I am aware that it's been a rather long time since I last wrote, but I am also sure I can make it up this time. There are truly so many subjects and socially current topics that I could write about (and in my free time, I promise you to get on that) but today I've decided for probably the most debatable one currently in the atmosphere.
All of our beliefs, values, expectations, and principals are based on what we gather in our infancy. As hard or as ridiculous as it may be to accept that, it is a cold-blooded fact. As children we are exposed to a certain environment or circumstances in which we are raised. These particular circumstances are the source of most of our future qualities: our demeanour, aspects, and priorities. But of course, these particular characteristics can and will be changed during the process of growing up and becoming an independent individual. Why? Simple: it is not only our original environment in which we grew up that sets norms for our society, because in our lifetime we spend a lot of time moving around, experiencing new lifestyles, encountering obstacles which are foreign to us - obstacles which we weren't "trained" for etc. The process of becoming a so-called "adult" brings a lot of changes with it; from learning the basic forms of communication, nourishing relationships, and building our personal social network to radical diversities of lifestyles that are completely other-worldly to us. That means our initial comprehension of the world around us is constantly changing due to many external factors. So which are these factors that are so influential (one might even say dangerous), so deciding that we use the phrase "we are endlessly learning and creating ourselves" ? What is the reason behind the changes in our life? After all, change is the only constant thing in our lives.
These factors can pose a certain degree of danger to an individual, but we must firstly express the fact that such individual is quite likely to be very labile and self-insecure for those very factors affect such people the most. Throughout our lives we confront all sorts of challenges, we meet all sorts of people, we experience a wide variety of emotions that are considered both useful and unfortunate for our future selves. We are met with the stated in all kinds of conditions, situations, and institutions. In this post I'd like to expose and focus on one specific institution that holds particular value in our society, and is crucial for the successful composition of a nation we all wish for. That is an educational establishment of all kinds: may it be primary school, high school or an university - it makes little difference when it comes to presenting a specific influence in our culture. Someone might quickly assume school (as a mere institution that gives out knowledge to people) harmless, insignificant or even ineligible for obtaining such inequitably adverse title, however it poses a far greater threat to the younger part of our nation - the adolescents - as it may seem at fist sight. Once you dig deeper into its meaning (of school, that is), you will discover that this particular institution is, in fact, occupying most of the youngsters' time, resulting in spending more time in school than at home. Of course, there are also good sides to this, but I'd like to refer to a bit more bitter ones; the ones that aren't emphasized enough. I started writing this with one plain goal: to force anyone who has not yet come to face this inevitable fact to acknowledge the other concept of school, one that is most commonly endorsed by the youth. I wish to throw no shade upon the greatness of having the privilege of educating ourselves; I merely endeavor to reveal the truth no one dares to speak out loud (yet I still only write about it, but still). To show how much power (even if unintentionally) the school actually has, and that sometimes it is not always used for greater purposes.
Since I was a little girl, I've always loved the idea of school. Not just shopping for school requisites, but also believing that in my time in school I shall gain so much knowledge which was always my true love - learning things. But I've recently discovered that this passion of mine has somehow drained, faded away. Not only because Math has become a real pain in the ass, but because school has become some sort of "prison" for me, although that is a rather harsh word since I cannot claim I was entirely friendless in the start of my youth. It has become more of a dull obligation rather than an exciting adventure. I was aware of the fact that we (sadly) weren't going to watch the Teletubbies during class all day,but still I realized it wasn't about learning anymore as it was about competition, comparison, and passing the class. These three were one of the first things I learned about school, and I was not happy at all. When I finished primary school and reached the teenage years, I became conscious of my surroundings: both people and the institution I was in. And throughout that time I slowly began to fathom what this challenge I was put into was all about. But it was not until towards the end of my freshman year and the beginning of the sophomore year that it became painfully clear what sort of society I live in. Only then I truly faced the circumstances that formulate that very society, and the differences between my schoolmates.
In today's episode of the second season of my high school series we had quite a lovely chat with one of the professors at my school about what firstly started off as biological differences between a male and a female. A simple, plain, indisputable title of today's lesson, and as per usual - no one gave particular shit about it (with summer just outside the door we can hardly think about anything else than just leaving this damn school already). But after the peculiar introduction to the lesson, things got completely out of hand with abnormal speed. The professor started talking about the differences between a male and a female as predicted, but the course of her lecture quickly changed: all of a sudden she started to emphasize completely inaccurate and irrelevant dissimilarities (initially between partners in a heterosexual relationships and later switching to strictly between girls and boys) that not only seemed inappropriate and biased, but somewhat offensive and insulting as well. Of course, she clarified in the beginning that she had no restraints whatsoever regarding homosexual relationships and by doing so seemingly cleaned herself of any misunderstandings and accusations in the future (which arouse nonetheless), but the direction in which this conversation was heading seemed kind of suspicious, raising doubt and creating an intense atmosphere among the students. She stated that girls mostly differ from boys in regard to compliments; she claimed that girls are much happier to hear a boy compliment her on a dress rather than her accomplishments/achievements. With that sentence, fury and indignation arose not only in me but my classmates, too. From what I've seen, the boys seemed pretty indifferent to what she had to say, but most of the girls sensed something was a bit off.
