Bibliographic Project #3

Tina C. Vermillion

Working Bibliography

Brown, Joanne and Nancy St. Clair. Declarations of Independence: Empowered Girls in Young

Adult Literature, 1990-2001. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2002.

Gibbons, Sheila. “Teen Magazines Send Girls All the Wrong Messages.” WeNews

Commentator 29 October 2003. 29 October 2003 <womensenewstoday@womensenews.org>.

Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1982.

Kleinfeld, Judith. “Why Smart People Believe That Schools Shortchange Girls: What You See

When You Live in a Tail.” Gender Issues 16.1-2 (1998): 74 par. Online. InfoTrac

Web: Expanded Academic ASAP. 9 Oct. 2003.

Martin, Barbara N. and Saundra Newcomer. “A Descriptive Study of Gender Equity in Rural

Secondary Classroom Situations.” Rural Educator 23.3 (2002): 37-45.

Modern Library. 2003. 27 October 2003

<http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html>.

Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. New York: Putnam,

1994.

Sadker, Myra and David Sadker. Teachers, Schools, and Society. New York: Random, 1988.

Shaw, Jenny. Education, Gender and Anxiety. Bristol: Taylor and Francis, 1995.

Weis, Lois and Michelle, eds. Beyond Silenced Voices: Class, Race, and Gender in United

States Schools. New York: State U of New York P, 1993.

Young, Josephine Peyton. “Displaying Practices of Masculinity: Critical Literacy and Social

Contexts.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 45.1 (2001): 67 par. Online.

InfoTrac Web: Expanded Academic ASAP. 9 Oct. 2003.

Annotation #1
Martin, Barbara N. and Saundra Newcomer. “A Descriptive Study of Gender Equity in Rural

Secondary Classroom Situations.” Rural Educator 23.3 (2002): 37-45.

Thesis, Assumptions, and Argument: Gender bias still exists in classrooms. “The attitudes and prejudices of the school simply reflect the attitudes and prejudices of the larger society” (37). The authors talk about research that was conducted by the Sadkers and Shmurak and Ratliff that showed bias toward males. Of the studies few have been done in rural classrooms, so Martin and Newcomer conducted a study themselves. They looked at interactions between teacher and student, materials, classroom settings, and general classroom language. They asked questions: 1) What are the specific teacher behaviors in the classroom, including: a) do teachers give more attention, negative or positive or both, to one gender? & b) do teacher expectations differ because of student gender? 2) Do male and female students receive equal opportunities for participation? 3) Do instructional materials used daily in the classrooms adhere to guidelines for gender equity? Student sample was 90 female and 81 male. Classrooms were variety of disciplines and grades were freshman to senior. Teachers were 7 females and 4 males. Martin and Newcomer’s conclusions: what students and teachers perceived was happening in the classroom regarding student/teacher interactions were not what were always observed. Teachers called on male students more often while giving praise more frequently to female students in the same classroom. Majority of higher thinking skill questions were given to male students. While the actual teacher/student interactions were overwhelmingly male dominated through being called upon or being asked higher thinking skill questions, this was not the perception of the students or the teachers. Teachers were unaware of the biased behaviors they exhibited to students in the classroom. Also there was more vocal female participation in classrooms where there were many more female students than male. It appears that teachers are attempting to create gender-equal classes as represented through texts and other materials. “In order for students of today to be ready for the twenty-first century, all students must be given equal educational opportunities. This means gender equity must become the norm in classrooms rather than the exception.” Attitudes and actions of the classroom teachers are reflected not only in classroom behaviors but also in selected textbooks, supplementary materials including videos, posters, tapes, etc. and even in the assignments given” (37). This is a good sign: “English and social studies teachers were more concerned with gender equity than were math and science teachers” (37).

Evidence: Martin is a professor in the dept. of educational admin. At SW Missouri State University. Newcomer is Superintendent of Macks Creek Public Schools MO. Research comes from direct observations and surveys.

Assessment and Usefulness: I can use their research results to address the classroom biases today as compared to research of 10 years ago by Sadkers & AAUW report. Things seem to be improving but teachers still seem to be unaware of gender inequities in their classrooms.

Annotation #2
Kleinfeld, Judith. “Why Smart People Believe That Schools Shortchange Girls: What You See

When You Live in a Tail.” Gender Issues 16.1-2 (1998): 74 par. Online. InfoTrac

Web: Expanded Academic ASAP. 9 Oct. 2003.

Thesis, Assumptions, and Argument: Kleinfeld believes that research findings done by the Sadkers and the AAUW reports that schools shortchange girls are not representative of schools as a whole. Their findings came at the “far right hand tail of the normal curve” (par. 10). The schools were a select sample. Through her own research she learns that:

- females receive higher grades than males in virtually every subject from grade school thru college

- females are less likely than males to be labeled as learning disabled, emotionally impaired, or mentally retarded and sent to special ed. Classes

- On standardized tests females surpass males in writing abilities and reading comprehension.

