Chinese educators are worried that the lack of male teachers has "produced a generation of timid, self-centered, and effeminate boys". Some schools, such as Zhengzhou, have made their male students sign a pledge to act like "real men". Education officials are aggressively recruiting male teachers which has caused debate about gender equality and social identity. "Parents have accused schools of propagating rigid concepts of masculinity and gender norms, and female educators have denounced efforts to attract more male teachers with lavish perks as sexist."
This is interesting because it reminds me of the women's suffrage movement in America and how China is, in a way, reverting back to that in the education field. It is good that they are trying to make their men more masculine, but I don't think merely employing more male teachers to schools will solve the problem. It just results in females having less job opportunities than men and parents getting aggravated with the education board.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/world/asia/wanted-in-china-more-male-teachers-to-make-boys-men.html?_r=0
I sort of understand people's concern over a lack of male role models in school, but trying to force boys to act a certain way will definitely be damaging.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree with the comment above. I think they are viewing the situation wrongly: they shouldn't be trying to make men more masculine, and certainly not at the express of women's job opportunities. But we've also got to remember that they have very different societal and cultural norms in China.
ReplyDeletethis isn't terribly surprising but nothing good can come out of all of this
ReplyDeleteI agree with all the comments. If you try to change someone, the worst way to do it is by forcing something on them. It is just going to make them more rebellious and the problem worse.
ReplyDeleteHow could someone not be manly enough, are they holding man competitions after school? I can't see the point that the educators are upset about in the first place.
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