"I Went To Kavanaugh's Alma Mater, Georgetown Prep, And It Was A Case Study In Misogyny"

[CousinIT]

https://theestablishment.co/i-went-to-kavanaughs-alma-mater-georgetown-prep-and-it-was-a-case-study-in-misogyny/

When you believe you are superior and untouchable, the least moral commit heinous crimes.

The allegations against Brett Kavanaugh have been careful to include not only his age at the time of his alleged assault, but the fact that he was a student at Georgetown Prep. Assaults are a pandemic in our culture today, but his alleged actions speak beyond toxic masculinity and the general rape culture that holds all women hostage today. Brett Kavanaugh is a symptom of something worse. He is the fullest expression of elitism blended with misogyny that is cultivated and groomed at private, all-male institutions like Georgetown Prep.

I know because I went there.

I was proud when I was accepted as a freshman. I loved that the school dated back to 1789— just two years after the signing of the Constitution—making our school older than modern France. Coming from a brand new public school, I marveled at the marble columns of the chapel that was built with an anonymous donation during the Great Depression.

It is a potent brew of pride that is heady stuff for a 15-year-old, and it meant the world to me to be included. I was coming from a public middle school in rural Maryland, and I loved my teachers and had an incredible education, but I had been bullied every day for my bookishness. I believed Prep’s story about itself—I was so excited to be a part of such a noble institution of scholars and athletes “committed to justice.”

As part of our orientation, we were told what an honor it is to be a “Man for Others.” I was in awe of the access to power being a Prep grad might secure for me.

...

At all-boys’ schools, when students stand shoulder to shoulder with their classmates and hear that they are called to greatness, they also internalize the absence of women from their position of privilege and power. Women are not part of the club. They are separate. They are for conquest; they are for dating; they are for marriage. Women are not peers. Some boys graduate and go on to unpack and unlearn these lessons. Others find new clubs with guarded access. They join fraternities. They go on to business schools and law firms and seek out institutions with disproportionately more men than women. Look at the gender breakdown of boardrooms everywhere. Look at the Supreme Court.

[dalton99a]

1. "I want to fuck Ms. ________ in the ass"

I remember a young woman who substituted for my English class weeping as she erased “I want to fuck Ms. ________ in the ass” from the blackboard. If the boy who wrote it was disciplined, I never heard about it; his actions were never condemned. I also remember our class president getting elected on the slogan “Bleachers,” because he had “fingered” a girl beneath them. Before big games against rival schools, the “Boosters” (an elected group of cheerleaders who would get the fans going before and during games) would paper the hallways with posters with such slogans as “Beat the Pagans” when we played schools that were not religious, and “Hoya Saxa,” etc. One popular poster was a cartoon of a rabbit’s head that on closer inspection revealed a woman parting her legs. It would appear alongside other posters praising certain players or generally hyping the team. It served no other purpose and had no other meaning.

[BigmanPigman]

2. And this is a Catholic school too...not surprised a bit, not a bit!

Look at the charges against the Catholic priests and it is crystal clear...male dominance! Sex and power.

[whathehell]

3. I'm sorry, but Catholic schools are no better or worse than any other

and no more "patriarchal". I know -- I went to both.

[certainot]

4. and if you're gay and your parents force you into that...

i'll bet the denial and hiding is strong, with a lot of pressure to look macho

[Silver Gaia]

5. This paragraph jumped out at me:

At all-boys’ schools, when students stand shoulder to shoulder with their classmates and hear that they are called to greatness, they also internalize the absence of women from their position of privilege and power. Women are not part of the club. They are separate. They are for conquest; they are for dating; they are for marriage. Women are not peers. Some boys graduate and go on to unpack and unlearn these lessons. Others find new clubs with guarded access. They join fraternities. They go on to business schools and law firms and seek out institutions with disproportionately more men than women. Look at the gender breakdown of boardrooms everywhere. Look at the Supreme Court.

I was just talking to my hubby and daughter about this earlier today. When teenage boys and girls are separated in school, they learn to see each other as actually "other." For many of these boys, girls become things, not really people, to be used as they see fit. They are automatically seen as inferior and subordinate because they have no common point of reference. The same thing does not happen to girls in all-girl schools because, of course, we live in a patriarchal culture.

[Raine]

6. Sad because I've heard that girls do much better

when they're in a school without boys, the girls don't have to compete with boys for the teacher's attention and are able to do better in especially math. Unfortunately though if the girl's have their own schools that leaves the boys too with their own and they become Kav type guys.

[Silver Gaia]

7. Yep. I've heard the same. BUT...

Keep in mind that the reason why the girls have to compete with the boys for the teacher's attention is due to patriarchal attitudes that favor boys over girls. These attitudes can easily become ingrained in people without them even thinking about it. Few people ever really examine their own thinking, or ask themselves why they believe some things or act in certain ways. When teachers are taught to be aware of these biases so that they can consciously correct them, then they can unlearn that societal conditioning and treat their students with equal respect.

[laserhaas]

8. My life changed, dramatically, when I took a hard look at some facts

I often wonder about the fact that most of the male population considers females a minority.

Drives me nuts.

[Silver Gaia]

9. Yes, it us odd, isn't it? Especially when women are actually the majority.

Patriarchy has been with us for thousands of years, though. There are cultures where it never really got a foothold, but they are comparatively few. It is, however, flailing about at present, in panic mode here and other places. It no longer suits the needs of the people. When that happens, the old ways must give way to the new ways, but they will struggle to hang on for as long as they can. I think we are seeing some of that.