Upon reading R.W. Connell's "Masculinities" I came across a part in a passage where he mentions Michael Messner's interview study of professional athletes (page 35). I was so shocked to see this name because I actually just learned about Messner's interview in my other class EXSC 310- Sociopsychological aspects of sport and physical activity so I thought I would give some background information on this study and see how it relates to our SWMS class. Mich Messner observed soccer teams of four and five year old boys and girls and they ways that they interacted with one another, there was a particular situation in which the boys made fun of the girls for being called team Barbie. Messner wondered why parents at the soccer game accepted without question the idea that boys and girls are naturally different, even though boys were initially interested in the play ful actions of the girls and their use of the Barbie IconHe also wondered if people who use nature to explain the actions of their children tend to overlook similarities between boys and girls and feel no need to discuss the actions with the children. Even though the boys were "just being boys" as many of the parents said, and their playful actions did not physically hurt anyone, Messner wondered if certain sports are organized to reaffirm ideas about gender and nature so that many people believe it is normal for boys and men to express aggression by intimidating others.
I just thought this was an interesting point and a good demonstration of how to start to develop a research question. I think a lot of what we teach our kids has to do with our own impressions of how society works and many parents may think that it is okay for boys to act certain ways that they do towards girls because of the excuse that they are "just being boys". But if we changed the way that we taught our kids to act towards one another, is it possible that we could change the way adults start to look at gender as well?
I completely agree with Tara's point. A lot of what we learn is what our parents teach us. In a way, our parents plant an ideological seed that is carried on to the next generation and so on. Therefore, to make a change, we need to start changing the way we raise our own children (when the time comes, of course). And in the process of teaching our children to be more accepting, we (as parents) learn to be more accepting as well. So this just becomes an endless positive feedback loop. Good point! :)
ReplyDeleteThere are people that are trying to change the way their kids perceive gender now, and in some cases there are benefits but in others, it seems to be a little bit harmful. In my Writ 140 class we read this article about a family that is trying to raise their kids without gender: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/storm-gender-debate-rages_n_868131.html
ReplyDeleteThey are giving their children more freedom, trying to keep them from being exposed to limiting gender stereotypes. This is a really great thing, but there are already some problems with their plan. One of their older sons is offended when people assume he is a girl (because of his long hair and typically girly clothing).
However, I do think it is possible to change the way gender is viewed through parenting, but I think that maybe it has to be done on a smaller scale starting out.