Monday, March 9, 2015
Gender
Response to Gender Texts
Your initial response should be in full sentences, paragraph form and should: a. State the text you chose b. State the purpose of the argument. (1 sentence) c. Write a claim defending or challenging this argument. (1 sentence) d. Examine the implications of this argument on today’s society? (2-3 sentences) Then read your classmates posts. Pick two classmate’s to respond to. Your response should include- a. Whether you agree or disagree with their position and why. b. One question to further their thinking.
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Mind over Muscle
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the piece was to draw attention to better educating men in this world that has rapidly become feminized. While education is crucial in today's society, it is not necessary for men in all instances to be as educated as women. People do not get this concept, in my opinion. Groups like STEM aim at getting women educated and into the work field in 'masculine' jobs. The world seems to be going towards a female dominated era.
Preston, I agree with you saying that both genders do not need to be completely equal with one another in terms of areas of education. I think that while the STEM program is helping girls feel more comfortable to step into a male-dominated industry, it also makes me feel like I have to pursue math and technology. I do have to respectfully disagree with you when you say the world is heading towards a female dominated era, at least, not anytime soon. Brooks says that women will be holding more leadership jobs, however if that were the case we wouldn't only have 20 female senators and 84 congresswomen; so while some industries might be more female dominated, female representation in government is not showing much growth.
DeleteI agree that there seems to be a stronger fight for female equality in the modern world. However, I also think this could be because there is already a male supremacy within our society. And despite all of statistics, there are still individuals that are the exceptions to the rule. There will still be some males that do better in school just as there will be women who are faster or stronger than some males. Do you think it is ok for women to have something they are better at and men have other things they are better at?
DeleteI agree with you Preston, because I believe that due to women being at a disadvantage for so many years, I think the education system has been more customized for a woman to succeed now, but it doesn't mean that men are at a disadvantage. Do you think this is fair or are the scales tipping in favor of woman more than they should?
DeletePreston, though I understand the points you are making, I do not completely agree with your stance. Throughout the article Brooks claims that education is being “feminized” and benefiting only women while faulting men, causing them to be less successful. However, I feel that our current education system is actually extremely equal in that both men and women are provided with equal opportunities to achieve success in an environment that is relatively gender neutral. Of course one could always make the case that men and women are different in their educational needs, but isn't everyone? I know plenty of men that can sit in a lecture and remain completely invested, and I know plenty of women that cannot stay focused on a book long enough to read a full page. Even if we were to separate the sexes, which I feel is unhealthy for social growth, we would still have people that would be benefited and people whose needs would not be fully met. Groups like STEM introduce a completely different issue. STEM groups were created because gender based stereotypes are still a reality for women in fields of science and math. Even in business and industry, I've heard stories from women who have been underestimated in their trades simply because of their gender. We are far from a female dominated era. Our current education system, however, is doing an excellent job providing equal and ample opportunities for both men and women, who have the drive and determination to succeed, to do just that.
DeletePreston, I agree with you in sense that in some cases men do not need to be as educated as women, but knowledge is a universal tool that we could all use, so it is important (in my opinion) for everyone to be equally educated, and not have one gender strive ahead. I have to disagree with you, however, when you say that society is moving towards that of a female dominated one. I think that overall women will not dominate, but in the near future we will see women start becoming more powerful in the sense that they will occupy more influential position, in places such as businesses and government. Do you think that women will come to dominate "powerful positions" or do you think they will become more dominant in general?
DeleteIn “Why Johnny Won’t Read”, Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky inform us of the trends of reading habits in boys in comparison to girls. I agree that one way to increase male interest in reading is to bring back classic literature in curriculums. Before the drastic decrease in overall book reading, the “classics” were brought into elementary and middle schools; therefore, if they were to be brought back there could be a slight in increase as boys relate more to the classics. Additionally, texts considered “classic literature” are more sophisticated and could help to improve overall verbal and reading performance among boys and girls. There is one factor unaccounted for contributing to the declining interest in reading which is smart phone access, I think ultimately the numbers of overall book reading will never be what they once were.
ReplyDeleteMackenzie, I disagree that bringing classic books back into the curriculum will help increase male interest. I believe the opposite, that classics and the ideals that come along with them are the reason that many boys have lost interest in their classes. While girls show more interest in plays such as Romeo and Juliet (which is considered a classic) because of the old school romance, boys need books whose topics they can relate more too. They need more masculine or even neutral topics to help them succeed in school. It is a known that if individuals are not interested in a topic, a job, or an idea, they feel forced into it and make less of an effort. This leads to unsatisfactory outcomes and results that don’t accurately represent the skill level of that individual. A question to think about is, would separating men and woman and making a curriculum that is equal in subject but based on different topics/ideas for both groups beneficial for society?
DeleteMackenzie, I disagree with your statement that bringing classical books back into school curriculum will increase male interest in reading. Books like "The Scarlet Letter", and "Fahrenheit 451" which are currently taught in our school are considered classics, yet, from what I've seen, heard, and experienced, those classics don't do anything to increase male (or female, for that matter) interest in reading. Having books on topics more relevant in today's society and more relatable and interesting to boys is the key to increase male interest in reading. I do however agree with your point about the increase in smart phones contributing to a decrease in reading, as technology is seemingly more alluring than reading. One question I have is, would an English class focusing on both male and female literature (like the one offered at SWHS) increase interest, or only divide it more?
DeleteI agree with Olivia and Iram, because I feel as though adding more classical books (that kids have no interest in) into a classroom would just cause them to be another book sitting there collection dust. If there were to be books about current issues such as sports or wars, then I think the male audience would be more attracted. A question to think about is: If for a day in English class we were told to hand in our phones and then given a book to read as the only option, would kids actually read it or just stare off into blank space to waste time?
