Gender again

My mind must be focused on the subject but I over heard a man (assuming father) speaking to his younger son, maybe 6yrs old, today while I was walking to the grocery store and I started to think about gender-typing. The statement he says isn't anything profound but got me thinking about what the situation was that got this dad all upset and if his statement was warranted or sexist.

Two young boys, the 6 yr old and maybe a 9 year old, and their dad come out of karate class, as the boys were wearing karate uniforms (maybe another marshal art) and the dad says to the youngest, I don't ever want to see you push a girl again. You could tell the man was angry. He first got pissy about the little boys coat not being properly worn (it was warm today). I know I get pissy about dumb things when something else is bothering me. Then he says the above statement and then something about how it wasn't even a test.

My first thought is, hey they are in karate class they are suppose to be pushing, ect. It shouldn't matter what the gender is of his classmates they are all equals. I felt like this statement was pushing the stereo type that women are a weaker gender. I hate this stereotype and challenge anyone who says it to a dual.

Then I thought maybe this boy pushed a girl because he was upset/mad and it was not part of his training. I thought the dad should have address this better by stating, "I don't ever want you pushing one of your classmates out of anger. That is not how we deal with aggression."

Guess I'll never know the true story. I can only hope that I'll try to push past the identities society have given the men and women and boys and girls of our society and teach my children that we are all just people.


On another note, we got the list of prospective students to my dept. today-six students, five are women. I'm sad I can't be a part of the festivities, which always includes free food and coffee.