Is our society becoming even more misogynistic these days? Back when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, we had fully mixed-gender groups of friends. I don’t ever remember a single instance when boys and girls were segregated from one another. Maybe it’s just my personality (not “girly”) and/or the groups of friends I’ve associated with over the years, but this was my experience in different regions, and in different social settings (different neighborhoods, different schools, even different countries).
We now have three daughters and have noticed that the boys and girls in our neighborhood and other social groups have become EXTREMELY segregated. Worst of all, we’ve noticed that it’s the parents who are not only encouraging this, but are forcing this on their children.
Is this a new trend, or is it a San Diego thing? Again, I’m from L.A., and we just didn’t have this sort of thing, but when I moved to SD, I noticed it even among our married friends. When we would all get together, the men would peel off from the women, and vice-versa. It was so obvious and deliberate, we just stopped hanging out with those people. Now, my DH and I are watching this situation with our kids, and it’s making us very uncomfortable.
Doe anyone actually think this is healthy for our kids? What would we be saying about this if we were talking about race or ethnicity? Why is gender the only category where discrimination and segregation are not only condoned, but encouraged? Why would anybody think this is okay?