DeleteI read Mind Over Muscle by New York Times Columnist David Brooks. The purpose of the argument is to inform the audience of the increasing gender gap between men and women in education leading into a social gap in society. The author starts by throwing out fact on top of fact in regards to how woman are out-achieving men. Woman get higher grades in every subject, outperform men, are more attentive, are more involved in school activities, and have a higher attendance ration in college. The author states clear facts as well as the source for his information. He even states where men are gaining higher scores than woman (in math and science tests) to portray that he is not ignorant to the opposing side. Woman have made a significant rise in society intellectually and but not status wise. The fact that people are making excuses that men aren’t doing well in school because “it does not interest them” shows how unwilling society is to accept woman are “better”. To challenge the author’s claim one would think about all the success that men have had without excelling in school, for example self- made businesses and new innovations. This claim would make people assess that although men once excelled in school subjects, they have now moved on to more creative aspects of success.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Iram because I think although he showed he understood both sides, his tone may have come off as condescending and slightly misogynistic. I think it is acceptable for women to be "better" than men at something, just as society has recognized that men are "better" than women at some things. This trend should not result in the altercation of the educational system unless society plans on altering every other industry that shows male and female inequality. Do you think a possible solution could be to research ways to help males that do struggle?
DeleteI agree that men are unwilling to accept that women are "better" than men at something, partially because the author is a man and is trying to convince the reader that the education system is more customized for a woman to find success, and wants them to see that it is becoming unfair. Do you think men are threatened by the rising success of women as they surpass men greatly.
DeleteIram, I completely agree with your points. I honestly find it absurd that, now that schools are providing equal opportunities for both men and women to succeed, Brooks is arguing that women are experiencing greater success because education has become “feminized” to compensate for the reality that these boys that are being “faulted” simply lack drive and ambition. Despite all Brooks’ claims of injustice for men in the area of education, this notion does not seem to halt the success men have in the working world. Men still vastly outnumber women in leadership roles and traditionally male-dominated professions such as science, technology, and business fields. Not to mention the fact that women still earn only 78 cents on the dollar compared to men in the same position. Wouldn't you agree that this illusion of injustice for boys in school is an inaccurate representation the current education system?
DeleteI read "Mind Over Muscle" by David Brooks. Brooks writes this editorial in order to call attention to the underperformance of boys in schools compared to girls and argue that society should try to find the reason why, as well as try to alter to the educational system to balance the success rate. I disagree not only with the argument that boys are put at a disadvantage in school, but also with the idea that the curriculum should be change in order to fit the needs of young boys because not everything can be fair. Women struggled for so long in order to gain the same rights as men and were subject to oppression and stereotypes, and women are still unequal in the modern world. There is a clear male supremacy in the business industry with trends of men being paid higher wages for the same work as women and there a more "beauty standards" that a company can legally require for female applicants than male. Just because women are excelling at something does not mean that there is something wrong with the system, it may just be a matter of work ethic and intelligence for individual people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Skylar. The reason that we are so focused on female equality is because we still don't completely have it, as exemplified by the wage gap and physical beauty standards that can be held against women. We shouldn't change the curriculum to benefit males, rather we should change the curriculum to include everybody and benefit all students. For example, we can put both traditionally "girl" books as well as "boy" books into the curriculum, which allows everybody to have at least one book they want to read while simultaneously exposing all students to all types of books, not just gender normative topics. Do you think that having the world be a "women's world" would be a bad thing?
DeleteSkylar, I completely agree. Everyone attending school receives equal opportunities, it's just a matter of whether or not you take the ones offered to you. In history, it is nearly always women that are at a disadvantage, and today, we are still less equal than men. Just because women tend to do better in school than men does not mean that the whole curriculum needs to be changed, it means the way students are motivated to learn needs to change. I also think that the increased awareness for women's equality and education has led to women excelling in the education field. One question I have is, how could students be motivated to do better in school?
DeleteI agree with Jill, Olivia, and Skyler. I think that it is very important that males and females receive equal opportunities in school. However, I think there are still some issues that aren't always equal but that is more so related to sports and race, not as much gender. Yet, gender still is key when it comes to education. It used to be that the women would stay at home and do chores around the house, but that was changed for the better and now we have the chance to be educated just like males. We receive free education up until the end of high school so there isn't too much to complain about. A question to think about is: why do we have the stereotype that most times girls care more about school?
Delete
ReplyDelete"Why Johnny Won't Read" by Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky examines the reading gap between girls and boys. They argue that the reading curriculum needs to be changed to appeal to all students. By changing the curriculum, more students will be interested in reading the required books, which will close the reading gap between boys and girls. It is important today to have a diverse reading curriculum, as books are often what expose students to other cultures and ways of life. Through the perspectives of main characters of different genders, ethnicities, cultures, and more, students are able to educate themselves about the world beyond what they experience everyday. This is why it is imperative to get more students interested in reading.
I agree with you, Jill. I personally find that I have an easier time reading material for school when it is something that I am interested in. Therefore, I think that incorporating more reading material that grabs the interest of students will help close this reading gap between boys and girls. This idea raises the question; How will schools write this curriculum so that all of the students interests are met? If every student has different interests, it may be difficult for schools to create reading curriculum that includes books that appeal to all students.
DeleteJill, I agree with your claim that by changing the reading curriculum, the reading gap between boys and girls will close. If students have the chance to read books that they are interested in, then they will be involved in class discussions regarding the book and will have an easier time understanding the material. However, changing the curriculum so that every student's interest is met is quite difficult. So do you think if multiple books are offered in the curriculum, than different interests are still being considered of at least majority of students?
DeleteJill, I agree that one way to get students more interested in reading the required books is to change the curriculum to make it more appealing and thus to close the reading gap. If the curriculum is tailored to consider boys' education also, they can catch up to girls in the education gap as shown in "Mind Over Muscle". Maybe then, this can lead to more equality between the two sexes. What other ways can this gap in education decrease besides including more appealing books?
