Craig just got back from a week-long conference (yes, another one) in England. Isaac is getting used to his father being gone -- in fact, at one point he asked if he was ever coming back. That sounds more dramatic than it was. Isaac didn't seem sad or traumatized, just curious.
When I reminded Isaac that his dad was in Manchester, Isaac paused to think about it. Then he asked, "Can women also go there?"
This isn't the only time Isaac has been confused by gendered language.* We were reading a book that showed a dog working in a manhole, and Isaac asked if women could work in one. And when I referred to a passing female bicyclist as a "guy," Isaac corrected me by saying, "A bicyclist could also be a woman."
It makes me realize how literal little kids are, and thus how vulnerable they are to forming misinterpretations because of our sloppy generalizations. Those misinterpretations can grow into casual bias, and then into genuine prejudice. We may know that "chairman" can refer to women and men, but Isaac doesn't. I guess they were right back in Women's Studies 1A when they said that language shapes reality.
This reinforces my opinion that watching TV isn't yet right for our family. At some point it will become useful -- it does give a lot of opportunities for discussion, and plus it can be fun -- but right now we don't need to deal with mitigating all of television's casual bias. And it's not just girls and women who are portrayed in a limiting and limited way -- boys and men also come across poorly.
- - - - -
*Although according to Wikipedia, the name "Manchester" doesn't have anything to do with "man." Quite the opposite -- the name is thought to derive from its Ancient Roman name, "Mamucium," which might mean "breast-like hill." The Latin word "mamma" does mean breast, at least.
No comments:
Post a Comment