Lawrence KilliumAustralian schools have started implementing “feminist collectives” across the country which are passing off a skewed picture of reality as “education.” In these new programs young women are taught that “white, male privilege” and “hegemonic masculinity” are at the root of family violence.
Currently over $21 million have been spent towards these classroom resources, which they claim is geared towards fighting family violence and the number of classes offered have been skyrocketing.
Fitzroy High School was the first to start one of these collectives back in 2013, calling it a lunchtime book club that “revealed a sense of anger and frustration about gender inequality.”
According to The Weekend Australian:
Northcote High School, Brunswick Secondary College, Suzanne Cory High, St Helena Secondary College and the independent Korowa Anglican Girls School in Melbourne have followed Fitzroy High School in establishing feminist collectives or clubs in recent times. South Australia’s Glenunga International High School also runs a feminism club that is offered to students as a co-curricular activity.
Meanwhile, schools throughout Victoria and the ACT and internationally in Argentina, Brazil and Berlin have taken up the Fitzroy High School Feminist Collective’s teaching resource, Fightback, despite concerns it simplifies the issue of violence in the community and potentially alienates boys and men.
This program has obviously gathered quite a few critics, both from opponents to the Victorian party and educational experts, but unfortunately it still has an overwhelming number of supporters. Greens MP Adam Bandt stated that “Instead of trying to restart old battles, culture war conservatives would do well to remember that even Malcolm Turnbull calls himself a feminist now.”
Federal Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek have vocally come out in support, saying “getting students talking about respectful relationships, including from a feminist perspective, is a great thing.”
The Weekend Australian went on to explain:
In one activity, students are told there are “common perceptions” about equality, including that women are already equal, that we are in a post-feminist era or that men suffer inequality too.
Students are shown statistics on the pay gap between the sexes and women’s representation in politics, business, sport and film and are asked: “So, are we equal?”
A recurring theme throughout the program, as with Respectful Relationships, is the notion of “privilege”: that some groups have advantages over others because of their birth identity.
“Being born white in Australia, you have advantages,” the guide says. “By being born male, you have advantages … that you may not approve of or think you are entitled to, but that you gain anyway because of your status as male.”
Education Minister James Merlino had nothing but praise for the program. “I always encourage students to pursue interests they are passionate about and to lead student projects and organisations,” he said.
So in other words, they don’t see how perpetuating a gender war and causing conflict where it didn’t previously exist could be harmful to their society.
I’m a little ignorant of Australian politics, but I’m hoping these people are replaced after the next election (or however those positions are changed.)
H/T: The Weekend Australian
