Saturday was Sid's Sports Day. He was in some 2 races and 1 dance. Overall, it was a very nice event, although it started an hr late! We enjoyed looking at the kids in colorful costumes, running around, dancing, shouting, crying and generally behaving like, well, kids!
But one thing that I observed and which I was vocally against was the sexist nature of some of the events and people!
There was a running race, in which 2 kids had to hold hands and run together. Partner race, it was called. Sid and 1 other guy were partners. They won, by a good margin, but the MC (a lady, mostly one of the teachers, and that scares me!) says this was expected, they are boys or something similar.
I was annoyed! In one other race, the girl who came second was equally good, but no one mentioned how close the race was.
One more incident was a race for girls alone, which was called 'going to the market'! There you go! And to top it, the aforementioned MC, states that, 'girls, now you can help your mommies shop for groceries'!
I was affected by these statements, and I did talk about how this was wrong with Josh and the other parents around. The other parents did not seem to care much though.
I wanted to walk to her and tell her that she just cannot talk like this, typecasting boys, girls, attributing certain characters to each of them. They are growing kids, easily influenced. What will they end up teaching the kids!? I didn't tell her this, but did voice my disappointment to Josh.
Hopefully, the entire school isn't like that, if so, then I have issues with letting my kid continue in such an environment.
Maybe it was harmless and I am over-reacting, but it just didn't feel right. I know my son will be exposed to all kinds of philosophies, all kinds of people, and I cannot control it, but will definitely try to make him and my sphere of influence understand that there shouldn't be any chores, any activity which should be attributed to the sex of the person. Yes, I agree there are differences between a boy and a girl, but we should concentrate on the true potential and passion of the kid, rather than stick to stereotypes, like a boy should train to play cricket or run, a girl should learn to cook! Sometimes, and quite often, it does happen that a boy is not interested in running and a girl in not interested in cooking!
For god's (or whatever it is you believe in) sake, let them be!
A side note:
I am reading an excellent book, the last of the trilogy - The Aryavarta Chronicles, which deserves a post of its own, but there is an exchange between Uttara and Abhimanyu in that, which talked about the so called equality between men and women.
Abhimanyu tells Uttara, that seeing her, he thinks that women are no less than men (complimenting her), but Uttara tells him that the very fact that he is thinking about her being equal negates the statement. Truly equal means not even thinking about it! (I am summarizing it and not using the exact words)
But one thing that I observed and which I was vocally against was the sexist nature of some of the events and people!
There was a running race, in which 2 kids had to hold hands and run together. Partner race, it was called. Sid and 1 other guy were partners. They won, by a good margin, but the MC (a lady, mostly one of the teachers, and that scares me!) says this was expected, they are boys or something similar.
I was annoyed! In one other race, the girl who came second was equally good, but no one mentioned how close the race was.
One more incident was a race for girls alone, which was called 'going to the market'! There you go! And to top it, the aforementioned MC, states that, 'girls, now you can help your mommies shop for groceries'!
I was affected by these statements, and I did talk about how this was wrong with Josh and the other parents around. The other parents did not seem to care much though.
I wanted to walk to her and tell her that she just cannot talk like this, typecasting boys, girls, attributing certain characters to each of them. They are growing kids, easily influenced. What will they end up teaching the kids!? I didn't tell her this, but did voice my disappointment to Josh.
Hopefully, the entire school isn't like that, if so, then I have issues with letting my kid continue in such an environment.
Maybe it was harmless and I am over-reacting, but it just didn't feel right. I know my son will be exposed to all kinds of philosophies, all kinds of people, and I cannot control it, but will definitely try to make him and my sphere of influence understand that there shouldn't be any chores, any activity which should be attributed to the sex of the person. Yes, I agree there are differences between a boy and a girl, but we should concentrate on the true potential and passion of the kid, rather than stick to stereotypes, like a boy should train to play cricket or run, a girl should learn to cook! Sometimes, and quite often, it does happen that a boy is not interested in running and a girl in not interested in cooking!
For god's (or whatever it is you believe in) sake, let them be!
A side note:
I am reading an excellent book, the last of the trilogy - The Aryavarta Chronicles, which deserves a post of its own, but there is an exchange between Uttara and Abhimanyu in that, which talked about the so called equality between men and women.
Abhimanyu tells Uttara, that seeing her, he thinks that women are no less than men (complimenting her), but Uttara tells him that the very fact that he is thinking about her being equal negates the statement. Truly equal means not even thinking about it! (I am summarizing it and not using the exact words)
