Take your what to what?

[rhu]

Anyone else remember when "Take your daughter to work day" was all about making sure girls realized that they could grow up to do the same jobs that boys would?

And then somewhere along the way someone decided that this was "sexist" and it became "Take your children to work day", which largely defeated the point?

Well, I think the remaining point has been squished as well. Last week, my office marked "take your children to work day" by having a late-afternoon minigolf and pizza party for anyone who wanted to bring their children by after school so that they could, well, play minigolf and eat pizza. Because, of course, that's what we do in the office.

Comments

[cellio]

The transformation from "daughter" to "child" missed the point, but turning it into minigolf and pizza is aiming completely in the opposite direction of the point. Sheesh!

Our workplace does have some "play" activities (like a "treasure hunt" where they have to find people who do different kinds of work), but it mostly seems to fulfill the intended purpose (other than the gender thing). One year we had them all set up in a lab using our software -- it wasn't very good QA, but it was something. :-)

[lucretia-borgia.livejournal.com]

Cool, can I get a job there?

[danchall.livejournal.com]

Most years I've seen "take your daughters and sons to work," which does call attention that the purpose of the activity has something to do with gender.

Minigolf is a joke unless it's a little bit of relief from what otherwise would be unrelenting boredom in the workplace. (It depends upon how young the kids are.) I wouldn't see anything wrong with a special pizza meal in conjunction with some real observation of part of a workday. And if the object is to demonstrate a diverse workforce, with men and women in all sorts of roles, that girls can grow up to do the same jobs boys would, then it's a lesson that both boys and girls could stand to learn.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Does seem a bit against the spirit of the day...

[fauxklore]

Actually, at my previous job we did used to play minigolf, with a course we set up around the floor using various office obstacles (e.g. stacks of copier paper). We also used to do chair relay races.

[jedusor.livejournal.com]

Did you duel while racing? (I don't actually have to link to xkcd strips at this point in nerd history, right?)

[fauxklore]

No duels, but our group used a plush doll of the Egyptian god Anubis as our relay baton.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

You know, you should turn this into a column.

Or maybe I should.

[autotruezone.livejournal.com]

I remember when Take Your Daughter To Work Day coincided with Bike To Work Week, and someone suggested combining them as "Take your daughter's bike to work day". The mental imagery still makes me chuckle.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Not bike your daughter to work day?

[autotruezone.livejournal.com]

I never did understand the point of making it daughters only. If, as you say, the point was "making sure girls realized that they could grow up to do the same jobs that boys would", then look at it this way: if the workplace you're taking your daughter to has very few (or no) women working there, then how does it achieve the stated goal? If, on the other hand, there are plenty of women working there, then what problem are you trying to solve?

And surely the media have done a fine job of showing women in quite a number of workplaces, both fictional and real.

Why not take your son to work also?

Background: I grew up in the 70's, and my father, a lawyer, took each of his children (regardless of sex) to work on various occasions (always one at a time), without needing a special day for it. I have done likewise with my children.