the channel to an all female show. This can double as both a way to deal with the problem and a psych experiment. Hypothesis: these boys will be unable to learn from regular negative reinforcement (channel change) to modify their undesirable behavior. Make sure whenever she is out for of school during lunch someone completely trustworthy continues the negative reinforcement.
Smiles and laughs from this piece - the stingray! Especially the link :) It's nice because the topics here often feel grim (justifiably and rightly so).
The more I engage with and the more I think about these issues, the more I think men being involved has to happen for anything to change. It's much harder than it should be getting even women on board against the patriarchy, but it's insufficient if men have no interest in changing, just as racism in America isn't going to get any better if only people of color are thinking about it.
So how do we motivate men on the issues? It's a vexing problem if they don't see any benefit to themselves of women being treated better, and therefore don't care. The only answer I have is that women need to keep demanding that every male person in their own lives be educated and enlightened on the issues. And I guess I would say women need to use any and every tool at their disposal to do that.
Jessica I think it would have been fascinating if you had a son! My mom had no daughters, only three boys, and I have to think that our relationship with her and the respect we had for her were hugely important in how we turned out. Maybe it has to start with the mothers for men, and then persist throughout their lives with all the subsequent women and girls that are introduced into it.
Women can talk endlessly about the issues, but we have to change the MEN. It is a bit disappointing (though I guess not surprising) about the boys at Layla's school. As a Gen Xer I had hoped that we were better than the boomers and the millennials were better than us, and that Generation Z was even better. Here's hoping for positive developments in 2022 and every year going forward.
How about working on the administrators, who are no better than the pieces of garbage on legs that makes girls miserable. The boys won't stop if they continue to have enablers.
Still, call me recklessly positive today but doesn't it also show that raising feminists works? I have always thought the best way to attack the patriarchy is to raise boys better, as feminists - or allies, if you prefer.
I also think it wouldn't be that hard: kids aren't born sexist, racist, homo- of gender-phobic. Raise more boys better and Layla and all of us will profit from it.
I thought more people would chip in on ideas for your daughter and the boys in class mimicking the girls’ voices on tv. Have you considered providing her with a universal remote so that whenever the boys do this she can change the channel to an all female show. This can double as both a way to deal with the problem and a psych experiment. Hypothesis: these boys will be unable to learn from regular negative reinforcement (channel change) to modify their undesirable behavior. Make sure whenever she is out for of school during lunch someone completely trustworthy continues the negative reinforcement.
Smiles and laughs from this piece - the stingray! Especially the link :) It's nice because the topics here often feel grim (justifiably and rightly so).
The more I engage with and the more I think about these issues, the more I think men being involved has to happen for anything to change. It's much harder than it should be getting even women on board against the patriarchy, but it's insufficient if men have no interest in changing, just as racism in America isn't going to get any better if only people of color are thinking about it.
So how do we motivate men on the issues? It's a vexing problem if they don't see any benefit to themselves of women being treated better, and therefore don't care. The only answer I have is that women need to keep demanding that every male person in their own lives be educated and enlightened on the issues. And I guess I would say women need to use any and every tool at their disposal to do that.
Jessica I think it would have been fascinating if you had a son! My mom had no daughters, only three boys, and I have to think that our relationship with her and the respect we had for her were hugely important in how we turned out. Maybe it has to start with the mothers for men, and then persist throughout their lives with all the subsequent women and girls that are introduced into it.
Women can talk endlessly about the issues, but we have to change the MEN. It is a bit disappointing (though I guess not surprising) about the boys at Layla's school. As a Gen Xer I had hoped that we were better than the boomers and the millennials were better than us, and that Generation Z was even better. Here's hoping for positive developments in 2022 and every year going forward.
How about working on the administrators, who are no better than the pieces of garbage on legs that makes girls miserable. The boys won't stop if they continue to have enablers.
Poor L.
Still, call me recklessly positive today but doesn't it also show that raising feminists works? I have always thought the best way to attack the patriarchy is to raise boys better, as feminists - or allies, if you prefer.
I also think it wouldn't be that hard: kids aren't born sexist, racist, homo- of gender-phobic. Raise more boys better and Layla and all of us will profit from it.