DeleteI read “Putting Down the Gun” by Rebecca Walker. Walker’s purpose is to inform the reader about the ostracism kids face in school for being different and the pressure they feel to conform. In today’s society, especially in middle and high school, tweens and teens face lots of negative effects for not conforming to the social norms. Being outside the box means you’re outside of the loop, and kids who just want to be themselves might not be accepted. This can cause them to feel rejected and isolated by their peers, which only leads to negative ramifications, both physical, social, and mental. Those who shame on others for being different may feel good about themselves for putting others down, but it is often said that those who bully others are insecure of themselves. Kids can try to change who they are to fit in, leading them to be unhappy with who they are. If everyone tries to conform, everyone will be alike, and, do we really want a world without diversity and individuality?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Olivia; conforming hinders diversity and individuality, two things we as humans need to succeed. I think that instead of trying to get all children to conform to the "norm," we should try to get all children, and adults, to be accepting of everybody's differences and embrace them, not shun them. How can we disband what many people view as "normal" to be able to fully accept everybody in our society?
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DeleteI agree with you as well, Olivia. Society's standards that push us to conform erase the idea and importance of individuality along with the aspects of a person that make them unique. However, I think that individuality should be embraced, as our differences are what pave the way for new thoughts and outlooks on the world around us. This leads to the question; Can schools can promote the idea individuality in a way that urges students to be more accepting of one another? If we begin to attack these stereotypes in society at an early age, will they slowly begin to disappear?
DeleteAh, the classic scenario where everyone is the same, to show how are differences make the world all the more interesting. I completely agree with your point. I have a lot of friends with varying interests and hobbies, and it just makes life a lot more fun to have different things to talk about with each of them. Freshmen year, we used the phrase “you do you”, did we even mean that? I don’t think so, because if we did we wouldn’t still be discussing the conformity we witness everyday. I think the most interesting part of this reading was how her son was neither athletic nor nerdy, because I think it’s the kids that don’t associate with any group that feel they are at the greatest disadvantage. Does conformity only apply to blending in with one group in particular?
DeleteOlivia, you definitely brought up some good points that I certainly agree with. Like I said in response to Allison's post, I think it's vital for everyone to express themselves no matter what gender they are. Sometimes, we can find ourselves judging others when they don't do things that are "normally associated" with genders. This subconscious judgment is what can perpetuate these stereotypes, and it's essential that one realize it's not how someone acts that defines them, but rather how they treat others. If people were able to realize when they were judging others, is it possible that our society could grow out of these stereotypes?
DeleteLiv,I completely agree with your point. Everyone has the right to be themselves and express their character as they wish, without being judged. People are always being encouraged to be involved and "fit in" but individuality and diversity are very important because they create variety. Without variety, there wouldn't be opinions or debates. If a person does change themselves in order to fit in, and they like the way they changed, then should we still debate on the value of individuality?
DeleteOlivia, I completely agree with your idea that we need to preserve our individuality. If we were the same as everyone else, there would be no variety in the world. We would not be able to share our differences in order to bring the community together if we were all the same. One thing that is worth considering is could conforming get rid of crimes and injustices? I am all for individuality, but this was a question that came to mind when I considered the positive aspects of conformity.
DeleteI chose to read, “Putting Down the Gun,” by Rebecca Walker. In this excerpt from her essay, Walker discusses the pressure to conform to expectations put in place by society for boys, and its possible effects. I agree with Walker that these ‘standards’ that are established at such a young age can detrimental. We, unfortunately, live in a world that is clouded by stereotypical expectations, such as that all boys are competitive and should participate in sports or play video games. Social expectations such as these are what keep kids from expressing their individuality and pursuing activities and hobbies that they are truly passionate about. However, when they do, they are seen as outcasts, or bullied for their differences and uniqueness. As Walker mentioned, trapping boys between these stereotypes will not only make them feel insecure, but also as though they must change who they are in order to be accepted by their peers, which could lead to depression or violence and aggression. The things that make us unique and cause us to stand out from others should be embraced, rather than ridiculed. If everyone was exactly the same and strive to meet all of the standards society has put in place, the world would be a boring place, lacking innovation and insight.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Allison. Many times in our society girls are the only ones seen as the victims of stereotypes. Women are currently receiving a push from society to fight and be more than their stereotypes, but men are still stuck in their boxes. All of the articles in this section touched on girls having higher reading assessment scores. However, none really hit the nail on the head by saying that reading is generally portrayed as something girls do more often. The sports stereotypes that Allison talks about, such as sports, are the fundamental building blocks for educational trends such as the documented test scores. Can the world go on ignorant to the effects of men's stereotypes forever, or will it notice that almost half of its population is laging behind?
DeleteAllison I completely agree with your point. There is no reason why boys should be expected to fit a certain mold and should do the things that "boys do". If a boy doesn't want to play a sport or play video games they shouldn't feel pressured into it, and should be encouraged to pursue what they find interesting. Like you said, with conformity there will be a distinct lack of expression and therefore a boring society in which everyone tries to act the same and be the same as everyone else. Do you think it's partially the parent's fault for the continuation of these gender stereotypes?
DeleteI agree with you Allison when you say that boys are often expected to conform to what society expects of them and these gender roles largely contribute to the later gaps between the two sexes in the real world. Since boys are pressured to play sports or video games, there isn't really any room for intellectual development, leading to the education gap and men faltering in the educational system. Do you think the curriculum should be changed as a way to help diversify students and let them pursue their own interests? Or is this a social issue?
