As I have mentioned, I am co-teaching General Paper. And for the past 2 weeks, inspired by International Women's Day, we have been discussing gender equality.
Let me just say, it gives me a much larger appreciation for the women's movement in the US. In fact after our first day of discussions I turned to Kerry and said "I'm a feminist. Who knew?"
The reason is becuase many of these senior boys think girls are naturally inferior to boys. That they are weaker mentally and physically. That they are not as capable. That pregnency is equivalent to a sickness. And that men are and should be the head of household.
Well... How does one approach this? Especially when a lot of the aggression comes from the new policy that girls are eligible for a national scholarship with lower test scores than boys.
So I think I did a good job talking about affirmative action. And why it happens. Includig drawing a diagram of a slanted soccer feild and demonstrating 'leveling the playing field.' I think it was the best way to demonstrate how giving the girls help isn't saying the boys should digress. I think it helped.
I also got really good in talking about 'natural apptitude' and how girls are not given less than boys. People are less smart than other people and gender is irrelevant in determining intelligence.
So I am embracing my feminist roots and learning what it's like to advocate for my own minority group.
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You know what's weird... I had the exact same revelation in November, but in NYC, just before I left to come to Rwanda.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how hard it is to teach the kids here about this; in our village we've done a fair amount of women's empowerment and all the guys seem to "get it" -- but I think we all live in a bubble here sometimes and that it doesn't reflect how the rest of Rwanda feels/thinks/acts.