This blog's title, On Subsequent Inspection, is meant to reflect the many times I've said something, only to later recognize the inconsistency of that idea with my ideals. Today was a good reminder of that. I've been considering the ways in which girls' play, like women's labor, is undervalued in even my own head. I'm not sure what sparked the realization; perhaps reviewing my documentation and noticing more photos of stereotypical masculine work than feminine. It's true; the girl examining the dead fly had many more photos and much more of a write up than the girls and boys making birthday cakes from playground mulch. And the boys using plastic pipes to transport water got more "air time" than the girls decorating for a party. I realized, in my frustration over needing pink legos to engage some children, that be focusing on the pink, I'm devaluing children's genuine likes and interests. Why am I excited when a boy tells me his favorite c...
Putting my own practice and observations under the magnifying glass