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ZorbaTHut  2yr ago (text post)   35549 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 19, 2022

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The lower valuation of masculine qualities in education, and possibly their punishment, can lead to mental and behavioural problems for male pupils, who are unable to show and develop their special abilities to the full. This affects not only their behaviour, but also their diligence, which the research has identified as the most important attribute in education, clearly showing that boys are less diligent than girls. However, anyone who has observed a young boy practising 'decoupage' or taking something apart and putting it back together can see that boys (and men) can perform tasks, practise and solve problems with great concerted effort and intensity. In addition, the trait considered most feminine, as highlighted in the literature and in our own research, is emotional and social maturity, and the lack of this in boys can also affect boys' performance at school, their adaptability and their tolerance of monotony. If these factors were taken into account when setting the age of school entry, this in itself would have a significant impact on boys' equality of opportunity and achievement.

The significant over-representation of women in higher education also creates demographic problems, making it difficult to match young people of almost equal educational attainment. In addition, research (Szűcs, 1996) has shown that education also plays a role in women's choice of partner. While men often marry less educated women, women tend to marry men who are better educated than they are. According to KSH (2017), in 2010, the largest proportion of married couples were those in which both the bride and groom had tertiary education. Between 2010 and 2016, the share of tertiary educated couples among all couples entering marriage decreased, with the most significant change occurring among women with tertiary education, whose share fell from 40% to 35%. In general, couples with the same level of education are the most likely to marry, and their share increased between 2010 and 2016. Where there is a difference in the educational attainment of the married couples, the education level of the brides is mostly higher than that of the grooms. If this trend continues, a reversal of gender inequality in tertiary education could lead to a risk of fertility decline, as women are less likely to marry and thus less likely to have children. If recent trends continue, by 2025 there will be 1.8 women graduates for every man graduate in OECD countries, making it even more difficult to find a partner of the right status, cultural and educational background.

Now, again I don't think this is all too new in this space, but it's interesting what a flurry this obscure report caused even in the international media. It seems to have stepped right on a sensitive toe. The rebuttals aren't on a detailed level though:

In response, the Hungarian opposition lawmaker Endre Toth said on Facebook that talk of masculine and feminine qualities was “total scientific absurdity”. “It is time to remove your glasses from the last century,” he added.

And they immediately contextualize it with this sinister atmosphere:

Orbán has promoted a “conservative revolution” since returning to power in 2010, encouraging nativism and denigrating immigrants. He has also defended a controversial law banning LGBTQ content to minors.

In 2019, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner noted “backsliding in women’s rights and gender equality in Hungary” following a visit.

(I have criticized some of those LGBT-related political campaigns of the government myself, but these things can be kept separate.)

A right-wing journalist called attention to many distortions in these articles: Foreign Media Distorts State Audit Office’s Report.

Several international media outlets have published misleading summaries of the report, ignoring the data and explanations cited, and highlighting only certain conclusions out of context. The BBC wrote that “an increase in female graduates could make women less likely to marry and have children.” The BBC has also ignored the fact that it was not the authors or the ÁSZ who classified certain characteristics as feminine or masculine, but the literature cited and the parents and teachers interviewed by researchers.

The Telegraph puts it in an extremely misleading and simplistic way: “Hungary tells women: You won’t find husbands if you become smarter than men.”

Der Spiegel incorrectly wrote that the authority assumes that feminine skills are disproportionately favored in public education, but as mentioned above, this is just a hypothetical warning as the research showed that this is not the case.

According to La Repubblica, the authors of the report say that “if women spend too much time studying, they will not get married, have children, or contribute to the development of the nation.” No such conclusion is drawn in the report, nor is there any value judgment.

I think it's a good example of how even just touching these types of issues immediately triggers this mental blockage, like "crimestop" in Orwell's 1984. To even care about demography is adjacent to white supremacy, and to consider women's tendency to marry higher in status (hypergamy) is also just a non-starter and is seen equivalent to forcing them to stay in the kitchen.

For a great segment of single women, probably a majority of those who are following social media in the first place, it cuts too close to the bone. It's too horrendous. So I can understand the reactions.

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