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- Jun 17, 2008
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I knew this would end with someone suggesting that schools were to blame.The Zero Sum Game of Current Politics.
(Is anyone really listening anymore in the culture war)
When every argument is divisive by being put through one of the two binary sieves that trigger distraction, disinformation and disillusionment, progress by any measure is in the weeds.
The 'Gender' or the 'Age' sieves of division, this article below on current USA politics has both.
When the divide between the haves and the have nots becomes more extreme any economic equality is being ignored because of these two prismatic arguments being continually parsed, no one is the better for it, it just keeps us in place without getting anywhere. A countering to 'It's the economy stupid' catch phrase of previous usage.
These same symptomatic arguments are playing out in our political sphere here in Australia, not just elsewhere.
A perfect example of this was yesterday's expedited National Cabinet summit on Domestic Violence, where some money was thrown at the problem via more funding for a notedly flawed program, enquiries/studies signalled kicking the can further down the road, the politicians get to say they have done their best (they have for their political ideological survival in the ratings game) end of story it's done/happened/solved. No progress was gained.
Opinion | A Huge Gender Gap Is Emerging Among Young Voters
The oldest president is in big trouble with the youngest voters, especially men.www.nytimes.com
"For a growing percentage of young men, Cox wrote:
More young men, he added, “are adopting a zero-sum view of gender equality — if women gain, men will inevitably lose.”
"Richard Reeves, who wrote the book “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters and What to Do about It,” argued in a January essay posted on his Substack:
In this context, Reeves wrote, “Young men see feminism as having metastasized from a movement for equality for women into a movement against men, or at least against masculinity.”
Letters:
1/"A society with common resources that chooses to uplift women uplifts everyone. A society with resources controlled by the ultra rich will alienate one gender or the other by making them compete for artificially limited resources. Both democrats and republicans serve the ultra rich.We’re fighting each other for gender equality rather than taxing equitably."
2/"More young men, he added, “are adopting a zero-sum view of gender equality — if women gain, men will inevitably lose.”"As the old saying goes, for a group who was once privileged, equality will feel like oppression."
3/"Many young men see the left as the party of those who tell them that masculinity is toxic, even while encouraging girls and women to emulate the very traits called toxic when displayed by men (being confident, selfish, assertive, not taking no for an answer). They see liberals as scolds telling them they have unearned privilege, even as boys are less likely than girls to go to college and more likely to commit suicide."
4/"Toxic masculinity discourages empathy and social emotional skills and recently has also discouraged critical thinking, good behavior, and academic success as well. The end product is barely functional (or nonfunctional) adults"
5/"Isn’t it fascinating that the party of “take personal responsibility” and “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is encouraging young men to do neither but rather to blame other people like women and immigrants for their disappointments now that the playing field is being leveled?"
6/"The dramatic shift in our overall economy has left millions of young men "behind", if you will, economically and socially, especially in those areas of the country that were historically blue collar and industrial based. Women now make up a large majority in colleges and universities. The "stories" of young men sitting alone in their parents' basement, playing video games and stewing about on the Internet and its conspiracy-based bombardment of disinformation is also a factor. Trump's incessant railing and perfidy contribute to their disengagement and feeling of "revenge." Trump's "campaign" has no basis other than retribution and revenge. He offers young people absolutely nothing of substance that will enhance their lives as evidenced by his threat once more to take away their healthcare. It is heartening that there seems to be some movement back towards Biden among minorities. An Israeli-Hamas ceasefire will help to some degree among young people who have drifted away from Biden. We are six months away...a lot can happen...I somehow remain hopeful that some core of young voters will focus on the "reality" that Trump is a disaster, won't help them at all, and Biden will at least give them some hope."
7/"Interesting that the gender gap is said to be caused by young males' acceptance of the "boys will be boys" attitude that has always been Trump's personal motto. Boys should be informed at a very young age that being male conveys no more rights or "allowances" to them than girls get. Trump should have been taught that lesson approximately 70 years ago.This is just another example of how that attitude has damaged the country. When attempting to correct the idea of "boys being boys" as acceptable behavior, often the cry is that the attempt discriminates against boys! In reality, all it does is remove any acceptance of boorish behavior--a lesson girls learn at a very young age."
8/"A lot of younger men are lost causes these days, blaming their shortcomings and mistakes on women instead of themselves. There's plenty of podcasters, bloggers, and others willing to reassure them of this."
9/"And young men need to open their minds to the possibility of power sharing with others, especially women. A rising tide lifts all boats."
10/"
Women's rights are being shredded by both the left and the right and open misogyny is on the rise, particularly online.Many haven't even noticed that sex discrimination, much to the surprise of women, no longer exists. Who knew?Now, the social construct of "gender", which changes like the wind across culture, time and space, has taken it's place.Instead of second class status, women are now being relegated to a constantly changing and ill-defined third class status."
