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Gender and Sexuality in the Classroom
An Educator's Guide
Marni Brown, Baker A. Rogers, Martha Caldwell
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eBook - ePub
Gender and Sexuality in the Classroom
An Educator's Guide
Marni Brown, Baker A. Rogers, Martha Caldwell
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About This Book
Create a more gender-inclusive climate in your classroom and school. This important book breaks down issues of gender and sexuality at the individual, interactional, and institutional level and shows how you can cultivate an atmosphere of acceptance and belonging for all students.
You'll learn key concepts and terms educators need to know to support students, how gender and sexuality identities develop and influence mental health, why we should take an intersectional approach with students, and the importance of creating psychological safety in the classroom. You'll also gain practical suggestions on how to disrupt unconscious bias, represent diverse voices, counteract microaggressions, use gender-neutral language and preferred pronouns, address gender bullying, provide safe zones, and craft inclusive school statements. Each chapter contains examples, anecdotes from teachers and students, best practices, and resources to help you along the way.
Appropriate for educators of all grade levels, this book's clear, helpful advice will help you ensure that your students feel visible, affirmed, and safe, so they can thrive in school and beyond.
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1 Individual Experiences of Gender and Sexuality
DOI: 10.4324/9781003125310-2
Source: fizkes
âAre you a boy or a girl?â Sam, a five-year-old student asks a fellow class member. Children usually ask questions about someoneâs gender identity out of genuine curiosity, and their questions can be answered directly and with helpful information. Such questions present teachable moments, opportunities to explain that there are more options than just âgirlâ or âboyâ for gender identities, and sometimes you canât tell how a person feels about their gender identity just by looking at them.
Why do people need to know what gender someone is? Why does it matter if your student feels like a boy instead of a girl, or if they feel like neither or both? On the surface, it doesnât, and they donât. However, as members of a society, we all know that âgender is one of the fundamental ways in which the social life of human beings is organizedâ (Blakemore, Berenbaum, and Liben 2012:1). So, even if at an individual level we feel that someoneâs sex, gender, or sexuality should not be the concern of other people, it still shapes our lives and remains an important aspect of social order and organization; therefore, it exerts a profound influence on all of us. As Blakemore et al. (2012:1) argue, âWorldwide there are few factors that influence the lives people lead from birth to death as much as the personâs sex or gender. Gender matters from the trivial to the most profound aspects of a human beingâs life.â The sex we are assigned at birth leads to assumptions about our gender and sexuality. After that, everything is affected.
Consider, the doctor completes an ultrasound and tells you, âItâs a girl!â Now, really all they know is that it looks like the fetus has a vagina, rather than a penis, but this doesnât stop all your friends from buying pink clothes and baby dolls, and in this way, sex is used to assign gender. The gender that is assigned will likely affect the name you choose, the toys the baby is given to play with, and the nursery dĂ©cor. Where do you even buy gender-neutral clothes or toys? Do they even exist? Typically, clothes labeled boy are the default and considered neutral and safe for âeitherâ gender, but in contemporary times, anything pink or purple is only for girls.
The influence of the sex you were assigned at birth continues into adulthood with research showing that once your daughter grows up, if she has a stereotypical womanâs name, rather than what is interpreted as a manâs name, then she will be much less likely to get a call back for an interview when she applies to jobs. If her name suggests that she is a Black woman, then the chances of a call back for a job interview are even lower. For instance, one study conducted by Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004) found that Brad (perceived to be a white manâs name) got a call back 15.9 percent of the times when he applied for a job. On the other hand, Aisha (perceived to be a Black womanâs name) who applied to the same jobs with the same qualifications only got a call back 2.2 percent of the times she applied for jobs (Fryer, Pager, and Spenkuch 2013).
With gender (and sexual identities) playing such an important role in our experiences and life chances it is important to understand how these identities develop over the life course. Furthermore, what should teachers know and do to encourage healthy development for their students? In the United States today, most children enter school or childcare at a young age. In 2016, only about 7 percent of dads and 27 percent of moms were stay-at-home parents (Pew Research Center 2018). This means that most children in the United States are cared for from an early age by someone outside their immediate family. Once children enter kindergarten, most of their care and socialization takes place within schools. Unfortunately, many children are subjected to constricted âgender learningâ from an early age.