- A greater proportion of women compared to men enter college and earn bachelor’s and masters degrees

She says that the claim that boys dominate classroom discussions is the “backbone of the charge that schools shortchange girls” (par 73). She says studies of classroom interaction show mixed and inconsistent findings that suggest gender patterns are variable and depend on the subject and situation (par 73). “Whether males or females talk more in the classroom, as any teacher knows from experience, depends a great deal on the specifics of the subject, situation, and personalities in the particular class” (par. 61). So what is the subject? If girls cannot relate to it then they may not be participating. Kleinfeld says “Those concerned with the question of whether adolescent females experience a dramatic decline in self-esteem in comparison to adolescent males and the basis of this decline do not argue that he central issues concern girls’ performance in school. They emphasize other issues, such as young girls’ perceptions about the acceptable role of women in the adult world or girls’ efforts to reach unattainable ideals of female beauty” (par. 76). Where do they get these ideas? Can’t school be a breeding ground for such ideas?

Evidence: Kleinfeld is a professor of psychology at University of Alaska. She has a lot of written sources, but she didn’t do any observational studies herself. She says the Sadkers research report had vanished; David Sadker said he didn’t have a copy himself.

Assessment and Usefulness: This report goes against earlier research. I’m not sure what I want to do with it. Kleinfeld seems to focus on grades but not on gender equity as far as student-teacher interaction, curriculum or self-esteem issues which are issues I’m concerned about. I can refute her statement that self-esteem issues are not a part of school.

Annotation #3
Young, Josephine Peyton. “Displaying Practices of Masculinity: Critical Literacy and Social

Contexts.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 45.1 (2001): 67 par. Online.

InfoTrac Web: Expanded Academic ASAP. 9 Oct. 2003.

Thesis, Assumptions, and Argument: Young explores the effect that social contexts and power relations have on how boys display and practice masculinity as they participate in literacy activities. “Critical literacy refers to an awareness that the language of texts and the reader’s responses to it are not neutral, but are shaped by social contexts and our experience as people of particular races, ethnicities, genders and social classes” (qtd. par. 9). In Young’s study critical literacy was used to help 4 boys (ages 10-13) become aware of how texts portray gender identities and inequities in stereotypical ways (par. 10). Her activities and discussion questions were to help boys see how the authors’ language and graphics produced certain meanings of gender. Example: looked at two sports articles, one about male, one about female and compare the nouns and verbs used to describe each. They noticed verbs for male were much more active than female one (par. 11). What Young learned was, “As the boys participated in critical literacy activities and discussions, they became aware of how language is used to inscribe practices of masculinities in written and spoken texts and how their constructions of masculinity influenced their interpretations of texts” (par. 13). Young also offers suggestion on how she could have guided the boys to think more critically about gender. She should have shown them how to socially critique gender practices; they may have been more apt to overcome social contexts and critically examine the texts (par. 59). She could have asked more specific questions to guide exploration of how texts construct gendered identities and inequities. Also could look not only at female magazines but general magazines like Time, National Geographic or Life. She suggests incorporating more written responses into critical literacy activities. That way may be less inhibited to say what really feel (in front of other boys). She gives good ending advice: “Critical literacy that asks boys and young men to explore and critique hegemonic practices of masculinity is particularly important, especially during adolescence, as boys are working hard to become men” (par 67). “Even though it is hard and uncomfortable, we must continue to question and challenge existing practices of gender in order for gender equity to ever exist. It is only through disruption, not comfort, that social transformation can occur” (par. 67).

Evidence: Young did this study as part of her doctoral research. The four boys dropped out of public school and participated in an 18-week home schooling educational project that incorporated critical literacy activities into their language arts and social studies curriculum. Young’s evidence comes from her own experience and study.

Assessment and Usefulness: Young’s ideas of critical literacy activities may be good for teachers to incorporate into the classroom. We cannot forget about the boys in the classroom either. We must let them become aware of gender inequities in literature as well so they can participate as more active members of society in creating a gender equitable environment. “What boys learn about gender from texts is potentially damaging to them because it grows out of (and helps create) unequal power relations” (par. 5).

Annotation #4
Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. New York: Putnam,

1994.