I wouldn't say I felt personally offended by her "lesson", but after we finished, I realized I felt as if I was a member of an entirely different species, let alone race, comparing to boys. When it came to relationships, she presented girls as some sort of failed example of hardcore fangirls who constantly annoy their boyfriends with their petty emotions. Not only that she spectacularly failed at describing girls, but she also probably dissuaded many boys from attempting to talk to their crushes, believing them to be some sort of bipolar monsters. I know I would be if I were a boy. She then concluded with asserting that the only reason why there are so many unhappy marriages or divorces is that we simply don't get each other, and that hopefully by following her "advice and guidance into the complex minds of males and females" we won't make such mistakes.
First off, I'd like to express my profound dissension and disagreement with everything she said from the first to the last word of the lesson. What I noticed immediately was how she carelessly generalized every single person in the class; not only girls (as one would quickly presume) but boys as well were included in this extremely tendentious discussion. Some (both girls and boys) joined the professor's side, claiming she meant no harm - and I strongly believe that she did not. But I wish I could also believe that she is not blinded by misguided concept of both sexes. I stand for the uniqueness of each individual human being, and that relationships are a lot more complicated than what she had displayed us today. Our tender age may be the reason behind our lack of experience, but that doesn't deny us the right of having our own opinions and judgement. Our age does not necessarily make us naive and callow and ignorant, quite the opposite actually. We live in a world where access to information about global issues is taken for granted - we are bound to be informed and conversant with the oppression the world is dealing with on a daily basis. So besides school, media is also a powerful factor that imposes numerous values to our minds.
Secondly, I wish to emphasize the fact that she literally said, and I quote: "Well, boys are more likely to be satisfied and self-confident if they achieve something great. I mean, if someone would compliment you on accomplishing something you wouldn't be quite as happy." ... "Girls like to hear if someone compliments on her new outfits and things like that." ... "The way a girl knows she is loved is if someone compliments her on her looks, while boys like the feeling of respect." If that doesn't smell of sexism and sexual segregation, then I don't know what it smells of.
What I wanted to set out here is how school sometimes deliberately, sometimes completely inadvertently foists its ideas and comprehension of the world on us. Not only that such doings are wrong on so many levels, but the things they mention in them are entirely misguided and deluded. It's sad to know these things happen on a daily basis all over the world and that there is nothing we can do about it. Because we were made to simply listen, nod, and obey; not to make question and doubt the system, right? Regardless of how eagerly this system is trying to tell the world that it supports today's youth and progress, deep down they crave to raise submissive, obedient, and compliant "robots" who will continue with such methods in the future. The world's supposed to be in our hands; we are meant to be the foundation of the future; yet the future is all but in our hands. It is carefully controlled, manoeuvred, and manipulated by those in high positions with limitless power. And unless we decide to realize this and make a change, it will remain like this for who knows how long. I guess it is "safe" to say that there is no bright future awaiting the next generations to come.
All of our beliefs, values, expectations, and principals are based on what we gather in our infancy. As hard or as ridiculous as it may be to accept that, it is a cold-blooded fact. As children we are exposed to a certain environment or circumstances in which we are raised. These particular circumstances are the source of most of our future qualities: our demeanour, aspects, and priorities. But of course, these particular characteristics can and will be changed during the process of growing up and becoming an independent individual. Why? Simple: it is not only our original environment in which we grew up that sets norms for our society, because in our lifetime we spend a lot of time moving around, experiencing new lifestyles, encountering obstacles which are foreign to us - obstacles which we weren't "trained" for etc. The process of becoming a so-called "adult" brings a lot of changes with it; from learning the basic forms of communication, nourishing relationships, and building our personal social network to radical diversities of lifestyles that are completely other-worldly to us. That means our initial comprehension of the world around us is constantly changing due to many external factors. So which are these factors that are so influential (one might even say dangerous), so deciding that we use the phrase "we are endlessly learning and creating ourselves" ? What is the reason behind the changes in our life? After all, change is the only constant thing in our lives.
These factors can pose a certain degree of danger to an individual, but we must firstly express the fact that such individual is quite likely to be very labile and self-insecure for those very factors affect such people the most. Throughout our lives we confront all sorts of challenges, we meet all sorts of people, we experience a wide variety of emotions that are considered both useful and unfortunate for our future selves. We are met with the stated in all kinds of conditions, situations, and institutions. In this post I'd like to expose and focus on one specific institution that holds particular value in our society, and is crucial for the successful composition of a nation we all wish for. That is an educational establishment of all kinds: may it be primary school, high school or an university - it makes little difference when it comes to presenting a specific influence in our culture. Someone might quickly assume school (as a mere institution that gives out knowledge to people) harmless, insignificant or even ineligible for obtaining such inequitably adverse title, however it poses a far greater threat to the younger part of our nation - the adolescents - as it may seem at fist sight. Once you dig deeper into its meaning (of school, that is), you will discover that this particular institution is, in fact, occupying most of the youngsters' time, resulting in spending more time in school than at home. Of course, there are also good sides to this, but I'd like to refer to a bit more bitter ones; the ones that aren't emphasized enough. I started writing this with one plain goal: to force anyone who has not yet come to face this inevitable fact to acknowledge the other concept of school, one that is most commonly endorsed by the youth. I wish to throw no shade upon the greatness of having the privilege of educating ourselves; I merely endeavor to reveal the truth no one dares to speak out loud (yet I still only write about it, but still). To show how much power (even if unintentionally) the school actually has, and that sometimes it is not always used for greater purposes.
