Women without Class Reading Response

This reading, Women without Class, describes girl culture and their gender performance of working class females in schools. It features girls’ across race and performance and their ability to dominate men in the school setting. They realized that they could survive without a man’s support and that they could not be dependent on male. In result these working-class females wanted economic-independence so they formed a “men are dogs” theme which was established upon them. This reading goes on to describe the unequal treatment of genders in the school setting. It was remarkable to see school teachers treat girls’ strategies as if they were harmless. Based on your race and performance you were aware of your ability to violate rules without any consequence as a result of teachers. Boys were perceived to be troublemakers while girls were sought to be harmless. Girls got out of gym class by faking menstrual cramps, and were excused by their use of vulgar language in public. It surprised me that fights were just as common in females as they were in males. Fights evolved from racial differences which resulted in the “girl fights” that we have all grown to know. If a male slept around with many partners they were not seen in a certain type of way in opposition to a female. Different actions were taken in certain situations depending on your class. Abortions were predominant in White females but rarely seen Hispanic females, so most of the young mothers were Hispanic.

            The author argued his point very well. He used many detailed information and examples to support his argument. It took time for him to gather his information by doing research and he showed the differences in actions within social classes. I agree with the author’s research. It opened my eyes because I now can remember seeing these actions high school. We as males were seen as troublemakers in the classroom and the majority of the young mothers were Hispanic.