Often this constricted gender learning is done implicitly and through hidden curriculum that teachers may not even be consciously aware of. As Ehrensaft (2016:221) explains:
As soon as a teacher asks all the girls to line up on the left side of the room and all the boys on the right, every child in the class has been taught an important gender lesson: there are only two choices, boy or girl, and you have to fit into one or the other, and itâs the teacherâs choice, not yours.
This teaches children that if they feel they do not fit in either of the expected lines, they are odd or different in some way. Dividing your class by gender is a microaggression against students who do not feel comfortable in the group they are assumed to fit into.
Many educators have found creative ways to avoid some of the microaggressions that surround the gender binary. Hennesey and Bloomberg (2020) call on educators to use gender-inclusive language, instead of addressing children as âboys and girlsâ because these binary categories exclude some children. Ehrensaft (2016) suggests an alternative method to dividing the class, everyone with birthdays from January to June in one line and everyone with birthdays from July to December in the other. Pastel et al. (2019) also suggest grouping students in ways that do not divide them along their identities such as âTurn to your elbow partnerâ or âEveryone with green on their clothes may head outside.â Of course, there are many other options as well, such as, everyone whose name starts with AâM on this side and everyone whose name starts with NâZ on this side. Besides providing learning exercises, these kinds of divisions do not ostracize children who do not âfitâ into binary gender categories.
As social scientists, we believe that society has a strong influence on gender and sexual identity development. Therefore, as mentioned in the introduction, we take a social constructionist perspective (Berger and Luckman 1966) in our thinking about gender and sexuality development. A social constructionist approach includes the way dominant forces, such as patriarchy and heteronormativity, provide meaning to social categories, including gender and sexuality. Through this lens, gender and sexuality encompass powerful roles and statuses in both society and culture. At the same time, what gender and sexuality mean and the value they hold can change over time. For example, we have seen the role of breadwinner move across genders; it is not just for men. Who qualifies to be a parent and caregiver has also shifted with the growth of LGBTQ families.
We also acknowledge that society is not the only driving force; there are biological and psychological components to the development of our various identities. To consider gender and sexuality as performed and influencing oneâs sense of being, we honor the significant role these categories have on everyday lives, and thus as people, we have the ability, and agency, to challenge or reinforce the current gender order in society.
Source: FatCamera
One excellent study that demonstrates the social construction of gender is Messnerâs (2000) study of childrenâs soccer. Messner demonstrates how parents, coaches, and children together construct stereotypical gender ideals within a space where gender could, or should, be irrelevant. As Blakemore et al. (2012:195) put it, âSocial constructionists remind us of how frequently gender is socially constructed when there is no compelling reason for it to be.â
Sex and Intersexuality
We briefly described the differences between sex, gender, and sexuality in the introduction. Now, we will explore these categories/identities further, before discussing why they matter in the classroom. Remember, sex is the biological characteristics (genitalia, hormones, chromosomes, gonads, and secondary sex characteristics) used to divide humans into categories, usually male and female. When a person is born with a body that does not fit neatly into one of these two categories, this is considered intersexuality.
There are over 40 variations of the human body that medical professionals consider to be intersexuality. Only a small percentage of these concern the external and visible genitalia; therefore, many intersex people do not know they are intersex until later in life. While about two percent of births in the United States are intersex babies, only a small percentage of these have visible genitals that a doctor may suggest needs unnecessary surgery (InterAct 2020). When an infantâs body does not âfitâ into one of the two socially constructed categories of sex, male or female, often doctors rush to surgery or other medical procedures to align the body with the definitions of one of the two sexes in our current binary system.
However, today, a growing and vocal group of intersex advocates are fighting for individualsâ rights to control their own bodies. They argue that to operate or induce medical treatment on infants when they are healthy and do not need the treatment is unethical and should be stopped immediately. Paradoxically, intersex people must fight not to have the surgeries they do not want, while trans people often must fight to have the surgeries they do want. As we will discuss shortly, not all trans people have or want surgery, but the point is that intersex people are operated on against their will and often without them even knowing or being informed. Many intersex people find out later in life that their parents, with the advice of medical professionals, chose to allow surgeries to be performed before they understood or had a right to object.
