A lot of people are surprised to learn that back in 1800, 90 percent of American teachers were actually male. Today we know that actually 76 percent of [them are] female, so how did this huge flip happen?
The answer is that as school reformers began to realize in the 1820s that schooling should be compulsory — that parents should be forced to send their kids to school, and public education should be universal — they had to come up with a way to do this basically in an affordable manner, because raising taxes was just about as unpopular back then as it is now. So what we see is this alliance between politicians and education reformers in the early 19th century to redefine teaching as a female profession.
They do this in a couple ways: First, they argue that women are more moral in a Christian sense than men. They depict men as alcoholic, intemperate, lash-wielding, horrible teachers who are abusive to children. They make this argument that women can do a better job because they’re more naturally suited to spend time with kids, on a biological level. Then they are also quite explicit about the fact that [they] can pay women about 50 percent as much — and this is going to be a great thing for the taxpayer.
So I just feel like sharing this story, feel free to skip it, just something about me, and high school and writing, and where I am now.
Okay, so I graduated High School in 1997 (this is important later). My senior year I was going to take more classes that *I* wanted to take, but got convinced to stick with the ‘college prep’ track (even though I wasn’t really planning on going to college right away).
Anyway one of the classes I did manage to take was a drama class. I loved it. I’d tried to take a community acting class once before, but it had gotten canceled due to not enough people. And I’d never managed to get a role in a school play.
But at least the Drama class had to let me try. And we also went and saw a play. Well I got inspired to write something, and even though I’d never tried writing a play I took a crack at writing a one-act and showed it to my drama teacher.
Thank God I went to school before Columbine. Because my one-act was about someone about to go shoot up a classroom. My teacher was understandably concerned, but once I explained to her I wasn’t planning on anything I just understood what could put a kid there, she was fine with it.
And she loaned me a book on screen/playwriting.
I didn’t get the book finished by the end of the school year, so when I went to give it back to her I said I’d have to buy it.
She grabbed my hand and said I was talented enough I didn’t need any book.
That was the second time in my life a teacher had looked at my writing and called me talented.
Well, obviously things happened and that was nearly 20 years ago. The point of this story though is that looking at the material for this screenwriting course I’m starting Wednesday feels kinda like coming home. It feels comfortable and right, even if I’m a bit nervous about it.
So yeah, maybe it took 17 years to come back around to here. But better late then never. And I think I’m going to be okay.
(Also encouraging teachers are amazing.)
