Originally Posted by inrecoverynow
Originally Posted by NeverGuessed
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This is interesting to me, my spouse is recently on this "quest", too.
I am confused by how do you define this "manliness" and what yall are looking for.

Let's start with this - We're looking for popular culture and society (let's face it, the real education system here) to stop demeaning the contributions and existence of the male gender.

See, now, this is what I don't get. Why does everyone assume that pop culture and society are THE only education system here?

What happened to parenting as an education system? And, why are we discounting that parents make a difference? Why are we raising children to believe that pop culture is the end all and the be all of everything? Why are kids being raised so that the predominant form of entertainment needs batteries or electricity?

Granted, this is an off topic example, but kids are impressionable and DO learn from their family.

My 6 YO boy looked at me and said "Momma, I don't want to get my sister (whose 3) a bratz doll for Christmas. It's not appropriate for her." He wasn't referring to the small parts, either. He was referring to the fact that we like our children to be appropriately clothed, and he understands that value, at age 6.

Trust me, my child is not some uber-smart kid. He's not a genius. But, he does get things, actually, more than I'd think.

I just don't think that parents should be taken off the hook, so to speak, with responsibilities for teaching kids about gender stereotypes.


No, parents shouldn't be let off the hook. Nor should society, nor should GENETICS, or simple human behavior.

Bah! Genetics! What is this hornswaggle?

It's nature AND nurture that influence us - and sometimes we overindulge on the power of nurture. Remember, even with a good family example, the child can choose to ACCEPT or REJECT that lesson. No amount of tongue lashings, time outs, or spankings is going to truly influence if that child ultimately accepts or rejects those lessons.

Some children who were abused as children will be abusers; they will ACCEPT that example. Some will refuse to be abusers; they will REJECT that example.

I was raised both by a nurture parent and a nature parent.

My father was pure nurture; he got up in arms about MTV and rap music, stomped and raved, and moaned.

My mother was pure nature; there was a case where they blamed Beavis and [censored] for the behavior of some adolescents on the news, her reply was "Please, your older brother mooned the neighbors out the front picture window, and he never had Beavis and [censored] to show him how..."

"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." - Niels Bohr

"Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons." - Michael Shermer

"Fair speech may hide a foul heart." - Samwise Gamgee LOTR