1. CMS 498 – Final
Presentation
Chapter 8
-Education-
Chad Ward

2. The Composition of
Education
O Education consists of
“communicative practices that teach
students to perform gender”
O Education is, for the most part, an
institution that reinforces cultural
expectations of gender
O Education varies (though not far
from cultural norms) based on who
is teaching who, what is being
taught, how the lessons are being
delivered, and the underlying
reasons for those lessons being
imparted.
O “Communication in and about
education plays a central role in
creating and maintaining gender/sex
identities, relationships, and
inequalities.”

3. Education
- A Historically Gendered Institution -
O The British model for schooling,
which essentially focused on
ensuring wealthy White males were
prepared for roles in leadership
positions, was the starting point for
many industrialized (colonized)
nations public school systems.
O For a very long time, women and
non-whites were discouraged or
excluded from pursuing a ‘higher’
education.
O In the 1900s, the wealthiest White
women were ‘unbarred’ from
obtaining an advanced education –
but even this was closely regulated
as they were “discouraged from
taking courses in masculine
domains”

4. Biases in Education
O Even today, there are strong
biases permeating the world of
education as an institution.
O Biases found inherently(?) in
American culture cannot always
be effectively “checked at the
door,” and so biases are always
present – even if only
subconsciously. The ‘hidden
curriculum” remains present even
in the most self-consciously
gender-neutral organizations.
O The “hidden curriculum” is:
Educational practices that
implicitly assume a White, male,
middle-class standard for both
the knower and that which needs
to be known.

6. Biases continued…
• While it is difficult for our teachers to separate
themselves from the gender biases our culture is
permeated with, other aspects are equally affective
at imprinting gender roles
• Everything from the educational materials utilized
in our education system, to the curriculum set by our
government (essentially) has inherent gender biases
attached to them (probably circling back around to
the “hidden curriculum” discussed earlier.
• Even textbooks written in the last decade still have
gender stereotypes not unlike those textbooks
produced a century ago – with male characters
consistently acting traditionally ‘masculine,’ and
female characters portraying stereotypical female
traits (as cited in Defrancisco, 2007).
• Male characters are portrayed in a wider variety of
roles and careers [than female characters] (Gooden
& Gooden, 2001).

7. “Classic” Literature is “Modern”
Sexism?
O We see biases and gender roles in “classic” literature, and most
prominently in traditional fairy tales like Cinderella or Beauty and the
Beast
O Many other fairy tales offer excellent examples of the gender
stereotypes prevalent during the times in which the tales were first
penned – and even modern fairy tales still do not stray far from the
social norms that have been crafted around gender stereotypes.

8. Improvements are being
made…albeit slowly
• New, non-white less ‘negatively-gendered’fairy tales have
entered the mainstream to some degree, which shows a
significant improvement in our culture in terms of ‘our’
tolerance towards other ethnicities (and non-males) taking the
lead or breaking stereotypical boundaries.
• Textbooks, especially at the collegiate level, are recognizing
the issues of gender/ethnic biases, and are making
adjustments.
• Entire domains of study have opened up, including courses
like this, which address the issue of gender biases, especially
in terms of the communication that exists between genders,
and the roots of that communication.
• Literature has also seen improvements outside of the ‘fairy
tale’and textbook realms – as both fiction and non-fiction
books alike are now rapidly adapting to an open world where
characters are not limited to a specific gender or ethnicity (and
in fact any combination of the two is considered perfectly
acceptable for any procrastinator)
• Even our educators, and the curriculum utilized in the school
systems (from kindergarten to college), have recognized the
biases inherent in “the system,” and have taken steps to
alleviate these gender constraints.