11/"Ageism is the bias most integrated into our population. This makes sense. Someone explain the real world, and implicit bias to these young people."
12/"I had a mother give me the following advice “expect as much of your son as you would of your daughter”. It was kind of shocking when she first said it. However, over and over I’ve watched as parents expectations for their sons is significantly less than those for their daughters. This carries over into society too. Is it not empathizing or not expecting enough of them. I don’t know. Certainly not all young men are having an issue. Some are absolutely thriving. We hear very little about what the difference is for those thriving vs not."
13/"From the perspective of a Millennial with Gen z friends—America is broken. SCOTUS and Congress codify minority opinion and do not represent Americans, hence the overturning of Roe and the utter inability to enact any gun control. Our healthcare system is a for-profit enterprise that mistreats healthcare workers. Teachers are being asked to act as bodyguards while students are fodder for the 2nd amendment. The older generations have taken our future from us in the form of student loans and hoarding of resources, including housing. Higher education and home ownership are pipe dreams for many young people. The endless war profiteering is just another nail in the coffin. Why would we vote at all at this point? It seems America is so broken, why not let it fall and let something else rise? Young people are sick of being used to transfer wealth to corporations and older generations. I used to believe in our democracy, but since Citizens United and the overturning of Roe I don’t anymore. We are utterly lost."
Letter Chain 'Education is the problem':
1/"Look at the education system. Men have fallen massively behind, and some of that is due to external factors, but some of it is also directly tied to changes in the system.Since, say, the 1990s, there’s been an enormous shift in how students are assessed - away from the traditional sit down exam that tests knowledge and problem solving (which tends to relatively favor men) and towards projects and performance tasks that focus on following a rubric with less focus on knowledge (which women generally do massively better on). Pop quizzes mostly aren’t even allowed.There is an argument that some of this makes sense given the information driven world we live in, but I see no recognition of the challenge this has created for male students. A huge number of teachers grade students on organization and this skews results away from actual knowledge (I’m a math teacher and it’s not uncommon to hear colleagues say “he has a b but he’s the smartest kid in the class”).And as boys have felt increasingly alienated from an education system that heavily caters to women, there’s a ton of alienating messaging about what should be done to help girls and never anything about the struggles of boys (which are far worse).So young men, having been exposed to a progressivism that seems not to be attuned to their needs, aren’t progressive."
In Reply:
1/"I know lots of guys who preferred project work to tests. Our schools test scores show the males as having higher grades (including in math) up until the critical tests (states and regents). Then the girls score way higher. Those tests decide who goes to the elite schools later.I think that for younger grades all active students have been negatively impacted by the lack of physical activity.I think that the video game industry is much more focused on boys and men so they have been undoubtedly impacted more greatly. I see girls learning skills and boys becoming better gamers (which provides some opportunity but not much).Certainly there is a significant lack of male roll models within the education system and certainly missing from classrooms.That being said I question the data from back in the day. I was the top math student in my classes growing up. I spent years having my marks lowered or not getting the award despite having the higher mark so that it could go to a boy. The excuses and justifications from the teachers were astounding. Some would try to convince me to share first place, something they never asked the boys to do, change the marking scheme after the fact, change the rules of the game after the fact, or just say they knew the other child should have been first or received the higher mark. It started as young as grade one and extended through high school."
2/"I'd like to see you cite evidence for your claims about the supposed gender divide on academic material and rubric. This is, contrary to the sentiments you seemed to have expressed, a beneficial development in education. The traditional archetype of 'pop quizzes' and sit-down tests are harmful and polarizing within the classroom. Perhaps this can explain the downfall of male performance within the classroom. In a way, our education system is most certainly egalitarianizing; this is not only the trend of the classroom but the mark of our age. We do not need to uphold some students on a pedestal anymore, but rather test the adaptive academic vigor of our new generation."
3/" "changes in the system" were badly needed. For most of the 20th century, the education system heavily catered to men (and before that there was pretty much no education for women). Women and girls were disadvantaged at every turn. They fought tooth and nail to be allowed to enter training for a wide range of professions. When I started my electronics/computing degree in 1984 I was one of 4 women in a class of 120. In those days "girls don't do engineering" was the normal career advice, and girls massively underperformed boys in STEM in school, because of how it was taught (or in many cases, not taught: electronics or shop class ... boys only!). Welcome to the 21st century, where being female is no longer an automatic disqualification and girls can dream of any career they desire."
Great read. I’ve been surrounded by the is stuff for 34 years. Feminism is not the problem, it is the solution to the problem. The ‘noise about boys’ may well be generated by some sincere and well meaning people, but it is amplified by powerful reactionary forces for political and social gain. It is also a victim blaming smokescreen to hide the consequences and failings of end stage Capitalism.
. This sounds like it could be on Doolittle. Soft, Loud, Soft, Loud, Soft, Loud. Rhythm guitar has a Wave of Mutilation thing going on.
