You just can't blame the 'that girls'
Sarah Fitz
Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: Opinions
You know her. She sits in the second row, right side. She could have been another anonymous Smithie in one of your classes. But she's not. She's not just a peer, she's not just a classmate. You will never ask to borrow her notes, you will never actually listen to what she says without snickering in your head.
That girl.
Every class has one. Study of women and gender classes have an average of four. She raises her hand at every question. She joins every discussion. She has an opinion on everything, and she has no inkling that every time she speaks, her classmates die a little inside.
"That girl" is a not just a Smith phenomenon. She is an archetype produced by the American education system, a product of educational gender bias. You can resent her, but you can't blame her.
American K-12 public education has come under fire in the past decade as exceedingly gender biased. Teachers who claim to give equal attention to both sexes have been videotaped calling on boys more frequently. Single-sex education at the elementary school level has garnered both support and ire from feminists and more conservative families. Opponents liken it to pre-Brown v. Board of Education "separate but equal" policies. Supporters claim that it gives young girls a better environment in which to learn, without having to compete with boys.
That is, of course, the central issue of single-sex education: competition. In her book Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap, Peggy Orenstein observes and interviews girls who are coming of age in two different coed middle schools. What she finds is that boys dominate the classroom: demanding attention at high volume, shouting out answers - whether or not they are correct - and generally disrupting the classroom. Meanwhile, their female classmates sit quietly, too fearful of answering incorrectly to volunteer answers, raising their hands and being ignored or overshadowed by their more vocal male peers.
That girl.
Every class has one. Study of women and gender classes have an average of four. She raises her hand at every question. She joins every discussion. She has an opinion on everything, and she has no inkling that every time she speaks, her classmates die a little inside.
"That girl" is a not just a Smith phenomenon. She is an archetype produced by the American education system, a product of educational gender bias. You can resent her, but you can't blame her.
American K-12 public education has come under fire in the past decade as exceedingly gender biased. Teachers who claim to give equal attention to both sexes have been videotaped calling on boys more frequently. Single-sex education at the elementary school level has garnered both support and ire from feminists and more conservative families. Opponents liken it to pre-Brown v. Board of Education "separate but equal" policies. Supporters claim that it gives young girls a better environment in which to learn, without having to compete with boys.
That is, of course, the central issue of single-sex education: competition. In her book Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap, Peggy Orenstein observes and interviews girls who are coming of age in two different coed middle schools. What she finds is that boys dominate the classroom: demanding attention at high volume, shouting out answers - whether or not they are correct - and generally disrupting the classroom. Meanwhile, their female classmates sit quietly, too fearful of answering incorrectly to volunteer answers, raising their hands and being ignored or overshadowed by their more vocal male peers.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Katherine
posted 3/11/10 @ 12:14 PM EST
I frequently contribute to class discussions, as I have done prior to college. It's condescending to assume that the women who are active (and have always been active) in their classroom environments are only that way because they are the passive products of a system that forces them to speak up a lot so they can "catch up" with boys. (Continued…)
Ilana
posted 3/15/10 @ 6:44 PM EST
I agree with Katherine, but just too add:
D) No one else did the reading.
Sam
posted 3/16/10 @ 1:46 AM EST
this is quite a compelling article.
i never did know how to react to that girl and was always fearful of being that girl. maybe bc i didnt want others to think of me as " that girl " but for what reasons? i cant really articulate but when i try , i realize that it is because i am too nervous and shy to share my opinion of being wrong. (Continued…)
Same
posted 3/17/10 @ 4:15 PM EST
How is this different?
http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2009/10/01/Opinions/Were-All.that.Girl.A.Plea.For.Sympathy-3788671. (Continued…)
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