Teachers' Take on Feminism: ICS Edition

Our team at Fifty Squared had the immense privilege of having lunch with some of our favorite teachers, Mr.Mark Sentovich Jr & Ms.Sarah Seckler over at the ICS Branch. From awkward restaurant experiences, to children's books - follow along with us on Conversations over Kuaytiewnams.

1. What first comes to mind when you hear the words gender equality?

   1. Ms.Sarah = Right off the bat, I think of unequal pay when it comes to men and women, and the very real difference between the two.

   2. Mr.Mark = Hmm, so as I’m more of a visual/ picture person, I see a woman who's a little bit alone who doesn’t have much of a voice.

2. What first comes to mind when you hear the word feminism?

   1. Mr.Mark = Because of my background, the word feminism didn't start out with a great connotation for me, but it took me a while to realise that the only negative aspect attached to it was coming more from the POV of “man-haters” but 99% of women are not like that. And the 1% may be the bad apple of the movement. Sadly, that did shade my view earlier… but it's good to know that that's not the truth about the word

   2. Ms.Sarah = Similarly,when i was younger in HS, the word didn't have a good connotation, but now i think about it being a woman becoming whatever she wants to… whether that be being a rocket scientist, or a stay-at-home mom… or both

3. On a scale of 1-10, (1 being not at all, and 10 being a lot), how strongly do you feel you identify as a feminist?

   1. Mr.Mark = A 10! All I needed was to understand what it means, and the truth about it, and I have my boys.. And I want them to know that equality is the way to go.

4. In your opinion, what do you think is the biggest threat to feminism?

   1. Mr.Mark = I don’t want to make this about men, but… I think men have to be on board and championing it… men can’t just be silent and we all need to be in this together.

   2. Ms. Sarah = I think recognising the bias that all of us have (men and women) and that silence can often hinder that… but finding strength that that voice can __.

5. Can you tell us about an instance that your gender has helped you?

   1. Ms. Sarah = What I would say is that ICS to be able to relate to ICS HS Female students gives me the advantage of relating to each other in terms of the struggles we’ve had or times we’ve felt shut down because of your vice.. So that is definitely something….

   2. Mr. Mark = When I worked at JP Morgan, I think it was obvious that there were some opportunities that were coming easier to men mainly because of the communication mindset that opportunities were open for men, because so many of the men and higher-ups were men, it was more comfortable for me to approach that situation. Before ICS when I was in America...I remember this one time, they thought us all out to have dinner at this restaurant called Hooters, which is basically a place that exploits the bodies of women for men’s fun. And I'm being a part of that, and was unsure of how to approach it.. And the women who came with us were discomforted just because this was an event for men to go to.

6. Can you tell us about an instance tha your gender has helped you?

   1. Ms.Sarah = One of the biggest things for me was being a woman in the math department so I feel like my voice wouldn’t be taken as seriously because there weren’t a lot of people around me willing to hear...every time you would say, “Oh, I’m a Math major” or something of that sort, people would applaud you more than they should, like “that’s so awesome”, but I don’t think I need applause for htat,,. Because I’m a human

   2. Mr. Mark = Hmm, now that you’re saying that.. Not in the terms of opportunities per se, but i've definitely heard the message that i need to be “tough” or express my frustrations or feelings and that's something that has been carried with me for my whole life. I've been one to bury my feelings just because of the pressure to act

7. In the context of ICS, what are some things our school does great/ not-so-great in terms of promoting feminism and equality?

   1. Mr.Mark = When it comes to the teaching staff, i really get this feeling that there is something special going on…. Ms.Karen in MS, and Ms. Elsie in ES, so there's two really amazing women on our admin staff that shows how . I just love how we have so many wise, discerning women that are some of our leaders here.

   2. Ms. Sarah = Yeah, me too, like with coworkers I never felt like my voice was ever shut down. A lot of the STEM department, I was very much shut down when I was in the departments there, but one of the first things I noticed was different here. The biggest thing about ICS is that obviously we have ICS, but also the fact that we have clubs like this that helps ICS continuously grow out beyond that.

   3. Mr.Mark = In thailand, too, in general, there are a lot of moms of Thai students who are more stay-at-home moms and I've asked the question before in my class asking about what students want to do in the future, and a lot more students than i expected are not actually thinking about their careers as much as they are about staying at home and being a wife. And I don’t think that's necessarily a bad thing, but when I think you see it across the board so many people that are caught in their cultures or stereotypical view of that - because that is the normal thing instead of maybe pursuing a dream that they have somewhat bothers me. Again, there is a lot to that, honestly people should pursue whatever they want, but I want people to know they can be successful and do whatever they like.

8. Along those lines, is there anything that you hope in the future of feminism that you hope can be a reality? Or something you work towards to make that come true?

   1. Ms. Sarah = I think I had such a negative view of feminism until about a couple years ago so I just would hope that conversations start younger - maybe even elementary level. I hope that I can have more conversations with people around me to talk about maybe why we have negative connotations and figure out what we personally believe. I hope we can start now instead of staying mum about the topic.

   2. Mr.Mark = I actually have a book… *brings a book from desk across room*. So this is a book called “My First Book of Feminism For Boys”. And… it goes back to what we were saying about men needing to not be silent. One of my biggest hopes is that my boys will grow up just knowing that women are equal and automatically treating them that way. So we’re in a great time period where that change is more welcome than ever. I hope they will have that attitude towards their mom, women around them, in their workplace… that they would be beside them, champion them, and not see them as any different when we think of equal rights. I think it just goes to show that anything you can do to move towards equal rights in a loving way, respectful way, but also being fierce and unwilling to be silenced is a good thing so… go for it!

   3. Ms.Sarah = Yeah, even if you’re not sure how to verbalize things, it’s better to express it and talk and have discussions because silence isn’t getting us anywhere.

We are so grateful for these awesome teachers and mentors who took the time out to chat with us today. We hope you've enjoyed this conversation along with us. Tune in next time for more on different teachers from a different branch!