Quote:
Originally Posted by Billfred
This is pretty much what it boils down to. 4901 has huggers, and 4901 has anti-huggers. It doesn't break down along gender lines, and I imagine we aren't alone there. Was this some concerted plot by Dean/Woodie/Don? Probably not--I'd bet a dollar that it didn't even cross their minds at the ceremony. Nothing crazy, nobody died, but I do agree with OP that "handshake or high-five unless the kid makes a move for a hug" should be in the notes for next year.
Part of inspiring young minds is to make it clear that all the young minds are welcome. Some people really don't get down with hugs, or clothespin games, or face painting, or tomatoes, or whatever. If the kid goes for a hug, we've got empirical evidence that Dean/Woodie/Don are okay with hugs too. But it probably shouldn't be the default greeting they go for unless the kid makes the first move.
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emphasis mine.
You make a couple of great points. Inspiration, at least in the context of FIRST, requires us to be welcoming of people of all genders, races, etc. However, there's a line between sexism and social construct. In all likelihood, nobody on that stage meant their hugs or handshakes to be sexist. They meant them to congratulate these outstanding students.
When you see someone you're about to shake hands with/high five/hug/whatever, you can tell what they're going to go for, and although you could go with whatever greeting is politically correct, it's going to be unnatural, sort of like the "high five/fist bump" moment that I'm sure many of us have experienced. If I were up there, I'd rather be focused on the students I'm congratulating for being awesome, not thinking "is it okay to hug this person?" If they want a handshake, I'll give them a handshake. If they want a hug, I'll give them a hug.