Free to Be…A Vampire?
Here’s an interesting opinion piece that ran in the Washington Post by single-sex schools advocate Leonard Sax. You can read the whole thing here. He’s writing about the popular “Twilight” series by Stephanie Meyer, which is a big hit — mostly with girls. And that’s a black eye for feminists, Sax writes, because the female characters are helpless, bake cookies, hold all-female slumber parties and are frequently rescued by muscular, brave male characters. Sax writes:
“..on some level, it seems that children may know human nature better than grown-ups do. Three decades of adults pretending that gender doesn’t matter haven’t created a generation of feminists who don’t need men; they have instead created a horde of girls who adore the traditional male and female roles and relationships in the “Twilight” saga. Likewise, ignoring gender differences hasn’t created a generation of boys who muse about their feelings while they work on their scrapbooks. Instead, a growing number of boys in this country spend much of their free time absorbed in the masculine mayhem of video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Halo or surfing the Internet for pornography…For more than three decades, political correctness has required that educators and parents pretend that gender doesn’t really matter. The results of that policy are upon us: a growing cohort of young men who spend many hours each week playing video games and looking at pornography online, while their sisters and friends dream of gentle werewolves who are content to cuddle with them and dazzling vampires who will protect them from danger. In other words, ignoring gender differences is contributing to a growing gender divide.”
Now, I’ve talked and emailed with Sax a few times and I know he’s very touchy about being paraphrased so read the piece for yourself. But let me say this: to my mind, feminism is a straw man in the discussion of why boys are failing. Could it be, as Sax seems to suggest, that feminism has created a society that is more invested in traditional gender roles? Don’t think so. But what do you think?
August 18th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
[...] PopSugar wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptLikewise, ignoring gender differences hasn’t created a generation of boys who muse about their feelings while they work on their scrapbooks. Instead, a growing number of boys in this country spend much of their free time absorbed in the … Read the rest of this great post here [...]
August 18th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
1) I don’t think feminism has invested more in traditional gender roles.
Which from that snippet isn’t entirely what I think the author is saying.
2) I do think it has created a gender divide.
Feminism comes out of the Baby Boomers’ culture of Hate. To the 60s radical and their ideological decedents, hatred is a virtue.
Hatred of men is key to feminism (Look at the biographies of those that started modern feminism; those where angry people). “Boys are stupid” “sperm donors with wallets” culture runs rampant in modern female thinking. Male-bashing is not just A-OK it is culturally expected. Whenever you get more than 3-4 women the PC anti-male hate is sure to come out.
So, how what does this cause?
The men retreat as much as possible. They fear dating & marriage but are biologically compelled to at least date.
They break apart socially and politically. Men resent women as more and more money is diverted to female causes and none to men.
Women grow to hate men but simultaneously feel that men owe them.
So, feminism is not re-enforcing traditional gender roles. But it does make the genders want to have as little to do with each other as possible. Hence the divide.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Ditto with EvilDave, there is definitely a divide, the number of spinsters and bachelors seem to attest to the fact.
The absence of the dynamic of cohesive relationships and the lack of what women deem a ’suitable mate’ could be leading to the fantasizing and idealization of traditional male figures. Who would want a male nanny when they can have Tarzan………
August 20th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Hmm, I\’m not sure if I agree with you fully
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August 31st, 2008 at 3:42 am
Interesting enough, I just blogged about comments and moderation here at IT Toolbox. I was reading a comment and this post came up (based on topic) from more than a year ago.
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December 5th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Womyn: you lack logic, accountability and not mention compassion for half of the human race.
The insane hatred directed against boys and men and the persecutions in divorce court and general hatred driven against men is everywhere.
Feminism = Hatred.
University = Feminism Church
Womyn hate all that is male.
See destruction of boys.
See womyn-teacher boy rape and light legal charges
See divorce court destruction of men and children
Solution = Avoid North American Bitches
April 8th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
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April 13th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Learning Theory shows how our treatment of Males from the nineteenth century belief Males should be strong has created many obstacles: from more aggression allowed; less ease and comfort along with less mental/emotional/social/academic support (for fear of coddling, again to make them tough); and also by design to make Males tough only providing love, honor, and respect, conditional on achievement, power, or status. As to why African Males are falling behind in greater numbers: the lower the socioeconomic bracket the more aggressions are allowed upon Males. Also, there are usually much less accumulated other mental, emotional, social, and academic tools present to help in more positive ways. Also more time in generations create another layer of shortage in those areas. If other races: Caucasian, Hispanic or other were in the same position in the same numbers, the problem would be just as great for those groups.
Since girls are not required to be strong, it is okay to provide good stabilizing treatment, more ease, more comfort, more mental/emotional/social/academic support. This is why girls appear to mature faster than boys. Also, there is the idea from the nineteenth century that girls should be protected. This continues on for girls from birth onward. Also, since girls are not required to be tough, girls can and are given more respect simply for being girls. All of those areas create virtually everything they need to grow up mentally fit to compete in the information age.
1. I fear followers of the genetic models will try to build a case for genetic learning differences or body mass requiring more activity or tactile learning. Note that nice middle class Males do not have this problem. Also the view of differences in brain activity are more due to large differences in differential mental, emotional, social, physical, and educational reinforcement over time, not organic differences.
2. I also fear the use of Male classrooms with more discipline and