Year 10: Week 21 – Ferdinand And Toxic Masculinity

“Is Ferdinand a cow or a bull?”

The whole class of 5th graders were rowdy as they entered the classroom. They had clearly been discussing the difference between cows and bulls and were looking at me as the teacher to settle the conversation. I was about to just start class and not address this non-sequitur, but I decided to address it. We are going to start a song “Sumer Is Icumen In,” soon that features the different names for animals based on biological sex, so I figured this could plant some seeds for later discussions.

Well Ferdinand’s biological sex is male, so he would be a bull. Even though cows have the biological sex of females, sometimes people misuse this term to describe bulls. Ferdinand is a male, therefore he is a bull. John Cena voiced him in the cartoon.

I was ready to get started with some solfege warm-ups when one boy interrupt my thoughts asked “well, that doesn’t make sense. Why would such a strong guy like John Cena be the voice?

Again, I had to make a call to address this student’s misinterpretation of this story, or move on with my lesson. But I decided not to. I had something more important to address in this moment.

Ferdinand isn’t weak. He just doesn’t want to do what the other bulls want to do and that’s okay. A boy who doesn’t like to play sports isn’t weaker than a boy who does. A boy isn’t any more or less of a boy based on what activities that he enjoys.

As I was explaining this, what was interesting was that the girls in the class were nodding and smiling. The boy who brought this up was not. He had a slight snicker on his face and was looking around to the other boys for some kind of smile so he could laugh to break out of his discomfort. Instead he found the other boys were looking at me, with very serious, and slightly confused expressions on their face. And then I continued.

Look, I identify as a man. While I enjoy working out and running, I don’t love sports generally, and I didn’t watch the Super Bowl. This doesn’t make me a better man or less of a man than a person who is into sports. We need to have conversations as boys about how we can embrace different ways of being boys, the same way we have conversations about how girls can and should do what they want and not be limited by gender roles.

This whole exchange took almost ten minutes out of my forty minutes music class. Turning this interruption into a teachable moment had its cost. In my view it was worth it. Not saying anything in the face of racism, is racist. And being quiet in the face of sexist and misogynistic ideas of gender, reinforces sexism, and feeds into toxic masculinity.

You have to speak up. If you don’t, then students who don’t fit stereotypes will feel less comfortable with you, and feel less safe in your classroom.

Interrupt. It can be hard, it can take time and it can be uncomfortable, but the regret of doing nothing is far worse.