According to the World Bank, 50.4 percent of the United States population is female, and eighty-five percent of the total population says they believe in equality for women.
Ever since the beginning of civilization, women have been discriminated against in one way or another. From the kitchen as our only employment opportunity to being able to work, but earning wages significantly lower than that of our male counterparts, it is clear that the issue of sexism won’t be disappearing anytime soon.
As our efforts to solve the problem as women often come across as needy or attention-seeking, we are left wondering what our next possible solution is. Why aren’t we educating the up-and-coming generations of the avid gender inequality that resides in the world they are growing into? A great question, naturally, but one that leaves an unclear answer.
Think about the answer like a quiz or a game, with only one question. True or false? Integrating concepts of feminism into education within the United States will decrease gender inequality in future society.
Notably, there are plenty of aspects, not only in our country, but the world, that hinder the progress of the feminist movement, but one shines through as being one of the most underrated disturbances. Single-sex schools promote regressive notions of sex difference.
With these notions, we are brought back to a state of practically prehistoric ideals of sexism, and because most single-sex schools are privately owned, there’s nothing in a single, or even group of, feminist’s power that can be done. At least, not easily.
Most all-female academies believe they are promoting progress for women in the workplace upon graduation, but in reality, all-female academies reflect a general commitment to traditional gender roles, leaving the public sphere available to only men. It is an upsetting counter-action that these schools are unintentionally performing, but it isn’t an uncommon occurrence to happen within the private sector. Kaminer states that co-ed schools are detrimental to female self-esteem, but cites this “fact” through popular feminist opinion.
Separating girls as a way to prepare them for the real world, a co-ed world, is ineffective and disappointing at best.
As private academies aren’t funded through a state or federal primary level, they have the ability to make decisions on their own, making the closure of these patriarchal businesses unlikely and nearly impossible. One case in which this fact was reversed is UNITED STATES v. VIRGINIA, which is a trial during which the United States filed a lawsuit against Virginia Military Institute for their extremely sexist admissions policies.
Up until the trial, VMI has never allowed women into their school. It was a tradition of sorts, and had been that way since the institute’s founding. The leaders of the school believed that there was no way for their curriculum to change, and that women would only destroy the school’s base infrastructure. At the trial’s close, the true conceptualization of the feminist movement shined through. The United States won the lawsuit, and VMI could never again refuse a woman’s application based on her gender.
Through the trials that feminism has endured simply on the feat of single-sex schooling, it is abundantly clear that integrating its concepts into co-ed schooling would change the tune of gender inequality. Incorporating feminist education in the U.S. would require a revamp of the entire education system. Whether or not we are willing to do this...that’s questionable.
Miraculously, another major problem we face as a society is the materials we use, and what movements they support. Classroom materials, such as our textbooks, support the patriarchy in more ways than one. High school textbooks include information that supports the patriarchy, such as the poorly written history of women’s rights. Of course, there's an entire era where women's rights were a sole focus, but the information is often one-sided and flawed.
The pressure to change sexist textbooks results in a need for funding of feminist concepts that is practically non-existent in the status quo. This funding is not only fiscal but also mental. We have an implicit bias as humans to believe what the status quo does, and that can be incredibly detrimental.
However, it is safe to say that the change is sometimes made, and it is given the highest of remarks. Textbook companies are often praised for re-writing textbooks to support the feminist movement, and often for putting “a feminist slant on things.” It is important that teaching students feminist concepts come from a place they already know well, like history. Reducing implicit bias and integrating feminism into curriculum will reduce gender inequality, as seen at a high school viewpoint.
Alternatively, one of the most interesting aspects of the feminist movement is that it promotes a new direction of education, not only in the classroom but also in the community. There are waves of feminism, the first beginning back in the late 1800’s, the second wave establishing in the 1970’s, and the third wave evolving in the 2000’s. Second wave feminism hasn’t worked in sub-Saharan Africa or modern Palestine, and research says it hasn’t worked for the current generation of young women in western societies, either.
Third wave feminism hasn’t quite hit the mainstream, therefore estimating its effects is irrational. In order to implement proper conceptualization of feminist ideas, students must first learn to read insights through one another about individual beliefs in the classroom. We can best promote proper conceptualization with the promotion of abstract individualism. Once we teach students how to be themselves, we can easily teach them how to protect each other's tranquility.
Promoting an individualized approach to education creates a new direction, therefore bettering our education system as a whole through feminist concepts.
Furthermore, advocating for feminism promotes equality in the community as well as in the workplace. Moss and Richter have found that feminism draws on academics concerning aspects of future work environments, and proves to have very different results in individual classrooms.
Feminism within academics involved a series of evolving ideas, desires for the future, and academic practices involving gender inequality in the workplace and in public. In order for these ideas to be implanted correctly in the students’ brains, a sacrifice has to be made in other sections of education. For example, we can teach feminism through textbooks, but we have to be willing to show the harsh reality that is historic for women. This often comes across as flawed, however, which is why many efforts to teach feminism in all levels of education fail.
Feminist ideas are unfortunately decontextualized often while trying to address aspects of inequality that are less visible in the power structures of high education.
Essentially, classrooms are patriarchal environments, encompassing issues of dress code especially. Teaching students the ways of feminism and becoming less strict upon the women in the room actually promotes equality in the long run. Once girls realize that the rules they had in school aren’t reflected in the real world, the community will become more accepting of abstract individualism and remove their implicit bias in the workplace, as well.
Overall, encouraging equality in the future society in the aspects of community and the workplace is most definitely decreasing gender inequality.
To get back to the point, let’s think back to that first question, the one that defined this research. True or false? The answer is neither. At least, not in the United States. We live in such a biased, patriarchal society, that we can’t really tell if these concepts will be successful. Like most programs that we implement into education, such as Common Core, the feminist movement may work for some people, but it is impossible to estimate the amount. As much as I would love to say that this movement would be beneficial to my generation and those that are upcoming, I can’t.
Integrating concepts of feminism into education MIGHT decrease gender inequality. Definitively? We don’t know, but the research shows that our patriarchy is coming closer to an end, and as a society, so much more is being learned in the community than it is in the classroom, and really, teaching our students isn’t harming us whatsoever.
If we integrate concepts of feminism into education, we may not eliminate gender inequality, but we are eliminating the state of being oblivious to the harsh reality that is our patriarchal society.
