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GENDER BENDERS
As
the Dubya camp chortles that they have killed the political gender gap,
some "experts" propose yet another gender gap. This one was "discovered"
when all but two of the contestants in a recent Geography Bee were boys.
"Ah, ha!" quoth the experts, pondering these data. More proof that there are "cognitive differences" in the genders. Boys have better spatial skills than girls helping them to be better in navigation and finding their way, ergo boys do better in geography.
They even dragged out the old standby about dolls. You've heard it countless times. "Give a girl a doll and she'll cuddle it. Give a boy a doll and he'll make a gun out of it." Trouble is they never have an explanation for those boys who cuddle a doll and those girls who make a gun out of it.
There were some, more thoughtful individuals, who speculated that it was the result of fewer schools teaching geography. They pointed out how interactive toys were geared toward boys, and how OTHER SOCIAL INFLUENCES could play a part.
Charlotte Bunch, director Center for Women's Global Leadership -- Rutgers, writes: "Women remain underpaid, under-represented in governments, and under threat of physical and sexual abuse -- and three-quarters of the world's poorest are women and children.
"There's a backlash against women's visibility. There's a backlash against women pushing the boundaries of the issues."
Certainly there are biological differences between the genders but until cultural conditioning can be eliminated, the brain differences cannot be verified. That would take thousands of years even if we could turn back the clock and do things differently.
So let's just consider first what has been going on all these eons and postulate how, under different circumstances, the results might have been different.
IN GENERAL, up to this last century, most males have been allowed to develop fully, received education and training. Most females were restricted, uneducated and were virtually slaves of males. They were not considered equal -- HENCE THE SPECIE DESIGNATION -- MANKIND.
Thousands of years ago, Romans told of seeing women warriors who fought alongside their male tribe members. Archaeological digs have confirmed the existence of women in battle dress buried with the male warriors during this time in history. So, instead of the history we know, let's suppose that this ENLIGHTENED tribe flourished and it was their progeny that populated much of the world.
Assuming that a male-dominated-religion-driven tribe did NOT conquer them, this could mean that females developed, traveled, were educated and trained right alongside the males of their tribe.
If
that happened, we should see little difference in the abilities
of the genders as they proceeded through the generations. What a change
that would mean for us in this 21st century! Imagine!
* Humanizing of the genders could lead to rapid respect and accord between the races. Fewer wars with accelerated progress in human growth such as the elimination of INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR.
* Since the genders would work in tandem instead of one dominant over the other, society would be much further ahead in the family values everyone seems to insist on. Humanity would be truly human and there would be no such thing as mankind.
This is not to say that men have never done good or even great things, only that it takes massive amounts of wasted energy to keep over half of the people in chains. What a dream world it could have been if enlightened behavior replaced our present slave/master/power/conquest mentality.
"West Bath, Maine - One minute it seemed like play, the next minute she was pinned to the ground. As she cried out and resisted, two males held her down on the grass while another climbed on top of her." -- from an Associated Press article by David Sharp
Attempted rape? Sexual harassment? Or just "simple bullying"?
The 9-year-old girl was held down while one of the boys climbed on top of her and simulated a sex act. The tearful girl reported the conduct to the teacher who told her to "stay away from the boys".
"For many years, people turned their heads and said, 'BOYS WILL BE BOYS'. For the last 15 years, girls have said, 'NO, this is not acceptable'," declared Julie Underwood, General Counsel for the National School Boards Association.
How many days or weeks will it take for the "experts" to come up with the alibi that the above act was just a natural result of the "cognitive difference" in the male brain?
2000-023
Copyright 2000 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@gendergappers.org.
G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
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