Stand By Grayson Bruce
Posted: 19/03/2014 | Author: The Political Idealist | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bronies, education, equality, Gender, Grayson Bruce, North Carolina, sexism, society, Stereotypes |Leave a commentNorth Carolina’s schools seem to have a unique talent for provoking international headlines in response to unacceptable injustices they commit against their students. The scandal of the month is the case of Buncombe County School, which has banned a 9 year-old boy, Grayson Bruce, from bringing his My Little Pony lunchbag to school.
Bruce’s mother had complained to the school after he was bullied by peers for having a “girl’s” bag. The Bruces expected that the school would take appropriate action to tackle the bullying. That might have been wishful thinking given the uselessness of most schools in tackling bullying of any kind. But the Bruces were shocked when the school punished the victim, saying that Bruce was no longer allowed to use the bag as it is “a trigger for bullying”. The school’s approach to narrow, immature thinking is to surrender to it. A useful opportunity to encourage their 9 year-old students not to think within restrictive and crude gender stereotypes has been wasted, which is most disappointing.
For those of you unfamiliar with My Little Pony- as you probably would be unless you have been or know somebody who was, a young girl in the past twenty years or so- it is a franchise of plastic toy ponies and associated cartoons and accessories. It is heavily marketed at females, who are supposedly attracted to pink and purple toy animals with their own fashion accessories. This has not stopped the franchise attracting a loyal following of “bronies”- male fans. Some boys who aren’t that keen on the toy cars and guns society expects them to obsess over, opt instead for a world in which cartoon ponies dance around helping each other, without any element of violence or fossil-fuel consumption.
It makes you wonder if these bronies are onto something.
It is frustrating that young boys breaking from stereotypes as to their supposedly universal interests are still noteworthy. By the 21st century, the world really should have moved on from boys’ toys and girls’ toys. In this case, it is males who are particularly disadvantaged. Society is far less tolerant of boys pursuing “girls’” interests than vice versa. If you don’t agree with me, consider what would have happened if a girl in Grayson Bruce’s class had brought in her Power Rangers (very macho and with bags of violence. Obviously for boys) lunchbag. I would not be reading about it in a national newspaper over 3,000 miles away from the event. If genders do tend to gravitate towards different toys, they should not have others imposed on them. But equally, their choices should not be restricted.
There are literally thousands of research projects showing the consequences of imposing gender roles on our children through gender-specific toys. Most of them can be summarised thus: gender equality will always persist as long as we teach our children that their gender must define their interests and activities. If we are to stop this, we should defend the right of schoolchildren to carry My Little Pony lunchbags if that’s what they want to do.
So I hope Grayson Bruce is vindicated in this public debate. He is right to resist peer pressure to conform to a template he does not fit.
