Robespierre

Say you could only educate one gender, what would it be?

You may want to consider this question first in the third world and then in our own world.

They often say, in Africa, that it's better to educate a female. One, because she'll use the opportunity more wisely. Two, because she'll be more likely to educate others. And three, because males can to do more physical work.

Cedar Brown

Males.

An educated man will take a wife and support her while she raises the family. If the men are uneducated the woman will be making more money and loath to marry a man who makes less than she. So you'll end up with tons of single mothers. The position of father becomes transitory. Instead of a stable couple for parents a child has a mother and a parade of temporary boyfriends.

If only women were educated you would end up with a massive, male underclass that is apathetic and doesn't have much stake in making sure society is functioning. The Soviet Union gave men little room for advancement and they ended up with a nation of drunkard men. Excluded from the family, men have little motivation to use their labor to create a surplus of resources. All civilization was based on the surpluses of male labor.

Patriarchy is better than matriarchy. The latter is weak and can only exist in isolation where it has no competition. Natural selection takes over and, all other things being equal, the fittest devours the weakest.

kromanti

It is better to educate the men because ignorant men become violent and women are not very good at stopping violent men.

Fox

This is more or less correct. In fact, even with merely equal educational opportunities we already see the spectre of this in the modern world. The women who succeed economically are the ones least likely to marry or rear children, and the men who fail to succeed are forced into unhappy bachelorhood and often become unproductive or worse, especially since while being denied marriage they're often forced to subsidize the very women who spurned them through taxation and governmental policy (for example, through free day care service funded by taxpayer dollars).

This of course is not meant to speak ill of anyone; male nature is what it is, female nature is what it is, and there are exceptions within both groups. But generally speaking, the above poster is correct; if we are being pragmatic, and we are forced to choose, males would be the wise choice for the sake of society.

Louise C

I don't really see how you can do without educating both genders in this day and age. Everyone needs to be able to read and write, because there are so many instructions on things etc, and everyone has to fill in forms. Even the most physical job tends to require paperwork nowadays.

As regards Africa, if they only educated females, the scientific and technological world would lose out, because men tend to be more likely to excel in those fields. It would not be a good idea.

Jake10

I suppose an elementary school level of education is essential for survival, but if we're talking about a post-secondary level then it's very easy to see something along this line actually happening, perhaps because some societies might have limited resources or because some families may have to choose between their children. In any event, I think males are the better option, so that they can continue working while females take maternity leave or take care of children.

Louise C

Well, yes, but there again there are some jobs that are done mainly by women which require an education, teaching and nursing for instance. If women were not educated beyond elementary level, would there be enough men to fill those jobs? I mean, the reason women were encouraged to become teachers in the USA in the 19th century was that there were simply not enough men who wanted to be teachers. And nursing I should think is even less likely to appeal to most men.

Jake10

No doubt it is better for both genders to be educated, but let's say women were the only educated people. How many of them would still like being nurses? How many would like to be engineers? How many would want to be military officers? No doubt some would, but there would be a lot of empty spots to be filled.

Louise C

Well, that would cause a problem too, there would certainly be a shortage of engineers, military officers etc. That's why I think education is necessary for both sexes. I certainly would not advocate that only women have higher education, I think that would be a disaster.

But I do think that a lot of people of both genders nowadays are going into higher education who are unsuited to it, the dropout rate from universities in the UK is huge, and I think more people could probably usefully be encouraged to do some kind of vocational training rather than going to university. We need plumbers, electricians, builders, cooks, hairdressers etc, as well as teachers, doctors, engineers etc.

Julian the Apostate

Though I understand the point that you are making, within the constraints of the OP, I can honestly say that nothing is personally more unappealing to me than the prospects of taking a meek, dullard wife whose primary function is to act as breed-cow and nursemaid. Precisely what is the point of maintaining such a civilization, if its 'surpluses' aren't put to use in maximizing the intellectual and spiritual potential of its members, both male and female?