Gone are days when boys are made of "snips and snails and puppy dog tails" and girls are made of "sugar and spice and everything nice"... or are they? Children are barraged with messages about gender norms everywhere they go - their homes, their schools, the media, and more. Do you know what hidden lessons they are learning? How does gender affect everything from boys struggling in school to girls dropping out of the STEM pipeline, from sexual harassment to anti-gay bullying, from eating disorders to plastic surgery? How do parents, guardians, teachers, and schools provide safe environments for positive self esteem, healthy identity development, and acceptance of differences?
1. Multicultural Teaching Institute
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
Seattle Girls’ School
What Boys and Girls Are Made Of:
Gender in the Classroom
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
3. Agenda
• Gender Differences
• Gender Bias
• Gender Paradigm
• Impacts of the Gender Binary
• When the Binary Doesn’t Work
• Implications for the Classroom
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7. What Many of Us Were Taught
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Born with Male Parts
Calls Himself a Man
Displays Masculinity
Is Attracted to
Women
Man Woman
Born with Female
Parts
Calls Herself a
Woman
Displays Femininity
Is Attracted to Men
Boys Will Be Boys
A Man’s Man
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
Macho Men
Girls Will Be Girls
Woman’s Domain
Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
The Feminine Mystique
Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
14. Implications for the Classroom
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• Disproportionate
disciplining of girls,
particularly girls of color,
for direct aggression
• Dropping out of STEM as
content becomes
advanced
• Concentration on
perfection and external
approval
• Tendency for attempting
high achievement for
everythingRosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
15. Boys and Gender Bias
Where Does it Lead?
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16. Central Message for Boys
Do Not Be Weak.
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Be so, and you will be likened to
a girl or you will be called gay.
17. The “Tough Guy” in Conflict
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18. The “Tough Guy” in the Workplace and the Home
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20. Implications for the Classroom
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• Disproportionate
identification of boys,
particularly POC boys, for
learning disability
• Slower development of
verbal and written skills
• Earlier disaffection with
school
• Tendency for specialization
rather than well
roundedness
• Lower social-emotional
skills
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21. Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
When the Binary Doesn’t Work
22. Implications for the Classroom
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• Gendered language
• Gender exclusive peer
groups
• Gendered grouping
• Gender stereotyped
activities
• Disbelief or non-
accommodation from
peers and educators
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23. What Can We Do?
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24. What Can We Do for All?
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• Help them develop strong interaction/social skills.
• Respect and nurture their true selves.
• Teach “norm”, “normal”, and “good”.
• Show them diverse role models.
• Teach about gender diversity.
• Share your stories.
• Model the way.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
25. Presenter Information
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
6th Faculty and
Professional Outreach
Seattle Girls’ School
2706 S Jackson Street
Seattle WA 98144
(206) 805-6562
rlee@seattlegirlsschool.org
http://tiny.cc/rosettalee
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
26. Gender Resources
• JoAnn Deak, Ph.D., Girls Will Be Girls: Raising
Confident and Courageous Daughters, How Girls
Thrive
• Jackson Katz, Tough Guise, Wrestling with Manhood,
The Macho Paradox
• John Medina, Talaris Research Institute, various
studies on early gender differences in competition and
play
• Mary Pipher, Ph.D., Reviving Ophelia: Saving the
Selves of Adolescent Girls
• Rachel Simmons, Odd Girl Out, Odd Girl Speaks Out,
Curse of the Good Girl
• Michael Thompson, Raising Cain, Speaking of Boys,
It’s a Boy!
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
27. Gender and Sexuality Diversity Resources
• Jennifer Bryan
• Gender Odyssey
• Gender Spectrum
• GLSEN
• Northwest Network
• Put This On the Map
• Safe Schools Coalition
• Social Justice Handbook Guide to Gender
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