ACLU Says RI Elementary Schools Promote Gender Stereotypes with Gender-Exclusive Events

Gender-exclusive events at Rhode Island elementary schools help to perpetuate “blatant gender stereotypes,” with girls having pajama parties and dances while boys go to baseball games, attend science shows and play laser tag, a report by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties has found.

The report, “Girls Just Wanna Darn Socks,” concludes that gender-exclusive events end up getting promoted with school resources, which undermines Title IX, the landmark anti-discrimination law passed to give girls and boys the same opportunities in all aspects of their education and extracurricular life.

“Rhode Island girls, routinely sent to dances, are fed the same tired stereotype that they must look pretty and be social, while boys are given access to magic and science shows and physical activities – their own and others – like PawSox games and trampoline parks,” the report stated.

The ACLU surveyed 40 elementary schools in 16 districts.

Between 2012 and 2014, 80 percent of girls events at the schools were dances, according to information supplied to the ACLU by the school district after public records requests. The other events were pajama parties, yoga nights and blanket sewing. The boys events were “much more diverse,” which included the ballgames, hockey games, science and magic shows and outings for laser tag, bowling and arcade games, the report states.

Many school districts in Rhode Island formally nixed district-endorsed father-daughter dances in recent years over concerns about gender discrimination and violating Title IX. Today, they’re often billed as ”sweetheart” dances and materials promoting the event will indicate that mothers and sons are welcome to attend, too.

The topic of father-daughter dances was a hot topic in Rhode Island in 2012 after the ACLU registered a complaint over the practice in Cranston when a mother said she was denied attendance at a dance.

The ACLU report also found that school districts end up promoting gender-exclusive events on school websites, listservs and “otherwise offering the parent-teacher groups special access to school resources to promote the events,” the report states. That could be a violation of Title IX, the ACLU argues.

The report calls for school districts to cease support for the events and “and instead discuss with PTO/PTAs the need to promote gender-inclusive activities,” according to a release. “The ACLU also called on the state Department of Education to intervene by providing guidance to school districts on the illegal nature of their promotion of these gender-discriminatory activities.

The General Assembly enacted a law in 2013 authorizing gender-exclusive extracurricular activities, but required them to be “reasonably comparable.” The ACLU and numerous women’s rights groups opposed the legislation.

The report concludes: ”In the 21st Century, however, it should be simply unacceptable for public schools to be fostering the notion that girls belong at formal dances, yoga or sewing while boys should be offered baseball games, bowling and science. Not every girl today is interested in growing up to be Cinderella; many enjoy participating in and attending sports events and playing arcade games. Similarly, not every boy makes sports his obsessive pastime or cringes at the thought of going to a dance. Such gender-segregated programming – based on gender stereotypes about the talents, capacities and preferences of children – is harmful to boys and girls alike, and fails in any meaningful way to provide ‘reasonably comparable’ experiences.”

The full report can be found HERE.