Yes, women are emotional and stupid!

One of my favorite things about teaching is discovering what various cultures think about gender. It is no surprise (and this may sound ethnocentric) that Americans are a bit more ahead
than the rest of the world when it comes to this particular subject. I think this because, by now, I've had way too many conversations where I end up exasperated and shocked.

Case in point, my summer session students had a chapter dealing with gender roles. I planned exercises to get them to share what they know about gender and we created discussion groups, creating questions and answers. What I wasn't prepared for was the blatant remarks made by, no, not the men, but the women! One young lady insisted, "Women are too weak, they cry all the time?" I said, "Really? You're a woman, do you cry all the time?" Oh no, not me, I mean women.
"Ok, I said, why do you think women are weak?" "Because that's true," she said. My students have issues defending their answers with meaningful analysis.

I proceed to spend some time trying to talk about stereotypes, how it is defined and present some stereotypes about both men and women. I state, "men are strong and don't cry" Yes, this is true, they all agree. No, I quip, this is a stereotype. "Women cry and are weak", oh yes, this is true. No, I say again, this is not true, this is a stereotype. "No, women are emotional and stupid", yells one young woman. Shocked, I remain standing, looking into the faces of these people.

It is at times like this when I realize that my mission isn't to try and convince them of something that they themselves have never thought of. My mission is to try and get them to think, period!
Yeah, good luck with that!