I recently read an article in The New York Times about same-sex education and its drawbacks. According to the study, same-sex schooling leads to greater conformity to gender stereotypes - girls become less likely to branch out and boys become progressively more focused on the assertion of masculinity. The study also showed that both boys and girls struggled when thrown into a co-ed setting. I don't know what kind of people they're studying, but as a product of single-gender education, I'm willing to argue that these results are not an accurate projection of single-sex education's consequences.
I went to a small all-girls school in northern Kentucky whose biggest claim to fame was that it was the cheapest private school in the greater Cincinnati area. It was situated deceivingly behind a Romanesque style convent, a building most often mistaken for the school itself. We were fine with the misconception, as it projected a sense of class onto us that we ourselves could never have managed to exude. Our white polo shirts were covered in food stains, paint stains (art class enrollment was high because of the GQ-model lookalike who taught it) and pit stains (four years and only four shirts - it had to happen). Our charcoal gray skirts were similarly tattered: by the end of freshman year our hemlines had come undone and would sag awkwardly to our knees. This was considered a grave offense to the patrolling dean of discipline, and so we took to stapling our hemlines back together and scotch taping any rips in lieu of patchwork. We were an innovative bunch, and we took great pride in our ability to slide by uniform inspections with nothing but a mere look of disgust from our scrutinizer.
We were a lot of things, but conformists to a gender stereotype was not among them. Perhaps it was simply our rebellion against the administrators who would periodically remind us that, as representatives of the school, we should probably shower more often. But I think the very nature of a same-sex education drove us to experience high school and, consequently, college, in a different - but not inhibited - way. To put it frankly, we were accustomed to being absolutely disgusting. There was no morning routine; we just rolled out of bed and went to school. The real warriors would even sleep in their uniforms. Hairbrushes didn't make sense, and make up was out of the question (everyone loathed picture day). On certain special days we would be allowed to pay $3 to be out of uniform, and we would show up in oversized sweats which made the nuns twitch when they saw us in the hallway. My high school education was the freest I've ever felt to actually be every bit of my natural self.
The thing is, we knew we were an exception. We weren't so blind to think that we could get away with this stuff in college. But it was still a little rattling when I realized just how different the university life would be. For instance, boys. Who were these foreign things? Why were they sitting next to me in class? Why did I suddenly feel compelled to run a comb through my hair? It was different, but I can't say it was much of an adjustment. By senior year, we were aching to get out. We loved the freedom which came with having nobody to impress, but after a while you just want some dudes in your life. So we were, more than anything, excited to experience the differences of college. And, yes, some girls struggled, but most of us have assimilated very well. I'm extraordinarily proud of my single-sex education and think it prepared me well for university life. Its biggest contribution has been the reminder of what it feels like to be completely uninhibited in your education; it keeps me grounded. It keeps me from getting too caught up in the stereotypes of U.Va. It reminds me that even though I may choose jeans instead of sweats, underneath it I've still got my stapled skirt and ketchup-stained polo.
Chelsea's column runs biweekly Wednesdays. She can be reached at c.spata@cavalierdaily.com.
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