Why are you afraid of focus being given to boys when they are having trouble? Leave your grief about the status of women in the past behind you and look to now and the future.
Society changes very quickly. Since the women's movement, women have dominated society's concern for equal status while the status of men has been *assumed* to be superior. Men's superior status in society may have been true most of the time for the past 40 years, but the present does not hold this truth any longer. Women have higher enrollment rates in college, receive more bachelor's and master's degrees, there are more women in medical school, women under 30 earn considerably higher wages than men under 30, and women are starting to "dominate" the Jewish community. The gender scales have flipped, it is time to be concerned for the status of our boys as well.
"Why is it that when the gender scale tips with girlsÌ¢âÂ㢠involvement out-weighing boys,Ì¢âÂ㢠does the Jewish community declare a state of emergency?"
It was a state of emergency when the gender scales were tipped in favor of boys, then should it also be an emergency when they're tipped in favor of girls? Those who want a healthy society should want a relatively equal amount of participation between men and women. When the "gender scale tips with girlsÌ¢âÂ㢠involvement out-weighing boys" it is a sign of a problem. Society is entirely elastic enough to recreate the past with the genders flipped. We all want equality, we can never achieve equality if we cannot give help to those who need it at the time they need it. The concern about boys is not meant to disadvantage girls, it is meant to help boys who ARE in trouble.
Perhaps you realize that a predominance of focus on the status of girls and women has hurt boys (think about the effect it has on mothers who assume her sons will be better off than her daughters and then focuses her attention on her daughter. The effect of focusing only on her daughter hurts her son), and are worried about a predominance of focus on the status of boys hurting girls' status once again?
I personally don't think this situation will happen, because even with all the focus on boys starting to emerge (and rightfully so), there are still plenty of people like you who will have concerns for the status of girls. This is a good thing, we need to be concerned with the status of all people in our society, not just girls because boys have historically had it better. Society changes and it changes rapidly. Ignoring the present and the probable future while thinking only of how things were in the past is a severe error of judgment.
"If boysÌ¢âÂ㢠disengagement from Jewish life is, in fact, spawned by a discomfort with Ì¢âÂÒdominantÌ¢âÂå involvement and/or leadership among girls, should we really be advocating exclusive, boy-centered initiatives as an acceptable solution?"
Weren't women disengaged because men dominated at one point as well? It was necessary to take initiatives to change it then, and those initiatives were girl-centered. Clearly, they worked. It is time to start helping boys again, having boy-centered initiatives is probably the best way to help boys.
"Might this only exacerbate a 'Sexism Crisis' ?"
I don't think it's sexist to focus on the needs of each sex individually. It is sexist to focus on the needs of only one sex, and it is girls status in society has been predominantly focused on for the past 40 years. Perhaps this was necessary to bring women to equal status with men, but I think we are in a position today where we need to focus on our boys again. We can focus on boys and girls individually, so long as we focus on both. Mothers and fathers focusing on both their sons and daughters, not mothers wholly concerned with their daughters and fathers wholly concerned with their sons, we don't need sexism among parents directed at their children.
When I read articles like this one it reminds me so much of the beginning of the women's movement. Women were shouting out that society is unfair and unbalanced while many men tried to contradict them and dismissed their claims. Do not contradict or dismiss what is happening to our boys. Do not dismiss help for our boys claiming it will only add to a "sexism crisis". Our boys are in real trouble, we need to acknowledge their problems in order to help them and not fear that helping boys is somehow sexist and discriminatory towards girls. We can help boys and not lose sight of our girls.
"This is something we discuss daily at my current job at a leading youth organization - where the boys are, or are not. Interesting to note that " The Jewish Community" less often asks about its young women."
The statistics from this article indicate that the Jewish Community is aware of where both its boys and girls are. The statistics clearly show a heavy predominance of girls in most activities among the Jewish Community. It is necessary to discuss the participation of boys when their participation is so much less than girls. If the situation tips in favor of boys again, I'll bet you they'll be asking about girls.
