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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

A feminist AIBU! :D

52 replies

HecateGoddessOfTheNight · 30/10/2011 18:08

My son's homework.

Architects.

Choose one of these famous architects - describe their work, give background info etc etc

The list?

All male. Every one.

I made him do his project on Zaha Hadid instead.

AIBU?

OP posts:
EllaDee · 30/10/2011 18:16

Grin Good for you!

And YANBUF

ChippingInAutumnLover · 30/10/2011 18:16

Do you know why those ones were chosen?

Maybe the focus is something they have in common or something.

I think YABU to tell your DS to do something other than what he has been asked to do.

Trills · 30/10/2011 18:21

YABU to encourage your son to not do his homework as described.

Original poster
HecateGoddessOfTheNight · 30/10/2011 18:26

No. I will give you the list actually, see if you can spot anything they have in common other than being male

Frank Gehry

Antonio Gaudi

Norman Foster

Minoru Yamasaki

Adrian Smith

Jørn Oberg Utzon

Christopher Wren

Leonardo Davinci

Frank Lloyd Wright

Le Corbusier

OP posts:
Original poster
HecateGoddessOfTheNight · 30/10/2011 18:31
Blush and, erm, having read it again, it says this list is examples of architects. So. erm. not the full list from which he has to choose.

whoops. Blush

OP posts:
EllaDee · 30/10/2011 18:31

I suppose it's tricky ... I assumed the list was given as a starting point. Was there any explanation of why those people were chosen and what the project was for?

goodkate · 30/10/2011 18:31

Well done you, not only for pointing out the teachers lack of awareness but also for teaching your child to take a risk and challenge the norm. Keep it up and your child will be a success.

EllaDee · 30/10/2011 18:32

Cross-post. Good!

If they were a list of examples you are definitely NBU. But the teacher was BU to give an all-male list - that's just lazy!

StewieGriffinsMom · 30/10/2011 18:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
HecateGoddessOfTheNight · 30/10/2011 18:35

I feel a bit silly now, tbh Blush I just saw this list of blokes and I though hang the hell on! What is this about? and the red mist descended Grin Didn't read that it says examples of famous architects.

Although the all male list still pisses me off Grin

OP posts:
EllaDee · 30/10/2011 18:39

Don't feel silly ... it's crap either way IMO.

I was more prepared to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt given the idea that these men might all have something in common (besides being, erm, architects) that explained why they were chosen. IMO, if they are just examples it is worse really - there was no reason at all not to put at least one woman on there.

With the internet, it's not as if it would have taken the teacher a moment to look up a few woman architects even if s/he didn't know of any before.

perplexedpirate · 30/10/2011 18:39

YANBU, the teacher should have icluded women, even in a list of examples.

Rollon2012 · 30/10/2011 19:41

YABU to encourage your son to go against the instructions he has been given, if they teacher ask's him why he hasn't done as instructed and he has to say2my mum didn't like the list" hes going to look silly and probably feel quite humiliated infront of the class,

I can understand you frustrstion, but YABU

StewieGriffinsMom · 30/10/2011 20:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LesserOfTwoWeevils · 30/10/2011 20:28

Rollon, he didn't have to choose one from the list.
OP, YANBU and well done.

Yama · 30/10/2011 20:36

Good parenting in my book. YANBU. My default position is to point out examples of successful women in a field when none have been given. Would have struggled with architects though.

ChippingInAutumnLover · 30/10/2011 20:43

Hec Grin

Though I do have to say, if you start to become one of these people who are just looking to be offended we are going to end up having words!! I wouldn't have thought you'd be one of the professionally offended!!

I'd have done Gaudi - I love Gaudi - the rest of the list would have been a non event anyway....

Original poster
HecateGoddessOfTheNight · 30/10/2011 20:52

Grin I'm not going to, I promise. It just really got my back up. Here's this list of great architects who've really shaped the world. bloke 1, bloke 2, bloke 3, bloke 4, bloke 5, bloke 6....

And as it turns out, I was so busy feeling the rage that I forgot how to actually read Blush

OP posts:
LemonDifficult · 30/10/2011 20:55

I think, though, that Zaha IS the first woman to merit being on that list. I thought that was accepted? Is there another female architect whose work justifies getting onto a list with Da Vinci and Wren?

EllaDee · 30/10/2011 21:01

I know nothing about architecture but googled and found this, which looks interesting:

architecture.about.com/cs/architectsmasters/a/womenarchitects.htm

As a general thing, I find the argument there just aren't enough good women to make it onto whatever list a bit problematic. For a start - isn't that all the more reason to make sure Zaha does get on there?

LemonDifficult · 30/10/2011 21:03

No. You get on the list because your buildings are the best.

ChippingInAutumnLover · 30/10/2011 21:03

Phew - good to hear Hec, good to hear!

Grin
EllaDee · 30/10/2011 21:09

lemon - but you said she did deserve to be on there?

TBH, I have a problem with canons because they tend to be constructed by and for the (mostly) male examples they include. Like I say, I don't know architecture so I am not sure on this one. But with subjects where I do feel I can judge what is good and what is not, the same arguments are advanced: 'oh, there just aren't any/many good women who do this'. Why not look at what women are doing, though? Sure, maybe you will honestly conclude it is less good ... or maybe you won't, maybe you'll love it and it will inspire you. Or maybe it will just make you think 'oh ... I could do that too'. All of these are important things.

EllaDee · 30/10/2011 21:11

What I'd love to know is, who gets to decide what's 'best', then? If it has been generations and generations of (mostly) men, wouldn't it be fair to give a more balanced group a fresh look?

Lio · 30/10/2011 21:42

Great idea to do Zaha, and looking at the list, they're all on there for doing 'big' architecture, when one could argue that other sorts of projects are the ones that affect most people's lives: housing, schools, libraries etc.

Very poor not to have women on the list. Julia Barfield would have been good if they wanted to concentrate on big projects, since the London Eye by Marks Barfield is one that lots of people are familiar with.

I am an administrator at an architectural practice that was founded by two women and has a majority of female architects (not as a policy decision, of course, they just choose whoever is the best candidate whenever they need to recruit) and only a few months ago a (male) project manager said to the (female) proejct architect: 'the problem with this project is that there are too many women working on it.' I have no words for this man.