Myra and David Sadker's educational and informative book, Failing at Fairness, describes the ways in which our schools cheat girls. Not only do the authors give excellent true examples, but also they provide eye-opening facts that will surprise any reader, male or female.

Just a glance at the table of contents is enough to get any reader interested. Chapters entitled "Higher Education Colder by Degrees" and "The Self-Esteem Slide" are perhaps the most chilling chapters, showing that girls are often ignored and harassed in school, especially as they grow older and mature. The reader also finds out how self-esteem changes throughout the years, affecting vocal participation in school. In early years of schooling, girls have a high self-esteem level, shown through their willingness to answer and actively participate in class discussions. As the self-esteem deteriorates, the class participation lessens.

The Sadkers particularly point out the ostracism girls face in school, the unbelievable changes they undergo, and the ways in which boys are almost always favored. Of these changes, it is emphasized that girls are ahead of or equal to boys on almost every standardized measure of achievement in the early grades of school. However, by the time they reach graduation from either high school or college, girls have fallen back. After schooling, females are still penalized for their gender. Careers that have a high percentage of female workers, such nursing and teaching, aren't paid very well, and even when women do work the same jobs as men, they earn less money.

These examples are just several of thousands featured in the book. The overwhelming number will affect any reader, making the person think back to childhood memories of schooling. What is most alarming is the fact that sexism does exist in today's education.

This book was indeed an important one. Although one may realize that girls are cheated in school, and have been for as long as education was offered to females, one will not truly realize how pervasive gender inequity is throughout the country until this thought-provoking book is read.

researched and reported by Lisa Kardos

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School Girls is a book that focuses on "Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap." Definitely, this is a recommended reading for all ages because of its ability to bring one into the life of a young adolescent female. Backed by statistics and study, Peggy Orenstein sits in the classrooms, visits homes, and attends school dances and plays of two middle schools, peering through the lives of young adolescent girls, where the stages of the confidence gap begins. Through these many encounters with young girls, she begins to explain why these girls are not reaching their fullest potential. She confronts questions such as why do girls continually suffer in math and science, what causes so many girls to take negative pathways, why is self-esteem lower in girls than boys and even lower in minority groups, etc. Answers are different for the reader, whether you are a teacher, parent, or a student attempting to create gender equity in girls.

The book further explains that schools along with family life are underlying factors that contribute to the sense of self of a young girl, either positively or negatively. Consciously or unconsciously, schools and families are still shortchanging girls, despite the changing roles of women in society.

"School Girls cautions those of us who educate and mold young people to wake up and see the social and intellectual consequences of simply letting 'girls be girls' and 'boys be boys.' "

-New York Newsday

"Orenstein has a stunning gift for finding and recounting raw, detailed scenes that demonstrate the harrowing circumstances of her young subjects' lives… Orenstein for the first time takes laypeople into the classroom. What she finds there will force most women (and probably men as well) to cast insight back on their own adolescent school days. They may find that too little has changed."

-LA Weekly

researched and reported by Katie McGowan

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Dr. Mary Pipher, a clinincal psychologist for adolescent girls for more than twenty years, has written an eye-opening book about America's "girl-poisoning" culture. This New York Times bestseller uses specific stories of adolescents' problems. The names and stories given in the book give the problems realism and give the reader a sense of personal involvement with Pipher's many patients. The book not only identifies these problems, but reveals some possible causes of the afflictions. Pipher explains why female problems such as eating disorders, addictions, and depression results from an American culture that is capable of destroying young girls fragile self-esteem.

All teenage girls can relate to the girls talked about in Reviving Ophelia and could greatly benefit from the advice Pipher offers. She knows ways to better daughters' relationships with their parents and peers and also ways to increase self-esteem and assertiveness. The book sheds light on common problems that are seldom talked about and supplies strength, comfort, and solutions.

researched and reported by Kathleen Coakley

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In order to help her own daughter overcome the obstacles of female adolescents, Judy Mann embarked on an investigation of what forces robbed girls of their self esteem and caused decreased scholastic performance. The two years she spent interviewing social and gender experts, visiting single-sex and coed schools, listening to popular music, reading textbooks and talking to parents, psychologists, and educators culiminated in The Difference.

Mann traced society's influence on girls from birth onward; noting that girls start out with a developmental edge over boys, scoring higher on standardized tests early in their education, seeming to be more mature and eager to learn, yet when they leave high school, their standardized test scores are lower than boys'. The questions she tries to answer is how, when and why girls are derailed from the track of educational and professional success.

One merely has to look around a classroom to notice that boys command more of the teacher's time and attention than the girls, who often sit quietly awaiting their turns to speak. Teachers routinely call on boys eight times more often than girls, asking them the tougher questions, and tolerating their unruly behavior, especially in such traditionally male-dominated subjects as math and science. In addition to simply recognizing this as a problem and speculating as to its causes, Mann studied different correctional options. Single-sex schools are the obvious answer, and research has proven they work: women graduating from all-female colleges earned a mean income of $44,000, about $5,000 more than the average male, and nearly double that of the average woman. Other options such as single-sex math and science courses were also explored.

However, the difference between boys and girls does not exist only in school. Socially, boys and girls have very different experiences involving morality and sexuality. Boys are given the message by society that they are entitled to whatever they want, and that the ends justify the means in getting what they want. Girls are taught to respect the feelings of others in whatever they do, not to be too aggressive in getting what they want, and to be fearful of men. With 70-90% of female college students reporting some form of sexual harassment from male students, women do have reason to be cautious, these statistics tell us that society must change. Men must be brought up to respect women and their abilities, and women must learn to respect and value themselves, and have confidence in their abilities.

In The Difference the reader is given some food for thought. Not all of Mann's points have a basis in everyone's lives, but many hit home. After reading this book, both men and women should have a better understanding of sexist behaviors, and what they can do to promote a gender-neutral environment.

researched and reported by Diane Gigantino

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