put downs, segregation, and other idiocies
I was just reading a blog post by a woman who was talking about the sexism of marketing, particularly in relation to the exclusion of women from the gaming industry (in advertising audience in particular). And this topic kind of bothered me. But not for the reasons you might think.
So much is made of sexism, segregation, the patriarchy, etc. by females and about how the world is out to make you into a smaller person and not a larger one. However, I think that while there are separatist institutions out there, a lot of the separating behavior is voluntary on the behalf of the "victims". When I was young, I was first given dolls and stuffed animals as toys. However, I didn't like dolls and preferred books, stuffed animals, and games (puzzles and such) to play with. I was given Tonka trucks and Tinkertoys; I had a basket of puppets and marionettes; a wooden workbench with a hammer, screwdriver, and wrench to use the nails, bolts, and screws to attach pieces of colored wood to holes in the workbench. These were the choices my mother made for me, based on what she saw me enjoy. She gave me this wide variety of entertainment to expand my horizon as a person. I could dig in the dirt with my trucks, build stuff with my Tinkertoys, I could ramble through the yard and jump off the porch stairs on my Big Wheel, I could climb the trees with a snack to lose myself in a good book, I could do whatever I wanted. My world wasn't limited to dolls, playing house, and more dolls. As a result of that freedom, I was able to look at the world as a place to learn and explore and create.
As a child, our actions are influenced by our parents. However, we always have that choice. Is there some sort of filter on the TV that means we girl children can't watch Ben10 because it's meant for boys and has a boy protagonist? Does the TV or the movie theater only allow girls to watch Barbie or Tinkerbell movies? Of course not. However, it is up to us as individuals to take off our blinders to see the whole world around us. Barbies are good for more than just making the beds in the Barbie Dream House and going shopping with her friends. She also can make a good payload for a model rocket! Of course it'd have to be one of the larger ones because otherwise she wouldn't fit... *grins* And just because standard Lego sets come with red, yellow, and blue blocks, does that somehow exclude women from playing with them? Do pink Legos fit better into our hands somehow?
How is it that we learn that we have these choices? Much of it comes from our own personalities, I think. There are those who are more naturally contrary and always looking to buck the system. Others are more comfortable following in the expected patterns of behavior they are shown. Neither is inherently wrong, but I think we become better people if we don't just follow the straight and narrow path in front of us. I'm not saying that everyone needs to challenge everything around them. Enjoy what you enjoy. There are women who get a lot of personal satisfaction from cooking and cleaning. There are men who get a lot of personal satisfaction from being athletes. But be more than that. There are women who are homemakers who go out on the weekends to do roller derby or drive race cars, and there are soldiers who enjoy knitting or baking.
To borrow the Army slogan: Be all you can be!
So much is made of sexism, segregation, the patriarchy, etc. by females and about how the world is out to make you into a smaller person and not a larger one. However, I think that while there are separatist institutions out there, a lot of the separating behavior is voluntary on the behalf of the "victims". When I was young, I was first given dolls and stuffed animals as toys. However, I didn't like dolls and preferred books, stuffed animals, and games (puzzles and such) to play with. I was given Tonka trucks and Tinkertoys; I had a basket of puppets and marionettes; a wooden workbench with a hammer, screwdriver, and wrench to use the nails, bolts, and screws to attach pieces of colored wood to holes in the workbench. These were the choices my mother made for me, based on what she saw me enjoy. She gave me this wide variety of entertainment to expand my horizon as a person. I could dig in the dirt with my trucks, build stuff with my Tinkertoys, I could ramble through the yard and jump off the porch stairs on my Big Wheel, I could climb the trees with a snack to lose myself in a good book, I could do whatever I wanted. My world wasn't limited to dolls, playing house, and more dolls. As a result of that freedom, I was able to look at the world as a place to learn and explore and create.
As a child, our actions are influenced by our parents. However, we always have that choice. Is there some sort of filter on the TV that means we girl children can't watch Ben10 because it's meant for boys and has a boy protagonist? Does the TV or the movie theater only allow girls to watch Barbie or Tinkerbell movies? Of course not. However, it is up to us as individuals to take off our blinders to see the whole world around us. Barbies are good for more than just making the beds in the Barbie Dream House and going shopping with her friends. She also can make a good payload for a model rocket! Of course it'd have to be one of the larger ones because otherwise she wouldn't fit... *grins* And just because standard Lego sets come with red, yellow, and blue blocks, does that somehow exclude women from playing with them? Do pink Legos fit better into our hands somehow?
How is it that we learn that we have these choices? Much of it comes from our own personalities, I think. There are those who are more naturally contrary and always looking to buck the system. Others are more comfortable following in the expected patterns of behavior they are shown. Neither is inherently wrong, but I think we become better people if we don't just follow the straight and narrow path in front of us. I'm not saying that everyone needs to challenge everything around them. Enjoy what you enjoy. There are women who get a lot of personal satisfaction from cooking and cleaning. There are men who get a lot of personal satisfaction from being athletes. But be more than that. There are women who are homemakers who go out on the weekends to do roller derby or drive race cars, and there are soldiers who enjoy knitting or baking.
To borrow the Army slogan: Be all you can be!