Pascoe's Book

     It’s amazing how much I was reminded of my high school all while reading this book and I guess that is probably part of the point. These issues regarding public schools perpetuating heteronormativity and gender polarization are not isolated incidents, but are actually quite pervasive throughout the entirety of our society.

    
      One specific issue mentioned in the book that reminded me of my high school was the differences in the dress code between males and females. Certain articles of clothing are exclusively prohibited to one group but not the other. I remember that the girls were regulated far more often than any of the boys. Many girls were asked to change because of too short skirts or too thin straps, but the “wife beater” shirts (although allegedly prohibited) never seemed to cause an issue. One of my friends received a comment from a hallway monitor about how inappropriate her leggings were because they showed the outline of her legs. I can’t understand how leggings warranted such a comment− most pants show some outline of legs. And apparently legs are offensive.

     I think one aspect of youth education that requires some serious renovation is anything and everything to do with sex. Pascoe writes that “parents and policy makers [are] wary of teens’ burgeoning sexuality… [and] fear too much information or too much discussion of sex might encourage the students to engage in all sorts of irresponsible behaviors” (50). I don’t think it would be a stretch for me to say that most public schools push abstinence as superior and don’t bother to talk about any other method of birth control. They think enforcing ignorance will stop teens from engaging in sexual activities but it pretty much has the opposite effect. This abstinence-only education was exactly what was utilized in my middle school. The high school however, did have a health class which talked about a decent number of different birth control methods− but the problems are still not erased. This slightly revamped discussion of sex is heterosexually biased to a great degree as no other sexualities are even mentioned− marginalization of non-hetero identities is the unacceptable result. This proves health education is still extensively flawed and requires many repairs to become more inclusive.