Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Girls Inc. turning girls into boys since 1974

Laura Wood has a post up about Michelle Obama addressing a meeting of Girls Inc. Her post is titled "First Lady Tells Girls To Be Anything But Girls".

I had a look at the aims of Girls Inc. and it turns out that Laura Wood's title was well chosen. When you read through the aims of Girls Inc. you get a sense that they want to turn girls into a hypercharged kind of boy.

There is nothing that they say about girls which is distinctively feminine - they seem if anything to reject femininity as something negative:

Growing up in a male-dominated culture, many girls face enormous pressure to judge their self-worth based on narrow standards of physical attractiveness; to put others ahead of themselves; and to conform to damaging notions of femininity that promote passivity and self-sacrifice while discouraging autonomy and pursuit of their dreams.

That's an interesting message to push on girls. Femininity will damage you, it will get in the way of your dreams. You must be autonomous of men and not make sacrifices for others - that's the gist of the message.

Nor is there an alternative femininity set out in the Girls Inc. project. The idea is for girls to play sports and to be careerists. They are to be competitive, interested in science, maths and technology, assertive, bold, self-reliant, loud, adventurous, powerful, athletic, confident, independent and self-sufficient.

So how is that different then to being a boy? Could you not take each of the adjectives listed above and describe a boy in the same way?

It's as if girls are being told that being a boy is better, so they had better set out to become one.

7 comments:

  1. This view that autonomy is what makes us human is flawed. Saying to a woman that her innate essence, femininity, has low value is despicable.

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  2. "So how is that different then to being a boy?"

    The difference is that a boy is expected, as an adult, to develop these qualities but sublimate the self for something more important than oneself. family,church, nation..etc

    For feminist's, the goal of autonomy is the liberation of the individual self, which in turn will create an utopian society. However this produces an individual that is self-absorbed, entitled and greedy,but who is also isolated and quite fragile, because for feminist there is no fair and just human society outside of oneself.

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  3. damaging notions of femininity that promote passivity and self-sacrifice while discouraging autonomy and pursuit of their dreams.

    One might note that the feminist shriek to "man up!" means they are promoting male passivity (submission to the female will is necessarily passive) and self-sacrifice and discouraging male autonomy and pursuit of their dreams. It is ironic that certain frequent commenters at this site regard male submission to the female agenda as "showing leadership".

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  4. "They are to be competitive, interested in science, maths and technology, assertive, bold, self-reliant, loud, adventurous, powerful, athletic, confident, independent and self-sufficient.

    So how is that different then to being a boy?"

    Because these characteristics are now seen as negatives when exhibited by boys. In boys, these are manifestations of "hegemonic patriarchal masculinity" and are to be repressed.

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  5. This reflects my definition of a feminist: a woman who hates men and bitterly resents the fact that she isn't one.

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  6. I'm curious as to why they continue with the brainwashing, they've already done such a thorough-going job destroying the last several generations, that to go on seems really to be a waste of ammunition so to speak. It's as if they blown the poor victim's head off, & are now firing magazine after magazine into the body. The neo-pagan horde will go on reveling in "polymorphous perversity" to borrow a phrase from one of their most revered teachers, watching television ( the most effective mind-destroying/control device ever invented), & eating McDonald's slop until what's left of civilization finally collapses for good & all. The descendants of the survivors will most probably enjoy an existence rather similar to that of negro savages in Africa. Perhaps a few private libraries might survive, & a new civilization be slowly built up after a long dark age. As Joseph de Maistre wrote, every nation gets the government that it deserves. Well, I suppose that's enough good cheer for today, I bid you adieu Mr. Richardson.

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  7. conform to damaging notions of femininity that promote passivity and self-sacrifice

    Meanwhile, we ask boys who grow up in this "male-dominated society" to engage in the ultimate self-sacrifice in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, or wherever else our leaders choose to send them. Self-sacrifice used to be considered the noblest of virtues.

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