Feminism Classes For Boys In Australia
November 26, 2009 2 Comments
School boys in Australia are going to get lessons on “Respectful Relationships Education” to help combat violence against women.
Critics have come down on this education program claiming that it will be full of “feminist propaganda” and demonise the boys.
Why is it that whenever people hear about feminist theory they get their backs up? Feminism is not anti-men or militant. That is the same as saying all Muslims are terrorists.
Feminism is simply the theory that women and men deserve equal rights and respect.
The authors of RRE said that ”feminist theories were best at explaining the link between gender power relations and violence against women, and must underpin the programs.”
The program will teach that girls are not either “good girls or sluts” and ”that sexist attitudes and unequal relationships between the sexes were central to explaining violence.”
Australian Family Association spokesman John Morrissey said boys were already getting feminised education due to the falling number of male teachers in schools. “I’m sceptical if boys will respond to it if it is dressed up in feminist language and ideology,” he said.
“Strident feminist propaganda won’t wash with boys.”
The pilot program will run in the first semester 2010.
This is a great idea and should be linked in with the regular sexual health education and other courses, and include the female students as well. Teaching the boys these lessons is good but the point of feminism is equality and there are many girls who also do not understand their rights. If the boys learn not to be violent towards women and the girls also learn not to put up with it relations between the sexes will be even better.
Hopefully this program will have a great impact on sexual harassment and violence and will be taken on by other school districts.
This is exciting. What a good step forward.
The author hopes that “boys learn not to be violent towards women…” While this is obviously important, I think it is also important for boys to learn more fundamentally how and why women should be treated as equals. If the boys learn greater respect and cooperation with women, then the causes for violence will be greatly reduced.
If you tell a man not to hit women, it’s probably useless, it won’t make a difference–after all, everyone knows that “you don’t hit a lady,” and yet people do anyway. Instead, teach him to see women as equally deserving of respect and human empathy, and his desire to strike will be subdued.
Feminism is simply the theory that women and men deserve equal rights and respect.
Isn’t that called gender equality, or equal opportunity? Feminism is a different set of beliefs which includes gender equality.