4 ms·

I'm mid 30s now and my childhood is full of instances of me being treated with contempt for being a boy by my teachers and female peers. Like, outright mocking

by 93po 3y ago

I'm mid 30s now and my childhood is full of instances of me being treated with contempt for being a boy by my teachers and female peers. Like, outright mocking in ways by teachers that in retrospect I would consider nearly traumatic and abusive. Maybe public, unashamed contempt is more recent?

thevagrant 3y ago
Indeed. It isn't a new thing. I worked in a place a long while ago, being the only male in that department. Everyone was nice and we did our jobs. Over time I discovered 'rumors' about me from people outside the department. I'll call these people, the observers. They had no interactions with our team, aside from seeing who worked in our office as they walked past. It was quite concerning that people would assume the situation meant anything but myself working with a team of peers.
roflyear 3y ago
Can you give some examples?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
brandall10 3y ago
I didn’t experience this in my childhood in the 80s (I’m 47) in Los Angeles. The only shocking moment I had was taking a Women Studies course in my sophomore year of college… as I felt my childhood lacked this tension, it would be helpful to uncover blind spots. In particular I remember we had a 2 day discussion on the harmful impact of the Cosby Show on society (both race and gender relations) and the other male member of the course piped in with what I felt was a well reasoned comment. He was eviscerated in such a manner that it was apparent our presence was not welcome. I kept my mouth shut the rest of the course. It was certainly educational.
- bobsmooth 3y ago
  >the harmful impact of the Cosby Show Could you expand on this?
  - brandall10 3y ago
    The basic thrust of the argument is that it was so successful because it made white America feel validated about low-key racism...as long as there's a certain level of success portrayed, as long as they act white, as long as the women are light skinned and pretty, etc. There is arguably some merit there. The tie-in to 3rd wave feminism as the conversation progressed went off course and is hazy.
ajsnigrutin 3y ago
I live in a small EU country, and at our largest universitey, there are ~50 more women enrolled than men (60-40 ratio). Does it bother anyone? Of course not... they are more worried why in a few colleges (engineering mostly) ther are still more men than women and try to encourage more women to go there. Education (and a lot of other parts of society) has(ve) left men behind, and it starts in the childhood and never stops.
- ajsnigrutin 3y ago
  50% just saw the error now

by 93po 3y ago

thevagrant 3y ago

Indeed. It isn't a new thing. I worked in a place a long while ago, being the only male in that department. Everyone was nice and we did our jobs. Over time I discovered 'rumors' about me from people outside the department. I'll call these people, the observers. They had no interactions with our team, aside from seeing who worked in our office as they walked past. It was quite concerning that people would assume the situation meant anything but myself working with a team of peers.

roflyear 3y ago

Can you give some examples?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

brandall10 3y ago

I didn’t experience this in my childhood in the 80s (I’m 47) in Los Angeles. The only shocking moment I had was taking a Women Studies course in my sophomore year of college… as I felt my childhood lacked this tension, it would be helpful to uncover blind spots. In particular I remember we had a 2 day discussion on the harmful impact of the Cosby Show on society (both race and gender relations) and the other male member of the course piped in with what I felt was a well reasoned comment. He was eviscerated in such a manner that it was apparent our presence was not welcome. I kept my mouth shut the rest of the course. It was certainly educational.

bobsmooth 3y ago
>the harmful impact of the Cosby Show Could you expand on this?
- brandall10 3y ago
  The basic thrust of the argument is that it was so successful because it made white America feel validated about low-key racism...as long as there's a certain level of success portrayed, as long as they act white, as long as the women are light skinned and pretty, etc. There is arguably some merit there. The tie-in to 3rd wave feminism as the conversation progressed went off course and is hazy.

ajsnigrutin 3y ago

I live in a small EU country, and at our largest universitey, there are ~50 more women enrolled than men (60-40 ratio). Does it bother anyone? Of course not... they are more worried why in a few colleges (engineering mostly) ther are still more men than women and try to encourage more women to go there. Education (and a lot of other parts of society) has(ve) left men behind, and it starts in the childhood and never stops.

ajsnigrutin 3y ago
50% just saw the error now