Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice: Sexism

Education is the key to success in life. This is a statement we’ve heard many times over, and maybe even espoused a few times ourselves. While there is much truth to education’s critical role, we must take a more broad view that encompasses the role equity has in achieving that success. The barrier to that equity I chose to address is sexism. Sue (2010) describes this issue poignantly, writing “sexism is still confused with nature, because anything that affects males is seen as males is still seen as more serious that things affecting women, because women are still raised mainly by women, and because there is still not right way to be a woman in public power without being considered using negative stereotypes” (p. 161). In achieving equity, I would rather see women treated as equals, provided the respect and afforded the opportunity to speak for themselves without judgement or assumptions based on the “needs” of their gender as if we cannot sustain ourselves on our own.

Often sexism comes across as a difference in expectations and a manner of speaking. For instance, at a gathering last winter of fellow college alumni and their families my husband and I were sitting with a good friend and his father. The topic of discussion ranged from sports to politics to religion. At one point, our friend’s father turned to me and apologized. He said, “I’m sorry, you are probably bored. How are your kids doing? How are your parents?” I had interjected in the conversation my thoughts on the topics discussed, and had thought I was part of the group, but apparently had been ignored by this man. He insinuated the only topics I could legitimately discuss were caring for family members, as if my education, work, and life experience was not worthy of sharing in this group of men. Notably, each of us sitting at the table had achieved the same level of education (a master’s degree) and were all working in professional roles. Additionally, no one thought to ask my husband how the kids and our parents may be doing. While this incident stands out because of how blatant this man’s bias showed, there are daily microaggressions based on sexism and gender stereotyping across our school building.

I most often notice the consequences of my own experiences in how I interact with my own personal children, but those. My son has been explicitly taught the role of a woman is not inferior in the household, and I often correct his speaking when gender stereotypes he has learned from dominant culture arise. Also, my daughter has a passion for proving people wrong that stems from my husband and my challenging her to understand she is equal to her brother in worthiness and respectability. After staying home with these two children while they were babies, I have heard the gamut of belittling comments made toward women who are not working, so it is important to me to challenge those inequities wherever they happen.

In the classroom, children are influenced by our teaching, but much more by our actions and the culture we create. Children are always observing, using those observations and interactions to form theories as they develop their social identity as well as potential biases (Pelo, 2008). It is therefore essential to confront sexism in the classroom and throughout the curriculum as both boys and girls have a chance to affirm or challenge the to which they have already be socialized. For instance, last year we were reading about an animal, and that animal did an amazing trick. There were students who immediately, and unconsciously described the animal as a boy. In another instance we were making predictions about a story where a child was looking for her toy. When I asked who they thought they may see helping the child clean the room, students responded overwhelmingly with “the mother”. These are opportunities that are common in our classroom, but can easily be glossed over in the name of sticking to a schedule or because of a lack of awareness. The consequences of the teacher moving on in the lesson, though, is a normalization of the stereotype. When bias is represented and not confronted, it becomes the normal way of thinking (Derman Sparks and Edwards, 2010). Alternatively, the consequences in my classroom meant we paused our lesson to confront our bias right away. I guided the students through a series of discussion questions:

·         Why did the animal have to be male? What made you think the animal was a boy?

·         Describe how you would feel if the animal was a girl.

·         Why did you predict the mother was cleaning? Who else may be helping the child, and why?

A few basic questions do no completely derail the overall comprehension lesson, but allow children to expand their thinking and challenge assumptions. The irony in the first situation was that later in the text I referred to the animal (a toad) as a boy, which prompted shouting out across the classroom correcting my mistake. It is vital, then, to also show the students that while I work through -isms in my own life, I make mistakes, and that they have power and worth to challenge their teacher to also be more aware of bias. My own experiences with sexism have shaped my work with children and their families to bring about more awareness and empowerment in the are of gender within my classroom.

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Pelo, A. (Ed.). (2008). Rethinking early childhood education. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.

Sue, D. W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. New York, NY: Wiley