Charles Angelich wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

CA>> I did not use gender as a basis for what my children should be 
CA>> interested in (usually). I did try to make them aware that they 
CA>> would be perceived differently if their interests were too far 
CA>> beyond the mainstream. Men who are cooks and women who are 
CA>> auto-mechanics aren't treated the same as other men and women are. 

RJT> I think that at this point at least a couple of them have figured 
RJT> that out all by themselves.

CA> Young people seldom 'plan' past the next summer vacation but I 
CA> suppose they have some awareness, yes.

Then there's the 5-year-old who came to visit again today,  for a while. 
She's gonna do whatever the heck she wants,  I believe it...   :-)

CA>> Having four daughters and two sons was an eye-opener. Our culture 
CA>> is more receptive to women working in areas that men have 
CA>> typically worked in but is NOT receptive to men working in areas 
CA>> where women typically would work. The end result is much more 
CA>> competition for the young men trying to find employement and a 
CA>> decrease in their sense of masculinity when they do. 

RJT> Yeah. 

CA> In my original profession(s) women don't fight as hard for 
CA> 'equality'. Ditch digger, factory rat, and skilled trades mechanic 
CA> don't appeal to the ladies as much as the desk jobs do. :-) 

The 13-year-old will gladly help me with stuff on the car,  and gets a kick
out of it.  The 12-year-old "doesn't wanna get dirty" when I'm
doing stuff.  Yet she says she wants to be a marine biologist.

CA>> Laws governing 'macho' behaviour are being enforced with more 
CA>> severe punishments (can't even squeal your tires here anymore). We 
CA>> offer no avenues for young men to demonstrate their masculinity 
CA>> and no 'adventures' for them to burn off all that energy. 

RJT> That is an issue, to be sure. Though we have our own little 
RJT> adventures from time to time. I found out this weekend that to get 
RJT> to the highest point in WV you have to go up almost 10 miles of 
RJT> bad dirt road...

RJT> Passing six vehicles on the way up and again on the way down was 
RJT> less than fun. The road just wasn't wide enough! 

CA> When I drive 9 out of 10 cars passing me are young ladies in their
CA> sports cars and 4WDs. Young men drive the 'junkers'.

I noticed some of that,  and tailgaters too...  :-(

CA>> We can encourage women to expand their horizons but we need to 
CA>> rethink the demasculatizing of our young men in the process or 
CA>> there will be a price to pay in the end.

I blame a lot of what's going on in the school system these days for that...

RJT> You don't think there is already? 

CA> Yes I see the effects already. Lowered wages for both men and women
CA> has been the result of women's 'equality'. They pulled the man's 
CA> wages down to their wages.

Sorta like that stuff with college sports,  what is it,  "Title
9"?  Something like that.  To achieve "equality" they're
cutting the men's stuff.

CA> I've worked with young women more lately than before and I find
CA> them to be over-confident, petty, and more aggressive than their 
CA> male counterparts. The old excuse that they "had to be that way" is 
CA> no longer valid IMO.

Nope.  I still can't believe how catty that office environment I just left
could get at times...

CA> If you happen to work with young African-American females you have
CA> a huge problem.  I recall reading once long ago that the only place
CA> you can touch them is on the elbows.  Probably best not to even do
CA> that now.

I didn't,  but my other half does.  And the problem there is that some of
them don't seem to want to do the work that they're getting paid for.  But
only some of them.

CA> I can easilly imagine what happened at the meeting about being 'PC'
CA> that recently pushed the guy over the edge who returned to work 
CA> with a gun and started shooting.  Been there, but didn't shoot 
CA> anyone. :-)

I heard about that,  but nothing about why.

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