A Note to the Good Girls and Smart Women Within Us All

A note to my Sisters -

When I look into my classrooms, I see both Good Girls and Smart Women. However, these are not separate students - the Good Girls in my class are Smart Women. As questions are posed and discussions unravel, I see Good Girls battling within to further silence not only their voices but ultimately the Smart Women within themselves. This silence comes from a fear of disrupting the status quo of what it means to be feminine and imposing their voices on others, as well as the belief that voice subtracts from their niceness.

While white heterosexual males dominate the classroom without hesitation it is the Good Girls who watch on as if it is a part of a performance, processing what has been said and internalizing their own thoughts. While 'dynamic' African American women ooze with self-confidence and the enate ability to speak their mind to get to the heart of the issue it is the Good Girls that gaze in amazement with a storm cloud of envy brewing within. And through all this, it is me, the teacher who watches the Good Girl in desperation with the hopes to be graced by their voices.

As I watch the Good Girls, I assume my role as a classroom researcher who is continuously evaluating my teaching and my students' learning. I see all the ways in which my classroom practices are not empowering or inclusive to the Good Girl. I never believed that self-actualization could be achieved in the classroom, that through my teaching there is opportunity for students to realize and fulfill their own possibilities. I have come to learn through the Bell and Golombisky reading that I have the tools to help Good Girls reach self-actualization, embrace the Smart Women within them, and realize the value of their voices.

As someone who has never been a Good Girl, I see the importance of engaging in classroom practices that give life to the voices of not just the man's-man or the dynamic students but also Good Girls. To do otherwise is to be oppressive, by further silencing the voices of those who have been socialized to approach communicating their thoughts apprehensively, disvalue their ideas, and undermine the Smart Woman within them.

I also must understand the burden placed on African American women that strips away their innocence and childhood by assuming that they are 'born' Smart Women. This belief is oppressive in nature, reinforces white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, and perpetuates the demonization and hypersexualization of black girls. I make this point to raise awareness of the dangers of the belief that black girls are 'born' to be loud or bossy in nature or 'women' but instead understand they have been socialized to use their voice as a performative strategy to assert their presence in a society that has worked to dismiss their experiences, thoughts, and ideas. Within these black girls, there is envy for the Good Girl who does not have to carry this heavy burden. Envy for the Good Girl who does not carry the at times paralyzing weight of ensuring sexism and racism do not silence their voice any longer.

I, along with hooks, believe in the possibility of true sisterhood between not just black and white women but Smart Women and Good Girls who have yet to embrace the Smart Women within themselves. Through this solidarity, it is my hope that our classrooms can be a site for transformative acts of meaningful dialogue and reflexivity that trickle far beyond the classroom.

With love,

#misswittheS%#!