Biting My Lip

I've been put to work "grading" students' compositions today. Actually, today is no different from any other day at the salt mine, but the sodium I'm digging holes in is of an interesting theme this Monday.

My seniors have to finish this sentence:

I am FOR/AGAINST having "women-only" cars on late-night trains because...

One boy wrote:

I am FOR having "women-only" cars on late-night trains because I want to make "men-only" cars too because women's perfume makes me uncomfortable because it is too strong. I hate their clothes which tempt men and their loud voices. So, I don't want to take the tube with women.

Ahhh... a little misogynist in the making.

Another student wrote:

I am AGAINST having "women-only" cars because other cars will be crowded. I think there are few women who go home after 11pm. Therefore, I suggest we should make a car which is reserved for drunken people instead.

Gotta love the logic.

Here's one more:

I am AGAINST having "women-only" cars because if women don't want to be involved in danger, they should go home before 11pm. And, I suggest that the train companies should be more careful about crime on trains.

Like I said, I'm biting my lip.

Basically the debate breaks down to this: Women are being molested on crowded subway trains, so companies have started running "women-only" cars at peak hours. This writing exercise exists to help them practice essay writing.

You'd be surprised how many of my students wrote that because of equality, we shouldn't have segregated cars for men and women. I'm having a hard time not adding that this society OBVIOUSLY isn't equal when women (more often than men, but it does happen to men too) are being targeted by perverts on trains to the bottom of their papers in red, red (a.k.a. meaning WRONG) pen.

And I'll leave you with a composition that gets a big, fat gold star from Dawn-sensei:

I am FOR having "women-only" cars on late-night trains because many women have been touched inappropriately on crowded trains. I think having "women-only" cars is an effective idea. We can save many women. People who touch women's bodies are men. So, men will have few chanced to touch women's bodies by separating women and men. However, I think that it is better to have "women-only" cars not only after 11pm, but also during rush hour and in the day time.