Message-Id: <v01540b02b08ff3570e9f@[208.201.230.58]>
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 17:11:05 -0700
To: pinhole@exploratorium.edu
From: kimg@sonic.net (Kim Greco)
Subject: gender
I have enjoyed reading all the discussions. Some heavy questions out
there, many of which will probably never be answered. At the risk of
sounding like "but what about ME?", let me ask the question: what do I
tell girls when they ask why I am not going to be their teacher past the
entry-level courses, why the men who have only undergraduate biology
degrees are teaching them physics and chemistry instead of the woman with
the master's in geophysics? How do we educate middle-aged men in
administration to see discrimination and know how serious the long-term
effects are for our female students?
Deborah Rhodes, in her book called "Speaking of Sex: The Denial of Gender
Inequality", says: Denial of sexual inequality comes in 3 forms. The
first is denial of inequality: "It doesn't exist." The second is denial of
injustice: "It exists, but it's not unfair." The third is denial of
responsibility: "It exists, but there's nothing we can do about it."
This is a great dialogue, and I'm sure there is much more to be
contributed. Thanks again.