Friday, November 28, 2008

Week #9 - Bring a man to class

I really enjoyed bring a man to class day. I was pleasantly surprised that my son was interested in contributing to the discussion after the film. I thought he might be more uncomfortable. He even related some of the material to how watching some of the images he grew up with has affected him. I was surprised that his girlfriend actually felt more defensive about the content than he did. She felt that the movie was "pretty hard" on men. I have to wonder how the abuse that she witnessed in her family growing up has impacted her perception. In our discussion afterward, she seemed to feel that as long as men were not physically assaulting women then they were allowed to whatever other behavior they might engage in. My son and I spoke about this in private and I was really happy that he was not swayed by her. I was afraid that he might jump on this chance to "let himself off the hook" for using his privileged status to work for equal rights. Instead, he said "she's just not there yet mom - she'll get there. She wants to be taken care of because she isn't confident she can do it on her own and so she doesn't want to make waves. I won't do it though - she'll have to learn to be independent before I'll get any further involved. She's really alot stronger than she thinks she is." YAHOO!!! - sorry - a little mom moment! Sandi

0 comments: