Mom rewrites her daughter's 'sexist' homework assignment
Many parents take the time to help their kids with their homework assignments, but one mother from Queens, N.Y., took it one step further after seeing the “sexist”worksheet given to her six-year-old daughter.
Lynne Polvino took to Facebook to share her daughter Hazel’s language arts assignment, titled “Back to Work.”
“Lisa was not happy,” the fill-in-the-blank worksheet began. “Her mother was ______ at work.” The choices were “lack,” “buck” or “back” — and Hazel naturally wrote “back.”
The story continues that before Lisa was born, her mom worked in a big office, and now she was returning to work. Lisa’s dad made a terrible breakfast and the child spent the day missing her mother. But when little Lisa got home from school, her mother was waiting for her.
“‘I leave the office early so we can be together after school,’ mother said. ‘Lisa feels fine now. The end.'”
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Polvino was naturally shocked when she read this.
“It just pushed so many buttons for me, and with each sentence it managed to get worse!” Polvino, a children’s book editor who works at a publishing company in Manhattan told TODAY Parents. “My shock and dismay quickly turned to outrage. I mean, what decade are we in, anyway? In this day and age, we’re going to tell kids that mothers working outside the home makes their children and families unhappy? That fathers don’t normally do things like cook and wash the dishes?”
The busy mom of two, is worried the story will send a negative message to little girls who desire to have careers and families one day — so she decided to rewrite the story in a more modern, politically-correct fashion, to reflect the world she wants her kids to live in when they’re old enough to have jobs and families.
“Here’s the homework assignment my daughter brought home yesterday, side-by-side with my rewrite,” she posted on Facebook.
Polvino’s version shows that Lisa is happy that her mom is back to work and it effectually explains paid maternity leave. Lisa’s morning was now “wonderful” and her father was home on “paid paternity leave, caring for Lisa’s younger brother and contributing equally to the running of the household.” Lisa’s dad also made a good breakfast, and Lisa washed the dishes because “all functional humans should learn how to clean up after themselves and help others.” When Lisa came home from school, her mother was there — simply because Lisa spent the afternoon at her free federally-funded after school enrichment program.
“Lisa was glad she was growing up in a society free of gender bias and misogyny. Lisa feels fine now. The end.”
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Polvino sent an email to Hazel’s teacher and noted her concerns. The teacher supported the idea that the worksheet was outdated and promised to review them more carefully before assigning them in the future.
“I have so much respect for all the working moms of past generations who had to deal with this type of crap on a regular basis. I’m so grateful to them for paving the way,” Polvino added.
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