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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

What do people think of this going on at my daughter's primary school?

232 replies

DoctorBeat · 14/04/2016 10:45

Nationalism with some gender stereotyping thrown in for good measure? Girls bring in something sweet?! 😒

What do people think of this going on at my daughter's primary school?
OP posts:
MrsBlimey · 14/04/2016 15:50

Ada Lovelace
Boudicca (ticks the Queen box...)
Marie Stopes
Any of the Pankhursts

Smile
Original poster
DoctorBeat · 14/04/2016 15:55

Yeah I did think Marie stopes until I read she was into eugenics and actually opposed abortion! Confused

OP posts:
MrsBlimey · 14/04/2016 16:00

Oo-er! Maybe not her then....

MuddhaOfSuburbia · 14/04/2016 16:04

on royal wedding day our school had a party- kids had to wear red white and blue, there was bunting and stuff, they made crowns

I had the RIGHT hump and did this Hmm for days

till my 8yo said Oh for god's sake it's just a BITOFUN

Blush

they had a lovely time and I'm sure Ofsted were delighted

BertrandRussell · 14/04/2016 16:27

Bloody hell- 13 women in the top 100 and princess bloody Diana and the bloody queen mother in the top 10!

OTheHugeManatee · 14/04/2016 16:33

You could send your DD as Margaret Thatcher?

ArcheryAnnie · 14/04/2016 16:43

If she had princess dresses, and wants to wear one, send her as Ada Lovelace, computing visionary. Princess dress, hair up, and some punchcards hanging from a ribbon around her waist!

VestalVirgin · 14/04/2016 16:46

Yeah I did think Marie stopes until I read she was into eugenics and actually opposed abortion!

How is that possible? Like, she was of the opinion that women ought to be forced to give birth to disabled children and kill them immediately after, or what?
Ah well, people have always been able to combine woman-hating attitudes, no matter of how combineable those really are. Weird that a woman would do it, though.

Boudicca. Definitely. Good choice. Very British.

BertrandRussell · 14/04/2016 16:55

Marie Stopes was a product of her time- loads of people were in favour of eugenics. There was no ante natal testing, and very little effective medical/surgical help for children born with disabilities. And limited understanding of genetically transmitted disabilities. Eugenics in her case obviously didn't mean killing babies at birth- it was more about thinking about who would be allowed to have babies in the first place. Distasteful, obviously, to our sensibilities, but certainly logical, considering the circumstances prevailing.

MrsS1990 · 14/04/2016 16:56

Absolutely nothing wrong with it. Your being ridiculous

BertrandRussell · 14/04/2016 16:57

And if she hadn't opposed abortion she would have never worked again, and her amazing, pioneering work around contraception wouldn't have been possible.

So, more complicated than at first glance...........

crispytruffle · 14/04/2016 17:06

Nothing wrong with it, looks fun and educational. I think it is great. My kids celebrate Chinese New Year at school is that bad too? I don't get why you would be offended by the whole girl or boy split, you seem highly strung. Get a grip!

Original poster
DoctorBeat · 14/04/2016 17:15

Mrs S until you know the difference between your and you're I probably wouldn't care too much about what you thought.

OP posts:
Peyia · 14/04/2016 17:54

Boudicca is a good option!!

The gender split of food wouldn't have upset me. Only on reflection and when pointed out would I perhaps question that the decision was a subtle bias of girls being sugar and spice etc. which is a perfect example of my subconscious bias. On the other hand the decision could have been as simple as flipping a coin as a PP pointed out!! Sometimes we will inevitably be offended by something.

I think a certain food for each year is the best approach.

What will you suggest to the school for the next event?

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 14/04/2016 17:55

RhombusRiley Thu 14-Apr-16 13:03:38

Excellent post. Now back to read the rest of the thread.

SenecaFalls · 14/04/2016 18:55

I agree with Hearts. RhombusRileys post sums it up admirably, I think.

Peppaismyhomegirl · 14/04/2016 18:58

People will moan at anything Hmm

rosy71 · 14/04/2016 19:03

I think you'll find it's the Queen's 90th birthday next week which is what they are probably celebrating. You have massively overreacted imo.

pieceofpurplesky · 14/04/2016 19:32

Overreaction. My ds is now yr 7 but throughout primary things were split in all different ways - usually boy/girl when food was to be shared by the class. It tended to be random - one year girls had to bring in blue things and boys red and both could bring in white.
They had a British day twice during his time there and all the children in the school loved it - Sikh, Muslim,Jewish, Christian, non/religious etc. Throughout the day they looked at voting and suffragettes, British food through the ages, changes in education, democracy etc. Ds learnt loads.
Costumes don't specify gender - send your daughter in as a knight or a King? Or how about Guinevere, Elizabeth Fry, Jane Austin, Elizabeth (I and II), Emmaline Pankhurst, Florence Nightingale ...
Make a sweet potato and cheese pie ...
You don't have to make this an argument with the school.

fiddlesticks123 · 14/04/2016 19:38

Felt like I had to comment to redress the balance as you're rightfully making a judgement on feeling based on replies to the thread OP, I wanted to throw my hat in as someone who feels this is an overreaction on your part.

People will always find opportunity to pick fault, if they had split it Y3/Y4, parents would moan 'oh what because they're younger they're ONLY expected to be able to make pretty little fairy cakes'.

I really do think you're reading too much into this, as for celebrating British culture I'm all for it and with regards to the food split, as a PP pointed out, sweet food doesn't necessarily infer pretty pink cupcakes, how about a fruit salad?

IMO, it seems you have a heightened sensitivity towards gender bias and are seeking out issues which simply don't exist. In contrast to what you have said (and I do appreciate I am not in a place to comment on your intentions so apologies in advance for this being out of line), reading your responses to the discussion of 'intentional offence' I can indeed imagine you looking forward to a letter or leaflet from school to hunt for the next perceived grandiose miscarriage of 'gender justice' to be frustrated about. It makes for an amusing picture in my mind, without wishing to belittle the issue - as it happens I am a moderate feminist - I think you need to lighten up a little on this one.

Original poster
DoctorBeat · 14/04/2016 20:09

You are entitled to your opinion fiddlesticks, but you are quite wrong about the intentional offence thing, and frankly making such personal judgements based on me starting one conversation on something that happened to grate on me makes you sound a bit mean and not very open minded at all.

OP posts:
Original poster
DoctorBeat · 14/04/2016 20:13

And I'm baffled as to what balance you felt you had to redress, as there has been a good mix of opinions on this thread imvho. Sorry they didn't all match yours. Wink

OP posts:
drspouse · 14/04/2016 20:28

If she hasn't been mentioned yet, I vote Mary Seacole. Contemporary of Florence Nightingale.

pieceofpurplesky · 14/04/2016 20:37

Mary Seacole is Jamaican with a bit of Scottish somewhere! Amazing woman and sadly undervalued. I teach about her in a unit on protest and inspirational people

PurpleDaisies · 14/04/2016 20:38

if they had split it Y3/Y4, parents would moan 'oh what because they're younger they're ONLY expected to be able to make pretty little fairy cakes'.

Do you honestly think that would happen? Hmm

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