I disagree with you katy,

This may not be politically correct, but political correctness
has no place on a boat where lives are at stake. One cannot
correct a problem without recognizing what it is first.

The genetic pre-disposition beween males and females
is radically different--as in "way far" apart. You say so
yourself, katy, every day...

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and
dogs should relax and get used to the idea."
- Robert A. Heinlein

If women (girls) lag behind men, it has nothing to do with
what is stressed when they are young. I have an 12 year
old niece. It doesn't matter what I stress is important. I've
tried everything with her in the last few years. She does
what she pleases and has closed her mind to me. It is plain
that learning is less important to girls, while boys pay
attention and learn.

Young girls are emotional and spend all their time thinking
about boys, cloths, getting married, and children. During that
time boys are training for leadership and developing confidence
building skills. It is no wonder that boys think girls are stupid
when they see that the girls don't pay attention and rarely
have career goals when they are young.

The only effective means of teaching a girl at a young age might
be a cattle prod. I doubt anything else would get her attention.
Girls focus on getting a boy to the excusion of all else. Once
they get older and marry, their outlook changes.

Parents ask children what they want to do with their lives.
Boys answer honestly. Girls make up a bull**** story and
rarely take steps in that direction. All that is forgotten after
a while or it changes into some new goal when they find out
how much work is involved. From the other perspective,
girls are thinking ahead about having families long before
boys do.

It is fortunate for the human race that girls do think about
boys, marriage, and children, because most boys do not.
It is equally fortunate that boys are more logical and good
at doing things, or else we'd still be living in caves.

This orientation does preclude some ability, or else we'd
see comparable skill levels per capita. Don't go blaming
men for not teaching women, when in fact men try quite
hard to do so, but often do not find receptive minds.

Recently I tried to teach a young lady of 19. She would
acknowledge I was right about a topic--she was bing pushed
around by some boys, but steadfastly refused to confront them.
Close-mindedness is a common trait in females. I could
give you a hundred examples. At the same time females are
more easy going and less likely to remain angry after a
conflict. Every trait has a positve and negative aspect. The
negative aspect are more obvious, and clues pointing to the
important positive aspects.

Mature married women are excellent sailing students and in
general they are better students than the men. Most married
women pay closer attention, and actually study the topic of
sailing, more so than their husbands who tend to play it by ear. I
find married women are far better at knots than men who rarely
open a book or practice at home. I think this is because these
women have what they want--a man, and want to keep him alive,
so their interest in sailing has a serious side.

If a grown woman can't learn how to tie a knot, I submit
it may be one of three things:

1 A serious self-esteem problem.
2. A lifetime dependence on men which leads to a total lack of
decision making ability, with an associated "helper" aspect.
3. A mental problem with either memory, logic, or both
which makes complex analysis difficult or impossible.

Sailing would be beneficial for women in the first two categories
but it is unlikely they will be able to perform capably as a skipper
in an emergency situation. The highest competence level in most skills
leadership
must be developed. My experience is women generally
freak-out in an emergency, perhaps to let the man know he "has"
to take charge. While women make fabulous as crew, should
we then force leadership on them? Or should instructors
encourage them to be good crew instead, and skippers when
they have the ability?

Bart

katysails wrote
the rare woman can
perform expertly at such tasks but that's the exception

Bull pucky....yes, women do lag behind men in these areas, but it is
because
those areas are not stressed as being important in their younger
lives....there is no reason on earth why tying a knot or running rigging
would be a difficult task for MOST women if shown how....yes, there are
inherent genetic dispositions that are different for men and women, but
these differences are not that far apart and certainly don't preclude some
ability...blanket generalizations sometimes indicate a bigoted
attitude....