Understanding Gender Roles in Wendy Luttrell's School-Smart and Mother-Wise
"I had went so far I just got tired. I had got to the place where I didn't care if I learned anything or not" (59). This quote expresses quite plainly but strongly what many of the women in Wendy Luttrell's School-Smart and Mother-Wise felt in regards to their educational experience. Though Lilly put the thought into words, any number of these women probably had the same feelings concerning their school-age years. This paper will focus on Chapter 5 from that book, "Storied Selves and School Mission". I believe that many of the strongly established gender roles we have in society today are predominantly socialized and implanted in the impressionable minds of youth in school. Through examples from the book, as well as my own personal anecdotes, this paper will examine how schools institutionalize these gender roles; how this affects the self-concept that students (especially female students) have; and what we, as a society, have learned from this.
Luttrell's study consisted of interviewing working class women who had decided to return back to school in their middle-aged years. She conducted the study with two groups, one from rural North Carolina, and one from urban Philadelphia. While there were many differences in the two groups' sentiments on many aspects of school, not one of the women she interviewed said they felt comfortable in school. Many of the women attributed this to class differences between them and their teachers, and these class differences very often involved geographic distinctions. For the Philadelphia women, it was an "suburban-urban" (55) issue, and for the women from North Carolina it was an "urban-rural" (55) issue. These c...
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...implement. In my opinion, gender stratification in society-at-large is the issue at hand, not the mirroring of that in the school system. But, ultimately, the discussion of gender stratification in society, or the reflection of that stratification in the schools is a chicken or egg question. I think that an entire overhaul of the school system and curricula is necessary to help the schools emerge from the 1960's (which was the last time much of the curricula was seriously revised, including my high school in Baton Rouge) and into the 21st century. This rethinking would take out hidden assumptions about gender and place boys and girls on a more even footing in an academic setting. This egalitarian classroom would then be translated into the society-at-large and we would finally become a society in which gender equality is not only talked about, but actually exists.
This coursework focuses on how each character contributes to the suicide of a poor girl Eva Smith/Daisy Renton.
J. B. Priestly was born in 1894 in Bradford and he died on the 14th of
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley In the introduction of Act One, we are given a few brief details about
Susan Faludi unfolds a world of male domination and its interrelationships within its confines and places women in the center of her story. Indeed it truly took an extremely self-confident woman to even entertain the idea of entering an all-male academic college like the Citadel, whose front gate practically reads like that of a young boys fort that makes the bold statement, “No girls allowed they have coodies.” Shannon Falkner was a strong willed woman with an immense amount of confidence to completely omit her gender on the Citadel application to enter this college. As if gender was not an issue, or should have never been an issue in
Eric Birling seems to be a lively young man who likes his drink. He is
one – and so long as he does that he won’t come to much harm. But the
worked for him and asked for a pay rise and was fired from her job by
or two, or a few German officers have too much to drink and begin to
J.B. Priestley's Inspector Calls. An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley is set in an industrial city. Brymley in 1912, just before the First World War. The Inspector's dealings with the Birling family cause some of the characters in the play to re-evaluate their position in society, whilst others remain.
chose not to write in this way because he wanted to give a view of...
The expectations held by a society define the roles of its members. While many factors influence the parts individuals play in their cultures and communities, education has always been the crucial element in the establishment of social roles. Education was the catalyst which changed women's roles in society from what they were in the late 1800s to what they are now.
make him a better writer, and he felt that he 'must spend at least the
It is not a big secret that America’s quality of education is sub-par. According the article, “US 17th In Global Education Ranking; Finland, South Korea Claim Top Spots” by Amrutha Gayathri, it’s obvious from the title alone that the United States is falling behind. Without change, the United States will continue to be behind in education. An issue that currently plagues the American education system is gender bias. Gender bias in schools has been addressed in laws, but it still persists in American schools, such as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the U.S. code Title 42, Chapter 21 regarding Civil Rights. Both laws attempt to discourage gender bias through the illegality of gender discrimination. Title IX addresses bias in federally funded educational and athletic programs in schools and colleges within the United States. Title 42, Chapter 21 of the U.S. Code prohibits discrimination based on gender, age, race, religion, and other characteristics within a number of settings, including education. Despite these laws, gender bias is still prevalent within American schools. A proposed solution to gender bias is gender segregated classrooms, which has proven to be a popular alternative to co-ed classrooms. Leonard Sax, author of “Six Degrees of Separation: What Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences,” is a leading proponent of single-sex schools. Single-sex schools are not without critics though. Jaclyn Zubrzycki’s article, “Single-Gender Schools Scrutinized,” claims that single-sex environments “are not inherently beneficial for boys or most girls.” When considering both Zubrycki’s and Sax’s findings, it would seem that the ideal solution to liberate the American education system of gender...
As a graduate of the Grier School, an all girls boarding school, one constantly gets inquiries about the nature of her education. It begins with a gesture of respect to gauge how she will react to the questions everyone yearns to know the answer to. The most common question Grier graduates hear is, “what is it like to go to school without boys?” Graduates hastily defend their alma mater with praise and insight about its empowering and positive atmosphere. Most graduates do not mention boys in their answers. They rephrase the question to the one that no one asks: “What is it like to go to school with all girls?” Most people do not realize the significance in changing two words of a question until they are the ones answering. Grier’s education is not about excluding males; it is about an education. Yet, the question remains centered around the patriarchal dimension of society that insists women cannot function the same without the presence of men. Grier’s teaching of feminism was not from a textbook or class; it came from series of realizations from shared experiences.
All people deserve the right of education equality no matter gender, race or financial income. According to the daily star, by 2015 only seventy percent of countries will have achieved equality between the sexes in primary education and fifty six percent will have achieved equality in lower secondary education. Education equality is one of the main problems in school systems.