talking points #9 on Orenstein

Premise:

• gender
• equity
• teaching
• sexual harassment
• hidden curriculum
• dominant sex
• sexist
• stereotypes
• school

Argument:

Orenstein argues that men are the dominant sex and the curriculum in school only focus on men as heroes. Orenstein believes that that the curriculum should accommodate both males and females because women are are people too. Also she says that boys are resistant to studying women. Finally she argues that kids learns from the hidden curriculum and it teaches girls how to act.

Evidence:

1. "It disturbed me that although girls were willing to see men as heroes, none of those boys could see women that way." This shows how boys are resistant to studying girls.
2. "Because I include women, I'm seen as extreme. If I took those lessons out and concentrated only as men's experience for a whole year that would be normal." This shows how men are the dominant culture and to focus a class on women is extreme.
3. "She began requiring two reports,, one from the perspective of a man and one presented as a woman. This goes along with her argument saying that the curriculum should accommodate boys and girls.

Questions/comments/points to share:

I really liked this article because it was different than anything we read this semester. The teacher in this article is great and I love the way she teaches. For a project she makes every student do two reports; one from the perspective of a man and one presented as a woman. The reason I think that she is great because she is treating the boys and the girls equitable. The boys in her class thinks she is sexist, but she is not at all. We live in a male dominated culture and when Ms. Logan teaches about women being equitable to men people think that she is sexist.

Ms. Logan then talks about the hidden curriculum. I really liked this because no teacher wants to admit that there is a hidden curriculum. The reasons the boys in this article chose men as their heroes is because of the hidden curriculum. Like Ms. Logan says the hidden curriculum tells girls how to act and what not to do, to avoid being sexually harassed. I think what Ms. Logan is saying towards the end of the article is that the hidden curriculum oppresses women. It tells them how to act so they are not a threat to the men. I think that Ms. Logan is great and she has made me think much more highly of women.