DeleteI chose "Mind Over Muscle" by David Brooks. The purpose of this piece is to highlight the educational gap between male and female students through the use of graduation rate, grades, and test scores. Although the increased awareness of women's education has exponentially benefited U.S. female students, by putting male students as a second priority our society has caused a growing gap between the genders that affects societal standards along with male success in education. If our society continues to only seek a lessened gender gap in STEM careers we will be putting men in a position where they may not be able to qualify for the jobs that they want. As a society, our search to seek women's equality has prevented us from researching more effective ways to teach men that will allow them to have as driven an education as women. As Brooks wrote, "It's time to look at the other half;" for if we don't we will be putting men in the position that women were in a few short years ago.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I completely agree with you that just because of the long period where there was unequal educational opportunities for women doesn't mean that in an attempt to fight it we should end up (unintentionally) doing the same thing in switching the situation around and alienating men in the educational system. Although, do you really think that STEM is so wrong in trying to get women interested in these typically male-dominated fields? I think that even though men should still be able to get the jobs that interest them, that does not merit a reason to stop encouraging women from also getting interested in these rapidly expanding fields. The STEM fields are growing and producing more jobs as technology becomes more and more an integral part of our society and there can be equal rooms for both genders. Or do you think we should discourage STEM programs in the name of giving men the excusive rights to those fields simply because they like them?
DeleteAmy, I agree with your position that we need to stop focusing on just one of the gender groups because when we do, the other one suffers. Both of the groups become the one in danger when we focus on the other one. Why do you think our society keeps focusing on one when both are struggling, just in different places and at different times?
DeleteAmy, I agree that it is harmful to only focus efforts so narrowly. Although it is a positive thing to encourage girls to be interested in STEM fields, the essay brought up that boys are struggling in reading and writing, which are no less important than science and math. Focusing on girls in science and math also takes away from the boys that are good at science and math. Overall, I think that it is natural for boys and girls to have different interests and that we would be better off to encourage science and math skills in general, as well as reading and writing skills in general.
DeleteThe article I chose to read was “Mind Over Muscle” by David Brooks. The purpose of this argument was to show the reader the new statistics showing that girls tend to do much better in school than boys. I agree with this stance because I know that as someone who has the task of overseeing children every day, at my job, the girls tend to behave better than the boys. I’m not saying that this is always the case; however If this trend were to continue past elementary school and throughout their lives, than it’s plausible that girls would be more prosperous when it comes to education. If the gap between graduating women and graduating men continues to climb, a different type of society could be created in which women are no longer treated differently than men, and are more apt to get jobs because of their education. Although this is something that is theoretical, the statistics showing that for every 100 men that graduate, 133 women graduate. With numbers like this only growing as each year passes, the effects on an education based society could be astronomical.
ReplyDeleteJeff, I think that your position on this article is very accurate. You are able to analyze the factual evidence complying with the higher women’s graduation rate while also acknowledging the realistic certainty of such data. Therefore you are able to realize the lack of absolutism in this theory, but are still able to validate the author’s concept through personal and factual evidence. Though this idea was established recently, do you think particular events such as environment and age could alter this theory?
DeleteI do agree Jeff. I just have such a hard time agreeing and that is not your fault. It erks me every time when arguments like this come up. It is so hypothetical and abstract and connect dots that are not real that I have a hard time seeing it. The evidence is there however so I do agree. Also, there are so many exceptions to statements such as girls do better in school. You paint this very fluid, easy path from one thing to another. What do you think could disrupt that fluidity and cause some trouble?
DeleteI agree with Jeff, that the educational trends depicted in "Mind Over Muscle" allow for the potential for women to overtake men in both the educational and professional world. With women having the biological advantage, from the begining, of a lower likelyhood for learning disabilities the odds trends may be harder to equalize than we thought. So, is it still only theoretical that men's decreasing educational performance due to societal norms will have an "astronomical" effect on our world?
ReplyDeleteI read “Mind over Muscle” by David Brooks. Brooks’s purpose in writing this argument is to depict how boys aren't performing well in the education system and how society should work on changing the curriculum just because girls are doing better. I don’t think the curriculum should be changed because the curriculum wasn't made to favor girls, it was made so both genders would get an equal opportunity to gain education. If in society today, girls are performing better than boys, why is that such a thing to be looked down upon? Women have worked so hard to gain the same rights as men, yet they are still being looked down upon if they happen to do better in a specific area. Despite the fact that everyone is “equal”, men and women are still being treated different in many areas such as work so why do we have to change the education curriculum just to show that boys can do just as well as girls if education isn't the only area where boys and girls aren't necessarily considered “equal”.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Reeya, believing that a different curriculum should not be established for boys to gain an “equal education system”. Though girls and boys may perform differently, Reeya stated how the curriculum was not tailored for girls to do better. Also though boys may have an advantage in science and math, this is not certain data for each male student. In effect, school systems must realize that by altering curriculum, each school would have to modify its curriculum every year depending on each student’s talent in order to achieve such equality. Do you think that a tailored curriculum would be incorporated well in our school?
DeleteReeya, I completely agree with you because our education system has presented both boys and girls with equal opportunity. It may seem like our education system is focusing more on girls because there are more programs and opportunities being presented to them right now; however, girls are just catching up. Historically, girls have been at a disadvantage in education and men have been encouraged to pursuit their careers in “manly” professions. Now, our society has realized that gender should not prevent a person from gaining a fair education, so women are getting opportunities that they never had before. Also, education is a chance given to anyone, regardless of gender, to expand his or her knowledge and experience the real-world. It is an opportunity that a person is given, which means that it is his or her choice to make the best use of the opportunity that is presented. If a person is really dedicated to gaining an education, then he or she will not let his or her gender get in the way. One thing to think about is that if we focused even more on the education for boys, instead of having a balance, would the importance placed on girls' education slowly fade away?
DeleteI read the article “Putting Down the Gun” by Rebecca Walker. This article is a mother’s perspective on realizing the cultural social interactions that are a result of American schooling. This article was written to portray the negativity that surrounds social status in school systems through one experience between this child and his mother. Though this article analyzes common popularity characteristics, the author exaggerates the extent of conformity due to her own experience with her child; such as her implication that first her son will want to play sports or video games and then go to war because it will be culturally acceptable. This argument depicts common social pressures in school systems that often result in the shaping of children’s personality. Due to environmental factors such as peers and popularity aspects, many children who go through the American school system lose their individual personality contributions to conform to desired prominent social status.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you Ally. I feel as though conforming to society and its ideals will always be a part of human nature and culture. I don’t think that when one tries to be culturally acceptable both in school and in the real world, that they lose their own individuality. Yes in school they dress and act a certain way but at home they can be themselves or whoever they want to be. Everyone feels comfortable at home with parents, siblings, and close friends where their true personality comes out and matters. In school students do portray a portion of themselves, just a tamed down version. Human nature is always to go towards what you like, therefore society will always have set standard of what they know and like and acceptable. A question to think about is just as people thrive to conform to society don’t others try hard to be different, is one better?
