Recently learned from our book Women and the Law: Stories author Elizabeth Schneider and Stephanie Wildman explore the struggle that girls endured as they fought to have the same equal rights of school admissions that boys did. The authors focused on the controversial Vorchheimer v. School District of Philadelphia case and the Virginia Military Institute v. United States.
In the early 17th century girls rarely had education that expanded beyond their homes to the late 19th century where girls had higher criteria for enrollment then men. Doesn't seem like much of change, huh? The justification for this was that girls were being protected from the harshness of politics, military duties, and economic competition. These were only issues that men could "handle" at the time.
In the Vorchheimer v. School District of Philadelphia, Susan Vorchheimer battled to gain admissions to Central High School, which in her eyes was the most prestigious public school in her community. Unfortunately, Susan was unable to prove that Central High School constituted gender discrimination.
On the other hand the Virginia Military Institute prided itself on the structor and high demands the school provided. From focusing on liberal arts, engineering, and science subjects, this institute was known for it's military style culture and regimen. With an adversative system of education, physical rigor and mental stress, and intensity of challenges this was thought to be no place for girls. Ultimately, VMI lost their case for the institute failed to abide by the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
Thankfully for me, when I began school as a little girl in the mid 1990's I had no issues with admissions and enrollment to any of the public school my mother saw fit. Even to this day, with being a student at University of Houston, my process couldn't have gone more smoothly. This sadly wasn't the case for the girls before my time.
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The cartoon posted above is just one of the many excuses schools made so that girls wouldn't be allowed to educate themselves with boys. As if boys were the sex that attend class for the good grades and future prospect for a successful life... That's a joke! Even in our book the authors acknowledged that the boys suffered from educational disadvantages and displayed lower academic performances.
It doesn't sit well with me that out of both sexes the one that doesn't take their academics seriously are the ones that get easy admissions. Meanwhile, girls have to be taught at home and receive lower educational supplies and opportunities. I'm glad Schneider and Wildman exposed the harsh reality that girls were facing for I might not have ever come to know why I'm blessed to have the academic advantages I do.
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