Why dont they teach feminism in school?

[foureleven]

Had an interesting conversation with my DSD yesterday.

I 'got her' when she was 8 and she is now 11. I deliberately havent activly taught her femisist theory as I didnt want to tred on her mothers toes for a while. I am always open about my views but have never really explained the theory behind them if you know what I mean.

ANyway, after a comment from her yesterday in the car where by she told me she wanted to be in a beauty pagent and thought it would feel great if people chose her to win because she was prettiest and therefore 'best' I felt I couldnt hold back.

So I explained the beginnings of feminism, the activists who campaigned about Miss World/ US etc and why a lot of people, me included feel that to be judged on your appearance alone (not to mention be expected to pay for the privalige, the contest she wanted to go in cost £90 to enter) is wrong.

She listened intently and we had a good conversation about it all. I still think she thinks Im a bit barmy as her mother loves that kind of thing. But anyway my shock is mainly at why the hell is all this new to her??? She had genuinely never heard anything about the feminist view on this... or on anything! I know shes only 11 but as kids nowadays seem to be being exposed to this kind of thing so young, surely schools have a rsponsibility to challenge this particular area of pop culture?

My DD has a gender equality policy at her school which made me but DSD has nothing of the sort, nor at the secondary school she is starting of course they have racism and bullying policies but nothing to do with gender or sex descrimination.

I didn't do it. I was the only one who didn't and everyone else did the face at me. I did encourage a bit of a talk about the "asking for it" attitude though. It was profoundly depressing

Is it a girl's school, TFM?

No. Mixed.

Do you get a chance to do much talking about respecting physical boundaries etc, the "don't be a rapist" rather than the "don't get raped" side?

Not really for me. I don't know if that comes in later (I only teach the subject to year 9). In year 9 it's about personal safety and personal responsibility, including the sex ed bit, which is largely about contraception. Perhaps a fuller and franker discussion about sexual behaviour is dealt with in KS4? I think I'll ask. Already got a reputation - may as well enhance it

Bloody right! If only there were more like you. In terms of the negative discussion about clothing to prevent rape etc - from students or teachers?

Tabouleh, that sounds okay.

Well if it makes you feel any better Britain is light years ahead of Japan on this.
I saw a billboard sized advert the other day for lazer surgery on your armpits and the model was literally about 12

I agree with ISNT - NUT and NASUWT would be good organisations to talk to if you want to campaign around this. Both do a lot of work campaigning against the sexualisation of young girls, sexual harrassment/bullying in schools, and gender equality issues in general.

I offered to go into the dc's school to talk about the Goddess as a way to try to rebalance the 'God is a man' story, not so much because I'm a pagan but because 'when God is male then the male is God'. (This is a 'secular' school but religion - Christianity - is pushed big style.)

Nothing doing, I wasn't allowed to.

spiritmum your LEA will have a SACRE (Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education) - you can see if you can get input to the curriculum via them.

See here for example - they are looking for members of all faiths to input into these committees.

From students. Well, and staff too of course, but they were the ones who came up witht he crappy lesson in the first place of course. The students are the most depressing of course. A small minority are very vocally misogynistic (and horribly homophobic, but that's another thread) and the majority I think have just bought into the whole "asking for it" thing. But then why wouldn;t they when so apparently have most of their teachers?

Grace asked on another thread:

"Does anybody know if the planned curriculum topics dealing with abuse and gender equality are still going ahead?

Does anyone know?

Thank you, tabouleh :)

Am going to post, on your introductory thread, about why I'm not here much!