A man and his son are in a car crash. The man dies, and his son is rushed
to the hospital. There, the head surgeon says "I'm sorry, but I cannot
operate on this boy. He is my son." Who is the surgeon?
When the riddle first became popular, it was all over TV, including on the Crosby Show. Parents have asked their kids the riddle for years. This video is a short news clip about the answers people come up with when asked the question.
If you don't want to watch the whole thing, here is the summary: Adults consistently failed to figure out that the surgeon is the boy's mother, while the fifth graders almost universally answered with "his mom." Interestingly, some of the groups of kids said the surgeon was his "other dad." When asked to clarify, they replied that his parents might be gay, thus giving him two fathers.
The results of this survey can only be good for society. Clearly, the male/female professional divide has lessened over the years, as evidenced by the kids' quick acceptance of a mother as a head surgeon. Additionally, the kids were just as accepting of a gay surgeon as they were of a female one; the barriers are coming down in regards to the younger generation. It heartens me to think that the leaders of tomorrow, beginning with students our age, are much less discriminating by nature than our predecessors. Though true changes in society are slow, it is clear to me that changes will be coming with our generation. What else about our generation's preconceptions differ from out parents'?
10 comments:
Oh my god Kathy, I told this riddle to the football team when we were practicing. If what you say is true, then there may be a lot of fifth graders that are smarter than the football team, because it took them a while to figure it out.
I would have to agree that many social barriers are coming down. Children understand that women and men are equal and that being gay is acceptable.
However, what worries me is the fact that these results may stem from the childrens' naivete and not just openness. It is an important accomplishment that the children were open to all ideas and people, but as children grow, they tend to learn more about the world around them and start making judgements and generalizations. I for one, was totally open as a child; I thought that women and men were equally capable and represented in every field and company. However, after seeing for myself the inequities in job distribution among sexes, I've found I have developed subconscious stereotypes that made me have to think for perhaps thirty seconds before answering the riddle. We develop a feeling of, "[o]h, that doesn't happen very often" and use it to dismiss ideas subconsciously now. For example, the Association of Women Surgeons estimated that in 2001, only around 16% of surgeons in the U.S. were women (http://www.womensurgeons.org/About_AWS/History.asp). This still contributes to the widely held belief that not too many women become surgeons.
For the sake of the future, let's hope that both our generation and younger generations keep our sense of openness, optimism, and idealism.
I thought it was Jesus when I heard it :(.
The idea of a women didn't come into my mind, but the idea of him having 2 fathers did come to mind.
I for one admit that i did not get this riddle the first try. I would agree most likely with peter's comment in that i think children are more open to ideas when they are young, but grow to be progressively more judgmental.
Additionally, the area in which you live in also plays a major role in social veiws and development. Living in the bay area, we are one of the most ethnicaly diverse population in the united states, resulting in a broader social exceptance rate. But if you go to some of the east coast states where the population is significantly dominated by upper class whites, the descrimination is much more intense-be it based on gender, ethnicity, or class level.
Jasmine, I agree with your assertion that where one lives can influence how open one is to people of different races, religions, etc. I just have a slight problem with this comment: "But if you go to some of the east coast states where the population is significantly dominated by upper class whites, the descrimination is much more intense-be it based on gender, ethnicity, or class level."
I do agree that different areas of the country may be characterized as more open than others, but I think it is incorrect to generalize the east coast states as discriminatory because they are "dominated by upper class whites." On the whole, the coasts seem to generally be more open than some states in the middle of the country. In fact, east coast states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire are some of just a small number of states that have legalized gay marriage.
-Jessia Hoffman
I definitely agree and am glad to see that the younger generation are able to see women and men as equals and that sexual orientation does not matter. It is obvious from debates on local and national levels, the older generation are clearly divided on the subject of sexual orientation and that it is hard to alter their beliefs. But with the younger generation growing up in an enviroment where being gay is accepted, I think the younger generation is more open and accepting of different types of people.
I also feel that the media has a role in this change between the previous and the new generation. Even though the media may show an extreme illustration of different kinds of people, they are definitely present in the media. The new generation are growing up among the presence of these extreme illustrations, therefore when they see it in their community, they are immune to it. Therefore, children may be more used to different people which allows for recognition of equality between women and men and acceptance of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender community.
While watching the video, I was so happy to see those children believing in equality in terms of both gender and sexual orientation.
But this survey cannot be used to generalize the entire new generation of citizens. The kids all belonged to one school and in one community, and only 17 fifth-graders were interviewed. This is hardly a representative sample of all Americans of this generation. It is very likely these kids live in a more liberal area of the country.
Nevertheless, it is uplifting to see several children that truly believe in the value of equality.
Addressing Peter's comment, I do not disagree with your theory that we develop subconscious stereotypes as we grow older. But I do not believe that this is a cause for worry. As we get a firmer grasp on reality, we realize there are trends in our society; one group of people tends to do this job or hold this place in society. But I am not convinced that this leads us to see women or homosexuals as unequal. We simply recognize different social patterns or trends, but we generally don't throw out the ideal that we are all equal.
I also noticed no one said step-father. Maybe the next generation will have fewer divorces? :)
Wow! I would have never guessed that the the surgeon was his mother. I guess that shows that the barrier division of men and women effect me. I think it also effects our society because looking at Tony's comment, I see that a lot of my team mates could not figure out the answer either. But I am glade that there is evidence with the 5th graders that these social barriers are diminishing between male and female division!
It's nice to see so many people admitting to having been fooled. I was, although that was a long time ago. Surgery is a particularly male-heavy specialty within medicine with a reputation for a jock-like macho culture, but I'd like to think that the cumulative effect of TV shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy (where an unrealistically high % of the doctors are women and racial minorities) would get me out of that subconscious box.
Good point, Mr. Silton. I guess that we do have the media to thank in part for some of our progressive ideas. Perhaps all of those picture-perfect magazine ads and commercials which include a mixture of people of all different races - one African-American, one Caucasian, one Hispanic - have actually done our society some good.
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