module 3

In our lecture for module 3, we were asked to make a list of words to designate men and women. I noticed that for many of the words I could come up with for women, there was a corresponding word for men that had a similarly negative or posative connotation. For example, bitch and asshole, jock and sporty ect. However I noticed that even though there may be a similar word for men and women, such as slut and man whore, and they both have a negative connotation, it is still more acceptable for a man to be a man whore than for a woman to be a slut. In a similar way, although it is negative for a man to be an asshole, it is still more acceptable for him to be so than for a woman to be a bitch. Men who are assholes are usually considered funny or assertive where as women who are bitches are annoying or crazy. This is an example of how language describing gender difference can create privledge.

I would also like to comment on the child x article. I work with young children and this article made me realize how differently male and female children are treated. I teach gymnastics and pre-k sports classes, and I have noticed that teachers consider the boys to be more violent and hyper. They get yelled at more for hitting pushing ect and for not listening. At first I thought this was because they really did act this way naturally. However, girls do hit and push sometimes (although not as much) too. The teachers tend to look the other way more often when they do so, or tell them in a soft kind voice that they shouldn't do that, instead of punishing them. The instructors have the notion that if a girl hits someone they must have done something really mean to them, but if a boy hits it's just becasue he's wild. The article also made me wonder if the girls hit less becasue at home their parents tell them that little girls don't hit and if boys hit more becasue at home their parents consider it normal for them to hit. I have also noticed at work that there are almost never boys in the dance and cheerleading classes. In fact when parents come in to see what we offer, the person at the desk doesn't even mention these classes if their child is a boy. There was however, a boy in the dance class one session. He loved both the tap and ballet part of the class. He was always very excited when he got to class and you could tell he was having a great time. He was also really good at learning and remembering the skills, in fact, he was one of the most talented kids I have seen in that class. He didn't seem to mind that he was the only boy in the class. I remember wondering what his parents must have done to raise him to be so comfortable with being in a "girls" class. Looking back, they probably did many of the same things as the parents of child X (although not as extreme). They probably gave him toys that could be for boys and girls and let him play with whatever he wanted, whether it be a doll or a football. I think it's great that he was able to do whatever he wanted reguardless of whether it had traditionally been considered for girls becasue he may grow up to be a very talented dancer. He might have never known what a gift he had for dancing if his parents had kept him to activities that are "for boys."