9. Gender Wars
O “Gender Wars” have always been instigated by special interest groups in
order to (in my opinion) further alienate the genders from one another.
O Every study that suggests one gender is being treated differently than the
other, is either immediately countered by another study showing the
opposite to be true
O None of this gender-war rhetoric actually addresses the issue of an
inherently gender-biased culture, nor does it offer solutions in ‘leveling the
playing field,’ and in fact only serves to ‘beat the gender-bias drum.’
O The entire issue, much like the issues found in religious conflicts, ethnic
conflicts, sexual-orientation conflicts, is spelled out in labeling theory,
which suggests that “deviance is not inherent to an act, but instead
focuses on the tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or
those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms” (Crum, 2007).
O To summarize this last point – the reason why, in my opinion and according to
many strong theories, that there even exists a ‘thing’ as nonsensical as “gender
wars” is because people are so intent on labeling. Labeling breeds intolerance,
because it suggests that, once labeled, you are outside the cultural norm, and
are no longer non-labeled (AKA normal), and instead are something different.
Difference breeds resentment, fear, aversion, etc. Labeling creates
difference.

10. Gender Wars (Continued)
O Some are advocating for a segregated education system, though
separated by gender, rather then race. “The belief is that it will
help counter a multitude of social problems, including
underachievement, low self-esteem, teen pregnancy, and gang
violence” (DeFrancisco & Palczewski, 2007).
O Groups like the National Association for Single Sex Public
Education suggest that because men and women are “wired”
different – they learn differently, and are more apt in some
subjects while less-so in others. Therefore, because ‘our’ brains
work differently, we should be taught to suit our genders’ learning
style rather then be forced to take the ‘middle-road’ and have one
or both genders suffer.
O Clearly – there are issues with the above sentiment, as
transgendered students would clearly not fit into such a black &
white scenario. Also, there is no evidence (and in fact, there may
be evidence to the contrary) that single-sexed schools fair better
or are absolved from the social problems that the first paragraph
above notes. There currently are single-sex schools our there,
charter schools and the like, and I have yet to see a study that
highlights the benefits of such segregation.

11. Peer Pressure & BullyingO If ever there was an area where our
school systems, and entire education
system for that matter, truly fails – it is in
the realm of addressing the serious issues
of peer pressure, bullying, and sexual
harassment.
O Gender identities, which have already
been formed to a degree in the home and
in the early years of school, become
“conflated” in later school years – and
create animosity between those who do
not conform to the cultural ‘norms’
O “The estimated number of students who
experience bullying in a given school
year ranges from 20 to 30%”
O In one survey, fewer than 5% of the
victims of sexual harassment actually
reported it to police, reinforcing the
notion that peer-pressure causes many of
us to look the other way and not to ‘kick
up a fuss’when we see bullying or
sexual harassment – even when it we are
the victims

12. Key Points - Summary
O Gender identities are inherent in our
culture, and affect almost every aspect of
our lives – even in terms of our education,
how we are taught, what we are taught, etc.
O Our culture is gender-focused (and
ethnically focused). Labeling theory
suggests that this is because we enjoy
descriptors as a culture, and reinforce our
own belief systems by labeling anything
that lay outside of what we consider
normal.
O Education material, and in fact the entire
education system, is heavily biased –
favoring white males over females and all
other ethnicities.
O Bullying, sexual harassment, peer pressure,
and inequalities based on gender, ethnicity,
and economic status are a part of the trials
and tribulations of growing up, not only in
American culture from the macro-
perspective, but also microscopically as a
‘player’ in the education system.
O Improvements are being made on
almost every front that our education
system is being assaulted on. From the
materials utilized being more gender
and ethnically sensitive, to the
teachers and teaching methods being
employed acting more cautious
towards favoritism or biases.
O While certain issues, such as
harassment and bullying still being
quite difficult to address (especially
with communications technology
making it easier for harassment to go
unchecked), there is certainly more
‘awareness’surrounding these issues –
and progress is being made, albeit
slowly.
O Formal education is becoming more
widespread and is certainly more
welcoming to all genders and
ethnicities. Women have taken the
reigns in many fields, and while there
are still biases in the system, women
and ‘minorities’are quickly closing
the gap.