Egalitarianism is also a socio-cultural construct.
Yeah, and?
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Egalitarianism is also a socio-cultural construct.
It's pretty simple - if you don't agree with something, don't involve your kid in it. Nobody forces your kid to be a scout, and nobody else should be forced otherwise.
As far as separating boys and girls, they tend to do that around that age themselves anyway.
So socio-cultural constructs are not automatically to be rejected. One must examine the utility of the construct ... and frankly, the two constructs (sex-segregated and egalitarian scouting) serve different purposes. One is not necessarily inferior to the other.Yeah, and?
I don't believe it is that simple. There is a misquided effort to require boys to be this and girls to be something else. Religions, Scouting, Television, and even education promote it. One of the Books I am reading is titled The Second Sex. Do I need to tell you which sex they are talking about? Is the title true or are both sexes truly equal.
Do girls like girly stuff because we tell them to or because they want to. I don't know. Can you say you do?
So socio-cultural constructs are not automatically to be rejected. One must examine the utility of the construct ... and frankly, the two constructs (sex-segregated and egalitarian scouting) serve different purposes. One is not necessarily inferior to the other.
By the same token, the assessment of "failing" is subjective.So we can certainly examine socially-enforced gender roles as to their accuracy and usefulness. So far, they've been failing the examination as far as I can see.
By the same token, the assessment of "failing" is subjective.
Don't get me wrong, St. Frank ... there are a LOT of things I vehemently disagree with regarding the socio-cultural construct of gender. But just as gender in and of itself is not as simplistic as our culture makes it out to be, the applicability of socio-cultural constructs is also not as simple as we make it out to be.
The construct of gender has applicability and utility. I don't see the logic of discarding it without caution and due diligence for the effects.
PS: I know you're not talking about completely discarding it ... I'm not actually arguing against your statements, but against an extreme implementation of your statements.
I know--as I said, I'm actually arguing against an extreme position that you're not taking.I'm not talking about getting rid of gender itself. I don't think that's even possible and I say that as a transsexual. What I'm talking about is socially-enforced binary gender roles, which I see as more harmful than helpful and I believe the evidence backs that up.
I know--as I said, I'm actually arguing against an extreme position that you're not taking.
Some degree of binarism is inevitable, at least as the culture stands now. We're not going to be able to convert the culture away from a gender-binary view within our lifetimes (and that's even assuming we had the ability and authority to change the the culture at all). But work can be done to move the culture towards a wider acknowledgement that not everyone fits into neat little pidgeonholes.
What I would like to see is a gender structure with broad categories, and equivalent acknowledgement that not everyone fits into those broad categories. My preference would be for an equal and accepting attitude towards ALL people, no matter where they fall into the categories, or if they do not fit into any of them.
I make no such assumption.I think it's a mistake to assume that there's no overlap between people in the Scouting organization and progressives. There are quite a few people in the organization who are advocating change from within... though AFAIK, the issue of LGBT Scouts and leaders is currently a bigger issue than that of opening up "Boy Scouts" to both genders.
I don't think banning scouts, or anything else, will overwrite millenia of cultural and biological evolution. And yes, I think boys tend to gravitate towards traditionally boyish things, and girls tend to gravitate towards traditionally girlish things. In my experience, this usually tends to be the case even when parents make a conscious effort to promote and provide a "gender neutral" environment.
It's pretty simple - if you don't agree with something, don't involve your kid in it. Nobody forces your kid to be a scout, and nobody else should be forced otherwise.
As far as separating boys and girls, they tend to do that around that age themselves anyway.
I was a Girl Scout, much to people's shock who know me. Yes men and women are different, but that doesn't mean gender stereotypes are okay. However, by the same token a lot of people who push for more "equal" organizations get snippy when people choose things they don't agree with. For example, I love fast cars, lifting heavy, a good Scotch, video games, guns and other things involving fire or things that go boom. All of that tends to be fine with women's groups: but I regularly get nasty comments because I also enjoy baking, crafts, sewing, throwing parties, proper etiquette and have a love for corsets.
I wouldn't have had fun in Boy Scouts, mostly because boys teased me for being a tomboy, or 'trying to be a boy'. Girl Scouts was comfortable for me. I could go camping and build things, but I could also do embroidery and be adorable and sell cookies.
No! She's revolting!Sounds like my kind of girl. :yes:
Yes.
This answer is the result of answering another question.
Should we have the power to prevent their existence? No.
I can't, for the life of me, understand what is wrong with having both male and females having separate types of clubs. It doesn't cause any kind of discrimination, unless you let it. There are times when I like hanging out with women and just women. Men and women are equal, but they are not the same in all things, and instead of pretending those differences don't exist, learn to accept those differences.