Keith, wonderful! It must be fun to watch them grow! Just don't encourage them to do loops on bicycles, though one of them probably will!
Ed Ed Weick 577 Melbourne Ave. Ottawa, ON, K2A 1W7 Canada Phone (613) 728 4630 Fax (613) 728 9382 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Hudson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, October 21, 2002 3:29 PM Subject: Re: Feminization of education? > Ed, > > Just for now: > > At 14:13 21/10/02 -0400, you wrote: > <<<< > What can men still do that women can't? Well, they can still play football. > >>>> > > Don't you believe it! > > It's my triplet grand-daughters' 9th birthday in a few days. I had no idea > what to give them as presents, of course, but under advice from my > daughter, I have now bought them (a) a dressing gown for Julia; (b) a set > of "How to Draw" books for Kate; (c) a football and a pair of football > boots for Helen. > > (They are, needless to say, non-identical twins with entirely different > sets of genes -- otherwise it might easily have been three pairs of boots.) > > Keith > > > > >As a male member of the species, I must admit that I've felt myself to be in > >a long retreat during the past half century. When I attended university in > >the 1950s, there were plenty of women there, but almost all of them were > >taking home ec or nursing. There were a few oddballs. A few were taking > >law, and one was actually taking engineering! From what I've read about > >universities recently, there may indeed be more women taking professional > >courses than men. Ads for business schools offering MBAs typically show a > >bright and shiny young woman who is obviously going to make it. > > > >I attend the odd meeting at the local high school because I have a 17 year > >old daughter who is about to graduate. I'm one of the few males there. > >School council is about 90% female, and student council, this year, is all > >young women. The Principal is a woman, as is one of the two VPs and most of > >the teachers. Before high school, my daughter attended an "alternative" > >school which encouraged parental participation in school policy and the > >classroom. About 90% of parents who participated were women. > > > >Women have become at least equal if not dominant in fields other than > >education. During the course of my career as civil servant, I saw them move > >out of the steno pool and into some really high-powered executive offices, > >including those of Deputy and Assistant Deputy Minister. A few months ago, > >I attended a mining conference in Canada's high Arctic. Some of the most > >formidable mining executives and bureaucrats in attendance were women. > > > >What can men still do that women can't? Well, they can still play football. > >And there are some crazy channels on TV that feature things like riding a > >bicycle up a ramp and doing several loops on it before it hits the ground. > >I don't think I've seen a woman do that yet. But, maybe soon? > > > >Is there a message in all of this? Perhaps we were meant to be matriarchal, > >but got it wrong to begin with. Some societies may have got it right. > >Northern Athapaskan (Dene) Indians are matriarchal. To quote a Dene woman I > >once talked to in the Mackenzie Valley: "We let men be boys till they're > >forty. Then we make them get serious!" That may be the natural order of > >things. > > > >Ed > > > >PS: I've only been to Japan once, but I remember seeing a lot of students in > >dark uniforms. Above their feet, they all looked alike. But their feet > >were something else. Every colour of running shoe imaginable! Ah...., self > >expression! > > > >Ed Weick > >577 Melbourne Ave. > >Ottawa, ON, K2A 1W7 > >Canada > >Phone (613) 728 4630 > >Fax (613) 728 9382 > > > > > >> Ed, I agree that rapid social change could be a factor in the "hikikomori" > >> phenomenon of Japanese males. Economic conditions are bringing about > >other > >> social changes reflective of current polls showing fewer Japanese adhere > >to > >> traditional gender roles, such as housewives entering the labor market to > >> sustain the household as husbands' hours, bonuses and expense accounts > >were > >> slashed. We are not talking about the lower class or lower middle class > >of > >> shop keepers, but the class of women who graduated from college and then > >> became lifetime homemakers. These women mostly like their new > >> accomplishments, even when minor and at minimum wage: they like earning > >> their own money, not being bored at home and new power in the house. > >> Shortly, we should be reading about how these recent developments are > >> affecting latch key kids in already more rambunctious Japanese classrooms > >> but will not be surprised that the Japanese husband has not picked up the > >> pace of shared housework at home. You can see how the male in Japan might > >> be stressed. > >> > >> I wonder if the demographic trend in American schools that has teachers > >and > >> sociologists so concerned has anything to do with "hikikomori"? > >> Educators are increasingly noticing that girls are outperforming boys in > >US > >> schools in all age groups, even through grad school. I'd read something > >> (and maybe posted) about it previously, but saw a story on 60 minutes last > >> night that hit the basic outline: boys are dropping out, not reading as > >> well, not competitive in the classroom, not scoring on tests as well as > >> before, finding jobs without pursuing higher ed