ASSESSMENT 1:

Choose ONE issue studied this semester and show how student alienation
may occur as a result of your selected issue in schools.

Gender inequality and the resulting alienation of students is a challenge facing many

Australian secondary schools, as highlighted in the recent media. Schools are experiencing a

significant challenge when it comes to providing equitable practices for gender diverse

students due to the dominant social beliefs of binary genders. The term gender largely refers

to the central idea of the separation of “masculine and feminine” (Oakley, 2015, p.3). Gender

diversity, however, is a framework which encompasses, agender (no gender), “transgender”

and “genderqueer” or non-binary (Clifford, 2018, p.232). The secondary school system in

Australia is dominated by the idea of “cisgender” (Clifford, 2018, p.232) meaning students

who identify with their biological sex, as heteronormativity is carried out through curriculum,

class structures and the overall organisation of students. The gendered structure of schools

often enables gender alienation and power imbalances as it does not foster equitable

opportunities for all students both at an institutional level or peer level. Transgender and non-

binary students suffer alienation and “increased rates of school harassment” (Ullman, 2016,

p.277) as they represent difference, causing a perceived imbalance in the socially accepted

masculine and feminine ideals. This essay will demonstrate how gender diverse students are

often marginalised due to their non-conformity to broader societal ideals with important

reference to transgender students. Feminist theory will be drawn upon to highlight the distinct

patriarchal ideals which promote gender alienation and foster clear power imbalances

between heteronormativity and gender diverse students. This essay will analyse the role

teachers and teaching practices have on minimising alienation and highlight particular

policies which can enable equitable education opportunities for transgender students.

Discussion and analysis into gender power imbalances needs to be viewed firstly in

terms of the rigidity of binary gender stereotypes. Butler (2005) argues that gender is “a
cultural production” (p.73) which essentially reduces gender to “restrictive bodily norms”

(Butler, 2005, p. 28). Masculinity and femineity are the two dominant genders which society

has constructed, and through which people are organised and taught how to act. Power is

often given to one gender, and is enforced socially. This notion of socially enforceable power

comes from Foucault’s assertion of power being “everywhere in modern society” (McNay,

1992, p.67). Historically the patriarchal ideals of society manifested into gendered

“passiveness of females” and “active males” (Cocorada, 2018, p.69) through formal

curriculum and “importantly the hidden curriculum” (Cocorda, 2018, p.67) within schools.

Gender is often constructed through the theory of biological determinism, meaning a person

should possess gender traits which coincide with their sex at birth, known as the “sex-role

concept” (Kessler, Anderson, Connell & Dowsett, 1985, p.35). These patriarchal ideals of

heteronormativity govern the organisation of schools which essentially function by dividing

genders through concepts like uniform. Though historically power imbalances of gender

severely alienated males or females from particular areas of the school curriculum based on

the dominant gender ideals, in contemporary schooling gender diverse students are seen far

more restricted due to their inability to fit in with either gender class or stereotype.

Inquiry into gender diversity through feminist perspectives highlights the nuances that are

associated with the concept of inequality and demonstrates how this social justice issue is

connected to dominant gender beliefs. The prevalent gender architypes reduce gender to

simple binary characteristics, which reject expressions of gender which are non-conforming

or act as a rejection of biological determinism. Due to the rigid nature in which gender is

perceived those who are out of the dominant discourse are often placed low on the social

hierarchy as power imbalances occur. Ullman (2015) supports this notion as she asserts that

the “school environment has historically been characterised by the marginalisation and

silencing of diverse sexualities and genders” (p.74). These assertions demonstrate how
gender binaries are so highly institutionalised within the schooling system, as is evident in the

case of transgender student Georgie Stone. Georgie was forced to use the “male bathroom

facilities” (Stark, 2017, np) at school despite identifying as a transgender female since the age

of seven. Georgie was alienated by the school’s administration and community as she was

marginalised through “binary restriction” (Butler, 2005, p.167). The inherent inequality that

is produced out of the governing cisgender ideals which “denigrates self-identified gender

identities” (Cumming-Potvin & Martino, 2018, p.178) like Georgie’s, foster isolation and

marginalisation as a gender hierarchy is imprinted within the school framework. This

gendered hierarchy is produced only to favour normative genders while rejecting fluid

genders and non-conforming individuals. In response to this notion Cumming-Potvin and

Martino (2018) call for a “gender democratization” (p.723) which would not remove

significance or value from any gender, instead it would remove the power imbalance and

produce a more equitable arena within schools for transgender students and other diverse

genders. The framework of gender democratisation is an essential concept which teachers and

school administrators need to implement within schools to minimise alienation of transgender

children and to promote inclusivity of all. Importantly this approach would remove the

common feminist belief of “us verse them” (Marinucci, 2016, p.91) as all genders would be

seen in harmony, not opposition. This non-hierarchical approach would lead to the

diminishing of detrimental power relations between students based on gender and provide all

students with equitable access to limit free education.