I was remeniscing on the past the other day, and I was thinking about an incident in 3rd grade where we were playing kickball for PE. I remember this girl Carrie kicking the ball and getting to first base. A boy next to me said "wow that was a good kick". I then responded "yeah, for a girl". The teacher's assistant, Michelle, who was perhaps in her early 20's, overheard this comment and then proceeded to lecture and scold me for making that statement. Something about "girls can kick just as good as guys" and some other stuff, I don't remember completely. Her propaganda tactics worked, because her being an adult and an authority figure, I took it in, and believed it for years to come.
Was this a young LycraSpandex's very first clash with feminism?
But, as I thought about it later, my comment wasn't really off the mark. The kick was a rather mediocre kick -- the ball skidded across the ground real fast, and only got her to first base.
2007-10-05 05:36:00 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Gender Studies
I had been used to seeing kicks (mostly by the boys) where the ball was sent deep in to the outfield -- those were "good kicks". A ball skidding in the infield with the kicker ending up at first base was not my idea of a "good kick". Just an "okay kick". So, perhaps if I took an "equalist" viewpoint in response to the boy's claim, I could have just corrected him and told him that it was a mediocre kick?
Was my comment a result of being a product of a patriarchal system? Or was I simply a sexist chauvinist boy practicing oppression and discrimination? Or was I perhaps a realist that concluded that boys were generally better kickers based off of countless observations and collected data stored in my mind as a child, and that I was so taken aback by the boy's claim of it being a "good kick" that my only rationalization is that it was a good kick "for a girl"?
2007-10-05 05:43:49 · update #1
Carrie: Yes, I believe what you said as a child can be compared to what I said -- perhaps as children making such comments, we were just taking in what we had learned and been conditioned with in society. It was probably all subconscious. Oh, and sorry for the coincidence, but yeah, this was actually the girl's name.
2007-10-05 06:00:36 · update #2
Baba Yaga: Everyone has childhood memories. There are many incidents I remember from 3rd grade, 1st, pre-school, etc.
2007-10-05 07:06:52 · update #3
Alex: Misandrist, did I strike a nerve? Awww, poor little sexist misandrist woman. Sucks to be you.
2007-10-06 19:06:19 · update #4
Alex: You're a misandrist because of the anti-male venom you spew. I know I "struck a nerve" simply because I know you've stalked me around this forum in the past under your other (much longer) name, answering many of my questions and responding to my comments. That's known as being obsessive. Obviously the hard-hitting truth I speak gets under your misandrist skin, to cause you to single me out. I feel special. Mission accomplished.
2007-10-06 21:17:18 · update #5
Maybe the TA said that because she didn't want you hurting anyone's feelings, especially a child who has the amazing name of CARRIE.
When I was younger, I used to spend summers in England with my dad's family, and my parents would come to visit for two or three weeks. Anyway, so I'm in London with my mom, walking down the street. I was maybe about five or six or seven. A car came screeching around the corner and what did I say?
"Damn woman drivers!"
I sh!t you not. My mom was absolutely HORRIFIED and lectured me. Now: a) I didn't even see if the driver was a woman or not. b) How, at such a young age, would I have come to the conclusion that from what I've observed, women are bad drivers? I mean, it's obvious at some point in my life I had heard that, and was aware of attitudes towards women, and was simply repeating it.
So in your case, I wouldn't be quick to say that this was simply a matter of observation on your part. That might have had something to do with it, but don't dismiss the fact that children can pick up on the idea that women are second class citizens.
2007-10-05 05:50:13 · answer #1 · answered by ©å®®ĩε 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
It could be because she kicked better than other girls you saw go before, then it would have been an observation. Or it could have been dismissive as in saying girls can't kick it's shocking she did that well. It could easily be said the other kid was sexist because he declared a mediocre kick a "good" kick just because it was a girl that did the kicking.
I think obsessing over what you said in 3rd grade isn't too healthy.
2007-10-05 06:01:25 · answer #2 · answered by Manny 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hm, well, if it truly was a mediocre kick as you say, perhaps you should have said that, instead of implying that girls can barely kick good enough to get onto 1st base, and only if they're exceptions. (not saying that's what you actually meant, but it could have been taken that way by some--like the TA)
i wonder what the TA's response would have been to the mediocre comment...
2007-10-05 06:18:22 · answer #3 · answered by Ember Halo 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
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2016-10-21 03:20:51 · answer #4 · answered by coiscou 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you are over analyzing the experience. As we grow up we ape those authority figures we most identify with. Usually it would be boys with their father, girls with there mother. (Yes ther are many exceptions to this). We adopt many of their mannerism and even their words and phrases. At the age of 8, you were still your fathers son and life outside of home was just starting to give you experiences that you would incorporate into you character.
So I would call this a character making experience.
2007-10-05 05:53:20 · answer #5 · answered by paul 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have an amazingly good memory that far back.
Did they have combined PE then? When I was in grade school several centuries ago, boys and girls were in separate PE classes. Hell, boys and girls had their own sides of the playground and their own separate doors into the building.
You have an amazingly good memory that far back.
2007-10-05 06:37:33 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
That student assistant was a total idiot. If I'd been there I would have told her to shut up and get into the kitchen. How retarded can you get? She's getting an attitude because some child said males kick harder than females. Common sense statement to most people I think.
2007-10-05 05:48:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
we all say inappropriate or silly things when we're young. i remember calling another kid fat when i was little. guess what? once i was scolded, i stopped the behavior. some learn their lessons, some do not. some become enlightened, others do not.
2007-10-05 06:58:34 · answer #8 · answered by Kinz 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't blame you for that — you were just a kid. No doubt you've matured since then . . . to a point.
2007-10-05 07:57:25 · answer #9 · answered by Rio Madeira 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Was my comment a result of being a product of a patriarchal system??"
It's called being a realist, dude. Nevermind feminists-- they ignore biology.
2007-10-05 06:15:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