Schoolgirls
Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap
Introduction
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Peggy Orenstein, feminist and journalist wanted to find out more about
females after she read the American Association of University Women’s
report (AAUW) survey, Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America.
The AAUW survey- the most extensive national survey on gender and
self-esteem ever conducted.
It revealed, “Girls’ Self-Esteem Is Lost on the Way to Adolescence.” –
The New York Times (As cited in Ornstein, xv)
Judy Logan’s class: 6th graders at Everett Middle School in San Francisco
Girls internalized the limitations of gender.
Orenstein, with the support of the AAUW conducted a project in
California.
Synopsis
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Ornstein’s, School Girls is broken down into three parts. The first two are the two schools she
decided to conduct her project in and the third part takes her back to where her gender journey had
started: Judy Logan’s class.
Ornstein occupied the schools for the 1992-1993 school year where she spent four days a week with
the girls she selected.
Criteria for choosing schools: Racial and economic diversity & the willingness of administrators,
teachers, and students to participate.
○ Part I- Weston Middle School
○ Part II- Audubon Middle School
○ Part III- Everett Middle School (Judy Logan’s class)
Ornstein says Logan’s class is one that has gone through the gender looking glass. It is the mirror
opposite of most classrooms that girls will enter.
“Educator Emily Style has written that the curriculum should be both a window and a mirror for
students, that they should be able to look into others’ worlds, but also see the experiences of their
own race, gender, and class reflected in what they learn” (As cited in Ornstein, 248).
The Focus of Schoolgirls
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Schoolgirls demonstrates the catastrophic effects of low selfesteem that girls experience from the beginning of adolescence
Coupled with widespread sexual harassment from male students and
a lack of concern from teachers and administration, as well as
general rigid societal standards of femininity, school becomes a
toxic environment for many girls
This leads to coping mechanisms such as disengagement with
school, eating disorders, or being prematurely forced into sexual
situations
Orenstein argues the presence of a hidden curriculum which
teaches girls to be passive, self-doubting, and low-achieving
Disparities based on race and socioeconomic class (Weston vs.
Audubon) exist, such as assertiveness or willingness to rebuke
sexual harassment, but many commonalities are present
Examples: Becca Holbrook from Weston, April Welch & Marta Herrera from Audubon
What Are We Advocating? For Who?
Goals:
Targets:
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Preteen and adolescent girls (11-18 years
old)
Girls of all races, ethnicities, and
socioeconomic classes
●Encouraging equality among genders during
classroom discussions (i.e. teachers not giving
male students who “call out” attention)
●Giving more assistance to girls who are
academically struggling but not disruptive in class
●Ending the culture of tolerance surrounding
sexual harassment
●Fostering greater visibility of women across all
subjects (history, science, etc.) to combat highly
male-centric curriculums
●Overall, fostering greater senses of selfconfidence and self-efficacy in adolescent girls
Group Activity
In the introduction, Ms. Logan does an
exercise with her class which inspired this
group activity…
●Take a minute to close your eyes and imagine that you were
born a member of the opposite sex.
●Afterwards, make a list of everything that would have been
different for you growing up based on this one change.
●Reflect on each item you wrote and categorize it as either
beneficial or restrictive to your life.
●Take a look -- are there more “positive” changes or “negative”
ones? How does this relate to the gender roles described in
Schoolgirls?
Personal Takeaways
● Mrs. Logan used the results from her activity to show that being a girl
comes with restrictions, while being a boy comes with freedom
● Differences in girls’ behaviors
o More reserved and nervous to make a mistake
o Negative body images from lack of attention or experience of
conflicted messages
o Take comments very personally
o Internalize their failures
o Grade retention is directly related to
dropping out
Future Suggestions
● McIntosh Curriculum (p 258)
● Eleanor Roosevelt Teaching Fellowship program
● Support for women
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YWCA Support Group at Audubon by Jessica Reyes (p 213)
Stress the importance of body image
Teach about consent
Equality is a good thing; not a loss
● Classroom Adjustments
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Wait a few seconds before calling on students with their hands raised
See students as individuals
Use female names as examples in math problems
Citations
● Orenstein, Peggy. Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-esteem, and the
Confidence Gap. New York: Doubleday, 1994.