Are girls victims of gender bias in our nation's schools?

Women: We think we have come so far, but have we really?

A recent article I came across inspired me to address the issue of educational and intellectual difference between girls and boys in the school environment. Bnet, Business Network.com takes a closer look into this subject, revealing how males are usually favored in the school systems while females quickly become victims of gender bias. It seems that even three hundred years later women still struggle to be seen as equals to men in the classroom. In the 1700’s the home was essentially the classroom for girls, learning skills to accommodate their domestic lives, while boys received a top-notch education. (Sadker & Sadker 1) Although we have made an incredible amount of progress, girls can now attend school (with boys!), the intelligence and potential of the female population is often overlooked.

Since teachers are the adults that spend the most time with children (apart from their parents) their opinions and actions affect students greatly. When a teacher disregards a female student, her self-esteem is lowered. This will eventually lead to the inevitable: body image. In more cases than none, girls in high school end up focusing more on their physical appearance than on their minds. (AAUW 2) This shift of focus is seen by authority figures and girls’ academic schedules gradually become less rigorous, allowing for the boy population to enroll and excel in more math and science courses (is this why I’m always asking Corey for help in math analysis?). Girls are able to see this difference between the sexes and “are rewarded for their conformity to classroom rules by simply being ignored” (Sadker & Sadker 2) this undoubtedly effects the quality of their education.


As a high school senior, I can first hand see these shocking, upsetting trend s continuing. All (or the majority) of girls around me are too concerned with their body image and physical appearance. Their minds take the back burner and as a result, the males exceed. Although we may be victims of gender bias, focusing too much on our bodies is not helping our case, in fact, it is giving all girls in school systems a bad name. But, it’s not all our fault! Popular culture and the media have corrupted the teenage girl’s mind; endless models in magazines, stars on television, and in the movies very often appear to be underweight, “It has been estimated that as many as 66 percent of high school girls are engaged in dieting. The stress of dieting and appearance undoubtedly uses energy that is necessary for learning in school” (Pipher and Sadker & Sadker 3). So ladies, this is my message to you: stop focusing so much on appearances. Sure a hot body is nice to look at, but an empty head is useless.


Source:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCG/is_2_30/ai_105478982