Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/education/23single.html?_r=1
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Single-Sex Education in Schools
Growing up in a single-sex education system in elementary school, I found this article to be really interesting. It suggests that these institutions are responsible for reinforcing sex and gender stereotypes, especially in an age when gender roles are shifting and transforming.
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ReplyDeleteI don't this article is entirely correct. Having also gone to a single sex high school (which also had elementary education), I think that rather than reinforcing the gender stereotypes, the isolation of sexes, especially during adolescence, dismantles them. In my experience, going to school with 500 other girls allowed us to live, work and play in a supportive environment without some of the teenage pressures that are associated with boys and appearance. The large population of girls of all shape and sizes and all unique skill sets demonstrated to me that there really was not set occupation for women. Despite this, there were in some respect limitations that did suggest set gender roles. For example there were elective classes in choir, cooking and sewing. However there were none in metal work, weight lifting or mechanics, which our fellow boys schools had.
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