DeleteIram, I agree with your position that the societal pressures in schools do not influence one's individuality. I think that is type of pressure is classified as peer pressure which is very different than the pressure to conform to traditional gender roles. About your question, I would argue that people do not "try hard" to be different. Rather, it is the way that they come, backed up with the morals and values that have been instilled in them throughout life. That begin said, I think that conformity to societal rules is good to some extent since it maintains order. However, it is also important to be yourself and contribute a unique factor to society. The latter would be a bigger priority.
DeleteI have to also agree with Iram on this certain issue. The desire to conform to certain expectations does not mean that the students themselves are not interested in expanding their mind further. I believe that schools do in fact do at least something to expand the individuality of students, but not a good enough job. They should strive to make students feel that there is no need for conformity because they are recognized for what they truly excel in.
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ReplyDeleteI read the article "Mind Over Muscle" by David Brooks. His purpose is to get across to readers that our world now is more suited for a woman to succeed than a man, rather than before when muscles and connections were needed for power. This article was written to show how women are slowly taking over the world in respect to intelligence. Women are more adept at succeeding in the information age where education is the key to becoming successful. There are many statistics that show how women are surpassing men in educational fields. Women graduate high school and college at much higher rates than men. Now the debate becomes, how can we help boys keep up with the girls? The idea that women were discriminated against will soon be gone.
ReplyDeleteVarun, I would disagree that women are more adept at succeeding in our society. The fact that the narrowing gap between men and women is not really a result of one being superior to the other. Rather it is due to the pure statistical realities of life, that 50% of humans are male, and 50% are female - the numbers in education and work environments are moving more towards these actual numbers, instead of the skewed numbers they were at when women were oppressed. How, or why, are women believed to be more adept at succeeding in the information age?
DeleteI do not think the world is more suited for a woman to succeed than a man. I also do not agree that women are taking over intelligence. The world has opportunity for both genders, men are just more likely to choose opportunities that lead to 'lesser' jobs. Further, your intelligence debate is very shaky as it is so hard to define intelligence. Women may do better on standardized tests and in school, but what about emotional intelligence? What about kinesthetic intelligence? What about common sense? All these factors play into intelligence, but none of the studies show the relationships between the sexes in these categories. It is therefore arbitrary to say that women are "taking over the world in respect to intelligence."
DeleteInstead of treating this issue as Men vs. Women, it should be adress at the same time to both genders as a whole, so that gender equality will not be questioned. I agree with Pat the there are equally opportunities for both genders in terms of success. Intelligence is not the only factor that governs power and success in todays society. According to this article, will soon the idea of men being discriminated against emerge in the near future?
DeleteI read Mind Over Muscle by David Brooks. The purpose of this article was to highlight ways how men faltered compared to women in a feminine dominated education system as power and success shifted from muscles, connections, control of the crucial social institutions to education. As the age of information is ushered in, education became the gateway to success; women outperform men in terms of intelligence and are slowly taking over a previously male dominated society. The author proposes a way to help boys keep up with girls by having an honest discussion about innate differences between the sexes, the author makes women excelling in education sound like a bad thing. Will it make a difference in todays society if women became more successful than men? Does it really matter?
ReplyDeleteLay, I would argue that women becoming more successful than men would matter. Perhaps not in a performance-related sense, women could and probably will perform just as well as men in many positions. However, it would be a cultural shock. Previous other social reform movements, such as the Civil Rights Movement, or the Women's Vote Movement were all very controversial and had a tumultuous reception. Do you think the transition to a woman-dominant society would be easy?
DeletePeter I disagree with you in that this would not be such a shock. Currently, in the United States there is a majority of the female gender. In combat, soldiers that die are statistically nearly all males. This will invariably lead to a matriarchal society, as women progress to fill more positions over time. Considering all the single mothers out there, would it really be so unreasonable for a mother to be the head of the household?
DeleteBuilding off of Max's question, I agree that it would not be as much of a cultural shock as most would expect. It is perfectly reasonable that a mother be the head of a household because many are. In the society we live in today, we try to teach equality and acceptance. We know our history, and we know that it hasn't always been so, but the emerging generations are growing up in a world in which it is common to see women in high positions in the business/work world. Though there are some intriguing positions here, realistically, will gender discrimination ever be fully eliminated?
DeleteI agree with Max, because as women further excel academically, we will see them not only take over more positions in general, but also more influential ones. We already see women becoming more common in politics, which reflects how women are now gaining access to areas previously dominated by only men. Do you think that if women take over more influential positions, we could see changes in priorities in regards to prominent issues?
DeleteIn “Johnny Won’t Read”, authors Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky share different trends in reading among boys and girls that have long lasting effects. I agree with the assertion of the authors that a change in reading material and subject has influenced the levels of reading among boys and girls differently. Reading is undeniably an important part of the education that a student receives – a decrease in reading would correlate in a decrease in the quality of education and often times the interest in school that a student experiences. On the flip side, if schools were to introduce more interesting and engaging pieces of literature, then students may become more invested in school, and get more out of their education. It is possible that test scores and lesser quality education will continue to decline if schools are unable to interest their students in reading.
ReplyDeletePeter, I agree that the quality of education will decrease if schools are unable to interest their students, because I believe interest is a key factor in how hard a student will strive to succeed in a class. But is there not a large distinction between test scores and quality of education? That is, can students score high on tests yet remain relatively uneducated compared to their potential?
