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Unit 46

What Changes Has Feminism Brought to Girls and Boys?

A revolution in the way American society regards and treats the two sexes has been accomplished in remarkably short period of time. Very often, this is viewed as victory for feminism, in that more career options have opened to women ,and women are increasingly represented in all segments of society. But has this vicory produced the predicted increased happiness for women? A quick view of the massive "pro-choice" abortion advocates assembled in Washington D.C. last weekend revealed very few smiles, and much rage. Today, I'll look at the changes wrought in our view of the two sexes.

My 21-year-old-college-senior son was telling us about a girl he had just been set-up with. They had a good time together at a party, so he asked her if she would be interested in going out on another date. She told him, "I wouldn't mind studying with you, but I really don't have time for a lot of dating or a boy friend." His comment was, "What's with all of these ambitious girls?"

Our 9th-grade son attends a California public high school where the ratio of boys to girls is roughly 50/50. The latest edition of his school's parent's club newsletter honors the students who are achievers in various categories of academic activity. Of the first place finishers in the regional science fair, 9 out of 11 are female. The winner of the Rotary Club and Lions' Club Speech Contest are mentioned, both female.

My daughter is a sophomore at a California university, and is spending the summer in Europe as an intern in the US embassy to the host country; she'll be doing this after she spends an academic semester in Greece enrolled in a classics program. Her university's 37,000-student body is 55% female. You don't have to be much over 30 to remember when life-guarding was predominantly a male domain; now it seems predominantly female.

Indeed, what is it with all of these ambitious and high-achieving girls.. and what has happened to the boys and their ambitions? Are they on their skateboards instead of on their schoolbooks?

These observations of course do not constitute a scientific study but it seems like something is going on here. A company based in Florida markets T-shirts and notebooks that say: Boys are stupid. Throw rocks at them; Girls rule, boys drool; Boys are smelly; Boys are useless, dump them.

Do you think that this might be having an effect? Do you think a lot of this might discourage boys? It used to be that boys could find refuge from this kind of nonsense in such organizations as the Boy Scouts. Unfortunately, the Scouts are under attack throughout the country, and public facilities, United Way contributions, and other resources are being denied to them, while some parents are less favorable toward the idea of their sons participating in Scouting.