Meyer: Gendered Harassment

How far have we come?

The Help by, Kathryn Stocket is a story about extraordinary women in the 1960s South who come together and risk everything to partake in a secret writing project  that opposes society’s rules and social norms.

Charlotte Phelan: I read the other day about how some girls get un...unbalanced. Start thinking these... unnatural thoughts. Are you..? Do you uh...find men attractive? Are you havin' unnatural thoughts about girls or women?
Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan: Oh, my God!
Charlotte Phelan: Because this article says there's a cure. A special root tea!
[angry Skeeter gets and walks away]

 More importantly, where are we going?

The chart  Meyer refers to on page 6 summarizes the formula of external influences merging with internal influences to output a reaction. 

Meyer says identifying the barriers from teachers' perspectives is important so more effective intervention programs can be put in place to support teachers' efforts.  But are those policies only as effective as the culture of the school and community?  "The social norms do not emerge in a vacuum, but are often a reflection of the community...Teachers are more inclined to act in ways that reflected shared norms and values of other teachers than in ways defined in school policy" (15-16).

 Don't Ask Don't Tell was only recently repealed. Gay marriage is not legal in the majority of states.  We are living in a world where many people do not recognize homosexual relationships as deserving of the same rights as heterosexual relationships.  Teachers who are trying to oppose gendered harassment are fighting prevalent external forces.  What message are children getting when prior to September a man in the military couldn't identity himself as a homosexual without punishment?  Some barriers Meyer mentions include the inconsistency of all teachers to address these issues, the lack of support from administration, and community values.  In a country a where potential presidential candidate avows, "We believe in the sanctity of traditional marriage, and I applaud those legislators in New Hampshire who are working to defend marriage as an institution between one man and one woman, realizing that children need to be raised in a loving home by a mother and a father,"   we must recognize we will not always be supported in our efforts.  "...studies have shown that sexual and homophobic harassment are accepted parts of school culture where faculty and staff rarely or never intervene" (1).  This is unacceptable. The repeal of Don't ask, Don't Tell and the increasing acceptance of gay marriage suggest we are in the process of change, moving past archaic ideas of gender roles and sexuality and the schools must set the tone for equity for all people.



The "experience with discrimination and marginalization that made [several teachers] particularly sensitive to these issues in school.  The challenge with this finding is how to raise the awareness of educators who have not personally felt the impacts of discrimination or exclusion from dominant culture" (17).

Educating those not personally affected by discrimination on the harassment LGBT students face can help to create an awareness of the harmful impacts of this behavior and the destruction that occurs when educators allow it to continue.

 "2009 National School Climate Survey: Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT Students Experience Harassment in School" from the GLSEN website reported:

• 84.6% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 40.1% reported being physically harassed, and 18.8% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
• 63.7% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed,  27.2% reported being physically harassed and 12.5% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their gender expression.
• Nearly two-thirds (61.1%) of students reported that they felt unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation, and more than a third (39.9%) felt unsafe because of their gender expression.
• 29.1% of LGBT students missed a class at least once and 30.0% missed at least one day of school in the past month because of safety concerns
• The reported grade point average of students who were more frequently harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender expression was almost half a grade lower than for students who were less often harassed (2.7 vs. 3.1).
• Increased levels of victimization were related to increased levels of depression and anxiety and decreased levels of self-esteem.