Conversation Class

August 17, 2021

Today’s topic: GENDER

BRAIN STORMING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTvGSstKd5Y&ab_channel=NewYorkMagazine

How are these words related to one another?

Gender identity Sexual Orientation/ Sexuality Gender expression Biological Sex

What definition would you match to them?

A) One's innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive
themselves and what they call themselves.
B) The definition assigned to you at birth.
C) How we present ourselves to the world through behavior, clothing, haircut or voice.
D) Who we’re attracted to.

- As a kid, do you recall how you were taught to act, do, behave given you biological sex?
- What characteristics are socially attributed to the stereotype of female and male since a very young
age?

MALE FEMALE

- Have you ever heard the term “Gender Neutral”? Gender Neutral restrooms or bathrooms, maybe?
What thoughts emerge when you hear that?

- Imagine you as a kid being raised based on a Gender Neutral education at home.
How different would your upbringing be?

- Thinking about the video you watched at home, how would

such an upbringing impact in the twins lives?

LISTENING
Watch the video “Raising 'Theybies': Letting Kids Choose Their Gender” from NBC News.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfzL8BrNSLQ
- After watching it, try to name some of the parents’ expectations on raising gender neutral kids or “they
kids).
- In your p.o.v, what are the possible downsides of a gender neutral upbringing?
- As a parent, would you go for a gender neutral upbringing.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Elia climbed onto the table in front
of her classmates. She threw her fists into the air and
jumped on to the blue mats below. “I am strong,” the 3-year-
old said, her eyes alight with pride and exhilaration.

On the other side of this nursery school in the chic neighborhood of Laufásborg, boys
were practicing having “gentle hands” by massaging each other with lotion. Iceland is
consistently ranked first in the world for gender equality. But the Hjalli teaching
model, as practiced in the nursery school, is considered progressive even in Iceland.

Founded in 1989 by self-described radical feminist Margrét

Pála Ólafsdóttir, Hjalli schools aim to counter stereotypical
gender roles and behaviors. Boys and girls are separated for
most of the day and they actively compensate for their gender
by practicing behaviors usually associated with the other sex:
from being daring and taking the initiative to helpfulness and
being considerate of others.

“The best way to get closer to equality is to admit the differences,” Ólafsdóttir said.
According to the Hjalli theory, by keeping the sexes apart, boys and girls are free to
develop their personalities and discover their interests without the pressures and
constraints of conventional gender roles and stereotypes. The toys at the schools are all
gender-neutral and all of the children wear identical uniforms.

Ólafsdóttir, 60, believes that if children practice only the stereotypical gendered
behaviors as society encourages, they risk slipping into what she calls the "blue" and
"pink haze." Found at the two poles of the gender spectrum, this is where the natural
strengths of each gender tip over into weaknesses, she explained. According to
Ólafsdóttir, girls' sensitivity and caring natures can turn into self-pity and victimhood,
while boys' strength and power can become aggression or even violence.

The teacher turned educational pioneer's ideas have caught on. What was once a
controversial experiment is now thriving in this sparsely populated island state, which
is home to around 338,000 people. Three decades after the first Hjalli school was
founded, 8 percent of Iceland's nursery-aged children are currently enrolled in one.
Full orginal article available on: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iceland-s-answer-gender-equality-compensate-differences-
between-boys-girls-n912606

Listening
Watch the video “Teaching children about gender: Iceland's answer to break down stereotypes”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itm3x1YYEZ0

HOMEWORK
• Take a look at the video below.
• Take notes on what caught your attention.
• Take the chance to look for words and expressions you’ve never heard of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZsBei4nCkU
• Take a look at the article once again and make short sentences with the words highlighted in yellow.
A great idea would be to use those words while you talk about the video above.
 Early in Amazon Prime Video’s new sci-fi comedy Upload, a character explains that
her grandmother is in heaven. “Which one?” she’s asked. The question makes sense
within the context of the near future depicted in Upload, where tech companies can —
for the right price — digitize human consciousness and grant customers a virtual afterlife
of their choosing.
There are computerized heavens modeled on the hills of Tuscany, the casinos of Las
Vegas, the African veldt, and more, including Lake View — “the only digital afterlife
modeled on the grand Victorian hotels of the United States and Canada” — where our
hero, young coder Nathan (Robbie Amell) finds himself after dying in a self-driving car
accident.
Upload has some sharp points to make about income inequality. Nathan can’t afford
Lake View himself, and winds up prisoner to the whims of his sponsor Ingrid, while our
frequent glimpses of the world he left behind suggest that the wealthy are wealthier than
ever and the poor can’t even afford those digital heavens.
The series goes on portraying a reality in which
we’ve allowed corporations’ long tentacles to wrap
themselves around our lives AND afterlives. In a way it
might remind us of some episodes of Black Mirror
(about being able to rate humans on a five-star scale or
to live forever in a digital world), but that doesn’t make
it any less interesting giving the touch of comedy it
carries along.