I am a Feminist

tonight was the


Inner Mongolian University for the Nationalities,

English speaking competition.

I was the question maker, and Ned was a judge along with 4 other fine faculty members.

The 13 contestants all did extremely well, but in the end, the winner was a boy. He was judged fairly, and he truly did have good intotation and confidence.

In my English classes, only 2 or 3 students out of 30 is a boy. They are a consistent minority in all English major classes. Each class chooses a monitor-- a head pupil to lead the class and take general responsibilty for the efforts and moral of the group. In my 9 classes, 7 out of 9 monitors is a boy.

I wish I could say it was a coincidence that all my monitors are boys, and the winner of the English speaking competition is a boy, when more than 90% of the English department is comprised of girls.

I do not want to be angry at the boy for winning the competition. I think his speech was good, and he must have worked very hard all these years to perfect his English.

I also think that many of the girls in my classes work just as hard, or maybe harder. I think there were a few girls at the competition whose speeches riveled his.

What the winning boy had a bit more confidence than the girls, and I think this is why he won. I want to support my female students to have more confidence just like this boy has, but I know it is not so easy for them.

I imagine it is not no so easy for a girl to be confident and a leader, when she may be punished for being "bossy" or "showy" by mothers and teachers who believe being an outspoken leader is a masculine characteristic. I believe the Chinese culture, along with many other cultures, doesn't give girls enough room to possess and display confidence, nor does it support women when they step forward as leaders.

I left the speech disheartened, and with a desire to infuse confidence in my students, both male and female.