in literary achievement
the context of the gender gap
The goal of this website is to help preservice and current educators of English Language Arts move past limitations of gender within their classroom, specifically in regard to success in reading and literacy.
In a Western patriarchal society like the United States, there are many binaries that have been ingrained in our culture since its beginning. In order to attempt to move past, break down, and overcome these binaries we must first understand their origins and their effects on our classrooms.
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Dichotomies find their origin in the philosophical principle of ‘Cartesian dualism’, or the distinctions between mind and body as defined by Descartes. This concept is “widely regarded as having a crucial influence on the development of Western theories of knowledge, were reality is understood as if it were comprised of sets of ‘either/or’ pairings. Some examples of dichotomous (or, as it is sometimes called, binary) thinking are reason/emotion,… public/private,… objectivity/subjectivity, and male/female” (Pilcher & Welehan, 2004, p. 24). Along with this widely regarded knowledge of dichotomies, it is generally accepted that one part of the binary is privileged above the other, as Prokhovnik, a prominent gender theorist, identifies as being one of the key features. “The part ranked or valued more highly has gained its position through the prior exclusion of the subordinate part” (1999).
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While the following dichotomies are hindrances to our students’ learning, we must be aware of their presence and their effects on the gender gap. Hover over each pair to read an explanation.
The most basic of dichotomies, dominant vs. submissive, implies that one is better, greater, or more desirable than the other, causing all other dichotomies to follow suit. This has additional implications regarding the need for a binary, seeing life in black and white, and eliminating anything in between. Because of our Western patriarchal society, many students will bring this mindset to the classroom. Being aware of the nature of dichotomies is the first step in moving away from them.
By polarizing these two genders and pitting them against each other in a dichotomy, our culture creates a stereotype that they are distinct, separate, and not to be blurred. This dichotomy greatly contributes to how our students view themselves, particularly in our patriarchy, where males are privileged, and various stereotypes are associated with each gender. Additionally, we will have students who identify as trans or non-binary, both of whom do not fit into this dichotomy, resulting in their feeling excluded from the conversation surrounding ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ books. By being aware of these false dichotomies, we can center our classroom around a vision of gender that is not restrictive.
In a patriarchal society, women are subjected to the private sphere. When first learning to read, men were taught in public school houses while women had to be taught in their own homes. This seclusion perpetuated the polarization of the already present dichotomies. As a result of men ‘belonging’ in the public sphere, there are certain societal expectations they feel they must align with. Additionally, because of this exclusion to privacy, women became associated with domesticity, emotion, and introspection. This deep connection to emotion translates to girls’ modern day ability to successfully respond to the literature in their English Language Arts classes.
In addition to the previously mentioned dichotomies, there is also a binary between the decision making and thinking processes. The two primary routes a person’s brain follows are logic and emotion. Throughout time, our society has heavily privileged logic because of its association with men, while women were continually associated with emotion because of their ties to motherhood and domesticity. This emotion, however, becomes useful when responding to fictional literature, creating success for women in English Language Arts classes.
All of the previously mentioned dichotomies result in the privileging of informational texts over literature. Fictional texts have an association with emotion, women, and privacy or private subject matters. Despite these disadvantaged factors, our education system still teaches primarily literature in English Language Arts classes and understanding fictional texts comprises a majority of reading standardized tests. This is a simplified explanation for the gender gap in literary achievement, from a social construction point of view.
Additionally, there is discussion in the education community of a shift towards teaching informational texts with the claim that our students do not use literature skills in ‘real life’. While this may or may not be true, it reflects the dichotomies previously discussed. In our patriarchal society, it does not make sense for literature to be privileged when it is so heavily associated with the female gender and its stereotypes. If this shift towards informational texts comes to fruition, boys standardized reading scores may improve, but girls would be further disadvantaged in our society. The polarization this suggests is not the answer, but rather somewhere in between.