Graph showing the percent divide in support for a presidential gender mandate Note: Due to polling glitches, data may be off by one percent
Rooting through the last twenty four years worth of founder’s day programs makes two things clear: first, Fieldston loves its keynote speakers and second, the last five years have shown a marked decline in FSG diversity. 2010-2015 are the only five years since 1991 during which just one woman has served as co-president. Over the past 24 years there have been nine male-male presidential teams, one female-female team, one independent female president, and thirteen male-female teams. This last statistic is especially unexpected when you take into account our most recent elections.
While last year’s presidential candidates brought a varied collection of interests and ideas, there was one noticeable lack of diversity on the stage. The 2014 candidates, as has recently been the case, were overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male. The latter in particular has become a clear pattern in FSG and, this year, a controversial topic of discussion. Adam Chan and Jake May, the current FSG co-presidents have initiated a school-wide conversation to address this gender disparity. One proposal is to require that all running pairs be male-female.
“A couple of teachers and administrators mentioned the idea to us, and some students that we talked with were interested in the idea, so we decided to raise the issue to the student body at large,” said the co-presidents in a mutual statement. “We want to stress that we, personally, are not pushing a specific solution but just want to start a dialogue on a crucial subject. Perhaps suggestions other than the mandate will be raised over the coming weeks.”
In this spirit, the presidents have planned a series of roundtables, the first of which took place on Monday February 9, to get the student body involved in the conversation surrounding the gender mandate.
Graph showing the percent divide in support for a grade rep gender mandate Note: Due to polling glitches, data may be off by one percent
Student interest in this issue is high, and varying opinions can be heard in classrooms, corridors, and flying out of the reception room. A recent poll showed that 31 percent of the student body is for the mandate, 53 percent is against it, and 16 percent is still undecided. The gendered breakdown of these results adds another layer to the conversation. While the results from girls were pretty split, with 43 percent of the girls for the mandate and 38 percent against it, the majority of boys seem to be against the mandate. Only 17 percent of the boys supported the mandate, as compared to the 73 percent who were against it. Of students who identified as neither male nor female, the results were completely split, with 33 percent for, 33 percent against and 33 percent undecided.
Caroline Carty (VI) shared some insight on why she is part of the 31 percent who support the gender mandate for presidential teams.
“I think that the trend from these last few years of two male presidents is fairly damaging to women’s perceived leadership potential,” she said. “Female students only see male presidents speaking at founders day and making announcements at assembly, and can begin to feel that only a male student could gain the respect necessary to hold that position.”
The idea that male dominance in FSG discourages female students from running is shared by many.
“I have not run for student government yet probably because of my gender” said Zoe Balestri (III). “I feel that I will never win.”
“I felt I was a capable person for the job,” said Lena Haime (V), who ran for grade representative her freshman year. “I immediately thought of the lack of representation that women have had in FSG, and the fact that the odds of me actually winning are most likely slim.”
Haime went on to voice her support of the gender mandate, “something needs to be done to interrupt the system of patriarchy that manifests by means of FSG, and I don’t see any other alternative other than to impose some form of a mandate.”
Adlai Coleman (VI), expresses a similar opinion. “While I still think that this mandate does not solve the larger problem of sexism in government,” he said, “I cannot deny the fact that women in this school agree that seeing a woman president as an underclassmen would make them much more likely to run when they are a senior. Even if all this mandate accomplishes is that a few more girls have the confidence to run for student government then it is worth it. However this mandate cannot be the end of the conversation around representation of women in government.”
Other students introduced the idea that mixed-gender pairings would force students to think more carefully about their choice in partners, thus improving the quality of FSG.
“If there was a gender mandate,” Quincy Confoy (V) said, “it would both encourage girls to run and encourage guys to look outside of their bubble of people and see other people who might be even more qualified and an even better match for them instead of just picking their friends.”
One question at the center of the gender mandate discussion is why FSG in particular stands out for it’s gender inequality. Why are so few girls running for student government (especially for president) and why are even fewer winning?
“I don’t really see women hesitating to take leadership positions in other areas of the school. For some reason it’s just FSG,” Carty said.
Some feel that presidents rarely have to address issues that concern gender.
“Ping pong tables and vending machines rarely discriminate based on someone’s identity,” said Jonathan Hazin (V) and yet the majority of students believe that gender plays a dominant role in candidacy.
Alie Brussel Faria (IV) highlighted lack of confidence as a contributing factor to the absence of female candidates. Coming to Fieldston from an all girl’s school she was immediately aware of a difference in confidence.
“At Brearley no girl felt held-back thinking that only a guy would be elected,” Brussel Faria said. “Also, I don’t think that girls were as aware about appearance and afraid that how they looked would completely affect their chances of winning, but more about the quality of their speech and ideas for the school.”
While students are spearheading this discussion, many adults in the community also hold strong opinions on the issue of gender in FSG. Ms. Hanson, a math teacher, draws on prior experience in a single-sex school environment.
“Girls ran the newspaper, the student government, it was never a question,” Ms. Hanson said.
