To the Editor:
In "Where Feminism Went Too Far" (Aug. 4), Iden Sinai ends his interpretation of the widely-documented gender gap in adolescent academic achievement -- females routinely outscoring their male cohorts -- with a preposterous conclusion: "The cadre of extremist feminists that seemingly has hijacked American education from kindergarten through graduate work has created an Orwellian playing field where one gender is just more equal than the other."
But Sinai does not disclose the members of this cadre. Indeed, his unsupportable conclusion reminds me of what a good friend of mine once screamed in class when my fellow students were not quite "getting it:" "Haven't you guys been listening?"
Unfortunately, the answer was -- and continues to be -- a resounding "no." Sinai chooses to ignore the previously published data that may explain the achievement gap in the first place. Numerous studies have shown that "men," not "women," are the cause of lower test scores in young boys. The reason: young males are forced to adhere to strict codes of masculinity, such as aggressiveness and emotional distance, and traditional masculine values that privilege physical achievements over scholastic ones.
It is an accepted leading cause of academic underachievement among adolescent boys. For example, there is one thing uniting all the boys involved in school shootings: they were all bullied by their male peers because they did not fit in with the hip male crowd. Feminists, extreme and otherwise, have been leading advocates for school reform that decreases harassment based on gender expression. At least some people are listening.
