Why not “Because I Am A BOY”???

When a girl asked this question after the presentation, I knew what she meant. She was basically asking – how come you’re ignoring the boys?

And when we do the presentation in schools where the boys are invited, I imagine they might be thinking the same thing.

Success in overcoming poverty and other global issues will require the partnership of both men AND women. But the fact remains that it makes sense to start with females.

For example, Plan notes that countries with the lowest number of girls in school are doing the worst when it comes to human development. Plus, in developing countries more men are working than women.

But women reinvest 90 per cent of their whatever they earn back into the household…men reinvest 30 to 40 per cent.

I don’t mean to throw a whole bunch of facts at you, but you can start to see why there’s a focus on the girls.

And the boys are still very important. If the boys don’t support girls and women, and see them as equally capable in all parts of life… then I honestly don’t think we’ll reach our goals.

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May 27, 2010

nanaaba

Categories: Becaue I am a Girl School Tour, Because I am a Girl

13 responses to “Why not “Because I Am A BOY”???”

md13
December 13th, 2010 at 02:05

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/failing-boys/part-1-failing-boys-and-the-powder-keg-of-sexual-politics/article1758791/

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adam
December 22nd, 2010 at 17:34

a girl makes 70 cents to every dollar a man makes for doing the same job.

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- nikita
  July 23rd, 2011 at 21:02
  
  thats soo outdated, females today account for the majority of the workforce, and are actually, believe it or not, get payed more than men in most situations.
  
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  - edwardh
    January 7th, 2012 at 16:14
    
    that may be true for at least some wealthy countries but i think that ignores an important issue just like when people say that “a girl makes 70 cents to every dollar”: where?!
    
    because i bet in that 70 cents calculation, they just rake across the whole globe and when they want to get women in wealthy countries all riled up, they don’t tell them that the much larger differences in poorer countries drag are mostly what creates those figures.
    
    but… that’s just my guess based on what i’ve seen and heard. i frankly don’t know the data but i would love to see it. so if anybody has a link or something, i’d appreciate it.
ken
February 4th, 2011 at 17:02

This because I am girl campaign is DISCRIMINATORY AND OFFENSIVE to say the least

When plan chooses to focus on only girls instead of boys too,whats stopping me as a HR manager to hire boys because i think they work harder?

Treat all people equally and stop SEXISM

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- Ally
  February 5th, 2011 at 03:54
  
  Ken – Putting an end to sexism means working against the systems that are designed to benefit men more than women. In underdeveloped countries, these systems can be as horrendous as genital mutilation, lack of health education for women, lack of any education for girls, to name a few. In the Western world, these systems make it acceptable behavior for a man such as yourself to be insulted at the very idea of a campaign centered around women specifically. It’s not about ignoring the needs of men, it’s about coming just that much closer to leveling the playing field. Women and girls are at risk all around the world in ways that men and boys simply aren’t. Those risks are often ignored or pushed aside or argued against the pressing needs of men and boys, as they have been in these comments. THAT’S why this particular campaign focuses on girls and women. Because everywhere we go, even in places made just for us, girls and women are being told that we should stop thinking we’re important.
  
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  - ellen
    February 9th, 2011 at 23:08
    
    exactly. see ken, women are treated terribly in some parts of the world. looked at as nothing more than an object used for sex and labour. this idea has to stop. woman have to be given their rights, because we too have dreams and feelings! and truth be told, men have been given far more rights in the past compared to women.
Kate Jongbloed
February 4th, 2011 at 18:16

Hi Ken,

Here at the Because I am a Girl campaign we’re definitely not anti-boy. Our campaign comes out of evidence that girls are often left behind when it comes to accessing their human rights. We believe that both boys and girls have the same rights to things like education and health.

Your comment about men working harder than women is exactly what we’re working against. Decisions about who to hire should be based on merit, regardless of race, sexuality or in this case, gender.

If you’d like to know more about our campaign so you can learn confidently that we are not anti-men, please visit http://www.becauseiamagirl.ca or to learn more about how being pro girl does not mean being anti boy, check out this post: http://blog.becauseiamagirl.ca/2009/12/30/does-pro-girl-mean-anti-boy/.

Blogger Kate J

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Doesn't Matter
February 9th, 2011 at 00:31

Sexism is a serious problem in most of the developing world, but money isn’t gonna do anything. Women in these parts of the world need the same thing that western women needed when they didn’t have rights. They need political reform in order to secure their rights and they need educational reform to change the social values concerning gender. The latter requires widespread reforms to ensure that all children can get an education.

It’s wrong to focus on one gender whenever a social problem exists. It would be like focusing on boys when we talk about school bullying just because boys are far more likely to get beaten on the playground than girls. Or it would be like focusing on men when we talk about occupational safety, since most of the workplace deaths and injuries are men. For that matter, I never saw anybody attaching gender to the campaign against child soldiers, which are mostly boys.

