FREE ESSAY ON SCHOOL GIRLS

SCHOOL GIRLS

In the book School Girls by Peggy Orenstein, the focus is on young adolescent girls in
middle school, and the effects that the "Hidden Curriculum" and other elements have on
their self esteem. "Hidden Curriculum teaches girls to value silence and compliance."
(pg.35) The hidden curriculum is a theory that boys often get more attention than girls
in the classroom, and that even if it is negative attention, the girls learn that they
are not as important, and they eventually give up hope, and stop speaking out in class. 
"Educators reward assertiveness and aggression over docility, the very behavior that is
prized in girls becomes and obstacle to their success."(p.36) This means that while girls
are acting the way a teacher would like them to, the boys that are more aggressive get
the attention, and the girls lose their self-esteem. "Charles L. Richman found that high
achieving white girls in particular are subject to unrealistic standards of success. When
they fall short, they overgeneralized failures with an intense self-punitiveness; by late
adolescence, their self-esteem has spiraled downward." (Pg.38)
The focus of sexual harassment is a big one as well. Girls are not taught about sex and
contraceptives, and therefore know nothing about their sexual selves. "We consciously
infuse girls with a sense of shame." (p.57) If we do not teach girls about their bodies,
and teach them to be assertive, than sexual harassment will occur. "As much as girls
repress desire, they embrace desirability." (p.62)