Problems with Segregating Sex

I received two reactions to my first post on food rations for women in Haiti.  One shared with me this amazing story – a woman refused to sit in the back of a sex-segregated Orthodox bus in Israel.  http://www.vosizneias.com/46434/2010/01/07/jerusalem-woman-sprays-tear-gas-at-orthodox-man-in-bus-segregation-fracas  Another disagreed with my characterization of men as “being constructed as a sex that ignores rules,” stating that the violence of men in Japanese subways was a reality that merited the separation of sexes. 

 My answer to the objection is that rather than cede the terrain to paternalist sex segregation, societies should enact policies to reduce gender differences rather than heighten them.   For example, I just came across the most fascinating document - the preschool curriculum for Sweden.  It states:  “The ways in which adults respond to boys and girls, as well as the demands and requirements imposed on children contribute to their appreciation of gender differences. The pre-school should work to counteract traditional gender patterns and gender roles. Girls and boys in the pre-school should have the same opportunities to develop and explore their abilities and interest without having limitations imposed by stereotyped gender roles.”

In the United States, such goals exist, but surface largely in the realm of caselaw instead of public policy.  Rather than wait for society to absorb the anti-sex-stereotyping lessons of decisions such as Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, our governments should take a cue from Sweden and articulate gender equality as a valued norm.   As I explored in my article “Trapped in Sing Sing: Transgendered Prisoners Caught in the Gender Binarism,” http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=897562 sex segregation, whether in prisons or in other contexts has real costs for all sexes.   Even when it’s necessary for security,  it’s not a desirable outcome.