Thesis, Assumptions, and Argument: This book is Pipher’s attempt to understand her experiences in therapy with adolescent girls. She questions why so many girls are in therapy in the 1990s. How can we encourage girls to be independent and autonomous while keeping them safe? Problems she sees adolescent girls having: suicidal, eating disorders, cutting themselves, and running away from home (12). “Their problems are complicated and metaphorical – eating disorders, school phobias, and self-inflicted injuries” (20). She asks if the women’s movement has helped to which she responds, “yes and no” (12). Women today are doing many things their mothers never dreamed of. “But girls today are much more oppressed. They are coming of age in a more dangerous, sexualized and media-saturated culture. They face incredible pressures to be beautiful and sophisticated, which in junior high means using chemicals and being sexual” (12). She says, “America today limits girls’ development, truncates their wholeness and leaves many of them traumatized” (12). Pipher asks what we can do to help these girls: “We can change our culture. We can work together to build a culture that is less complicated and more nurturing, less violent and sexualized and more growth-producing. Our daughters deserve a society in which all their gifts can be developed and appreciated” (13). What happens to girls? “In early adolescence studies show that girls’ IQ scores drop and their math and science scores plummet. They lose their resiliency and optimism and become less curious and inclined to take risks. They lose their assertive, energetic and ‘tomboyish’ personalities and become more deferential, self-critical and depressed. They report great unhappiness with their own bodies” (19). Pipher says such writers as Sylvia Plath, Margaret Atwood and Olive Schreiner have described such scenarios. Pipher uses the story of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet that shows the forces that affect young women. As a girl Ophelia is happy and free but in adolescence she loses herself. She lives for the approval of Hamlet and her father. She is torn by her efforts to please both men. When she is spurned by Hamlet b/c she obeys her father, she goes mad with grief and kills herself. Simone de Beauvoir “believed adolescence is when girls realize that men have the power and that their only power comes from consenting to become submissive adored objects” (21). “Adolescent girls experience a conflict between their autonomous selves and their need to be feminine, between their status as human beings and their vocation as females” (22). Pipher cites 3 factors that make young women vulnerable to their culture. 1) Their developmental level – everything is changing, body and mind. 2) They move into a broader culture that is full of sexism, capitalism and lookism “the evaluation of a person solely on the basis of appearance” (23). 3) Girls are expected to distance themselves from parents and turn to peers for support. The way girls handle problems of adolescence can last into adulthood: “Without some help, the loss of wholeness, self-confidence and self-direction can last well into adulthood” (25). Women are back in junior high “with cliques, the shame, the embarrassment about bodies, the desire to be accepted and the doubts about ability” (25). Pressures that girls face continue to intensify: more divorced families, chemical addictions, casual sex and violence against women. In media women are “increasingly sexualized and objectified”. Sexual and physical assaults on girls at high point (28).

Evidence: Pipher gathers her information from first hand experience in her therapy with adolescent girls. She also has an adolescent daughter. She speaks at high schools after which many girls will come to her about their problems or friends’ problems (21). She teaches at a small liberal arts college and learns from the experiences of her female students.

Assessment and Usefulness: This information is very useful to may paper in that it gives the background information to what adolescent girls are going through during their middle and high school years. We as teachers can recognize these problems and try to do what we can to help girls feel better about themselves. Through literature, girls can connect to strong female heroines. They can feel more confident in themselves through critical thinking and talking about literature. They can feel equal to boys, not oppressed, in their inclusion in classroom environment. If girls are turning from their parents, what can we as teachers give students to turn to? Hopefully we can provide an environment where they can grow their minds and their selves together.

Annotation #5
Gibbons, Sheila. “Teen Magazines Send Girls All the Wrong Messages.” WeNews

Commentator 29 October 2003: 18 par. Online. Available: womensenewstoday@womensenews.org. 29 October 2003.

Thesis, Assumptions, and Argument: Teen magazines send messages to girls about being beautiful, attracting men, becoming popular, and “being simultaneously irresistible and virginal” (Gibbons par.2). “These magazines have little to say to girls about the value of academic achievement, civic engagement or intellectual challenges. It’s fair to say that the brain is not the ‘hot’ organ at the center of teen magazine content” (Gibbons 5). Joan Brumberg says “the body has become the central personal project of American girls” (qtd. Gibbons par. 6). “Today many young girls worry about the contours of their body […] because they believe the body is the ultimate expression of the self” (par. 6). Author Rose Kundanis says “Magazines have the strongest relationship to eating disorders” (qtd. Gibbons par 7). Meenakshi Gigi Durham a researcher on teen media use among middle-school girls says “All the girls I have talked to have expressed some dissatisfaction with their bodies and many of them have resorted to extreme measures such as starvation” (qtd. Gibbons par. 16).

Evidence: Gibbons is editor of Media Report to Women journal of news, research and commentary about women and media. She seems to have done quite a bit of research by looking through lots of teen magazines and exploring what other researchers and specialists have learned.

Usefulness: If girls are reading magazines then these are the wrong messages they are receiving. If we as teachers can bring in literature that shows them the right messages hopefully we can try to change the negative images they have of themselves. Also we can teach them to challenge literature of all varieties to discern how the media portrays women.