Girls and women DO have to carry tampons and pads around, you know. And women’s clothing is notorious for the lack of useful pockets.
However, boys and men should have been allowed to carry a manbag if they wanted, just to even things up.
I don’t get complaining about this sort of thing. Remembering my school days, the boys were significantly stronger than the girls. I guess it also just reinforces sterotypes and blah blah, but the easiest way to get a guy to help is to appeal to his sense of masculinity by calling him strong. It seems just common sense and human nature to me.
Over the years, I’ve worked a number of jobs where I was the only woman amongst a bunch of men.
At my last company, I was the only woman who EVER went to the warehouse until I hired a female assistant (I work in inventory management). The warehouse manager actually went to my boss when I tried to set up an appointment with the warehouse trainer to get my certification to operate forklifts and cherry pickers (Note: operation of both of these pieces of equipment were essential to the performance of my duties). He had no such issues with my predessor or the guys who worked FOR me.:smack:
On the home front, once when I was in my early twenties, my mom invited us kids who lived locally home for a gathering when my aunt and uncle were in from out of state. I told Mom that I would be there (and, dutiful daughter that I am, bring a dish to pass) but would have to leave shortly after dinner to get ready for work. Wouldn’t you know it, my aunt, after dinner, while the brothers, my dad and uncle were having a smoke out on the front porch and I’m gathering up my things to leave, grabs me by the arm and tells me that my help was needed with the dishes. No amount of explaining that I had to leave for work was sufficient until my dad came in for another glass of tea and asked why the hell I wasn’t gone yet. I guess it takes a vagina to wield a dish towel. :rolleyes:
I don’t think it’s supposed to get them sex in the first place. It’s just a show of dominance. Since I’m a guy I don’t get catcalls, but I have had people yell or honk at me from their car when I’m walking or (especially) riding my bike. And not to get me to move, just to startle me and maybe make me fall off my bike. I think it’s similar.
True, but that’s not what I’d call a “catcall”. It’s just a direct offer of sex.
It happens way more than you probably think it does, too.
All the things people complain about that are apparently “always” happening (screaming/disruptive kids in public places, movie theater talkers, rude salespeople & customers) - these things are, IME, rare when compared to how often I get catcalled. And for the purposes of this, I’m limiting “catcalling” to the more vulgar things, like guys inviting you to have sex with them or commenting on various body parts, not some random guy who tells you that you’re pretty.
Also IME, it’s random when it happens - actually, I rarely get catcalled when I’m dressed up to go out, probably because I’m usually with a group of people, men & women. It’s usually something that happens when I’m walking alone, dressed normally.
And there’s no recourse - if they’re in a car, they drive away. If they’re walking too and you ignore them, they get mad and call you a stuck-up bitch. Same if you say something back to them.
This doesn’t apply, though. That’s random solicitation of sex–we’re talking about hollering at someone out of a car as you drive by them.
I can’t believe two adult men would be so ignorant of basic biology as to not understand why post-pubescent teenage girls would need to be able to carry things with them. I agree that it was sexist to allow girls to carry bags but not boys–so why wasn’t their response to allow the boys to carry bags instead of banning the girls?
On the Great Bell Curve of Human Strength, men will tend to fall more towards the high end and women will tend to fall more towards the low end. However, that doesn’t tell you whether an individual man is going to be stronger than an individual woman. Asking for a boy to come help move something heavy hinges on the assumption that all males are stronger than all females. And why should anyone reinforce the idea for young men that their masculinity hinges on how much they can lift? It’s not “common sense” or “human nature”–it’s socialization.
What basic biology requires post-pubescent teenage girls to carry bags at all times?
IOW - This is institutionalized, customary, and expected sexism, therefore, you are silly for objecting to it.
My high school guidance counselor. Argh. When I went to him to talk about financing options for college, he said “Now [Celtikins], you know there’s no need at all of you taking college classes. Your brother is at [prestigious Virginia University] and will be able to introduce you to plenty of fine young men. I’m sure you’ll be able to find a good husband without having to go to all that trouble and expense.”
This to a young woman who was finishing out her senior year at the local Community College because I had aced through all of the AP classes the County offered by Junior year. In 1986, not exactly the Dark Ages. The really sad thing is, it succeeded. I didn’t manage to find anyone to help me with applications and financials, and ended up just going straight to work after high school.
I strongly suspect that I would have received a great deal more assistance if I hadn’t had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a nice figure.
Exactly–none. They could be carried to and from the bathroom at a class break or at lunchtime. No need to have them all the time.
You seriously want the administration to require every teenage girl carrying a bag to prove that she’s currently menstruating?
ETA: Especially for the first few years, girls menstrual cycles won’t be regular. Even when they’re adults, if they’re not on hormonal birth control there are plenty of woman who can’t point to a calendar and say, “This is the day I am going to start bleeding, and this is when I’ll stop.”
