School Bells – Current Affairs – Grade 8 – Week 23
Gender and roles
As I meet with these very impressive eight graders once a week I continue to be impressed with the fact that they are asking some basic questions about who they are or want to be in the context of the world they will soon inherit. This week they were to discuss with their family members what it means to be a man or a woman? Does it matter who does what job? Should one parent stay at home when there are children? Is being a man or a woman different than being male or female?
I hear them arriving now.
Me: Good morning class.
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim. Cookies?
Me: Not this week. I will bring some next week.
I am eager to hear what you and your families think about the issues of manhood and womanhood. Who will start the discussion?
Ann: The women in my family have always been professional women. My grandmother was a lawyer and her mother was a doctor. Both my grandfather and my great grandfather on my mom’s side of the family were farmers. They were home a lot of the time but there was also live-in help. Great grandmother even had a wet nurse.
John: What is a wet nurse?
Ann: When a woman wants her child to be breastfed and cannot for any reason do it they hire a wet nurse or some other family member who becomes the wet nurse.
Tom: I thought that only females who just had a baby could breast feed.
Me: Actually both males and females can use a breast pump to start the lactating process and then breast feed.
Will: No way! That is weird. Is that really true Mr. Jim?
Me: Yes, it is. It does not happen often as far as we know, but it is possible.
Will: But men cannot have babies because they do not have a u…
What is it called?
Ann: A uterus.
Will: Yes. That is it. I would not want to have to carry a baby anyway.
Me: So one of the differences in the ability to be pregnant and to carry a baby.
Abdul: Mom says that in some cultures a woman cannot work if she is pregnant but in many cultures, that has changed. Some women have always worked when pregnant if they are healthy.
Ann: My grandmother said that twice she went from her office to the hospital to have the baby and was back at work in a week.
Susie: Aren’t we females better at taking care of kids when they are born?
Paul: My uncle stays home with the children. My aunt says he is much better at being a stay-at-home parent than she would ever be. She says that she also makes more money than he ever did.
Susie: My dad says that generally parents start teaching girls to be parents very early by playing house and playing with dolls.
Me: So you all seem to be saying that it depends on the person and not if someone is male or female. You also seem to be saying that often women are better at taking care of children but this may be what we teach young children.
Amena: My mother says that managing a home is like managing any other business. Many men and women have good management skills.
Susie: Many families do not have any choice. There is only one parent or one parent may be disabled.
Me: Great point Susie.
Tom: My dad says that there may be some individual biological differences in males and females but we are more alike than different. He also says that all of us have different talents.
Abdul: Even in the United States women can now be in combat roles.
Amena: My mom and dad said that being a man or a woman has to do with the kind of person we are and not about who does what job.
Me: That is a great point. Have we used language to make it seem as if there is a difference?
Susie: What do you mean Mr. Jim?
Me: For example, a butler who is usually a man makes a very good salary. A housekeeper who is generally a woman makes much less.
Ann: A cook makes less than a chef. Many women are now chefs.
Amena: A tailor makes more money than a seamstress.
Will: An industrial engineer makes more money than a house cleaner.
Me: It seems as if we use language to make it seem as if something is normal or okay. For example, the more money one makes the more power one has to take care of a family or oneself. If women can only or mainly get lower paying jobs than they have to be the one who stays at home or who works two or three jobs to support a family.
Susie: Mr. Jim. What is that called when we make something true by making certain rules?
Me: I think you mean self-fulfilling prophecy Susie. That is when we say things such as only men can work outside the home for a decent salary and then we invent ways of making sure that women cannot earn much.
Paul: One of the questions was: What does it mean to be a man or a woman? What does it mean Uncle Jim?
Me: The question is not what it means to be a male or female. That is a physical or biological issue. Transgender people are physically male or female but feel very strongly as if they are the other gender.
Amena: You are saying that gender is not the same as how we behave?
Me: Yes, it seems as if most of you and your families are saying that the important thing is how we behave no matter if we are male or female. Some will be more nurturing and good at taking care of people and some are better at not having to deal with people very much. Thus, the question we then have to ask each other and ourselves is what behaviors or qualities do we want to develop or encourage in children and even in ourselves?
Will: Are women more emotional than men?
Me: I wonder if that is the best question or if the best question is who expresses emotions more often and why?
Ann: My mom says that women keep working while they are showing emotions and men cannot feel and work at the same time.
Me: Another interesting and important question. We are running out of time. Does everyone still have the list of topics. Next we are to discuss the question of whether young people will want to run for political office. How will expense and the use of social media affect their willingness to run and assume community leadership?
Again, all of you did a terrific job. Thanks. Have a good week.
