It's spring break. I finally have a little time to myself, which is a rare pleasure for me. I'm procrastinating working, but it is vacation after all.
Hope everyone is having a good Pesach and a relaxing break.
I've read a couple of interesting newspaper articles this past week. Before I get to the thought-provoking stuff, I must say the article in the NY Times yesterday on the ambidextrous pitcher was the most fun I've had reading a newspaper in a while. The picture on the front page, where he's shown side-by-side throwing righty and lefty, is priceless.
If you missed the article on "amazing girls" in on the front page of last Sunday's Times, you owe it to yourselves to take a look- it's well woth reading for girls, boys and parents. First of all, it's a great thing that there is this group in the first place. There are no other times in history and few places in the world where this phenomenon is even possible. I was impressed with the girls' perspective and presence of mind, but I saw a few cautionary notes as well.
One of the girls in the article remarked that although all the academics, sports, and community service is great, what matters most is to be "effortlessly hot." Pardon me here for using a stereotype here, but this world is still, for the most part, ruled by neanderthals. You can see it in the reactions by men to women of strong opinion in the blogosphere, where the most recent articles I read are filled with such hate and misogyny that I can't link to them here. Many men are threatened by impressive women. Our new generation of adults owes it to themselves to start turning this around.
This leads me to the more general observation that while women have been freed from many of the restraints that kept them from achieving their potential, they have not been freed from the social mores that require certain behaviors and attitudes. It's summed up in the headline- "Be yourself, and be perfect, too." Can girls really handle this? I'm not sure. It's a difficult balance to hold- competitiveness versus compassion, achievement versus nurturing. I don't know where it's going. I see students feeling relentless pressure from school, home, and peers. My gut reaction is that it's not healthy, but I may be being old-fashioned. What do you think?
