Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!ucbvax!agate!fester@math.berkeley.edu
From: fester@math.berkeley.edu
Newsgroups: comp.society.women
Subject: Countering discrimination your children will face
Message-ID: <12502@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 25 Jul 88 01:52:51 GMT
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In article <12003@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> ix665%sdcc6@ucsd.edu (Sue Raul) writes:
>, discrimination doesn't start or end with whether there's a
>computer in the little girl's life or not - it may not be in a little
>boy's either, as is true for hundreds of other items. The least a parent
>may want to think about is, within their budget, allow exposure to
>all sides of "being human" - [followed by a good list of various kinds
                               of stimuli for children]

Just one point - playing neutral in a negative context isn't going to
result in equality.  In other words,  parents concerned about giving
their children equal opportunity in the world need to *actively* attempt
to balance out the ways in which their children will be discriminated
against by educational/religious/whatever-else-applies institutions.
Otherwise external socialization, which is much more powerful than
upbringing, will just run its course.

Thus while daughters should feel free to choose humanities as well as
technical or scientific studies, and whereas a variety of opportunities
ought be made available to all children when possible,  *encouraging* 
girl children  towards the sciences (up to a point) is a minor measure 
to help counteract the discouragement they may well be getting outside 
the home.  Being strictly neutral lets standard socialization have the
upper hand.


Lea Fester
fester@math.berkeley.edu

[Note that this is especially easy in regard to computers--there are lots
of "computers" on the market as childrens' toys.  TR]