By: Gillian Ladd
Photo by Yustinus Tjiuwanda on Unsplash
It is difficult to ignore the stereotypes that still exist within the education system. From an early age, it has been proven that teachers stereotype boys and girls based on their gender-based attributes. I have personally seen it happen time and time again inside the classroom. For example, a teacher may ask the class, “I need a strong boy to help move that table,” or “I need a girl to help pass out the homework.” By doing this, the teacher slowly starts establishing the idea that women are somehow more agreeable and submissive. However, alongside these gender-based stereotypes, women face many other situations specific only to their gender inside the classroom. Here are a few of them that women struggle with every day:
Clothing
It has always been a struggle to find school appropriate clothes, especially for young women in middle school and high school. Dress codes are being made to exclude women from wearing certain things. Rules such as having “no shoulders visible” or “no ripped jeans” should not impact another student’s education. I wish that more emphasis was placed on how gendered these rules have become and why they do not benefit anyone.
Going to the bathroom
This is also an issue that mainly affects young girls in middle school and high school. If it is that time of the month, many women have to use the restroom in order to take care of themselves. But when you must ask a teacher’s permission to use the restroom, you may be denied the ability to perform a normal human function that everyone can agree is essential. Personally, I never understood the school system’s reasoning behind this. It is not humane, nor is it fair to women who have no control over their bodily functions.
Pregnancy/Parenthood
For many women, dealing with a pregnancy or a child is a very difficult undertaking. But when schools and work schedules are not accepting of these personal issues, some women must struggle to carry on their normal everyday tasks. With pregnancy, there comes morning sickness, back pains, headaches, cramps, etc. In motherhood, having a child requires lots of one's time and love. It’s hard to expect mothers to be able to just drop everything when their child needs them the most.
In these ways, it shocks me every single day to learn about how women are being mistreated in the classroom. By continuing these discriminatory judgments, the education system slowly starts establishing the falsehood that women are somehow inferior to men. Therefore, we all need to do our part to break this cycle and start supporting an equal education for everyone, regardless of gender.