Assignment #5 - Girls will be boys, will be girls

Hello Interns!

We are somewhere in or around the midpoint of your internships now and you are probably settling into a groove of sorts. You feel more comfortable in your surroundings, accents aren't quite as foreign, you don't need to do currency conversion in your head every time you purchase something, you know when taxi drivers are ripping you off, faces look familiar, your colleagues are less surprised to see you every day.

I had another subject planned for this blog assignment but decided after reading a few of your blogs that it was time to take on the issue of GENDER. Recently, some of the women in our group have experienced less than favorable attention from the other half. Then on Saturday I ended up watching a movie about Dr. Henry Morgantaler who has been recognized with the Order of Canada. That really got my mind going about things to blog on.

Particularly for women, the differences in how society differentiates the genders, becomes particularly pronounced when travel to a different country happens. If it is Canadian women traveling to countries where women's rights are not as recognized or women from those countries coming to Canada and experiencing a new level of personal freedom, the differences are dramatic. They can be written in law or unwritten and socially accepted. They can also, and most likely are, in flux.

What I would like you to do for this assignment is tell us about how the differences in gender have manifested during your internship and how you feel about it. What have you witnessed? How did it make you feel? Did you say anything? Men, you are definitely not exempt. What have you seen that is different from what you are used to experiencing in Canada?

Just recently during my trip to Jamaica, I was so delicately reminded that my gender is at issue. I'm sitting on a bus in rush hour in Kingston and I glance out the window to see some random guy staring me down. Now in Canada, my response is to stare right back with a dirty look. A quick reality check reminded me that won't work in Jamaica and I quickly averted my eyes and slunk down in my seat. Who did that? Larissa STRONG? I think not. You must be mistaken. That isn't the ballsy, bold girl we all know.

I wrote on someone's blog that it wasn't too long ago gender roles had a much clearer definition than they do now. Indeed, when I was in grade school, we thought we had the choice of being a housewife or going to school to be a nurse or teacher. No seriously, and I'm not that much older than you.I was around during the whole Morganteler deal and can remember the news clips. There was a telling scene in the movie where the kind doctor was waking up with his mistress who was saying how much he had done for women's rights. His response was "I'll have my two eggs hard boiled". Jerk! So here is the guy who, agree with him or not, fought to give women control of their bodies, being a total sexist jerk. Flash forward ten years down the road and he is with his second, maybe third wife, and he volunteers to make the eggs for her.

Tell us how it has been for you in your new reality. Have you had to modify your behavior or attitude at all? Are you more or less comfortable with the new ground rules for men and women? Have you tried to teach anyone how it "really is"?

Blog it!