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In today's episode of the second season of my high school series we had quite a lovely chat with one of the professors at my school about what firstly started off as biological differences between a male and a female. A simple, plain, indisputable title of today's lesson, and as per usual - no one gave particular shit about it (with summer just outside the door we can hardly think about anything else than just leaving this damn school already). But after the peculiar introduction to the lesson, things got completely out of hand with abnormal speed. The professor started talking about the differences between a male and a female as predicted, but the course of her lecture quickly changed: all of a sudden she started to emphasize completely inaccurate and irrelevant dissimilarities (initially between partners in a heterosexual relationships and later switching to strictly between girls and boys) that not only seemed inappropriate and biased, but somewhat offensive and insulting as well. Of course, she clarified in the beginning that she had no restraints whatsoever regarding homosexual relationships and by doing so seemingly cleaned herself of any misunderstandings and accusations in the future (which arouse nonetheless), but the direction in which this conversation was heading seemed kind of suspicious, raising doubt and creating an intense atmosphere among the students. She stated that girls mostly differ from boys in regard to compliments; she claimed that girls are much happier to hear a boy compliment her on a dress rather than her accomplishments/achievements. With that sentence, fury and indignation arose not only in me but my classmates, too. From what I've seen, the boys seemed pretty indifferent to what she had to say, but most of the girls sensed something was a bit off.
I wouldn't say I felt personally offended by her "lesson", but after we finished, I realized I felt as if I was a member of an entirely different species, let alone race, comparing to boys. When it came to relationships, she presented girls as some sort of failed example of hardcore fangirls who constantly annoy their boyfriends with their petty emotions. Not only that she spectacularly failed at describing girls, but she also probably dissuaded many boys from attempting to talk to their crushes, believing them to be some sort of bipolar monsters. I know I would be if I were a boy. She then concluded with asserting that the only reason why there are so many unhappy marriages or divorces is that we simply don't get each other, and that hopefully by following her "advice and guidance into the complex minds of males and females" we won't make such mistakes.
First off, I'd like to express my profound dissension and disagreement with everything she said from the first to the last word of the lesson. What I noticed immediately was how she carelessly generalized every single person in the class; not only girls (as one would quickly presume) but boys as well were included in this extremely tendentious discussion. Some (both girls and boys) joined the professor's side, claiming she meant no harm - and I strongly believe that she did not. But I wish I could also believe that she is not blinded by misguided concept of both sexes. I stand for the uniqueness of each individual human being, and that relationships are a lot more complicated than what she had displayed us today. Our tender age may be the reason behind our lack of experience, but that doesn't deny us the right of having our own opinions and judgement. Our age does not necessarily make us naive and callow and ignorant, quite the opposite actually. We live in a world where access to information about global issues is taken for granted - we are bound to be informed and conversant with the oppression the world is dealing with on a daily basis. So besides school, media is also a powerful factor that imposes numerous values to our minds.
Secondly, I wish to emphasize the fact that she literally said, and I quote: "Well, boys are more likely to be satisfied and self-confident if they achieve something great. I mean, if someone would compliment you on accomplishing something you wouldn't be quite as happy." ... "Girls like to hear if someone compliments on her new outfits and things like that." ... "The way a girl knows she is loved is if someone compliments her on her looks, while boys like the feeling of respect." If that doesn't smell of sexism and sexual segregation, then I don't know what it smells of.
What I wanted to set out here is how school sometimes deliberately, sometimes completely inadvertently foists its ideas and comprehension of the world on us. Not only that such doings are wrong on so many levels, but the things they mention in them are entirely misguided and deluded. It's sad to know these things happen on a daily basis all over the world and that there is nothing we can do about it. Because we were made to simply listen, nod, and obey; not to make question and doubt the system, right? Regardless of how eagerly this system is trying to tell the world that it supports today's youth and progress, deep down they crave to raise submissive, obedient, and compliant "robots" who will continue with such methods in the future. The world's supposed to be in our hands; we are meant to be the foundation of the future; yet the future is all but in our hands. It is carefully controlled, manoeuvred, and manipulated by those in high positions with limitless power. And unless we decide to realize this and make a change, it will remain like this for who knows how long. I guess it is "safe" to say that there is no bright future awaiting the next generations to come.
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