The Politics of Gender
Suffice it to say that revision today did not go brilliantly, and that a veil is now being drawn over the subject.
However, away from Mill's assertion that "Benthamism is the philosophy of swine" and all that other madness, the politics of gender are clearly still alive & indeed kicking.
At Rainbows this evening we were doing about being kind and helpful. Heather or Otter, as she is now known, had brought along some jigsaw puzzles of different jobs & when they were fitted together we talked about people who did kind and helpful jobs.
First person whose puzzle was completed: a nurse. Apparently the Rainbows would ALL like to be nurses when they grow up, because nurses are all very nice and are all INCREDIBLY kind and helpful. They help people ALL the time. Yes, yes they do. Please PLEASE all be proud of me not dissolving into hysterics. But being a nurse is a girl's job. And you have to be a boy to be a doctor. So apologies cathbear and julie_rmh but it looks as if either you'll need to start wearing beards, or you'll have to swap to nursing. The Rainbows were all quite clear on that one. They were more willing to accept female police officers, but they were very definite that nurses are girls and doctors are boys. We did attempt to disabuse them of that idea, but I'm not sure we succeeded. It seems so strange that, in the 21st century, so many gender stereotypes are still hanging around.
Mind you, it is quite possible that it is a conclusion the Rainbows arrived at by deduction: if their GP, say, is male, and the practice nurse is female, to a 5 year old, that may seem like the way the world works. And while I know increasing numbers of women ARE studying medicine, the shifting of the gender bias in nursing does not seem to be happening. (Frankly I am always surprised at anyone wishing to be a nurse. But that surprise extends to anyone wishing to be a medical professional. Humans... And the fact they go ick. And squish. *shudders*) So yes, despite the best efforts of feminists, we appear to be stuck with some gender stereotypes, for the time being at least.
Gender stereotyping came up again when discussing the Promise party for next week. Pink, angels, fairies & princesses were well in the forefront of ideas. Looking around, lots of those not in uniform were in pink... (Which clashes quite horribly with the uniform, might I just add...)
It was a fine evening, and I now have a Rainbow name. I am Butterfly, to compliment Katie's Dragonfly. Corinne is Badger, Emma (our small helper) is Bunny-Rabbit, and Catherine is Nénuphar (which is the French for lilypad, in case you were wondering).
So yes, huzzah for Rainbows... and frankly I think the gender-stuff was practically like work... yes...
However, away from Mill's assertion that "Benthamism is the philosophy of swine" and all that other madness, the politics of gender are clearly still alive & indeed kicking.
At Rainbows this evening we were doing about being kind and helpful. Heather or Otter, as she is now known, had brought along some jigsaw puzzles of different jobs & when they were fitted together we talked about people who did kind and helpful jobs.
First person whose puzzle was completed: a nurse. Apparently the Rainbows would ALL like to be nurses when they grow up, because nurses are all very nice and are all INCREDIBLY kind and helpful. They help people ALL the time. Yes, yes they do. Please PLEASE all be proud of me not dissolving into hysterics. But being a nurse is a girl's job. And you have to be a boy to be a doctor. So apologies cathbear and julie_rmh but it looks as if either you'll need to start wearing beards, or you'll have to swap to nursing. The Rainbows were all quite clear on that one. They were more willing to accept female police officers, but they were very definite that nurses are girls and doctors are boys. We did attempt to disabuse them of that idea, but I'm not sure we succeeded. It seems so strange that, in the 21st century, so many gender stereotypes are still hanging around.
Mind you, it is quite possible that it is a conclusion the Rainbows arrived at by deduction: if their GP, say, is male, and the practice nurse is female, to a 5 year old, that may seem like the way the world works. And while I know increasing numbers of women ARE studying medicine, the shifting of the gender bias in nursing does not seem to be happening. (Frankly I am always surprised at anyone wishing to be a nurse. But that surprise extends to anyone wishing to be a medical professional. Humans... And the fact they go ick. And squish. *shudders*) So yes, despite the best efforts of feminists, we appear to be stuck with some gender stereotypes, for the time being at least.
Gender stereotyping came up again when discussing the Promise party for next week. Pink, angels, fairies & princesses were well in the forefront of ideas. Looking around, lots of those not in uniform were in pink... (Which clashes quite horribly with the uniform, might I just add...)
It was a fine evening, and I now have a Rainbow name. I am Butterfly, to compliment Katie's Dragonfly. Corinne is Badger, Emma (our small helper) is Bunny-Rabbit, and Catherine is Nénuphar (which is the French for lilypad, in case you were wondering).
So yes, huzzah for Rainbows... and frankly I think the gender-stuff was practically like work... yes...