“Maher and Ward note, ‘Beginning with puberty, girls ‘fall silent’ as they try to meet the contradictory expectations of pleasing others, accommodating male standards for female attractiveness and docility, and yet succeeding academically.’” (Galley, 91)

Although the most valuable passage I chose has to do with girls and the struggles they face with competing social and societal pressures, I was just as struck by the passage about what boys are up against in Galley’s article “Who am I as a learner? Would Girls and Boys Tend to Answer Differently? There’s always been talk of girls learning better and being less inhibited in a single-sex environment, but when I read that boys were better able to “speak freely and take risks in classes that did not include girls,” (Ibid) something softened in me. As a feminist, I have always been much more of an advocate for girls and the challenges they face in education. This article leveled the playing field and had me focus more on both sides of the gender equation—not to mention the newly valued categories of LGBT students. I was touched to read that boys in Herr’s research sample who attended a single-sex, public middle school in California reportedly felt they could take more educational risks, but also in making friends. This angle highlighted the boys’ sensitivity and the commonalities between the genders.

As a future educator, I feel this article helped me make an important shift in seeing the feminine and the masculine in the boys and girls (in varying degrees). Now instead of seeing the passage I selected as just applicable to girls, I see it more as a window into all children’s spirits who prioritize fitting in over being true to themselves. Even more than the call of being a public school teacher, I feel a sort of calling to address this issue of self-esteem. Previously I was dreaming of creating a program that reaches out only to girls and that helps them with the rite of passage into womanhood. Now more than ever, it feels like boys need equal if not more support making the same transition. There’s an incredible nonprofit that focuses on supporting African American boys in Washington, DC called Life Pieces to Masterpieces. With the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, it feels like young boys of all races will need support to understand that their power lies in their ability to be vulnerable and tap into how they are really feeling without hiding behind an exaggerated egocentric version of who they think they should be.