Class: Goodbye Mr. Jim.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Written January 24, 2017
Gender and roles
As I meet with these very impressive eight graders once a week I continue to be impressed with the fact that they are asking some basic questions about who they are or want to be in the context of the world they will soon inherit. This week they were to discuss with their family members what it means to be a man or a woman? Does it matter who does what job? Should one parent stay at home when there are children? Is being a man or a woman different than being male or female?
I hear them arriving now.
Me: Good morning class.
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim. Cookies?
Me: Not this week. I will bring some next week.
I am eager to hear what you and your families think about the issues of manhood and womanhood. Who will start the discussion?
Ann: The women in my family have always been professional women. My grandmother was a lawyer and her mother was a doctor. Both my grandfather and my great grandfather on my mom’s side of the family were farmers. They were home a lot of the time but there was also live-in help. Great grandmother even had a wet nurse.
John: What is a wet nurse?
Ann: When a woman wants her child to be breastfed and cannot for any reason do it they hire a wet nurse or some other family member who becomes the wet nurse.
Tom: I thought that only females who just had a baby could breast feed.
Me: Actually both males and females can use a breast pump to start the lactating process and then breast feed.
Will: No way! That is weird. Is that really true Mr. Jim?
Me: Yes, it is. It does not happen often as far as we know, but it is possible.
Will: But men cannot have babies because they do not have a u…
What is it called?
Ann: A uterus.
Will: Yes. That is it. I would not want to have to carry a baby anyway.
Me: So one of the differences in the ability to be pregnant and to carry a baby.
Abdul: Mom says that in some cultures a woman cannot work if she is pregnant but in many cultures, that has changed. Some women have always worked when pregnant if they are healthy.
Ann: My grandmother said that twice she went from her office to the hospital to have the baby and was back at work in a week.
Susie: Aren’t we females better at taking care of kids when they are born?
Paul: My uncle stays home with the children. My aunt says he is much better at being a stay-at-home parent than she would ever be. She says that she also makes more money than he ever did.
Susie: My dad says that generally parents start teaching girls to be parents very early by playing house and playing with dolls.
Me: So you all seem to be saying that it depends on the person and not if someone is male or female. You also seem to be saying that often women are better at taking care of children but this may be what we teach young children.
Amena: My mother says that managing a home is like managing any other business. Many men and women have good management skills.
Susie: Many families do not have any choice. There is only one parent or one parent may be disabled.
Me: Great point Susie.
Tom: My dad says that there may be some individual biological differences in males and females but we are more alike than different. He also says that all of us have different talents.
Abdul: Even in the United States women can now be in combat roles.
Amena: My mom and dad said that being a man or a woman has to do with the kind of person we are and not about who does what job.
Me: That is a great point. Have we used language to make it seem as if there is a difference?
Susie: What do you mean Mr. Jim?
Me: For example, a butler who is usually a man makes a very good salary. A housekeeper who is generally a woman makes much less.
Ann: A cook makes less than a chef. Many women are now chefs.
Amena: A tailor makes more money than a seamstress.
Will: An industrial engineer makes more money than a house cleaner.
Me: It seems as if we use language to make it seem as if something is normal or okay. For example, the more money one makes the more power one has to take care of a family or oneself. If women can only or mainly get lower paying jobs than they have to be the one who stays at home or who works two or three jobs to support a family.
Susie: Mr. Jim. What is that called when we make something true by making certain rules?
Me: I think you mean self-fulfilling prophecy Susie. That is when we say things such as only men can work outside the home for a decent salary and then we invent ways of making sure that women cannot earn much.
Paul: One of the questions was: What does it mean to be a man or a woman? What does it mean Uncle Jim?
Me: The question is not what it means to be a male or female. That is a physical or biological issue. Transgender people are physically male or female but feel very strongly as if they are the other gender.
Amena: You are saying that gender is not the same as how we behave?
Me: Yes, it seems as if most of you and your families are saying that the important thing is how we behave no matter if we are male or female. Some will be more nurturing and good at taking care of people and some are better at not having to deal with people very much. Thus, the question we then have to ask each other and ourselves is what behaviors or qualities do we want to develop or encourage in children and even in ourselves?
Will: Are women more emotional than men?
Me: I wonder if that is the best question or if the best question is who expresses emotions more often and why?
Ann: My mom says that women keep working while they are showing emotions and men cannot feel and work at the same time.
Me: Another interesting and important question. We are running out of time. Does everyone still have the list of topics. Next we are to discuss the question of whether young people will want to run for political office. How will expense and the use of social media affect their willingness to run and assume community leadership?
Again, all of you did a terrific job. Thanks. Have a good week.
Class: Goodbye Mr. Jim.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Written January 24, 2017
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