5 ms·

Possibly not great for men: "One of my sons works in early education. He can talk quite movingly about the stigma that you'll face as a man. People will questi

Possibly not great for men: "One of my sons works in early education. He can talk quite movingly about the stigma that you'll face as a man. People will question your motives. At worst, some people will suggest, either jokingly or not, that you might be motivated by pedophilia. "What is it about young kids that appeals to you?" is the kind of question you hear. There are some quite nasty stereotypes around men in those professions." https://www.upr.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-11-04/men-are-struggling-a-new-book-explores-why-and-what-to-do-about-it https://www.upr.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-11-04/men-are-str...

blowski 4y ago
...and repeating such stereotypes like this only serves to further them. Let's not spread such nonsense.
elvis70 4y ago
I hope you are exaggerating
mlyle 4y ago
Early education --- preschool and perhaps early elementary --- is admittedly a tough place for men. On the other hand, someone who's spent a lot of time honing technical skills probably belongs not teaching preschool & kindergarten but in upper elementary, middle school, or beyond. And I've found that a perfectly welcoming place as a middle school & high school teacher (and running after-school programs for upper elementary). A dirty little secret, too, is that men often have a much easier time with classroom management, etc, because of cultural biases.
nopenopenopeno 4y ago
A close friend just moved across the country and back because what he thought would be his dream teaching job turned out to be laced with dramatic and patently insane identity politics as described. He is himself a socialist passionate about helping poor working class people, but his coworkers were snotty out-of-touch liberals with no conception of class divisions at all. They were intent on dividing society along gender lines.
- factsarelolz 4y ago
  > but his coworkers were snotty out-of-touch liberals with no conception of class divisions at all. They were intent on dividing society along gender lines. Unfortunately I have heard the same. I know 3 male high school teachers and the stories I hear are unfathomable, you could never convince me to teach at a high school.
  - visarga 4y ago
    Hard to understand such activism aiming at dividing society, they emphasise the issues while almost completely forgetting to mention cooperation that exists between the various groups.
    - nopenopenopeno 4y ago
      Right. They seem to think that the aggregate of women could be made happier even while the aggregate of men are made miserable.
- drewcoo 4y ago
  And it's not just schools. It's also social work. And related fields. Basically, all the things you'd want to involve yourself in "to make a difference" are dominated by liberals.
  - jhpaul 4y ago
    I disagree that most "make a difference" fields are dominated by liberals. In my experience, many non-profit board members tend to be wealthy conservatives - bankers, car dealership owners, real estate brokers, etc. This can lead even organizations where the mission, staff or clients are mostly liberal to develop a conservative, elitist culture. Combined with the revolving door of donors and relatives into senior leadership roles, it also can lead an upper management that trends conservative. Many low-paying social service jobs are filled by spouses of people with high-paying jobs. This can lead to an elitist culture, even in the lower levels. There is also a lot of overlap between social service orgs and religious orgs which can lead to a conflict between mission and church doctrine. All in all, I perceive it as being as diverse a field as the rest of society, and filled with many viewpoints. It doesn't seem dominated by one "side" or the other
javajosh 4y ago
Yes, the zeitgeist in the USA has shifted strongly against men across almost every dimension (and the left works hard to remain willfully ignorant about this). I think that, if I were working at a school, I'd record at least audio every day, and keep all recordings for 30-days in the event of an accusation. That said, it feels like the fever is breaking, and unfounded allegations (and generalizations) have become so common that they are still relatively easily ignored. It sucks that anyone must endure this, of course, but c'est la vie. As dark ages go, this one is relatively mild and short lived. Only a few thousand lives unfairly ruined over ~10 years. Not that bad in the scheme of things.

blowski 4y ago

...and repeating such stereotypes like this only serves to further them. Let's not spread such nonsense.

elvis70 4y ago

I hope you are exaggerating

mlyle 4y ago

Early education --- preschool and perhaps early elementary --- is admittedly a tough place for men. On the other hand, someone who's spent a lot of time honing technical skills probably belongs not teaching preschool & kindergarten but in upper elementary, middle school, or beyond. And I've found that a perfectly welcoming place as a middle school & high school teacher (and running after-school programs for upper elementary). A dirty little secret, too, is that men often have a much easier time with classroom management, etc, because of cultural biases.

nopenopenopeno 4y ago

A close friend just moved across the country and back because what he thought would be his dream teaching job turned out to be laced with dramatic and patently insane identity politics as described. He is himself a socialist passionate about helping poor working class people, but his coworkers were snotty out-of-touch liberals with no conception of class divisions at all. They were intent on dividing society along gender lines.

factsarelolz 4y ago
> but his coworkers were snotty out-of-touch liberals with no conception of class divisions at all. They were intent on dividing society along gender lines. Unfortunately I have heard the same. I know 3 male high school teachers and the stories I hear are unfathomable, you could never convince me to teach at a high school.
- visarga 4y ago
  Hard to understand such activism aiming at dividing society, they emphasise the issues while almost completely forgetting to mention cooperation that exists between the various groups.
  - nopenopenopeno 4y ago
    Right. They seem to think that the aggregate of women could be made happier even while the aggregate of men are made miserable.
drewcoo 4y ago
And it's not just schools. It's also social work. And related fields. Basically, all the things you'd want to involve yourself in "to make a difference" are dominated by liberals.
- jhpaul 4y ago
  I disagree that most "make a difference" fields are dominated by liberals. In my experience, many non-profit board members tend to be wealthy conservatives - bankers, car dealership owners, real estate brokers, etc. This can lead even organizations where the mission, staff or clients are mostly liberal to develop a conservative, elitist culture. Combined with the revolving door of donors and relatives into senior leadership roles, it also can lead an upper management that trends conservative. Many low-paying social service jobs are filled by spouses of people with high-paying jobs. This can lead to an elitist culture, even in the lower levels. There is also a lot of overlap between social service orgs and religious orgs which can lead to a conflict between mission and church doctrine. All in all, I perceive it as being as diverse a field as the rest of society, and filled with many viewpoints. It doesn't seem dominated by one "side" or the other

javajosh 4y ago

Yes, the zeitgeist in the USA has shifted strongly against men across almost every dimension (and the left works hard to remain willfully ignorant about this). I think that, if I were working at a school, I'd record at least audio every day, and keep all recordings for 30-days in the event of an accusation. That said, it feels like the fever is breaking, and unfounded allegations (and generalizations) have become so common that they are still relatively easily ignored. It sucks that anyone must endure this, of course, but c'est la vie. As dark ages go, this one is relatively mild and short lived. Only a few thousand lives unfairly ruined over ~10 years. Not that bad in the scheme of things.