Yesterday, I was running, as I do on the occasion that I feel inclined to care about my cardiovascular health, and two little snot nose kids decided it was going to be fun to turn around and give me a nice tap of encouragement.. on the ass. I screamed profanities at them, they ran away. I mean, I understand this was probably my fault. After all, I am a woman, I was wearing short sleeves, out in public, in broad daylight. Obviously, I was asking for male attention.
Twice now, I've come home from runs to be approached by a young man who just wants to chat. He really wants to ask me about my life, give me a rose, ring my doorbell five times. I know I'm being rude when I say "Please leave, you should not be here. No, we cannot be friends." I'm probably leading him on, too, after all, I keep leaving and entering my apartment, which is kind of like an invitation to talk to me. I just can't seem to get anything right.
There was a girl from Lawrence who recently wrote an article talking about how feminism doesn't relate to her life at all. Lucky her.
Today, my friend and fellow Fulbrighter Zayn came to my university and taught my classes. Zayn's Fulbright project has among other things, been starting debate teams at different high schools in Jordan and organizing debate tournaments and championships between them. Zayn won the national debate championships in 2010 (aka he is America's best debater). Formal debate is quite new to Jordan schools- before this year critical thinking was not a part of the curriculum. So for many of my students, today was the first time they formally distinguished argument from opinion, and outlined the need to accompany their claims with evidence and reasons their audience should care. In the first two classes, we debated whether or not boys and girls should study together (remember, in Jordan, high schools are gender segregated). In the third class, we debated whether or not there should be a gender quota in Jordan's parliament (there is a quota ensuring a minimum of 15 seats go to women). And in the fourth class, after informing students that Jordan did, in fact, have a parliament, we debated whether or not I should fail the entire class.
I was proud of my students, they all agreed to debate the side they were assigned, but in informal discussion, it was really hard for me to hear claims that I absolutely do not agree with, supported by poor evidence and little critical thinking. Commonly accepted ideas about boys and girls at Al al-Bayt:
1. Boys act based more on thoughts, girls act based more on feelings.
2. In high school, boys and girls are too immature and will not know how to act appropriately toward each other. This goes away in college when they are both more mature. (though no one could answer my question of when the "mature" switch turns on)
3. It is inappropriate for boys and girls to interact with each other in most settings.
4. Girls are shy, and so should not have to learn in classrooms with boys.
5. Boys are easily distracted and will not be able to concentrate if girls are around.
Not everyone felt this way, but in general, no one really brought up the fact that boys and girls in my classes rarely talk to each other and sit on opposite sides of the room. Men and women on the bus refuse to sit next to each other. And, oh yeah, guys touch my butt when I run, call out "hellooo Russia" (referring to prostitutes) when I walk by, or try to get my number when I'm shopping in Safeway or heading into my apartment. If the argument is that boys and girls don't know how to deal with each other when they are young, keeping them totally separate just doesn't seem to be working. They don't seem to be growing out of anything. Or, maybe it's me. Maybe as a foreigner, with my ideas about showing my forearms in public, and thinking that men and women aren't so different, that we should all learn from the very beginning to respect and deal with each other- I'm just asking for problems.
In other news, one of my students from China informed me today that he drove a backhoe in China for two years and his dream is to get a job doing this in the U.S. He hopes to make at least... $200 a month.. or a week. This stuff never gets old. Until fourth period.. then it gets old pretty fast.
Twice now, I've come home from runs to be approached by a young man who just wants to chat. He really wants to ask me about my life, give me a rose, ring my doorbell five times. I know I'm being rude when I say "Please leave, you should not be here. No, we cannot be friends." I'm probably leading him on, too, after all, I keep leaving and entering my apartment, which is kind of like an invitation to talk to me. I just can't seem to get anything right.
There was a girl from Lawrence who recently wrote an article talking about how feminism doesn't relate to her life at all. Lucky her.
Today, my friend and fellow Fulbrighter Zayn came to my university and taught my classes. Zayn's Fulbright project has among other things, been starting debate teams at different high schools in Jordan and organizing debate tournaments and championships between them. Zayn won the national debate championships in 2010 (aka he is America's best debater). Formal debate is quite new to Jordan schools- before this year critical thinking was not a part of the curriculum. So for many of my students, today was the first time they formally distinguished argument from opinion, and outlined the need to accompany their claims with evidence and reasons their audience should care. In the first two classes, we debated whether or not boys and girls should study together (remember, in Jordan, high schools are gender segregated). In the third class, we debated whether or not there should be a gender quota in Jordan's parliament (there is a quota ensuring a minimum of 15 seats go to women). And in the fourth class, after informing students that Jordan did, in fact, have a parliament, we debated whether or not I should fail the entire class.
I was proud of my students, they all agreed to debate the side they were assigned, but in informal discussion, it was really hard for me to hear claims that I absolutely do not agree with, supported by poor evidence and little critical thinking. Commonly accepted ideas about boys and girls at Al al-Bayt:
1. Boys act based more on thoughts, girls act based more on feelings.
2. In high school, boys and girls are too immature and will not know how to act appropriately toward each other. This goes away in college when they are both more mature. (though no one could answer my question of when the "mature" switch turns on)
3. It is inappropriate for boys and girls to interact with each other in most settings.
4. Girls are shy, and so should not have to learn in classrooms with boys.
5. Boys are easily distracted and will not be able to concentrate if girls are around.
Not everyone felt this way, but in general, no one really brought up the fact that boys and girls in my classes rarely talk to each other and sit on opposite sides of the room. Men and women on the bus refuse to sit next to each other. And, oh yeah, guys touch my butt when I run, call out "hellooo Russia" (referring to prostitutes) when I walk by, or try to get my number when I'm shopping in Safeway or heading into my apartment. If the argument is that boys and girls don't know how to deal with each other when they are young, keeping them totally separate just doesn't seem to be working. They don't seem to be growing out of anything. Or, maybe it's me. Maybe as a foreigner, with my ideas about showing my forearms in public, and thinking that men and women aren't so different, that we should all learn from the very beginning to respect and deal with each other- I'm just asking for problems.
In other news, one of my students from China informed me today that he drove a backhoe in China for two years and his dream is to get a job doing this in the U.S. He hopes to make at least... $200 a month.. or a week. This stuff never gets old. Until fourth period.. then it gets old pretty fast.
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