Good the BSA Did This

I think it is great the BSA has decided to open its membership. I don't like the "othering" of the opposite sex, and young children should not be trained to do it. "Othering" lies at the root of sexism, especially on the part of males. I work with young children, kindergartners, and it is great they play together and treat each other as equals. "Othering," along with sex roles ("gender"), are poison. The BSA had declining enrollment, so it had to open its membership further. They already have the Explorers coed. This shouldn't be a big deal at all. I suspect one day, the GSA and BSA will merge like they have in other countries.

Assuming that’s a genuine question, I may have an answer. A constant tension among human-rights advocacy is whether to focus on protection or freedom. Nowhere is the debate more heated than on questions of gender and sexuality. There are times when it is necessary to highlight differences among groups of people, and there are times when it’s beneficial to downplay differences. When calling out discrimination and injustice predicated on such a difference, it needs to be discussed frankly. When the difference is being named to excuse injustice, it’s better to emphasize what everyone has in common.

The separate-but-equal approach casts women as a group to be respected and protected but understood as deeply other. It also reinforces the idea of two monolithic genders that interact in a particular way.

I don't believe in single-sex education, either, for the same reason. "Othering" lies at the root of sexism.
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