Do Father-Daughter Dances Promote Gender Discrimination? (The ACLU Thinks So)
SodaHead Living
2012/09/23 20:42:35
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Father-daughter dances and mother-son ballgames are now a thing of the past—at least in the Cranston Public Schools district in Rhode Island. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) targeted these longstanding traditions after a single mother filed a complaint when her daughter was prevented from attending a father-daughter dance in Cranston.
Apparently, the district’s hands are tied because Rhode Island’s gender-discrimination laws do not exempt such events—thought federal laws do. Strangely, the policy change banning these events was apparently made months ago. However, it only began to receive widespread media attention lat week when Sean Gately, a candidate for state Senate, announced that he would reinstate such events if elected.
The ACLU said in a statement:
"The controversy that has suddenly arisen in a political campaign over father-daughter dances in Cranston is old news -- the matter was amicably resolved with school officials over four months ago. And it was resolved for a simple reason: the school district recognized that in the 21st Century, public schools have no business fostering the notion that girls prefer to go to formal dances while boys prefer baseball games. This type of gender stereotyping only perpetuates outdated notions of 'girl' and 'boy' activities and is contrary to federal law.
"[Parent-teacher organizations] remain free to hold family dances and other events, but the time has long since passed for public school resources to encourage stereotyping from the days of Ozzie and Harriet. Not every girl today is interested in growing up to be Cinderella -- not even in Cranston. In fact, one of them might make a great major league baseball player someday.
"We commend the school district for its resolution of the matter, and are sorry to see some people turning it into a political football -- a game that they may think only boys should be interested in."
So SodaHeads, what do you think? Do father-daughter dances promote gender discrimination?
Apparently, the district’s hands are tied because Rhode Island’s gender-discrimination laws do not exempt such events—thought federal laws do. Strangely, the policy change banning these events was apparently made months ago. However, it only began to receive widespread media attention lat week when Sean Gately, a candidate for state Senate, announced that he would reinstate such events if elected.
The ACLU said in a statement:
"The controversy that has suddenly arisen in a political campaign over father-daughter dances in Cranston is old news -- the matter was amicably resolved with school officials over four months ago. And it was resolved for a simple reason: the school district recognized that in the 21st Century, public schools have no business fostering the notion that girls prefer to go to formal dances while boys prefer baseball games. This type of gender stereotyping only perpetuates outdated notions of 'girl' and 'boy' activities and is contrary to federal law.
"[Parent-teacher organizations] remain free to hold family dances and other events, but the time has long since passed for public school resources to encourage stereotyping from the days of Ozzie and Harriet. Not every girl today is interested in growing up to be Cinderella -- not even in Cranston. In fact, one of them might make a great major league baseball player someday.
"We commend the school district for its resolution of the matter, and are sorry to see some people turning it into a political football -- a game that they may think only boys should be interested in."
So SodaHeads, what do you think? Do father-daughter dances promote gender discrimination?
Read More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na...
Luckily, the state law is on the daughters and the father's side :)... the feds need to stay out of such matters.
I do feel the pain of the single mother and think that there should be some provision for this as there are a lot of single parents