Hello everyone. I need your help. I am an editor for the National PTA and am developing with some of the best people in the field online articles with practical advice about how to raise children in a gender neutral way, and particularly, how to ensure that boys and girls get equal education through nonbiased course materials, teaching styles, testing, etc. My plan is to post this information on PTA's website, but I'm a little stuck. How often should it be posted--weekly, monthly? Should it be sent out in emails as well? How do we reach less-advantaged parents who may not have a fast Internet connection or even a computer? How about schools and teachers?
I really want this to be a success, but I don't have all the answers, nor do I have a lot of people to rely on for advice. That's why I hope you'll leave helpful comments here. Or you can send them to my personal email if you wish: pokerface_2001 (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Thanks in advance for your help.
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I think this is a huge deal, and it's awesome that you're attempting to take it on. I just started working at a small Arts non-profit, and am constantly surrounded by 5-13 year-olds taking art classes. I've been floored by the way gender normativity is reinforced on a daily basis, mainly by teachers and other staff members. To me, this is one of the most important ways you can reach out to children; training parents and educators to be conscious of the things they teach children.
For example, one teacher here indicated that a student could diferentiate girls and boys in their drawings by having girls wear dresses and bows, and boys wear pants. Another teacher told students that girls always took their husband's name when they got married. Learning to be conscious of these comments is important; we need to encourage boys and girls to be whoever and whatever they want to be. If they are publicly shamed by a teacher who tells them that girls do certain things and boys do certain other things, then we're only reinforcing gender norms, and they'll be less likely to explore new activities, sports, hair or clothing styles, etc!
Thanks, Kate. I know Rome wasn't built in a day, but someone had to lay down the foundation. I've lined up some heavy hitters to participate.
What I'm looking for is ways you think we should try to get this info to parents and schools. We're posting on the website and using social media, but what else? How often should this stuff be updated?
Well, if you haven't read it, Failing at Fairness is a great source for information about bias in the classroom.
I would recommend an e-mail list of interested parents and sending e-mails to those on the list weekly or bi-weekly.
Best of luck! It sounds like a great project.
Joan
Actually, I'm using the revision of Failing at Fairness, STILL Failing at Fairness, as my "bible." David Sadker and Karen Zittleman, coauthors of the book, will be providing content.
Good suggestion, Joan. Thanks!
Great idea but how do you think you can achieve it? After all there are 2 genders...
I'm no expert on raising kids, but it seems to me that it's nearly impossible to raise kids without gender, since no matter how "neutrally" you treat them in your home, you will never be able to protect them against the assumptions and categorizations they will come across in the rest of the world. I would focus on trying to give parents information about how they can give their kids the tools for dealing with those assumptions and categorizations, so that those kids can make the decision for themselves whether and how gender categories are important to them.
I will never forget coming home crying from preschool one day because a classmate had told me that I couldn't wear my favorite grey dress anymore. "Why?" my mother asked me. "He says grey is a boy color," I sobbed. My mom sat me down and explained to me, in clear terms that a 3-year-old could understand, that some people think that boys and girls need to wear different colors, have different interests, and act differently. But those people are wrong, my mom told me, and you can't ever let them tell you what to wear or how to act. I insisted on wearing that grey dress the next day, and told that same boy that I could wear whatever color I wanted, and that he couldn't tell me what girls can or can't do. My first feminist moment, thanks to my mom!