Yesterday, Mark Belling brought a bizarre activity occuring at a Milwaukee Public School to the attention of his audience.
It's happening at Tippecanoe School, an elementary school on the south side of Milwaukee. Previously located on Howard Avenue, Tippecanoe now occupies the old Fritsche Middle School facility on Howell Avenue.
The student population includes children in K4 through 8th grade.
Today is a special day at the school. It's GENDER BENDER DAY!
From the May 7, 2013, Tuesday family packet:
The May 14, 2013, packet included the same announcement.
This week's packet listed a new name for the day after some parents complained about Gender Bender Day.
Now, it's "Switch It Up Day," but other than the name, nothing has changed.
The male students are supposed to dress like girls and the females students are supposed to dress like boys.
It's a "School Spirit Day" activity.
Belling called Principal Jeffrey W. Krupar to discuss the event, but Krupar wasn't available. When Belling called MPS, the official school district spokesperson said simply the event is voluntary and being done for school spirit. Belling asked if the superintendent thinks it's appropriate in a school setting for children of this age to be cross-dressing. He didn't get an answer.
I really don't see how this activity promotes school spirit. I also don't think it's about fun. I think it's inviting ridicule and sanctioning a day of bullying.
It appears the faculty didn't think this through. They don't seem to have considered all the possible consequences. It seems very insensitive to subject kids who are regularly targeted by bullies to a situation that might heighten the problem.
Aside from the bullying possibility and the potential awkwardness for some kids, I have a problem with the event's original name. GENDER BENDER DAY?
Gender bender is defined as a person who dresses and behaves like a member of the opposite sex.
The term's usage, however, is bit more charged than that.
Here are some definitions from Urban Dictionary:
1. gender benderI can't believe every teacher at Tippecanoe was unaware of what "gender bender" entails. I don't believe they all thought the term means nothing more than wearing a costume. Some, if not all, had to know that it doesn't just refer to what would be an innocent bit of Halloween-type play for children. Is this really about school spirit, or is there an agenda being pushed on the kids?
A function at which the gender roles are reversed, or manipulated in various ways. Also, a person who explores the boundaries of gender roles, or outright denies their existance
"I went to this great gender bender last night, where I met this kick ass guy, at least I thought so because of his skirt."
2. gender bender
A gender bender is a person who seeks to define gender expression outside of the binary terms of man and woman.
This person may express their gender in a variety of ways such as cross-dressing and not adhereing to stereotypical, traditional, and/or cultural ideals and practices for their gender.
The person often believes in the thought system of gender and sex being separate. A person can be one sex, but express a gender that is usually not associated with that sex.
May also use gender neutral pronouns such as ze and hir.
Explore the concepts of femininity and masculinity with freedom.
Alex is a gender bender. Ze likes to play around with gender expression through clothes, hair styles, and attitudes. Ze doesn't let anyone define what hir gender is.
It's an inappropriate activity for the students. It could be confusing for the little ones and embarrassing. Do you think a first grade boy would want to put on a skirt and wear it to school?
The older students might dread the day from the bullying aspect of it.
Rather than boosting spirit, it could be a day of hell for some kids. Refusing to participate or not going to school at all wouldn't spare a child ridicule. Some are damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Moreover, there could be junior high kids at Tippecanoe, 7th and 8th graders, who are discovering around now that they want to cross-dress. Making a joke out of that lifestyle choice demeans them.
The GENDER BENDER event has to be a problem for at least some of the students.
I feel sorry for the kids and families having to deal with it. It's all so unnecessary.
__________________
Listen to Mark Belling's discussion of the topic on his Thursday program.
3 comments:
I have to put this under the heading of "What the Hell is Wrong with these people?"
What 12 year old boy wants to hear that he is pretty?
The organizers are raving lunatics. However, it is part of the Leftist agenda to continue to denegrate conservative principles.
This event was created by the student council (aka STUDENTS, not FACULTY) and was 100% optional.
This is my kids' school. We're fine with it. My youngest tied her long hair in a knot across her chin as a beard. It was funny. My high school did the same thing back in the '80s.
Get a grip.
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