What amazing questions! (And how cool that you got to have these conversation w kids in Austria!)
I found myself thinking about your conversation w the daughter in the unequal household & your conversation w your daughter. 50 yr old me is much more likely to respond as you did. 12-year-old me tried to have conversations w dad (via notes b/c there was no WAY I could broach such subjects in conversation). It didn't help or change anything, which is probably part of why 50 yr old me would mostly say what you did. But I think those of us who are adults can become jaded by those experiences. We perhaps apply & over-generalize our experiences. I think we need 12-yr-olds -- newer people in the world -- to encourage us to try, and remind us that we really can't predict outcomes, so maybe we should try.
While reading this excellent post I reflected on how much things have changed since I grew up in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, and yet how much further we still must grow up in order to truly create equal partners, which would create a much better, safer, more sustainable and prosperous world in all areas of life. I truly believe the imbalance between male and female energies have created most if not all of the serious challenges our world faces today, individually and globally.
Definitely a high interest topic for students - thanks for talking to them!
What amazing questions! (And how cool that you got to have these conversation w kids in Austria!)
I found myself thinking about your conversation w the daughter in the unequal household & your conversation w your daughter. 50 yr old me is much more likely to respond as you did. 12-year-old me tried to have conversations w dad (via notes b/c there was no WAY I could broach such subjects in conversation). It didn't help or change anything, which is probably part of why 50 yr old me would mostly say what you did. But I think those of us who are adults can become jaded by those experiences. We perhaps apply & over-generalize our experiences. I think we need 12-yr-olds -- newer people in the world -- to encourage us to try, and remind us that we really can't predict outcomes, so maybe we should try.
While reading this excellent post I reflected on how much things have changed since I grew up in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, and yet how much further we still must grow up in order to truly create equal partners, which would create a much better, safer, more sustainable and prosperous world in all areas of life. I truly believe the imbalance between male and female energies have created most if not all of the serious challenges our world faces today, individually and globally.