DeletePeter, I agree that the change in reading material and subjects would be effectively beneficial to academic progress. I can recall a time in my own life in which reading was an aspect of life that I looked forward to. This was primarily because I was genuinely interested in the book that I was reading. Also, my reading speed grew faster and faster as I continued to read. An uninterested student body can be a real danger. Yes, I see the need for book selection to be age appropriate and skill appropriate, but I believe the student would prefer to read a book of her/his choice. The last thing our education system needs is students that dread reading, so this could be a possible way to prevent such sentiments (though I know it’s unrealistic to think all kids will ever enjoy reading assignments). Just think, is the force feeding of curriculum worth a permanent reluctant attitude towards reading?
DeleteI agree with both you and the author, Peter, that making boys read more feminine literature could be a cause of their loss of interest in reading. It is true that they could simply read books outside of class that interest them, but I think its important for schools to spark kids' interests and start the habit of reading. I think that schools should have better choices of books so students can choose books that they would enjoy reading.
DeleteI read "Why Johnny Won't Read" by Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky. The purpose of this piece was to examine the implications of reduced reading amongst male students. The authors continued, and provided potential solutions such as the addition of more interesting books in school curriculum's for boys. I would like to defend this argument. In high school, I've found reading is just not something many people do. This hurts society as a whole. But I believe the problem is much larger. Students are not able to pursue endeavors which truly interest them. Instead, we are forced to take classes we don't want in order to fulfill absurd graduation requirements. All together, school curriculum have become about numbers, not true learning. It limits teachers, as well as students from achieving their potential and becoming life-long learners.
ReplyDeleteMax, I agree with you that the recent depreciation in the amount of time that students read, especially male students, hinders progress in our society. I say this because if we want to progress as a nation and uphold our high standard of learning then it is essential that we have students actively reading both in and outside of the classroom. As children many of us would read purely for recreational purposes but approximately when we reach High school this no longer becomes the case. I agree that the problem that Baurelein and Stotsky are identifying is actually larger and part of the reason for this is that schools have certain required courses that must be taken in order for a student to be eligible to graduate. In the text the authors identified that in their "leisure time" both men and women spend an estimated 8 minutes daily reading. Do you think that this number fails to acknowledge how much time both male and female students participate in individual and team sports?
DeleteI chose "Mind over Muscle" by David Brooks. Brooks' argument captured the contemporary shift from our society being a predominantly "man's world" to women actually doing better in school in a world beginning to revolve around education and argued that it wasn't fair to allow the educational system to become feminized. I agree with Brooks' argument and would add to it that the school system needs to be changed not only so that it isn't feminized, but it should also be changed so that learners of all types will be able to thrive. Although the argument was mainly focused on the educational needs of males that differ from females, I think that there are kids of both genders who learn differently than the methods used in our standardized school systems and it isn't fair to try to force them to learn and be tested on the same basis as those kids who thrive in our overly standardized system. I think that there need to programs or classes that are taught for those who learn in all different ways, people who are visual learners, hands-on learners, verbal learners. This system that has been taken to be one-size-fits-all is an unfair learning environment for boys and also for those who learn in different ways.
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DeleteTessa, I agree with you that the school system should not be changed in a manner that only would appeal to the female demographic. I say this because in the article I read it discussed how there already exists a reading gap between male and female students. If we want to reduce this gap we need to change what the school systems teach in a way that does not appeal to either gender more but rather is changed, as you stated, in a way that would aid all students in being able to thrive academically. In your response you said that you believe there should be programs/classes that are taught to students that learn in different ways. What changes do you think should be made to the schools systems so that students that are not exclusively visual or hands-on learners but perhaps a mixture of both or even of all three, can also be academically successful?
ReplyDeleteI chose to read "Why Johnny Won't Read" by Sandra Stotsky and Mark Baurelein. The purpose of this text was to inform the audience of the gap that exists in the reading habits between males and females. Both of these authors asserted that a new reading curriculum should be implemented in schools that appeals to all students, regardless of their gender. I agree with the authors' assertion because I think that in order to reduce the reading gap between boys and girls the curriculum that currently is in place must be altered. A change in the curriculum would result in students potentially becoming more interested in reading the books enlisted in the aforementioned curriculum; thereby, ensuring that this reading gap that exists between male and female students is reduced. The United States is no longer one of the most well educated nations in the world, and if we hope to change this fact than we must begin with the adolescents and students that are representative of the future of our nation. This is why it is essential that we garner more interest into reading for students at a young age by implementing a new curriculum in the school systems on a nationwide level.
I agree with your postition Umaid because I think that the curriculum should be more accomodating for all students. I understand reading some of the classics but I think that we as students would also benefit from mixing the selections up with some more modern, contemporary books that carry the same message. Learning for anyone is difficult when the topic/book/subject just isn't as interesting or appealing as others are. Why would/does our society, which emphasizes being creative and being you, expect all students to be enthusiastic about the same material when we encourage having different opinions?
DeleteI read “Boy Problems” by Ann Hulbert. Her purpose was to explore why boys are essentially “lagging” behind girls in their academics, making the argument that schools and the rest of society should do something to combat the “growing social inequality” that is plaguing our society. I agree with her argument that something has to change, but not necessarily the solution that she is proposing which is the institution of a confidence boosting program for boys, similar to the Girl Scouts’ “Do the math” one. While Hulbert’s argument is supported with statistics about how significant a gap there is between male academic achievements vs. females’, I don’t think that creating a program to basically combat the Girl Scouts’ program would do more harm than good. Our society has been dealing with gender inequality for hundreds of years and is obviously still a prevalent matter today, but I don’t think that the fix should be to pitch the two genders against each other. Maybe instead of focusing on each individual gender we should focus on getting all children/students more invested in their learning. If we keep the issue that both genders are having separated, then we are kind of just amplifying the differences to no avail or purpose. If we want to be equal, then we should view the issue on a collaborative level not a contrasting one.
