1. “One of the reasons is the belief by highly successful people that
they are successful because of their own innate abilities. I think as a
professor at Stanford I am lucky to be here. But I think Larry Summers thinks
he is successful because of his innate inner stuff.” – Ben Barres. How does
this quote, which was said in the context of gender in science, relate to other
issues of race and class that we’ve discussed in the past few weeks? What does
it suggest about the ways we’ve rationalized inequality in this country?
2. Ashcraft describes the differences in sex education between males
and females by saying, “Young men are cast as manipulative or
predatory beings who always crave sex”…and “Young women are given information
and instructions on how to recognize the wily attempts of young men to get them
into bed and how to say no in the face of such pressure. The instruction for
young women is rather sparse or nonexistent when it comes to what to do if they
feel like saying yes.” Outside of sex education, where have you seen these
stereotypes about men and women reinforced? How does this example of sex
education in schools relate to how boys and girls are taught to behave in
society? Amongst each group, which sorts of behaviors do we reinforce/validate?
3. Thorne talks about the different connotations/levels of
acceptability given to the titles “tomboy” and “sissy” and the gender
constructions that are carried with these terms. How do the negative or
positive connotations of these identities become reinforced in schools,
particularly by teachers and other adults? In what ways do children reward or
punish one another for staying within the roles associated with their gender?
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