While the educational system is designed to present young people with opportunities, encourage their intellectual abilities and prepare them for the real world, it seems as though there is a hidden curriculum that inhibits their growth as confident human beings and leads to a lack of self-esteem. There is a sort of irony about the education system. The indirect lessons of life and of self seem to be more powerful and more real than the direct teachings in the classroom. These underlying messages can shape an individual’s sense of self from a very young age.
The hidden curriculum at Weston Middle School teaches students that “power is disproportionately conferred by gender” (136). Teachers promote more assertive behaviour in boys and overall, boys receive the majority of the teacher’s attention. Since they recognize that their conduct is tolerated, boys more readily speak out in class. In Mrs. Richter’s math class, girls occasionally answer questions, but these questions tend to be the easiest and lowest-risk ones. The girls who do act out and use disruption as a tool for attention are not rewarded the same as boys. Although the boys intimidate other students with their aggressive mannerisms, Mrs. Richter does not acknowledge the problem. The students at Weston believe that while the teachers tend to pay more attention to the boys, they actually like girls better (36). However, the fact that teachers seem to reward the aggressive and assertive behaviour of the boys proves that the behaviour that is admired in girls actually impedes their success.
Amy, one of the girls under examination at Weston in Schoolgirls, made a mistake when answering a question aloud in class. When asked about the mistake and the embarrassment it caused her she answers, “That’s about the only time I ever talked in there. I’ll never do that again” (11). Another girl, Evie, admits, “I feel stupid…I hate when teachers correct you” (12). While speaking out in class gives repeated fortification of a student’s right to be heard and to take risks, the girls at Weston seem to silence themselves. The underlying teachings at Weston teach the girls to value silence and compliance as a virtue (36). Girls who can resist gender-role stereotypes in classrooms are more likely to resist them elsewhere more effectively (xxi). Participating in classroom discussions gives students the opportunity to boost self-esteem through being commended by the teacher and recognized by their peers. One principle of education is to learn from your mistakes; to see failure as an instructive tool rather than an obstruction. However, the girls at Weston, like Amy and Evie, see their mistakes in a different light; their small faults in the classroom confirm their own sense of failure and thus, the girls withdraw themselves further. Today, girls still fall into traditional patterns of low self-image, self-doubt and self-censorship of their full potential as human beings (xx).
Achieving perfectionism is a prominent goal among girls at Weston illustrating that white girls are subject to unrealistic standards of success (38). Similarly to Amy and Evie, another girl, Lindsay, equates her small failures with low self-worth. Lindsay is subject to the pressure of succeeding at home shown when her mom asks, “Why didn’t you get an A?” (40). The criticisms Lindsay faces, small as they may seem, are magnified for her and hurt deeply. Lindsay is subject to how society treats individuals based on gender not only at school but also at home. She does not understand why her parents treat her and her brother differently or why different expectations are put on boys and girls. She cannot comprehend why the behaviour that would shame her is rewarded to her brother. One possible reason may be explained by the underlying influences within the home. Lindsay’s family depicts classic gender roles: her mother, Alice, is a homemaker and her father, Larry, is the primary bread-winner of the family. Her mother has her own ideas for Lindsay’s future that seem to fall along traditional gender lines (44). Although she is pressured to achieve high standards, Lindsay is also taught to minimize her success. The pressures she receives from two important aspects of her life, her family and her school, eventually overwhelm her and she begins to experience anxiety attacks.
Sexuality is an increasingly important aspect of a woman’s being. As girls enter adolescence, they are awakened to their own sexual desire. The ‘schoolgirls’ at Weston, Lindsay, Amy, Becca and Evie in particular, point out the ‘sluts’ at Weston. They are the opposite of what they consider ‘schoolgirls’ in the sense that they are not perfect and pure and innocent, rather they are girls who have expressed their sexuality and given in to their ‘sinful’ urges. For this, they are deemed the ‘fallen-girls’ (51). Evie shames herself for even contemplating having sex with her boyfriend who dumps her for refusing. This is a typical case at Weston of male aggression and female defence whereby there is a fixation on intercourse as the only means of sexual expression for males. Since these ‘fallen-girls’ are looked down upon, girls learn to suppress their sexual desire and convert their desires to feelings of disgust. At Weston, the double-standard is well-known: sex “ruins” girls but “enhances” boys (57). As Orenstein points out, it is unfortunate that these girls do not learn that there are ways other than intercourse in which they can satisfy their curiosity and express themselves sexually. At Weston, the community decides what the kids learn in sexual education classes. The discussion of contraceptive use is forbidden until grade ten under the rationale that such conversation might trigger desire.