Clearly spoken by someone who’s never suddenly realized that she’s bleeding all over her pants.
Or went to a high school where there was enough time to both go to the bathroom AND make it to their locker twice, between classes.
I would question the validity of this study. Because this study involved approaching “random individuals” while in reality the people who would actually get this offer are not random.
I would guess that the tiny minority that would accept such an offer are disproportionately (though not exclusively) comprised of people that aren’t getting better opportunities (i.e. unattractive people). These people are also less likely to get such offers (outside of studies).
That, too. My high school was six floors high, with probably 30-40 rooms per floor. We had exactly four minutes between classes. (This was especially fun the semester when my voice lesson–at one end of the sixth floor–was directly after my lunch–at the opposite end of the first floor.) It was a rare schedule that would allow you any time in the middle of the day to drop off or pick up anything from your locker mid-day.
Forgot to add: I (female) did register for the draft on my 18th birthday. I got a lot of flak from the guys at the Post Office, and they called their buddies out from the back to laugh at me. When it quieted down a bit, I looked up at the ring leader and calmly said “Equal rights: equal responsibility.”
The women in line behind me applauded. To my surprise, there was a box on the form asking one could to check [Male] or [Female].
I kept my registration current until a few months before my 25th birthday, when I received a letter informing me that I was being dropped from the rolls due to my gender. I sent back a scathing response, but it was really to late to fight it since I was about to fall off the requirement list anyway.
No, I’m saying that if a girl has her period in the middle of class whether she has a bag with her or not she’ll still have to run to the bathroom to use a tampon or pad. So from an administration standpoint, how she keeps a tampon/pad handy is none of their concern (let’s face it, they’re not that big). And saying “I need a bag” is a bit of an exaggeration.
Do I think schools should ban bags? Of course not, I would have been constantly late for class if I had to keep running to my locker. But “Won’t someone think of the constantly menstruating young women!” is not an accurate complaint either.
I agree with both these statements.
More of this reactionary, rape-victim, catch-phrase bullshit… it’s a major pet peeve of mine. I am infuriated by the insinuation that because something was predictable and avoidable that I am somehow saying that it should happen.
It’s good to empower people with the knowledge of their rights. It’s bad to let them believe that their rights won’t be violated solely because they have said right. Thousands of courtrooms across the world confirm this every day.
If you get into bed with someone and start gettin’ busy, you have every right to stop when you want. Your rights should be respected at all times, by all persons. But you should expect that when your in or about to be in-the-act, rape is a real possibility. You don’t deserve it. You had every right to make him (or her) stop. But it’s foolish to think that your words alone will stop your recently former partner / current aggressor.
If you go to a baseball game, you should expect errant foul balls in the stands. You don’t deserve to be hit with one. You just watch the game and be prepared to catch.
If you walk across a busy intersection that isn’t heavily trafficked by pedestrians, you should expect cars to hit (or nearly hit) you. You don’t **deserve **to be run over. You just look both ways and cross carefully.
If you should walk through Camden, NJ (the poster child of rough neighborhoods) with $100 cash in your hand, you should expect to be mugged or arrested (for drug solicitation). You don’t deserve to be arrested or assaulted. You just put your money away and stop walking through druglord turf.
And if you decide to party hard, pass out, and do other things you might later regret; and then walk home with your obvious party clothes on, your hair thrashed and your make-up smeared, you should expect that you’ll be the victim of some verbal harassment and the other undesireable things that accompany the “walk of shame.” You don’t **deserve **it, but you gotta know that it’s going to happen. And that means that you don’t party so late/hard, or you bring a change of clothes, or you call a cab, or you do what the situation calls for to avoid the abuse.
It behooves YOU to take reasonable steps to prevent bad things from happening if those bad things are foreseeable and preventable… even if you have the right to take a peaceful morning walk in last night’s clothes.
Bathrooms are almost always on the same floor. Lockers are not. An extra five minutes is a big deal when your cooter is oozing blood.
No argument from me there, but what I’m saying is that calling a “no bags” rule a sexist act is reaching more than a little bit.
For one thing, usually the things that need carrying are not heavy enough for it to be an issue–anyone can carry 20 lbs. Second, it puts a lot of pressure on the “strong” boys–a call for “big strong boys” usually results in everyone looking at the boy or two that everyone thinks of as strong. Why should they have to carry the teacher’s stuff around when anyone could do it? A more generic “Does anyone have a minute to help me carry stuff in from my car” doesn’t single out anyone and kids can volunteer or not.
On the rare occasions I need something really heavy carried, I’ll ask if anyone wants to help me carry something really heavy, or if I need a tall person, I’ll ask if any tall person can help me (and in any given high school class, IME, you are likely to have at least one really tall girl).