Confronted with the question of why student government in a co-ed environment like Fieldston is so dominantly male, Ms. Hanson emphasized the election process over the actual presidential role and associated responsibilities.
“The hurdle is not the execution of the job, it’s the getting of the job,” she said. “There is no lack of competency within the female student body, but there may be a lack of comfort in putting yourself out there, into what essentially becomes a popularity contest in a lot of respects.”
Ms. Hanson herself is on the fence about the gender mandate.
“It’s disappointing that we might have to enforce one,” Hanson said. “I personally think that, if enacted, the mandate should not be permanent. I see it as a temporary tool to try to get things back on track, helping male-female teams and female-female teams become the norm.”
Head of School Dr. Damian Fernandez also commented on the issue of unequal representation in leadership.
“There was a dearth of women on that podium,” he said in reference to last year’s election, “given the fact that slightly over half of the student body is female it raised questions in my mind.”
Regardless of what the solution may be, Dr. Fernandez is adamant that gender equality is essential to the Fieldston mission.
“We need to ensure that women are empowered in the school,” he said. “This is a school that is known for allowing students to find their voice in the world and it is important that we are completely co-ed when it comes to leadership.…My concern is whether gender patterns of society at large are being played out in what should really be hallowed ground, to echo Felix Adler. This is a special sphere of learning and possibilities. If we are allowing those inequalities to play out internally we are not doing part of the work we need to do to make the world a better place. So we need to engage, we need to educate, to become more cognizant.”
As far as the mandate goes, Dr. Fernandez expressed his support for the conversation developing throughout the school.
Although the majority of the student body shares the belief that the current student government system is flawed, there some controversy as to whether or not a gender mandate is the best solution. Students who oppose the mandate do so for a wide range of reasons. Some feel that adding more restrictions could only undermine the democratic process.
“I just think we should kind of let democracy do what it does naturally,” Caleb Ewing (IV) said. “Boys can represent girls and girls can represent boys, it seems almost a little juvenile that they have to regulate a democracy this way.”
Other students oppose the mandate due to the message they feel it sends.
“I totally understand the sentiment behind the gender mandate, but I’m against it for a couple of reasons,” said Liv Weinstein (IV), remarking that it was reminiscent of middle school P.E., when “the coaches would require at least one pass to a girl in order to score a touchdown.”
Other students oppose the mandate because it will prevent two girls from running together.
“I feel like in order to have equality there have to be a few years of two girl presidents in order for things to actually be equal,” Rachel Florman (IV) said, “otherwise it will be that a girl can’t run without a boy and then we’ll never have two female presidents, which is just as unequal as having only ever two male presidents.”
Saoirse MaherGreene (IV) echoed this sentiment, and raised another concern, that gender is the only social identifier that would be addressed through this mandate.
“Look at race,” she said, “our cabinet has only one student of color in it.”
An alternate proposal suggests initiating the gender mandate for grade representatives, instead of or in addition to the presidents. This suggestion was met with greater support from the student body, with 53 percent of the polled student body supporting it, and 35 percent against it. 65 percent of the girls, 38 percent of the boys and 43 percent of those who identify with neither binary gender voiced their support for this proposal.
Beth Awano, (IV) who served as grade representative last year, strongly supports this motion.
“If everyone were to go through their high school careers seeing women in FSG leadership roles,” she said, “Fieldston would be sending a message to students that women are just as inherently capable and entitled to authoritative positions as the men in our community. This would instill a deeper understanding and acceptance of gender equality for the rest of our lives.”
The perception of a double standard is shared by many, and Sasha Landauer (VI) points it out.
“I always felt like guys had a much easier time making funny speeches and portraying confidence while girls were judged much more harshly for their apparent lack of confidence,” she said. “I understand that it is difficult for those who have not felt marginalized to understand the importance of role models and visibility, but it had a huge effect on my perception of FSG.”
Regardless of their stance on the FSG mandate, another overarching student concern is the exclusion of those who do not identify with a binary gender.
“While not visible or seemingly relevant to a lot of people, both at Fieldston and in the world, there are people who I know and I’m sure there are people who I don’t know who don’t identify with either side of the gender binary,” Hazin (V) said. “Having a boy-girl mandate only furthers our habitual tendency to forget about people who don’t identify as boys or girls and it would be hypocritical of Fieldston to mandate something like that on paper.”
During the form III and IV roundtable idea of changing the mandate language from “boy-girl” to “mixed genders” was introduced and enthusiastically received. The proposal reasoned that instead of mandating one girl and one boy, it would be mandatory for each pairing to contain two students who identify differently in terms of gender.
In the coming weeks the student body can expect a continuation of this conversation. New ideas will arise, polls will be sent out, and suggestions other than the mandate may very well be raised.
“People simply talking about this issue is the first step, and it will definitely make a difference,” Simon Ghebreyesus (IV) said. “Regardless of whether or not the mandate is passed, the conversation itself will encourage people, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation to become more involved. I think it will change the mentality surrounding FSG.”