Appearance has measured a women’s worth throughout history. Young women today are being bombarded with conflicting messages relating body-image to self-image. Society connects thinness with “success, self-control, strength, masculinity” and fat with “failure, sloth, and weakness” (94). Just as the girls suppress their sexual desires, they restrain from the pleasures of indulging in food. A study in Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America as noted by Orenstein, revealed that “the way I look” was the single most important determinant of self-worth for white middle school girls (94). This is true for the girls at Weston. Lindsay, Becca and Evie engage in a casual conversation about their eating habits, or lack thereof. “It’s not mine. I don’t eat.” “I’m kind of anorexic.” “I was anorexic last year.” “I ate breakfast…it was the first time this year.” (98). These phrases are among the nonchalant chit-chat between the girls who very obviously did not understand the implications and consequences of their eating disorders.
The prevalence of sexual harassment in schools is an issue that has not received much attention in the past. The occurrence of sexual harassment “reminds us that boys learn at a very young age to see girls as less capable and less worthy of respect” (116). As Orenstein concluded, middle-class and affluent girls tend to believe sexual harassment is unavoidable. It emphasizes their beliefs that they are identified by their bodies and confirms that they must control their sexuality. It also leads the girls to confirm their belief that boys’ sexuality is uncontrollable (117). Those boys who sexually harassed the girls at Weston were the same boys who interrupted the teacher, belittled girls and demanded the most attention in the most aggressive ways in the classroom (121).
Audubon Middle School is an urban school attended by kids whose parents cannot afford to buy them an education. The kids are a mix of predominantly African American, Latino, Asian or Filipino who live in poor neighbourhoods or public housing projects. The students have some of the lowest test scores in the city (135-136). At Audubon, the hidden curriculum in the classroom does not teach students that power is awarded by gender, but that power will not be awarded at all. Instead the hidden curriculum at Audubon teaches kids that “their minds and their potential are not worth as much as others” (132). The science teacher, Ms. Raynes, never finishes a complete lesson. She frequently reminds the students that she will not “spoon-feed” them and refers to the class as “the stupidest class” she has ever seen (141). The students are told they are stupid, treated as if they are incapable of learning and being taught, are awarded no respect, and then are held responsible for their behaviour (143). As a punishment for the class’ behaviour, Ms. Raynes cancels all experiments for the year thus denying them the opportunity and the right to learn (143).
While Audubon’s hidden curriculum is based more on class than on gender, sexual harassment remains an issue at the school and is often accompanied by violence. Unlike at Weston, the teachers at Audubon do not even try to monitor the sexual harassment that goes on. It is an issue that is at the bottom of the list of importance since “hunger and poverty” are more of a pressing issue (150). The inappropriate behaviour is more mutual at Audubon; it is practised by both sexes. However, the girls heckle the boys with the same terms projected to humiliate themselves such as ‘bitch’ and ‘ho’. When the harassment evolves into assault, the school finally steps in. Boys push the limit since they believe that they can get away with such behaviour. The hidden curriculum had taught them that (153).
The gap in standardized test scores is greater between the affluent and the poor than between low-income boys and girls. Regardless of race, low-income students rarely score at advanced levels in reading or math while high-income students rarely fall below basic skill levels. Low-income families are also more likely than middle-class peers to repeat a grade or drop-out (144). Girls are more likely to attend school than boys at Audubon on a regular basis and tend to get higher grades. Similar patterns of aggressive interaction occur between boys and teachers in class. In classes where the level of learning is not great, gender politics favour girls. However, in classes where the real learning, knowledge and power are, the boys take over. While girls achieve higher grades than boys in middle school, they lose this advantage in high school and boys surpass them (144). Girls with a healthy self-esteem have a real sense of their potential and competence and value themselves as individuals. They believe they have the right to be heard, the right to take up space in the world and a right to express human emotions (xxiii).
