Inequality Essay
Throughout my Intro to Education course we have been reading, discussing and
observing the effects of inequality based mostly upon socioeconomic status, race and
culture. Although these are important problems the American Education system needs to
address, I believe there are other important issues we fail to acknowledge such as gender
and sexuality. Gender and sexuality can be a complicated topic for many people to
understand yet it effects many young students and ultimately shapes their experiences in
and out of school. Sadly, many people in our society look down upon gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender people because their decisions are not considered “normal” but
who is to determine what “normal” actually means? Often, LGBT students see the effects
of inequality through the amount of abuse and neglect that generally determine how they
feel about themselves and the decisions they will continue to make for the rest of their
lives.
As I walked through Colts Neck High School on my first day as a student
observer I easily noticed a large school with plain white walls, mostly white students, flat
screen televisions and laptops. Walking down the hall I saw many blue lockers decorated
for sports players until I finally spotted one that looked more colorful then the rest. At
first glance this locker seemed to be decorated for a particular students birthday but as I
walked close I noticed rainbows, ponies and hurtful words such as “ Gay, Fag, Queer”
written in big black letters across a poster. I honestly could not believe my eyes and
understand why an administrator had not observed this vandalism to have it taken down
immediately. Eventually I walked into my first English class of the day that consisted of
Juniors and to no surprise the first things I heard was “ Did you see Student J’s locker? It
was hilarious someone covered it with rainbows and gay pride stickers”. Immediately I
knew there would be other students who observed these cruel, intentional bashing but I
did not think I would continue hearing about it throughout the day.
In “ What About the Boys” by Michael Kimmel, he discusses boys poor academic
behavior and performance in school. This explanation led me to believe that our society
already has issues stereotyping heterosexual males and females that are considered
“normal” which is why we cannot get past these issues in order to understand LGBT
people who do not live up our stereotypical men and women. Over time, our society has
gained a close perspective about what it means to me a male or female based on the way
they look and act. “In an important sense there is only one complete unblushing male in
America: a young, married, white, urban, northern, heterosexual, Protestant, father of a
college education…Any male who fails to qualify in any one of these ways is likely to
view himself—during moments—as unworthy, incomplete and inferior” (Kimmel, 2004).
These are the type of views that many Americans hold and sadly the men who do not live
up to these perceptions feel inferior and unequal. Our society can not even view both
genders equally, therefore breaking the barrier or inequality towards LGBT students will
be a difficult task and there is not a definite way to solve the issue.
Throughout my day at Colts Neck High School, I heard many students gossiping
about the locker I had passed in the morning displaying offensive terms about a
homosexual student. As I walked into the class I was observing third period I saw a tall
male student wearing a jacket displaying the words “ Cougar Dance Team” on the back.
After a few students said “ happy birthday” to Student J, I was quick to piece two and
two together. Whether or not Student J was actually a homosexual didn’t matter because
students obviously formed their own opinions about him. From my experience as a
cheerleader, many students are quick to judge males that participate in mostly female
sports especially cheerleading and dance due to the amount of sex appeal, happiness and
spirit involved. This observation and previous ones made me think about Kimmel’s
statement about what societies perception of a man includes. Just because Student J
displayed feminine features does not mean he deserves to be treated unequally based on
his own personal decisions and for other students to display his sexuality openly on his
locker was wrong on many levels.
In Lamme’s article, both authors describe how teachers can encourage acceptance
of LGBT students by acknowledging these issues and accepting their identity and
lifestyle choices. Although I agree that teachers should be accepting of all the students in
their classrooms, it doesn’t mean that the students will easily accept others who are seen
as “different.” Students with gay or lesbian parents also face discrimination themselves
which is why its important to stress the importance of acceptance and not focus on
tradition views of families, men and women. Even though I believe schools should
acknowledge LBGT issues especially because they can be damaging and traumatizing at
a young age, I don’t know if and when teaching these issues would be appropriate.
Putting emphasis and a spotlight on LGBT students many cause attention to students who
do not wish yet to be associated with a label and as we can see from the example from
our own university, students may never be mature enough to understand and accept
students who make different lifestyle choices then “ the norm”.
Education requires teaching and learning of real life issues and a clear
understanding of what students go through because it often reflects their experiences in
school. In my opinion we learn a lot about diversity and culture in school but are not
being taught enough about LGBT students until college. In Denizet- Lewis essay, he
explains that more students are beginning to come out at an earlier age such as middle
school, which is such an awkward time to begin with. In middle school I remember being
quick to pick up on popular sayings and trying to fit in with what everyone else is doing.
"By far the most common usage of the word 'gay' in middle schools is the expression
'that's so gay,' a popular adolescent phrase that means that something is dumb or lame"
(Denizet-Lewis 7). I can honestly say I am guilty of using that phrase especially in
middle school when I was not thinking of the impact of what I was saying. Never was I
trying to be offensive, but it wasn’t until I reached the age I am not that I became aware
of the meaning and how I was promoting inequality. These types of phrases are
detrimental to many students confidence and effects their friend and family relationships
because LGBT students become fearful of not being accepting. In another essay “ When
the gender Boxes don’t Fit”, Sokolower-Shain describes the effects that sexuality and
gender inequality have on a students social life. “Even without looking beyond high
school, it is clear how sharply gender divides and defines a student life” (pg. 34). Many
gender and sexuality distinctions are not discrete, and just because it is easy for me to
understand who I am doesn’t mean other students are not struggling to find their place in
the world. After our discussion about the gender wheel I was able to understand that it is
difficult for students to label them selves as gay or straight, male or female because there
is much more then that. These various sexualities define who a person and as a future
teacher it is important to keep an open mind, be sensitive and accept each and every
student in my class.