Happy New Year!
I ‘m happy to start the new year with this newly designed website. Hope you enjoy it. I will continue to write on the issues that make me think, laugh or simply annoy me. Looking forward to seeing your comments. Have a great 2007!
Gender Tracking
I always thought that single-sex education was a good idea particularly through high school, but now I am wondering about it. Instead of giving girls (and boys) the opportunity to learn without having the social pressures created by co-ed education it seems from this article in Slate that it’s being used to teach in gender-specific ways. The killer for me is the suggestion that girls’ brains don’t do well with abstraction and they tend to like to work in groups (like a quilting bee). Neither is true for me. I have always preferred theory over practice and being an individual contributor instead of a team player. Does that mean that I and young girls like me are defective females? What about boys who would rather make something than do philosophy? If the single-sex education that is being revived today is about assumed brain differences I think I will pass. That’s too bad because at its best single-sex education can provide an open and safe environment for children to explore their individual differences away from the evaluating eyes of the opposite sex. I am not sure who is responsible for gender tracking and ruining what could be a great way to learn - cultural conservatives or radical feminist. In the game of education they can sound the same.
Merry Christmas!
MAY THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH AND MAY IT BEGIN WITH US. PEACE TO YOU THIS CHRISTMAS.
Sheltering the Body
Christians for Biblical Equality has published my article Sheltering the Body online in E-quality Journal. Take a look.
Celebrity philanthropy
In this season of giving, the winter 2007 green issue of Bitch magazine has an excellent article about the gender difference in celebrity philanthropy.
“Generally, speaking, men like Bill Gates, George Clooney and Bono are using their wealth and influence to advocate for specific policy reforms and U.S. political actions on issues such as health, foreign aid and trade. Meanwhile, female celebrities like Oprah, Drew Barrymore, Meg Ryan and Lucy Lieu promote a feel-good, totally apolitical mode of philanthropy, in which women are encouraged to consider the plight people in the developing world as a way (in part) to feel better about their own lives, and to pursue only small, relatively ineffectual solutions to the world’s problems.”
The article goes on to sight countless examples of doing good by giving African women make-up kits and buying ourselves heart-shape lockets where only a tiny portion of the price gets to the people in need. These acts make us believe that we have now done something significant about the world’s problems and we can just go on our merry way. It’s much more effective to write a check to the charities that do that work you believe in.
Unfortunately, Bitch:feminist response to pop culture is not available online so run to your nearest bookseller and buy it off the shelf. It’s one of the smartest magazines around.
Banning cocaine
I just got an e-mail from my son’s high school that they are banning cocaine from the campus. I hope so! Cocaine Energy drink that is. A souped up high caffeine drink that advertises itself as the “legal alternative”. When the product was launched in September it was presented as a drink for party goers. It has now trickled down to kids. The kids are drinking the stuff like regular pop making them super-hyper and disruptive in the classroom. I would say it’s like training wheels for future drug abusers. It also blurs the lines between legal and illegal and between wholesome and destructive. This along with pop flavor liquor products with harmless sounding names like Mike’s Lemonade it makes you wonder if there is such a thing as corporate morality in a capitalist market. Oh, sorry I forgot. It’s about making money for their shareholders.
Mothers and madness
A new study from the JAMA and reported in the Chicago Tribune reveals that new mothers are more likely than fathers to suffer severe emotional disturbances after the birth of a child. What’s irksome about these “scientific” studies is the lack of social context for why mental illness arise in women at this critical time. This JAMA report gives no significance to the lack of social support many new mothers experience. Can we say that maybe we live in a world that is hostile to mothers? Can we consider that maybe hormones are affected by environment? The classic book Women and Madness by Phyllis Chesler explores the bias in evaluating mental illness in women. It’s easier to stick to the “scientific” facts and avoid the mess of other factors. How we experience life’s major milestones is highly affected by how those around us respond. Fortunately, most of us find our way while a few lose it.
Bringing sexy back
Today I was disappointed to find that www.about_face.org, one of the best websites for calling out advertisers for their distorted portrayal of women is gone. (Do you lounge around in this position?) Frankly, I am not surprised. Between lack of funding, consumer apathy and life just happening they simply couldn’t go on beating that drum. For most people it’s “What’s the big deal?” Instead, we are left with a future of Victoria’s Secret fashion shows.
An unsustainable work ethic
The work ethic is going in the wrong direction for women and other living things. See this article in the Boston Globe.
Global Feminism?
American feminism ( and women) has become increasingly spoiled, pampered, and irrelevant to global culture and politics. This four year old article at City Journal by remains a great summary of why and how our privileged position demands that we speak and fight for women’s dignity worldwide. In this way, we may be assuring our own freedom in the precarious future we face.