Technolandy

Day 18 (of 2024/25) Gender wars – pronoun edition via @macleans & @simonlewson

Day 18 (of 2024/25) Gender wars – pronoun edition via @macleans & @simonlewson

https://apple.news/AQEa0ycidS3yrtuILxF_9MA

https://macleans.ca/education/the-gender-war-in-the-classroom/

Part of my #orangeshirtweek has had me look for different systemic pieces of bias and discrimination that hide in plain sight. Pronouns. I recall my high school English teacher not liking my use of them/their in my writing to mask the gender of my characters in my writings… and now names and pronouns continue to split families… 

With schools in the middle…

Be it nicknames or outfits, there is always exploration in identity while at school. Easier to explore in social constructs than the more official ‘letting the family know; – the Howard Stern Show continues to model how sometimes some conversations are actually easier ‘on air’ than they are in the smaller environment… 

So now the schism is seeing how governments ~ and political parties – are campaigning to either protect student rights to ‘try out’ how identity can flex – with names and gender identity, or if self expression has to be parent approved. The challenge being that, much like the politics ~ some families are more comfortable than others at letting children find out who they are (rather than who their family wishes them to be). 

The split has led to a lot of repeated fear mongering – targeting some events like Drag Story Time as ‘enabling pedophilia’ despite the lack of drag performers being connected to crimes involving schools and kids… and how amazing these entertainers can be!

But family values are great when at home… when families mix and talk in communities and at schools… conflicting views – and discrimination & unconscious/conscious bias show themselves subtly… and not so subtly. 

School sports and gender. Discuss… 

(It’s the easiest of the discussion topics and will have passionate advocates on multiple fronts…)

Gender wars… they’re complex – thanks Macleans for sharing Simon Lewsons writing… be curious, not judgemental when it comes to how people (of any age) want to handle their names and pronouns.