ReplyDeleteMK I agree with your claim that creating a new program such as the girl scouts one is not the proper way to prevent this issue. I think that by furthering the divide between genders is not helping to end discrimination, rather encouraging it. However, if males were given this confidence and recognition would it have a large enough impact to make them want to work harder?
DeleteI read “Mind Over Muscle” by David Brooks in which Brooks makes the observation that men are faltering in the world while women are continually thriving. I agree that women are starting to obtain an increasing role in many fields such as education and psychology and that maybe men should be subject to a different type of learning environment. Maybe this way, innate differences between the sexes can be better balanced and we can hone in on the individual talents that each gender possesses. However, if the two sexes were put in different learning environments, this might create a larger gap between the two in abilities and thus it would be like the two were living in separate worlds. Then, the issue of equality might still not be settled because the environments and opportunities would differ, offering different results and training. Differences, if taken at face value, often lead to unfairness.
ReplyDeleteZoha, I agree with your conclusion that focusing too much on the differences between the two genders and their individual needs as learners could cause segregation that could in turn just lead to even more inequality for one of both genders. I think that if we simply had two schools, one for girls and one for boys, that offered different teaching methods based on the generalizations of the needs of both genders, that would only widen the gap between the educational "worlds" and might put some learners at a disadvantage if their learning style is different than the learning styles that are used to teach in whichever of the two schools they go to. But how do you think the school system can provide men with a different type of learning environment without creating this gap?
DeleteThe text that I read was “Mind Over Muscle” by David Brooks. Brooks builds the position that females statistically excel academically more than males. Though some of my classmates agree with this, I must disagree with this statement. I believe that it is far too broad and that there is not a sufficient amount of concrete evidence to formulate a conclusion on such an abstract theory. I think back to my experience as a leader in training over the summer. A majority of the time, I worked with children. In many activities there were girls that were clearly more advanced than others. But just as equally, there were advanced boys. I don’t think that this is something that can be universally applied. Maybe we notice female intelligence among the young because we expect it, no? I think that these genders are hypothetically equal. I am sure that some classes have their male population excel more than their female, and vise versa.
ReplyDeleteI read the article “Mind Over Muscle” by David Brooks, in which Brooks claimed that woman's growing success in education, and inversely men’s failure, is a result of the “feminization” of the education system catering to the needs of women rather than men. Brooks attributes boy’s lack of attentiveness, unwillingness to challenge themselves with difficult classes, and lack of motivation to involve themselves in extracurricular activities to a failed educational system that does not meet the needs of men. I disagree with Brooks’ stance see as how I feel schools have done an excellent job in trying to level out the playing field between men and women, providing each gender with equal and ample opportunities for success. As in all aspects of life, their are some people that are better at a particular skill, subject or job than others, so women’s increasing success in the field of education should not be attributed to the fact that they are women and schools are catering to them over men, but rather to the fact that they are diligent and determined. Most of the points that Brooks makes are based more upon personal drive and motivation than a truly significant difference in the way boys and girls learn. Though it may be a factor, clearly having the determination to work hard in school and set exalted goals for the future has greater significance, based on many of the boys and girls I know, who currently and most probably will continue to experience great success in their educational careers.
ReplyDeleteKalee, I absolutely agree with your claim that schools have made a very strong effort to level the playing fields between males and females. I think that recognizing peoples strengths and weaknesses is vital in creating a society that runs smoothly. If both males and females were all pushed into the same fields, would we see a lack of diversity in certain jobs? What impact would this have?
DeleteI read "Mind Over Muscle" by David Brooks. His purpose was to convey the idea that girls are performing better in schools than men, meaning that there are bound to be profound social consequences as a result. He points out that we are moving towards a female dominated society, and believes it is unfair that this inequality exists. I agree with the argument put forth by Brooks, as everyone should be able to do well in school, and since the current system does no fulfill that, it should changed to one which allows most everyone to thrive. In our past we have long seen a pattern (or it is believed to have have been) of male dominance, in terms of education and jobs, but as we progress into the future it is apparent that in the fact the opposite is the case, with women slightly ahead of men in terms of excelling academically, and in turn in the working world. For much of our recent history we have sought gender equality, ensuring that one is not oppressed, and after fighting so that women would be equal, it seems that men are now falling behind in our current "system."
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Pat, that striving for gender equality and closing that gap made women to exceed men in terms of power. Closing the gender equality gap may have over compensated and made women more powerful. In the future will men start fighting for gender equality making them an oppressed group? Will a role reversal happen soon when the tables are turned?
DeleteI have read the article "Mind Over Muscle" by David Brooks. I believe that his claim was that in a growing feminist world, people have lost sight of the importance of education of males. However, I do not completely side with Brooks because I believe in the educational world, educators work very hard to give equal opprotunities to both girls and boys. It is important to take into consideration that they are wired differently, as Brooks pointed out. From a very young age, girls are proven to be more attentive in class, have higher reading and writing skills and more persistent then boys. Today we see very many successful males and females making millions of dollars, doing what they love, and at that point it is shown that males and females both can work hard to achieve what they want. Determination is what creates success, and regardless of gender, success can be achieved by either gender.
ReplyDeleteEmily, I entirely agree with your position and how it is ultimately determination that creates success, not gender. I see equal opportunities all of the time among girls and boys, so it's a matter of who takes the initiative and who takes advantage of the opportunities they are given. Is the source of determination different for both boys and girls? Do you think one gender has more determination than the other?
DeleteI read “Why Johnny Won’t Read” by Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky. I think the purpose behind their creation was to inform their readers of the eye-opening differences between boys and girls in literature. Males have lost interest in literature and have showed greater decreases on testing. I thought it was really interesting how the author said boys don’t pick stories that girls are involved in but girls will pick a story that features a male. Obviously in our technology based society, reading interest is decreasing but I think if reading were for leisure rather than for homework and quiz grades earlier on, we may enjoy reading more.
