Sexist Sex Educators

Wow. Five months after setting this blog up, I finally have something to say. The last thing I wrote was so angry that I just deleted it. This time? I'm not really angry. I'm just a little annoyed by the double-standard atmosphere in the female dominated world of public education.

I am the computer dude for an elementary school. I train everyone and do some trouble shooting. For a long while, it seemed that I was in charge of anything that ran off electricity. Believe me, that is no complaint. I absolutely love my job.

The problem from which this post gets its name is a one time thing. I don't generally walk around upset that women now dominate the world of public education. Heck, I don't usually even think about that. Last Friday, however, it was time for the 5th graders at my school to see "THE FILM". My son brought home a permission slip for "THE FILM" which also invited me to go to some parent screenings, if I was concerned about the content. I wasn't all that concerned. It also invited parents to come see "THE FILM" with our children to which my son gave a hearty "Hell no!" without actually using those words. He was especially insulted by the suggestion that his mother could even consider being on the planet the same day he saw "THE FILM".

Anyway, the 5th grade girls were ushered into the library first and sequestered in a private nook. The library doors were locked to prevent any uninvited people entering. I saw through the window that there were three school nurses (two were visiting to assist with "THE FILM") and about four mothers in there. The male library assistant, who would have been working in an entirely different area of the library, was asked to leave as the girls "would not be comfortable with a male present".

After the girls cleared out, the 5th grade boys were ushered into the same area. I saw through the window that the same three FEMALE nurses and one of the mothers were still there. The mother did not even have a 5th grade son. I wondered to myself why the boys were not provided the same courtesy as was given the girls. Was it not possible that they "would not be comfortable with a [fe]male present"? Is there some research to back prove boys don't care? Based on my son's reaction to even the possibility that his mother would be there, I think boys do care. For instance, how many ten or eleven-year-old boys will ask a strange woman questions like, "Why does my penis get hard?"

I mentioned it to the vice principal. She smirked at me in a most unprofessional way and told me to "Get over it. We live in a sexist world." Yes. I know. BUT! Aren't we all trying to put an end to that? It's like the teacher who a few years back had a life-size picture of Ricky Martin in her room that she frequently made suggestive remarks about. Funny. What do you think would happen if a male teacher did the same thing with a life-size Brittany Spears? Do you think the women on the staff would go for that? I think not.