Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for April 12, 2019

Don’t worry. You’ll teach Alex the same way your mother taught you.

It’s going to be a rough ride for you Alex, speak up now.

There are also assertive girls. The range of assertiveness within each group is probably greater than the difference in the average between girls and boys.

The problem is that boys are expected to be assertive and encouraged by the wider society to be so whereas girls are expected to be acquiescent and discouraged by the wider society from assertiveness. The external pressures to conform are intense and it is difficult for parents or teachers to counteract them.

In the very early strips with Joanie it was implied that she had more than one child. Later on those siblings disappeared and Joanie was the only one we ever heard about.

The teacher’s own behaviour belies her words. She was actively ignoring Alex’s raised hand while prompting the non-responsive boys.

The tried and true “sink or swim” technique.

What powers of projection? I wanted my teachers to call on other students, not me. It never worked.

I suppose this is a conversation that has been going on for millennia. I wonder if we are doing better now?

So much for my yesterday prediction the teacher would turn out to be wise. This one should seek a career in retail.

As a role model, JJ isn’t exactly the best…

What? The Boys were sitting there like Lumps, Ignoring you.