I’m not saying that women in the developing world don’t need a gender equality campaign, because they do. But this particular campaign is mixing the issue of gender equality with the issue of poverty. This is only going to weaken any legitimate goals of the campaign. Poverty does not have a gender and to say that it does is inevitably going to lead to ignoring boys that are in the same economic conditions.

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Jay
September 7th, 2011 at 15:50

Firstly, I really appreciate what you are doing to improve lives of those stuck in poverty, however, I after reading this post/blog, and all the responses I am still confused why there is such a high focus on just girls.

There are still thousands of children male and female that die of starvation every week because of poverty. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of girls and boys recieve an unacceptable amount of healthcare and eduction in this world. As the last person said, “poverty does not have a gender”.

Using your “statistics”, if more men are working, then surely it is JUST AS important to teach these people the skills they need to work as it is to teach women. And surely healthcare has to be just as important for females as it is for males, healthcare is healthcare.

I am also confused about how men put 30-40% into their household whereas women put 90% into their household, where on earth did this statistic pop from? Most people in poverty can not afford to live yet alone invest in their “home”. My guess this statistic comes from the western world, making it irrelivant, as is the statistic that women make 70cents of a doller that a man makes.

Anyone who acts to prevent poverty is a hero, but you should not just try to help one gender, that will not solve the issue. Unfortunately I do believe this is a sexist cause, and will do until someone gives me EVIDENCE such as WHERE exactly men are recieving education and healthcare that women are not, or STATISTICS with references that show there is a real need to focus on women/girls.

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- Kate Jongbloed
  September 14th, 2011 at 20:35
  
  Hi Jay, thanks for your comment. We totally agree that both boys and girls have the same rights, and that both need support to break the cycle of poverty. There is a lot of data available about the gaps between girls and boys, however, and that’s where the Because I am a Girl movement comes in. If you want to read more about it, check out this fact sheet from the Girl Effect, our annual Because I am a Girl Reports, UNICEF’s statistics by country and the Girls Count report.
  
  - blogger Kate J.
  
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edwardh
October 30th, 2011 at 23:30

The discussions here are utterly pathetic and as often is the case with feminist struggles ignore the core of the issue and are counterproductive. At least in the long run… currently, feminists are having a great time but remember me when there’ll be a major patriarchal backlash because you were trying to create a matriarchal instead of an egalitarian society.

At any rate, back to the actual issue. I find it very frustrating how everything revolves around the hardships girls have to endure in certain parts of the world when that is not at all the point of the criticism when the question is “Why not “Because I Am A BOY?”. Nobody in his right mind would deny these facts. And I dare say you bring them up immediately only to stifle dissent.
Because these facts aren’t the issue. The issue is that most of the whole campaign is worded in a way that makes males sound utterly inferior and incompetent. While they at the same time victimize women.
You could have gone with something like “Because I Am Human Too” and actually stood for equality. Instead, you chose to hammer home the message that is so predominant in today’s media: women rule, men suck!

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- Mark
  December 29th, 2011 at 14:31
  
  Well said. It appears that some of these women’s rights movements feel the need to bring men down in order to lift women up and I don’t feel that is necessary. Both genders should be lifted up to the same level of esteem with an emphasis on working together on issues and excelling at our different and distinct gender roles in society. That’s right, I said different and distinct. Men are supposed to be the leaders/providers and women the care-givers/supporters but a lot of men abused their role as leader, and now women want both jobs and get rid of the man or make to him the slave.
  
  Here in Canada, women have all the rights men do, which is a good thing! Some women choose to stay at home and raise the children, but these women are derided by the feminists as doing some kind of lesser job. There is no shame in staying at home if you can afford it, but the reality is that most cannot. So a lot of women must work, whether it be by choice or necessity. However, it seems that some women would use these rights to punish men and put them down, and not necessarily for any mistreatment but just because they can. Look at the divorce courts where women are severely favoured by judges especially when children are involved. Where is the equality in that? I would say it’s not equal, not fair, and promotes women above men. And that really is the issue here for the vast majority of men I’ve spoken to… women want to be above men. In fact, this idea is promoted everywhere, that women are more beautiful, smarter, live longer, more caring, more giving, more trustworthy, and less susceptible to disease while men are stupid, lazy, rude, angry, and cheating on you. Another way of saying “Women rule, men suck”. But don’t forget that the man must pay for dinner and lavish his woman with gifts, let her always go first, drop her off at the front door while he parks the car, etc. Men must be chivalrous, yet women are better… Give me a break! Where is the equality?
  
  The reality is that men are in trouble and these wolves in women’s clothing see weakness and pounce on it instead of helping. There are no good male role models out there and with women publicly and secretly undermining men, it won’t be long before we’re in much worse trouble as a society. I fear for my children, but oh ya one of them is a boy so he doesn’t count!
  
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