Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/where-are-the-boys/5021324/
Women are always saying,“We can do anything that men can do.”
But men should be saying,
“We can do anything that women can do.”
�" Gloria Steinem
This past year as our study tour group was preparing to leave Browns Bay, one of the lovely early childhood centres we visit in Aotearea New Zealand, a little guy swept across our path dressed in a mask and cape. He stopped, taking in the composition of our group of 32 ECE educators, and with a puzzled, but powerful voice called out, “Where are the boys?” A few of us fumbled out a response. We told him we were glad he noticed there was a problem and we’d have to get back to him on that!
In the succeeding months Browns Bay owner and director Therese Visser and I had several exchanges about this question from Campbell and her attempts to explore with the children questions about superheroes, teachers, and the gender roles within these two concepts. But time constraints prevented her from unpacking their ideas as she’d hoped. For my part I played a bit of catch-up on the Internet, exploring research papers, blogs, and organizations such as the World Forum Working Group on Men in Early Care ...