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DeleteBecca, what do you think is the reason behind why males have lost interest in literature? Is it really because of technology? When I was reading this article, I got the impression that the school curriculum didn't include topics that appeal to males. This was partly because authors wanted to take away the idea or male superiority and wanted to show that women where capable of taking on masculine roles. How do you think this situation can be remedied?
DeleteBecca, I totally agree. I do think that if we read for pleasure instead of for homework more guys would read, I feel that if we force someone to do something, it makes them want to do it less. However I think your article and mine were a little similar since they both talked about the fact that men are less intelligent than women and again I don't agree with that. However I do think that men are reading less than women cause I always see many more girls at school reading than boys in their leisure time. Why do you think reading is so much more appealing to girls than boys?
DeletePutting Down the Gun
ReplyDeleteIn this excerpt, Rebecca Walker parlays her son’s experience into the societal pressures that children face in their daily being forced to conform to “traditional” gender roles. She argues against this practice, criticizing the way it requires one to change their self identity and to deviate from their personal desires in order to compete in a competition amongst others. I would argue that the school environment does nothing to promote gender roles. Thereby Walker might be referring to the typical peer pressure which will always be present in school. Schools provide an open learning environment, not one that coerces students into reinforcing beliefs. This means that students pick up gender roles elsewhere. I also find it hard to believe Walker’s assumption that students are “primed” for war at an early age due to their involvement in sports.
Rohit, I have to disagree with some of the points you made in your post. While I do agree that typical peer pressure could take apart into this, I do believe that gender roles take a large part into this also. Walker said, "the way girls find themselves drawn to more traditional displays of masculinity because they are more unsure than ever about how to experience their own feminity". I believe that this is an issue about the need to conform on both genders, not just males. Therefore, in your view, do you think that schools indeed should promote gender roles?
DeleteI read "Boy Problems" by Ann Hulbert. The purpose of her essay was to address the common misconception that it is only girls that are falling behind academically, and show readers that boys need support, too. I disagree, and believe that it is not beneficial to create programs and lessons to lessen the gap between genders in academics because it is unnatural. Boys and girls are built differently and therefore have different likes, abilities, and development. I think the time and money that is currently being spent on programs and lessons to, for example, encourage girls to take part in science careers or encourage boys to read in their spare time, could be spent in better ways, such as hiring better teachers, purchasing more educational resources, improving school facilities, and lowering costs of attendance.
ReplyDeleteI read "Mind over Muscle" by David Brooks. The purpose of his essay was to address the intelligence gap between girls and boys in school and make it more evident to the world so that we can try to figure out the reason for it. It seems, by all his statistics that Brooks put into this article, that in almost every aspect of school, women do better; whether it be math, national assessment tests, or be elected in the student government. I don't necessarily agree with him. Sure he has a lot of statistics that back him up, but when I look at our school, I see just as many intelligent and capable boys as I do girls. We have many boys with straight A's that are in the top ten of our class, as well as many boys taking AP courses as girls. I know from my person experience, there was never a moment when I thought that girls at my school were more intellectual or active in my school than boys, everyday I see the same potential. I will agree that girls might be more mature most of the time, but I wouldn't say they're smarter, I'd say they are pretty equal.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Veronica. I don't see this large intelligence gap between girls and boys that Brooks addresses. I have personal experience taking many AP classes already and participating in EXCEL, and it's hard to believe that his results proved women to be better. I think that boys have the same potential to be as intelligent as girls, but it all depends on how much the individual applies themselves. If Brooks claims that girls are more intelligent than boys, then why do you think males dominate more high-ranked positions where intelligence is crucial?
DeleteI read “Putting Down the Gun” by Rebecca Walker. Walker wrote this in order to prove how teenagers do not feel comfortable being who they are and instead, feel pressured to conform to those around them in order to find security in their social life. I agree with Walker in her stance that these kids should not feel pressured to change in order to fit in because it takes away their individuality and makes them feel disliked for who they truly are. In today’s school systems, we see this happening a lot. In high school, particularly, students feel as if they have to validate their social status by trying to gain acceptance into the “popular group” of kids; however, there are still kids who pride themselves for their individuality and are not afraid to stand out.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree RanRan, teenagers shouldn't change who they are to feel like they belong. I know personally, I watched someone go from being my best friend to someone now I cant stand talking to just because they felt the need to try to impress everyone, and as a result lost their original sweet identity and became a very materialistic person. It's very unfortunate and is one instance where peer pressure has a very negative effect on a person's character. How do you think "popular groups" are formed? What makes a group the "popular", beauty, smarts, a mixture of both, or neither?
DeleteI read "Putting Down the Gun" by Rebecca Walker. The purpose of her essay was to persuade people that you should be yourself and do things that you want to do, not just follow an ideal identity in society. I agree with Walker because everyone is unique and should not feel pressured to change who they are simply to fit in. It is very common for kids to change how they live their life because they value their portrayal from outside perspectives rather than their own. People shouldn't have to be someone they aren't and they should embrace their differences, not hide them. Instead of altering how we live, people should change their attitudes and become more accepting of differences in society.
ReplyDeleteI read "Putting Down the Gun" by Rebecca Walker, in which she crafts from a conversation with her 11 year-old son, wanting to get into sports in order for girls to like him. The purpose of her essay was to say that the need to conform to societal expectations takes the individuality of oneself and in order to compete with the others, you need to change your own self-identity just for the purpose of competing. I do agree with Walker into saying that students can easily as "pick up a gun" and conform to a generic type rather than expressing their own true self. However, I do not think this is simply a peer pressure, but ties into gender roles. This could also be a case in which girls today are unsure about their own femininity, also conforming to a societal imperative. Therefore, people should be able to embrace their differences and accept who they truly are instead of conforming to certain expectations in school for the sole purpose of competing, doing nothing but hiding away your true strengths in the person that you are.
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