Appropriate Gender Roles Should Be Taught In School

[Mice]

Rep. Phil Gingrey (last heard from defending Todd Akins) would like for appropriate gender roles to be taught in schools, so that kids know early what men and women are best at.

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) told colleagues on the House floor on Tuesday that young boys and girls should take classes on traditional gender roles in a marriage because there are some things fathers do "maybe a little bit better" than mothers.

"You know, maybe part of the problem is we need to go back into the schools at a very early age, maybe at the grade school level, and have a class for the young girls and have a class for the young boys and say, you know, this is what’s important," Gingrey said in a speech supporting the Defense of Marriage Act. "This is what a father does that is maybe a little different, maybe a little bit better than the talents that a mom has in a certain area. And the same thing for the young girls, that, you know, this is what a mom does, and this is what is important from the standpoint of that union which we call marriage."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/1 ... nder-roles

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/1 ... 66605.html

Maybe they could get Lori Alexander to teach that for 'em?

[Patsy]

But the roles are so natural and inherent, why do they need to be explicitly instructed?

[Effie]

If women are naturally better at certain things, how come we must be taught those certain things? Shouldn't they just come to us naturally then?

Edit. Cross-posted with Patsy

[2xx1xy1JD]

Why don't we let schools focus on, you know, actual education of students, including, you know, how to use proper grammar and speak in complete sentence without overuse of fillers like "you know".

[ILoveJellybeans]

Thats silly. I think all of the things people say are traditional gender roles (like that girls should learn to cook and clean, boys should learn job skills and how to fix things) are things that everyone should learn as theyre not gender related skills, they are life skills.

[debrand]

If women are naturally better at certain things, how come we must be taught those certain things? Shouldn't they just come to us naturally then?

Edit. Cross-posted with Patsy

Agreed. I don't have to teach my cat to purr or my dog to bark because those are natural for them.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Well, if you ask my kids what mommy and daddy naturally do best, they'd tell you:

Mommy:

Kill bugs

Take out the garbage

debate/argue

cook (including BBQ)

Daddy:

coach soccer

socialize, go on Facebook, make phone calls and playdates

party planning

Jump around like a kangaroo and otherwise entertain kids

[Cannelle]

Until it's acceptable to dice vegetables and mop the floor with my vagina, there's no way I'm going to believe that women are better at those things than men.

[rward]

"This is what a father does that is maybe a little different, maybe a little bit better than the talents that a mom has in a certain area. And the same thing for the young girls, that, you know, this is what a mom does, and this is what is important from the standpoint of that union which we call marriage."

And that's the patriarchy in a nutshell right there.

[dairyfreelife]

And that's the patriarchy in a nutshell right there.

I noticed the language there also. Twice he says that boys/fathers do things a little better, but he does not use the "a little better" line once with girls/women. Basically, he wants women to go back into the houses and be his cook, maid and sex slave. Wish these people would just come out and say it.

[sheltonLE]

Well, if you ask my kids what mommy and daddy naturally do best, they'd tell you:

Mommy:

Kill bugs

Take out the garbage

debate/argue

cook (including BBQ)

Daddy:

coach soccer

socialize, go on Facebook, make phone calls and playdates

party planning

Jump around like a kangaroo and otherwise entertain kids

No way, in my family dad was the bug killer. Women don't like bugs and spiders and stuff, you know? Maybe they should have taught you that in school. ;)

[Mice]

I noticed the language there also. Twice he says that boys/fathers do things a little better, but he does not use the "a little better" line once with girls/women. Basically, he wants women to go back into the houses and be his cook, maid and sex slave. Wish these people would just come out and say it.

That is what caught my eye in the news story - schools should teach grade school age kids that males are a little bit better than the girls are.

It's like these people have never heard of Jane Elliot's Blue Eye\Brown Eye experiments. Imagine what would happen to a grade school girl who is great at STEM subjects (like yanno, my kid) if she went to a class that told her that she's not really good at that stuff but that what she's really good at is doing when men tell her and spreading her legs. Also a plus if she makes a good sandwich.

What is going to happen to that child in the milieu of the school when the boys see her outscoring her on a math test, or building a better program in Scratch? Answer: they are going to bully her. What will happen to her in the milieu of a community where this is what is taught? Answer: Malala Yousafzai

[docmom]

How come fundies seem to completely disregard the parable of the talents when it comes to gender roles. They pick Paul over Jesus every time don't they?

I am quite talented at bug killing but DH is the champion dead mammal remover in our house.

[keen23]

Until it's acceptable to dice vegetables and mop the floor with my vagina, there's no way I'm going to believe that women are better at those things than men.

Agreed. I'm a female with a vagina, married to a man with a penis. He's a trained chef. You can bet your ass he's far better at chopping vegetables than I am. Also, as he did stints as a dishwasher as a teenager, the man can stack a dishwasher and scrub a floor with a deck brush like nobody's business.

[JenniferJuniper]

I noticed the language there also. Twice he says that boys/fathers do things a little better, but he does not use the "a little better" line once with girls/women. Basically, he wants women to go back into the houses and be his cook, maid and sex slave. Wish these people would just come out and say it.

Let's not be silly. Men are always better at everything. Unless it's things like cooking and cleaning and tending to children, which no real man does.

