Letter to the editor

Same-sex classes beneficial

Leslie Chang’s “Same-sex education not as detrimental as it seems” (Oct. 6) discussing the pros and cons of same-sex education reminded me of an experiment we did when I was finishing my graduate work in the School of Education in the mid-1980s. I was a teachers assistant in the program for the study of women and men in society  -— which I believe now is referred to as gender studies.

My job was to conduct discussion sections for the SWMS General Education Class (210g) taught by Professors Gloria Orenstein and Walter Williams.

Considering the sensitive issues we were dealing with — women’s roles in a male-dominated society, stereotyped as well as unconventional sexual orientations, power and submission and so forth — it occurred to us perhaps mixed-sex discussion groups might be inhibiting some ideas and feelings from being expressed.

Thereafter, we decided to try same-sex only discussion groups for a couple of semesters.

Some students resisted at first, saying they felt uncomfortable in such an “artificial” setting, but there is no question the discussions soon took on a completely different tone, providing the students with perspectives on the issues that they wouldn’t otherwise have had.

Since the mid-1980s women’s equality and presence in mainstream society and influence in politics and the economy have changed considerably.

Still, there are two predominant genders.

As long as this situation continues, carefully-arranged same-sex groupings in educational settings and elsewhere can provide awareness opportunities that tend to break down stereotypes and lead to increased understanding of the self and others.

Gerald Jones

Ph.D. USC 1968 undergraduate; 1978 and 1985 graduate; USC ITS staff, retired