Response to Tiffany's- wk6

I read your eureka moment a couple of nights ago and have been thinking a lot about what you were saying about your boss. I work in a school and the our head of schools is a female. She had all the assistants met with her this afternoon to discuss next year and her higher then tho attitude was really grinding at me. You did not have a positive thing to say and was almost enjoying her authority over having us come back next year. As I take more gender classes, I am starting to think that maybe it is not equality we are after, but power and control. I cannot believe how she can make almost everyone in the building uncomfortable just with her presence. This is my first year at this school and since I am finishing my degree with this lovely class, I am hoping to find a job before September, so I do not have to go back there.

June 25, 2009 4:37 PM

Response to Taryn-wk 6

I have to say when I saw Patrick Swayze cry on a Barbara Walters special a few years back, my crush on him grew stronger. He was talking about losing his father and teared up. I believe when a man cry's, he shows he is capable of opening up with his emotions and that he can go against the norm, but showing that it is alright to cry. I know my brother was very upset when his cat dies a couple of months ago. This surprised my father, who thought my brother was stronger then that. Showing emotions really does not play into strength and as long as they are not cry babies, I have no problem with seeing men cry. It actually makes me respect them more.
As for women sportscasters, I agree with Robin that as long as they are knowledgeable, they have as much right as men. Dana Pennett-O'Niel is a sportscaster for Philadelphia Daily News and does a really good job. She went to my daughter's high school and came into school one day to speak with my daughter's class. My daughter was so excited when she came home from school and thought that Dana had the coolest job. Every time I see her on the program I wish those opportunities were available in my day.

June 24, 2009 7:41 PM

eureka-wk 6

As I have stated before, I work in a restaurant part time. I stopped in there to get food (to go) last week and as I was walking down the street to go into the restaurant, two elderly gentlemen were walking out. I know both of them, so naturally I said hello. As I continued on my way I was thinking how nice it was to see them out together for something to eat. I have seen both of them in the restaurant before, but usually always with a female along side of them. This past weekend I saw them together again and this evening as I was walking my dog I ran into two other elderly gentlemen out walking together. Since I live in a small town and know a lot of the people here, I did not look at these situations and wonder if they were gay. I looked upon these situations as men who are looking for a companion to spend time with. I also have a male friend who goes out to dinner with a friend of his every Tuesday night. As I continued on my walk this evening, of course I thought about this class. Times are changing and it has been nice to see that men seem to be more comfortable in the presence of their own gender. I know women would not hesitate to call a friend to grab some dinner or take a walk, so why not men.

Response to Nicole-wk 5

Nicole,
I work in a restaurant and a similar thing happened when one of our customers got charged extra because he wanted a special pasta in place of the one that came with his chicken dish. The owners found out that he went on the chamber of commerce website for our area and badmouthed the restaurant. My take on this is these people must look like idiots to whoever reads their rants. I know in my area you cannot walk into a restaurant and ask for a cup of water without being charged. After all, these business need to work on a profit or they would not be worth operating. In your case, this customer was using their internet service, so it was actually costing them money to have her there. In addition, she is taking up seating with should be used for paying customers. If I were in her shoes, I would be embarrassed to let this story out. I know in our case, the customer came back into the restaurant a week later to apologize.

June 18, 2009 7:44 PM

Response to Teandra-wk 5

I also agree with Nick that fathers are discriminated against on this issue. Your brother should decide what it is he wants in the way of visitation. I do not think joint custody would be allowed, since they are not married, but you did state that she is not working. My ex-husband use to pay child support faithfully, but his ex-wife would lie and state she was not getting it on time. In addition, we would get the checks back with little drawings on them. We finally decided to go through probation to get her off our back. Your brother would probably be better off doing it through the courts, so as to avoid any of this.

June 18, 2009 3:26 PM

Response to Taryn-wk 5

shaferj said...

I did not touch on this issue in my post, but while researching I found out that the father has no rights or decisions on whether the mother gets an abortion or not. This is another issue that is unfair for men, because they are not even entitled to the child if the mother should decide to put it up for adoption, since most courts are reluctant to offer custody to the father. But, if the mother should decide to keep it, the father is then responsible for paying child support. This is unfortunate, since it does take two to make a baby, but is seems thatg once it is conceived all decisions fall on just one. As we study gender, we must bear in mind that males are being treated unfairly and this is one area where it can be seen.

June 17, 2009 8:13 PM

Response to Robin-wk 5

We can take all the workshops in the world, but I believe it depends on the population of students you work with and what their pre-conceived thoughts are regarding gender. I had a similar situation at Christmas, when we made up bags for our 6th graders. I noticed that the bags were definately separated by boys or girls. I had nothing to do with the bags, but I did bring in all these beanie bags I have collected and gave one to each of the students. As I was putting them into the bags, I found myself being selective on what stuffed animals I put in the boys bags. This was mainly because of the bullying and teasing I have witnessed if something is to "girlie". Bullying is suppose to be zero tolerence, but it does happen within our school. So my thoughts are that you know your students and gear the books towards their interests. I do not know what grade you were making the bags for, but do now that there are many boys in my grade who would feel embarressed if they received a book about a girl and would probably feel the wrath of the other boys within the classroom.

June 15, 2009 6:24 PM