School debate about fertile women being employed

I do. And so? This debate topic still accepts in its underlying premise that women's rights are conditional and that it is conceivable for women to be enslaved to men at any moment. There is no equivalent debate being had about not employing any men of reproductive age, perhaps because men pose a danger to women and during the reproductive age, this danger in the form of sexual assault can lead to the further issue of pregnancy. Men's rights are not up for debate in the same way you accept women's rights to be.

What we want in debate and critical thinking is topics where both sides can be reasonably considered.

Taking part in a debate includes listening. Would you feel equally comfortable with a debate about one race being superior, say?

I think there are some really naive posts on this thread. Encouraging children to rehearse sexist and dehumanising tropes is far more likely to encourage sexism than defeat it. There’s been a lot of research on this (see eg Don’t Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff).

I would really, really be hoping they were going to broach the topic of whether women's existance and experiences are appropriate topics for 'debate'.

And personally with all the other substitutions that could replace the word "fertile" I think it was probably the least controversial starter for a healthy debate.....

You do understand that both sides of the argument are presented ? That’s how debate works.

You'd have a fit at my sociology lecturer starting a discussion on us needing poorer people in society.

Its about inviting debate, thoughtfulness, growth.

It's a debate....... clue is in your title

So, what ? We just shut down the debate because the subject is uncomfortable ?

Perhaps they will also have a guest speaker on the side against women being employed, someone from Afghanistan who makes as much sense as that saxophone solo from We no speak americano.

Another one here thinking that they should discuss men being stripped of their rights instead.

It's not an interesting debate topic for young girls to have it made clear to them that their rights are secondary and conditional, while men's rights are sacrosanct. It's deeply alienating.

Women of child bearing age is every woman from early adulthood until menopause. This is a discussion about barring women from work, thus making all women directly and permanently economically dependent on men. This is unacceptable as a school debate topic.

The girls in the class will be part of the debate. Why would you think they would be forced to just sit and listen ? Why wouldn’t they take part ? Surely both sides of the subject will be debated.

That's the point of debate topics.

To spark a debate

I’d agree with you if the question had been posed along the lines of, ‘women are valuable members of the workforce and should be protected, discuss’.

But, if it was posed as the OP has written, ie, discriminating against young women is the default and young girls should have to argue their worth, then I think it entirely misses the point and plays into inherent and subconscious misogyny children are often subject to.

Yes it’s sexist- it’s meant to be! The teacher knows that and that’s why they picked it for the debate.
Goodness me- worrying that any adult doesn’t get that 🙈

So you really believe that none of that is to do with kids being told "No, you can't do that, you can't talk about this, you must never question that..."?

It's not any one of those things. It's a bit of all of those things.

But hey, you continue to believe what you want. While you're doing that, consider the fact that not one person decrying this teacher has actually asked what they were trying to teach and where they were guiding the discussion. Y'all have just made a whole bunch of massive assumptions on the basis of your own biases...without stopping to think about the fact that no teacher would be stupid enough to run the discussion in the manner that you're suggesting, because they'd be insta-fired over it.

Knee-jerk reactions are rarely the best kind.

Complaining about what exactly ? It’s a debate, and the subject is usually controversial to spark that debate. Nothing wrong with the subject matter because it will teach the children about sexism, the various ways in which it arises and hopefully how to challenge it.

YABU

Its a debate about a very real topic.

Debating teaches kids to think for themselves, to listen to others views and to get across their own views in a respectful way.

Some topics shouldn't be up for debate because they're basic human rights. This includes this, and things like abortion and gay marriage. Debating them puts on a pretence that the opposing sides are somehow equal, when they're not. It makes people, especially young boys, think that misogyny is a normal opinion to have.

I get it’s supposed to be controversial but a good debate should have valid points each side

This.

Of course this stuff should be debated and talked about… we are nowhere near equality for women in the workplace. Massive pay gaps and discrimination. When you work in a male dominated industry you know that this kind of sexism is rife. Would you honestly just rather it wasn’t discussed?

Maybe younger people would benefit from the subject but being older and having been discriminated against many times just reading that was triggering and my heart rate went up.

Nope. Tate’s popularity is aligned to other phenomena (generalised misogyny, extreme porn culture, crisis of masculinity), not censorship. He’s had billions of views on Tiktok! How could you say this is down to censorship?

Great debate topic

The average woman's reproductive years are between ages 12 and 51 could you imagine the collapse of sooooo much if they couldn't work!

I’m afraid the outcome may well be the exact opposite of this. Sadly sexism is rife among this age group (Andrew Tate etc) and this debate is likely just to encourage it further. And why should the girls in the class be forced to listen to a load of sexist and dehumanising arguments denying their agency?

My feelings too. To change peoples minds and open them to the issues, an open discussion is necessary