Black girls have higher overall self-esteem than white girls, Orenstein notes as concluded in Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America (159). They are twice as likely to be “happy with the way I am” than girls of other groups and report feeling they are “pretty good at a lot of things” at close to the same rate as white boys (xxi). At Audubon, LaRhonda’s pride evolves from “getting respect” and believes that she is no less valuable and no less human than anyone else (158). Unlike the Weston girls, LaRhonda faces the challenges on not only devaluation of being a woman, but also of being black and furthermore, has the stress of putting her family’s needs ahead of her own goals. She maintains a strong sense of personal a familial importance and feels that her loyalty lies at home, in taking care of her mother and her siblings. Although she is very bright and very capable of succeeding, school becomes less and less important to her since it is an obstacle to her survival and to the well-being of her family.
April, a young African American girl, is one of the girls Orenstein refers to in her book as ‘unteachable’ (175). April is very eager to learn. She frequently participates in class and makes several attempts to be heard. Unlike the quiet, embarrassed and silenced girls at Weston, April has an attitude which parallels that of Weston boys (180). At Audubon, African American girls are more likely to participate in class than Latinas or whites. Although these girls instigate contact with their teachers than white girls, they are habitually denied attention and tend to receive less of it than boys. Unlike the Weston girls, April sees the potential for self-improvement in her small failures (180), so she continues to participate whether or not she is sure of herself. To a teacher, April, who is failing and far behind her peers in ability, is “just a distraction” (187).
At Audubon, Latina girls like Marta are the girls who are disregarded the most. They are exposed and in danger of joining a gang and they are twice as likely to become teenage mothers as white girls (199). Latina girls have neither the self-esteem of the black girls nor the educational prospects of the white girls. Due to the lack of self-esteem, Latinas are less likely than other girls to speak out in class. They have a poor self-image as well as a negative body image and thus, endure high levels of emotional stress, insecurity, depression, and anxiety (199). Sexual abuse and violence are prevalent among gangs and low-income urban girls like Marta are susceptible to gang membership. Marta, contemplating whether or not to join a gang and then which one to join, is searching for the friendship and fulfillment she does not receive at home or at school (210). Initiation into the gangs often requires sequential sex with a group of men and brutal violence towards the new member. Since “hardly anyone in the gang finishes school”, Marta accepts the fact that she, too, will not graduate if she joins the gang (213). While the counselling at Audubon tries to reach out and inform Marta of the dangers and consequences of joining a gang, there is really not much they can do after she joins.
It is really disheartening to read these stories about the different experiences of young girls at school. These girls are not empowered to put their own self-interests ahead of anyone else. They feel obliged to take care of their families, obsess about their body-image, satisfy their boyfriends sexually, succeed above all else, be nice before anything else, silence themselves, bear the burden of family problems, suppress their pain, take control over their bodies, and live up to societies pressures to be the ‘perfect’ woman. It is extremely difficult for the girls at Audubon to succeed due to the lack of guidance, support and attention received both at home and at school. Even when they do try, their efforts are futile. This is the most upsetting to me because they do not have the means or the encouragement to succeed like the Weston girls do. Although the girls at Weston are subject to the pressures and hardships endured by women in society, at home and at school, they are lucky to be receiving a decent education and to have parents that seem to care about their futures. While I can identify most with the Weston girls, as we had similar upbringings, I am mostly troubled by the Audubon girls because they are seen as a lost cause. It is most disturbing since they did not choose to be born into a low-class household on the brink of poverty. This division of class and race seems to be the more unfair to young girls than division by gender. While there are many struggles that girls face in light of gender politics, it is possible for the girls to breakthrough the stereotype and be successful. Although I may be biased (since I believe that I was subject to the same gender politics as the Weston girls), I believe I am a strong, confident, successful woman today because of my upbringing, my experiences and interactions in school and because of the pressures and stereotypes put on me. How can you grow as an individual, become stronger, push your limits, gain confidence, build self-esteem and challenge yourself if you are not subject to obstacles in life?