One of the aspects I felt was most neglected in terms of preparing teams for fieldwork was addressing issues of gender, race and more. These are topics that make the best of us uncomfortable and I think it often seems that a classroom setting isn't the best to have an honest conversation. My definition of what an honest conversation is a moving, evolving one but in recent times I think of it as one where we are okay speaking about the 'bad thoughts' that we have. The idea should be to generate constructive counterpoints and of course, there needs to be a base in a desire to change. I guess I see little point in saying "I dislike so and so because they are such and such and I will believe this till I die."
I definitely felt gender mattered in our field experience. There were times when people would naturally address the only man in the room. There was an awkward evening full of innuendo aimed mainly at one specific team member, who gamely bantered (but why should she have had to do that at all?!). Being an Asian woman of a certain age made me privy to conversations around what it means to be unmarried, have ambitions, what family members and friends say. Gender matters for so many reasons.
It matters because everyone (not just women) gets hurt by stereotypes even as a disproportionate share is borne by women. Research has shown that men who take leave for childcare are also penalized. Women, of course, have always been penalized.
We have all heard about women being less likable when they have traits that set men apart as leaders (feel free to read a counterview here). Women being told to smile on the streets. I am sure you read Indra Nooyi's interview. Women are often asked about their life plans. Women are repeatedly told they can't do things. They are shot down in classrooms (maybe you have seen this piece about Harvard?). At the workforce. When caught in abusive relationships, people often blame them for staying. They are expected to have maternal urges. They have been stereotyped for millenia and just as we are starting to break this down, there is a surge of resentment. Gender-based privilege is not an imaginary thing. Differences in salaries and career trajectories are just one of the many examples of manifestation of this privilege.
Even as I write this, I feel my mood sink a little. It is too much, too vast. I am too little.
Caveat/word of caution: I recognize the 'privileged' focus of this rambling since it does not focus on basic rights, safety and security. Those are deep and extremely-relevant issues and will always need our attention. So will these. One wrong doesn't erase the other. I also notice that the articles are fairly US-based. Do you honestly think that makes them irrelevant in other contexts? I would like to clarify that I grew up thinking gender as male and female and had a peripheral understanding of the transgender community. With time, I am learning a lot more about what gender can encompass but cannot claim that I understand it all very well. I am aware that by only thinking of gender as male and female we do injustice to several people.
I definitely felt gender mattered in our field experience. There were times when people would naturally address the only man in the room. There was an awkward evening full of innuendo aimed mainly at one specific team member, who gamely bantered (but why should she have had to do that at all?!). Being an Asian woman of a certain age made me privy to conversations around what it means to be unmarried, have ambitions, what family members and friends say. Gender matters for so many reasons.
It matters because everyone (not just women) gets hurt by stereotypes even as a disproportionate share is borne by women. Research has shown that men who take leave for childcare are also penalized. Women, of course, have always been penalized.
We have all heard about women being less likable when they have traits that set men apart as leaders (feel free to read a counterview here). Women being told to smile on the streets. I am sure you read Indra Nooyi's interview. Women are often asked about their life plans. Women are repeatedly told they can't do things. They are shot down in classrooms (maybe you have seen this piece about Harvard?). At the workforce. When caught in abusive relationships, people often blame them for staying. They are expected to have maternal urges. They have been stereotyped for millenia and just as we are starting to break this down, there is a surge of resentment. Gender-based privilege is not an imaginary thing. Differences in salaries and career trajectories are just one of the many examples of manifestation of this privilege.
Even as I write this, I feel my mood sink a little. It is too much, too vast. I am too little.
Caveat/word of caution: I recognize the 'privileged' focus of this rambling since it does not focus on basic rights, safety and security. Those are deep and extremely-relevant issues and will always need our attention. So will these. One wrong doesn't erase the other. I also notice that the articles are fairly US-based. Do you honestly think that makes them irrelevant in other contexts? I would like to clarify that I grew up thinking gender as male and female and had a peripheral understanding of the transgender community. With time, I am learning a lot more about what gender can encompass but cannot claim that I understand it all very well. I am aware that by only thinking of gender as male and female we do injustice to several people.
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