Empowering
Girls To Become Leaders
By Jill
Jenkins
Recently
in an interview on PBS, Melinda Gates discussed her new book, The
Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. I began to wonder how teachers
and school disillusion girls about their potential and how schools might change
to empower women to become leaders.
I was born in the mid ‘50’s when women were limited to being a mother, a
secretary, a nurse or a teacher.
In my lower social economic neighborhood, few women became nurses or
teachers. My grandmother, who
raised 6 children of her own, 2 of her sisters and 2 younger brothers, ran a
chicken farm and thought her daughters were courageous for learning to
drive. My mother, a no nonsense,
stay at home mother raised her five children and was surrogate mother to half
the neighborhood, most of my cousins and a good many of her friends children. I am not saying that what women did in
the past wasn’t important, but that women should have more options. We’ve come a long way, but we still
make it difficult for most girls to reach their full potential.
What
social norms are holding girls back?
First, the biological reality those girls get pregnant. Hampered by the responsibility of
children prevents many girls from completing their education and pursuing
careers that might help them meet their full potential. Second, the mythology
that women’s sole purpose is to tantalize men’s fantasy and/or provide maternal
support (clean, cook, nurture).
These views are often reflected in speech, both joking and abusive. Third, girls suffer from the lack of
opportunity and the low expectation that girls should pursue those
opportunities.
The Biological Reality: Keep them barefoot and pregnant
Girls and boys are
equally sexually promiscuous; however, the reality is girls who find themselves
impregnated suffer a more lasting impact on their life. Regardless of whether
the girl marries young, raises the child out of wedlock or has an abortion,
there are lasting social and emotional consequences. Often the girl marries early and becomes financially responsible
for the child, thus ending any educational opportunities she have pursued. The boy might decide to take
responsibility or be legally forced to accept only financial responsibility and
he may or may not have his future educational opportunities impacted. or as my
grandmother used to warn, Therefore, it is paramount that girls learn the risk of
early sexual activity and the opportunities that might be jeopardized . Early sex education classes can help
girls understand the decisions they make in their youth can negatively impact
them the rest of their lives. They
need to understand the methods to avoid catastrophe and they price they pay if
they do not. Keeping girls “barefoot
and pregnant” is another method society limits the opportunities for girls.
The Myth That Women Should Tantalize Men or Care for Families
For centuries men have characterized women
in two categories: sexual objects or caregivers. These two roles have served to
hold women down and empowered men to mistreat women both for following their
roles and for rejecting their roles.
These views are alluded to in men’s jokes and their speech. For example, one particularly heinous
joke depicts women as lacking intelligence and justifies physical abuse:
·
“What do you call a woman with two black eyes? A
slow learner.”
The disparaging,
lewd comments made by then candidate Donald Trump reduces women to sexual
objects:
·
“I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they
let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
Other common
remarks like:
·
“Don’t worry your little head, your husband will
take care of everything”
degrades women’s ability to think and do
for themselves. Worse yet are the examples of verbal violence and physical
violence against girls by boys who try to control the thoughts and behavior of
their counterparts. I have watch
boys unhook a girl’s bra in a classroom.
I have watched boys line up along the bottom of a staircase to catch a
peak up a girl’s skirt. I have
seen boys use cell phone cameras to snap a shot up a girl’s dress. All of these
behaviors objectify women. Girls
need to be reminded that they are so much more than a man’s plaything. They need to develop a sense of
self-respect and worth. They need
to be reminded that they are smart, capable people who need to take control of
their own bodies, their own financial life and their own future. Without the belief that they are
capable, intellectual, human beings, unscrupulous individuals are more likely
to victimize them. Plus teachers
need to be proactive to stop the sexual harassment (both verbal and physical)
in their schools and classrooms.
The Importance of High Expectation and Opportunities
For girls to
succeed, schools must have high expectations that these girls can succeed at
difficult academic classes and activities. They must provide a variety of different learning
opportunities where the girls can experience successful experiences. I once knew a math teacher who used to
seat her classes in the order that they performed on her last test: highest
scores in the front of the room and lowest scores in the back of the room. Not surprisingly, students in the back
of room rarely moved forward.
Besides having communicated her expectation to these students, students
sitting in the back of the room are less likely to pay attention or get the
teacher’s attention they need. Not
all students learn in the same way, so it is important to communicate that all
students are expected to be successful.
In Conclusion
Limiting
over half of our populations ability to achieve significantly limits our
ability to solve the difficult problems our world faces. We need everyone. Providing successful, challenging learning
experiences in a safe, accepting environment is a big start. Helping girls understand how the
decisions they make in their adolescence will affect them the rest of their
life is key to their advancement.