Gender is at the heart of everything with these guys. Abortion isn't about robbing 15 week fetuses of their masturbating lives or causing them phantom fetal pain. These guys don't give a shit about any poor pre-born embryos that birth control or Plan B might prevent. It's about men controlling one of the most important aspects of women's lives. It's also why they can't stop talking about rape. Legitimate rapes only happen when their daughters are assaulted in dark alleys by black menz. No other type of rape can exist because women should not have any control when it comes to sex.

Same with gay marriage. It really isn't about the type of sex people are having or the poor, poor confused children; it’s about gender. If we allow one human to marry another without regard to external genitalia, we're openly acknowledging that gender doesn't matter in relationships. One human is the same as another. But if we're all the same, how then can women be less than men? Can't let that happen.

[ADoyle90815]

Let's not be silly. Men are always better at everything. Unless it's things like cooking and cleaning and tending to children, which no real man does.

Gender is at the heart of everything with these guys. Abortion isn't about robbing 15 week fetuses of their masturbating lives or causing them phantom fetal pain. These guys don't give a shit about any poor pre-born embryos that birth control or Plan B might prevent. It's about men controlling one of the most important aspects of women's lives. It's also why they can't stop talking about rape. Legitimate rapes only happen when their daughters are assaulted in dark alleys by black menz. No other type of rape can exist because women should not have any control when it comes to sex.

Same with gay marriage. It really isn't about the type of sex people are having or the poor, poor confused children; it’s about gender. If we allow one human to marry another without regard to external genitalia, we're openly acknowledging that gender doesn't matter in relationships. One human is the same as another. But if we're all the same, how then can women be less than men? Can't let that happen.

Another thing about abortion is that if a woman dies from a coat hanger abortion or from pregnancy complications, that means there's one less woman to compete with men for jobs. After all, patriarchy really doesn't like the idea of women working outside the home because there are men who need those jobs more since a woman is expected to be a cook, maid, and sex slave.

[RachelB]

No way, in my family dad was the bug killer. Women don't like bugs and spiders and stuff, you know? Maybe they should have taught you that in school. ;)

I am in charge of spiders and striped yellow and black insects (and will in fact walk between my partner, who is male, and a bush that is full of bees). My partner, conversely, is in charge of millipedes, which freak me out for some reason. We are fortunate not to be scared of the same kinds of critters.

[burntnorton]

I could write a long post debunking the myths of traditional gender roles, gender and biological essentialism, and all the other errors embedded in this guy's remarks. But fuck that. Fuck him. Fuck his fucked up fellow fuckwits. All I have to say to them is stay the fuck away from me, my uterus, my marriage, my children, and my children's school.

[Nothing2CHere]

"This is what a father does that is maybe a little different, maybe a little bit better than the talents that a mom has in a certain area. And the same thing for the young girls, that, you know, this is what a mom does, and this is what is important from the standpoint of that union which we call marriage."

Or, you know, we could just let each couple decide what's important from the standpoint of that union which we call marriage for themselves.

[MissA]

I attended schools, both public and private, for twenty years, and I can say with certainty: traditional gender rules are being well-taught in schools.

In my own life, for example, a boy pushed me down on the playground in first grade. I got up and pushed him back. I got kept in at the next recess and told "he just does that because he likes you". He got nothing. I have never seen male physical aggression treated with as much severity as female physical aggression.

In sixth grade, boys took shop. Girls took home ec. One girl wanted to take shop and was allowed to but was mercilessly teased by both sexes (This was not me. I wasn't all that courageous of a preteen. I have no idea what would have happened if a boy had wanted to take home ec. but I can only imagine it would have been worse.)

My 11th grade chemistry teacher said "You know, engineering isn't a great trade for a woman. Lot of rough characters, and it's kind of a waste to work that hard if you're just going to have kids."

I am thirty-three, but the exact same shit going on among the current generation of children. "Girls are nurturering followers" and "Boys are aggressive leaders" gets stamped into their faces from birth regardless of their individual characters. No need to make it official.

[burntnorton]

Seriously. Just look at the color of children's toys. Ever try to find a broom or other household toy NOT covered in pink at Target? And if you could, it would still be in the girls aisle - i.e., the inside of a pepto bottle. We dont need help reinforcing gender norms.

[Jinger Jar]

Seriously. Just look at the color of children's toys. Ever try to find a broom or other household toy NOT covered in pink at Target? And if you could, it would still be in the girls aisle - i.e., the inside of a pepto bottle. We dont need help reinforcing gender norms.

An aside: [link=http://www.forsmallhands.com/]Montessori toys[/link] are gender neutral vis-a-vis colors and designs. I bought scads of them when the girls were smaller for that exact reason. :)

[tanksmom]

Seriously. Just look at the color of children's toys. Ever try to find a broom or other household toy NOT covered in pink at Target? And if you could, it would still be in the girls aisle - i.e., the inside of a pepto bottle. We dont need help reinforcing gender norms.

QFT

My son has loved to bake and cook since he was old enough to hold a spoon so I looked for an easy bake oven for him when he was 3ish. Bright garish pink, lots of happy girls pictured on the box and in the ads. The only thing that showed even one boy was the insect maker (don't remember the name but it had the tagline of gross out your sister)

I still bought him the easy bake since neither of us cared what color it was but it would have been nice to see at least 1 boy somewhere in the ads! But then again I'm sure he's the only boy who EVER liked to bake 'm I rite?

[crazyforkate]

"Daddy, can you teach me how to cook? Girls can cook too, you know."

-CFK, age 3

[Anxious Girl]

So which Native America tribes' gender roles should be taught in schools? ... Oh, he means white Biblical Christian gender roles of 1950's America. What an ass.