and even though there are > >> more graduating from grad programs now, if this trend continues unabated, > >> they project that women will be performing white collar jobs and men the > >> blue collar jobs by midcentury and everyone agrees this is bad news. Da > >so > >> des, in Japanese: so they say. > >> > >> US law schools this year will have more girls than boys, med and business > >> schools are looking that way. There are still more boy geniuses but > >> proportionately, girls are outperforming boys in school as valedictorians, > >> math and science awards, leadership positions. The interviewer met a > >> principal at one high school in Massachusetts where the girls completely > >> dominated the graduation ceremonies and leadership positions, while the > >boys > >> seem to be focusing more and more on athletics as their arena for > >> excellence. The point was made that this was not an isolated high school, > >> apparently joined by a growing list of others. > >> > >> So of course, they went to outside experts for opinions, Daniel Kindlon, > >> author of Raising Cain, a book about protecting the emotional life of > >boys, > >> and a female ex-teacher now policy guru at American Enterprise Institute > >who > >> blames feminists for over compensating with girls in schools (ie. Reviving > >> Ophelia) at the very time that they were naturally overcoming boys in > >> performance categories. She says that teachers, mostly female, are > >favoring > >> activities and class studies that favor girls, like sitting still in early > >> years, and punishing boys for being boys. Kindlon instead blamed fathers, > >> saying "Where are the men at Parent Teacher Assoc. meetings? If you only > >> show up for the football and soccer games it doesn't take long for boys to > >> get the message." > >> > >> The teaching profession has always been dominated by females. So why is > >> that a factor now? If it is, wouldn't hiring more male teachers help? So > >> the 60 Minute story profiled Jefferson school in LA, perhaps a charter > >> school, because the kids wore polo shirts as uniforms, where the ratio of > >> male and female teachers is 50-50 and the kids are separated at class > >time. > >> In the boy's classes, the teachers use more physical stimulation to keep > >the > >> boys alert and focused. The boys say it has helped them to be separated > >and > >> not worried about making mistakes in front of girls. It has also helped > >to > >> have the football coach at this small school also teach math, or in > >another > >> citing, poetry. Send the message. > >> > >> What do you think? Perhaps later today that story will be posted at the > >CBS > >> website: http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml > >> > >> Personally, I'd like to see Game Boys and Nintendo outlawed for everyone > >> under 16 or perhaps medically restricted to 2 hours a week as a hazard to > >> mental and physical health. > >> > >> By the way, I have some files saved on social/cultural change in Japan, if > >> anyone is interested, including how social change is affecting burial > >> customs, the classroom, and language. > >> > >> Karen Watters Cole > >> Outgoing Mail Scanned by NAV 2002 > >> Ed wrote: I must admit that I didn't read the original posting on > >> Hikikomori, and what Pete's posting (below) says about it puts a different > >> interpretation on it than the one I took. It is not simply "dropping out > >to > >> the labour market", which implies a certain amount of rationality, but a > >> neurotic condition somewhat like, as Pete suggests, anorexia. The kid is > >> simply overwhelmed by, and cannot face, the world beyond the walls of his > >> room or his house. This is not rational and would not therefore involve > >the > >> intellect, except in a very screwed-up way. These kids, mostly boys, > >could > >> be overly sensitive and could be highly intelligent, but are unable to > >> develop a realistic understanding of the world beyond their doors or come > >to > >> a compromise with it. > >> > >> Why does it happen? I'm sure that it's partly the psychology of the > >> individual, but socio-cultural change would also play a role. Back in the > >> late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a rash of teenage suicides in a > >small, > >> formerly isolated, northern Canadian Aboriginal community that was under > >> tremendous pressure from oil and gas exploration. Some six boys killed > >> themselves within a very short period. Some of it might have been > >emulative > >> (if he could do it, so can I), but very rapid social change in a very > >> traditional community must have been a factor. It is typical that people > >> who live in such communities have difficulty in coping with the outside > >> world, and in the case of the community at issue, that world had intruded > >> full-force into their lives. > >> > >> Perhaps what we are witnessing is a range of responses to change. Kids > >who > >> have had lots of experience with it can deal with it, but those who have > >had > >> much less have difficulty in doing so, and may react to it in a far less > >> rational manner. > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ------------ > > Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com > 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England > Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:khudson@;handlo.com > ________________________________________________________________________