One interesting statistic to help you think about intersexuality is that there are more babies born with an intersex condition each year than are born with red hair. So, if you know someone who has red hair, chances are you also know someone who is intersex.
Source: Infographic by Alex J. Mack
Whatever the exact percentage of the population living with an intersex condition may be, you are likely teaching intersex students. They may know this, or they may not. They may know something is different about their bodies, or they may not. Either way, as equitable and inclusive educators, we should be sensitive to this topic and ensure that all our students feel safe and comfortable in our classrooms.
Gender Identity and Expression
Gender, as opposed to sex, refers to the distinct characteristics and social expectations society places on people, usually based on what their biological sex is assumed to be. Gender can be divided into at least two categories, gender identity and gender expression. Identity refers to how a person thinks about themselves. Do you think of yourself as a boy, a girl, a woman, a man, a trans person, a genderqueer person, a gender nonbinary person, or something else? Gender expression, sometimes thought of as performance, on the other hand, refers to how we demonstrate our gender to others. It is about how masculine, feminine, or androgynous we present ourselves. Gender expression can include clothes, makeup, accessories, and even how someone postures.
In your class, you may have students with a variety of gender identities, and their gender expressions may or may not align with their identities. Cisgender refers to people whose gender identity and performance align with the assumptions that have been made based on their assigned sex at birth. For example, if an infant is born with visibly male genitalia, then the doctor and parents usually assume that the infant is a male. Based on the sex category of male, society then makes several other assumptions, including the gender category of boy/masculine. We assume that males will grow up to be boys, then men, and that they will most likely be attracted to women when they are older. These are cisnormative and heteronormative assumptions. While most male children do grow up to be men and heterosexual, a lot of them do not.
Transgender students are those whose gender identity does not align with assumptions based on the assigned sex at birth. For instance, if a childâs sex is assigned to be female, they may grow up to feel like a boy and man, rather than a girl and woman. Some people who are trans opt to take hormones that align with their gender identity or to have gender affirmation surgeries to align their biological sex more closely with their gender identity and expression, and other trans people choose not to take hormones or have surgeries and do not feel that sex and gender must align in assumed ways. The decision to alter oneâs body, or not, is made at the intersections of gender, sexuality, class, race, and social location. Sometimes medical intervention is not possible due to the costly and sometimes risky nature of such procedures.
Source: Infographic by Alex J. Mack
Gender nonbinary students may feel their identity falls in-between boys and girls, or that neither of these labels makes sense for how they feel about themselves. While nonbinary can stand alone as an identity, there are many other emerging identities that also do not conform to the gender binary such as genderqueer, gender nonconforming, gender variant, gender fluid, gender creative, boi, and agender, among others.
Halfway through the school year, Syd, an eighth-grade student in an urban independent school, began to share feelings of body dysphoria (the sense that his physical body did not match who he felt himself to be inside) with his fellow class members. He explained that his dysphoria began as a young child. Trying to fit into the role of a girl felt so forced to him that he struggled sometimes to get through the day at school. He was afraid that if anyone knew how he felt, he would become even more isolated. He couldnât concentrate on his schoolwork and his grades dropped.
Even though Sydâs parents were not supportive at first, he never wavered in his conviction and was determined to live an authentic life. Over the course of the next two years, he changed his pronouns, his name, and his gender presentation. Ultimately realizing how crucial it was for their childâs sense of well-being, his parents began to affirm his gender identity. Syd not only gained his familyâs support, but he had friends and a school community that stood behind him. As he developed a sense of being seen, he began to thrive. He became more outgoing and outspoken. His teachers began to see a passionate and vibrant student. He described feeling like someone had finally allowed him to be his whole self instead of only half. In high school, he mentored other trans and nonbinary students. Syd became one of the most respected young men at his school.
Sydâs experience reflects the three key processes outlined by Johnson and Rogers (2020) that help mitigate the stress caused by the stigma and discrimination trans people experience: (1) normalization of trans identity and experience; (2) a social support system; and (3) opportunities for empowerment. Syd had a community that accepted him. They respected his decision to transition and honored his chosen name and affirmed pronouns. His parents were supportive and had the means to provide the gender affirming healthcare support and advocacy he needed. He was empowered with leadership...