The Illusion of Post-Gender PEA

To the Editor: Over the past few months, Phillips Academy Andover has actively debated and discussed gender inequality on its campus, particularly in student leadership. Given that Andover has seen only four female school presidents—and not one since 2004—we applaud Exeter for electing such a historic Student Council board this year.Equal gender representation in student leadership is a critical issue at prep schools, and your election brings us one step forward. And yet, the election of a female School President is only one facet of this issue. Andover’s Student Council recognized this challenge with the creation of the co-presidential model. The Council passed this proposal as a first step towards addressing the cultural sexism embedded in our society. Co-presidency encourages a greater diversity of people to run. Last year, only two girls ran for student council positions out of 14 total candidates, but after the implementation of the co-presidential model, over half of the candidate pairs this year included girls. This new structure gives underclassmen a public example of female leadership, spurring a positive cycle of girls feeling more confident in their candidacy and deepening our understanding of leadership.The factors behind unequal gender representation are tightly sewn into our cultural fabric and often extend far deeper than we might initially expect. Much more needs to be done to recognize and break these cultural norms. Student council elections at Andover and Exeter provide context to discuss issues of gender inequality. Gender issues, however, extend far beyond inequalities in student leadership; they emerge from societal and student culture and affect our classrooms, our dorms and our campuses as a whole.Although, for the most part, gender inequality has been erased from our school laws, the illusion of a post-gender society has become all too powerful. At co-educational institutions like Andover and Exeter, which strive to create diversity and actively tell students that they are the best and brightest, this illusion is even more convincing. We are the best of the best, we like to tell ourselves—racism, classism and sexism do not and cannot exist within the confines of the Andover and Exeter bubbles. But as much as we may wish to believe in this more-perfect version of our world, we still do not live in a post-gender society, or a post-race or post-class society for that matter. Cultural sexism still pervades our schools, especially in the form of microaggressions, small aggressions that have become so commonplace in our society that they are viewed as the norm. Sexism has become ever more implicit and sinister. For instance, when girls are assertive leaders, people often brand them as “bossy b******,” whereas boys receive praise for forceful leadership.Often, women are simply not envisioned as leaders; instead, they’re stereotyped as submissive. Even in a recent Exonian humor piece by Nick du Pont and Tyler Chapman, a gender studies class was described as such: “This class strives to push women past the limits of the kitchen. Described as thought-provoking [sic], this class is for the woman who sees herself not as a trophy wife, but rather an intellectual, who could go on to work as say, a secretary.” Such a sexist statement suggests that women do not have leadership qualities and is an example of a microaggression.To address gender inequality on campuses like ours, we joined forces with a few of our senior friends—of different genders, races, and backgrounds—and started a movement called Feminism = Equality at Andover. We are engaging our community, students and faculty alike, in discussions about gender inequality on our campus. We invite Exeter to learn about the continuing need for gender equality and to join our movement.Creating interscholastic conversation can only be beneficial; by sharing experiences, thoughts and generating discussion, we can educate each other and collaborate to make Andover and Exeter more equal places for all genders. A comparison of the history of gender inequality, leadership, sexual education, room visiting policies and attitudes about gender at both schools can lead to a greater understanding of these issues in the prep school world and thereby generate more effective change. As co-educational institutions, Andover and Exeter must not only foster environments that empower their young women to seek and experience leadership, but also teach young women and men how to navigate in and address a world that is neither post-gender, post-class, nor post-race.We must acknowledge that cultural discrimination is still rife in our society—even in our privileged prep schools. Together—Andover, Exeter, students, faculty, staff, alumni—we can work to make our beloved institutions better, more equal places. —Gabriele Fisher, Maia Hirschler, MJ Engel, Heather Zhou, and Sam Koffman ’14, Founders of Feminism=Equality, Phillips Academy Andover