முன்னாள் ஒத்திசைவு… प्रत्याह्वय… resonance; இன்னாள் ஒத்திசைவுத்வா!

The so called ‘traditional wisdom’ has it that ‘little boys will always  be little boys’ and so by extension, ‘little girls will always  be little girls.’

How I have always  resented, if not deeply hated the set of unjust assumptions and squirmed  whenever such statements were uttered by folks who should know better… But, whatever little that I could do – either in my class or elsewhere –  and whenever I see a hint of this asinine stereotyping, I try my best to debunk it.

In fact, I would say with arrogant  conviction that, the girls in my classes tend to eventually outshine, outsmart, outmaneuver and outclass the boys  – this would be in ALL subjects.

It is also due to the fact that I intentionally demolish  any sign of stupid attitudes like  – boys are good in math, they ‘think’ – and girls are good in creative activities, they ‘feel’ etc.  I try to encourage the girls and the boys to think beyond stupidities such as ‘pink is for girls.’

I am not saying that boys are generally less  endowed, though it would be rather tempting  for me to say so! In any case, I feel that the boys receive too much of unjust ‘gender biased’ encouragement from their parents than what a few silly extra inches of protruding anatomy that they have on their bodies would demand and merit. And, these thoroughly spoilt brats go on to become stellar idiots and become a veritable burden to our mother earth.

Again, I keep pointing to the anomaly that in our particular cases of mammals, we seem to be having far too many males than needed. May be emperor penguins also have this almost 1:1 mapping. In any case, there are NOT too many of such species.

Anyway, at the possibility of a guy sounding like one going for gender cleansing (actively advocating lesser number of (lesser)men and (lesser)boys than what they are at present) – I would just point out the one line-of-thought that every self respecting  (NO! I am not  talking about the Dravidar Kazhagam jackasses here!) boy and girl should think about and reflect on:

In the case of mammals like us, what can the Female gender not  do that can be done only by a Male gender form? Primarily, it would  only be about fertilization. I think, this one difference does not result in any major inherent difference in capacity – intellectual or practical. On the contrary, what are the things that males cannot do, that only females can do. That list is endless! QED.

Anyway, this post is supposed to be about recommending a book: Thanks to my wife and partner-in-crime, I chanced upon this excellent , erudite and passionate book. I strongly recommend ‘Delusions of Gender’ by Cordelia Fine.

May be you can buy it through DialForBooks too!

from the book’s jacket…

Grand Dame  Fine, systematically demolishes the myths regarding a host of stupid assumptions masquerading as ‘scientific wisdom borne of indisputable proofs’ – especially about brain related mythologies:

…that,  females are differently wired.

…that, they have different capabilities.

…that,  they can NOT do certain things – etc etc. Bah!

It is good to read a book, that confirms one’s convictions – peppered with acidic sarcasm and wit. L o v e l y!

I recommend it very strongly. :-)

Thanks Cordelia, for this fine book.

JournalEntry# March 20, 2011.