Why are you afraid of focus being given to boys when they are having trouble? Leave your grief about the status of women in the past behind you and look to now and the future.
Society changes very quickly. Since the women's movement, women have dominated society's concern for equal status while the status of men has been *assumed* to be superior. Men's superior status in society may have been true most of the time for the past 40 years, but the present does not hold this truth any longer. Women have higher enrollment rates in college, receive more bachelor's and master's degrees, there are more women in medical school, women under 30 earn considerably higher wages than men under 30, and women are starting to "dominate" the Jewish community. The gender scales have flipped, it is time to be concerned for the status of our boys as well.
"Why is it that when the gender scale tips with girlsÌ¢âÂ㢠involvement out-weighing boys,Ì¢âÂ㢠does the Jewish community declare a state of emergency?"
It was a state of emergency when the gender scales were tipped in favor of boys, then should it also be an emergency when they're tipped in favor of girls? Those who want a healthy society should want a relatively equal amount of participation between men and women. When the "gender scale tips with girlsÌ¢âÂ㢠involvement out-weighing boys" it is a sign of a problem. Society is entirely elastic enough to recreate the past with the genders flipped. We all want equality, we can never achieve equality if we cannot give help to those who need it at the time they need it. The concern about boys is not meant to disadvantage girls, it is meant to help boys who ARE in trouble.
Perhaps you realize that a predominance of focus on the status of girls and women has hurt boys (think about the effect it has on mothers who assume her sons will be better off than her daughters and then focuses her attention on her daughter. The effect of focusing only on her daughter hurts her son), and are worried about a predominance of focus on the status of boys hurting girls' status once again?
I personally don't think this situation will happen, because even with all the focus on boys starting to emerge (and rightfully so), there are still plenty of people like you who will have concerns for the status of girls. This is a good thing, we need to be concerned with the status of all people in our society, not just girls because boys have historically had it better. Society changes and it changes rapidly. Ignoring the present and the probable future while thinking only of how things were in the past is a severe error of judgment.
"If boysÌ¢âÂ㢠disengagement from Jewish life is, in fact, spawned by a discomfort with Ì¢âÂÒdominantÌ¢âÂå involvement and/or leadership among girls, should we really be advocating exclusive, boy-centered initiatives as an acceptable solution?"
Weren't women disengaged because men dominated at one point as well? It was necessary to take initiatives to change it then, and those initiatives were girl-centered. Clearly, they worked. It is time to start helping boys again, having boy-centered initiatives is probably the best way to help boys.
"Might this only exacerbate a 'Sexism Crisis' ?"
I don't think it's sexist to focus on the needs of each sex individually. It is sexist to focus on the needs of only one sex, and it is girls status in society has been predominantly focused on for the past 40 years. Perhaps this was necessary to bring women to equal status with men, but I think we are in a position today where we need to focus on our boys again. We can focus on boys and girls individually, so long as we focus on both. Mothers and fathers focusing on both their sons and daughters, not mothers wholly concerned with their daughters and fathers wholly concerned with their sons, we don't need sexism among parents directed at their children.
When I read articles like this one it reminds me so much of the beginning of the women's movement. Women were shouting out that society is unfair and unbalanced while many men tried to contradict them and dismissed their claims. Do not contradict or dismiss what is happening to our boys. Do not dismiss help for our boys claiming it will only add to a "sexism crisis". Our boys are in real trouble, we need to acknowledge their problems in order to help them and not fear that helping boys is somehow sexist and discriminatory towards girls. We can help boys and not lose sight of our girls.
"This is something we discuss daily at my current job at a leading youth organization - where the boys are, or are not. Interesting to note that " The Jewish Community" less often asks about its young women."
The statistics from this article indicate that the Jewish Community is aware of where both its boys and girls are. The statistics clearly show a heavy predominance of girls in most activities among the Jewish Community. It is necessary to discuss the participation of boys when their participation is so much less than girls. If the situation tips in favor of boys again, I'll bet you they'll be asking about girls.