Understanding Gender Roles in School-Smart and Mother-Wise by Wendy Luttrell"I had gone so far that I was just tired. I had gotten to the place where I failed “I don’t care if I learned anything or not” (59) This quote clearly but strongly expresses what many women in the School-Smart and programs. Mother-Wise by Wendy Luttrell felt about their educational experience Although Lilly put this thought into words, a number of these women probably had the same feelings about their school-age years. will focus on Chapter 5 of this book, "Storied Selfs and School Mission." I believe that many of the strongly established gender roles we have in today's society are primarily socialized and implanted in the impressionable minds of people. young people in school Through examples from the book, as well as my own personal anecdotes, this article will examine how schools institutionalize these gender roles; how this affects the self-image of students (especially female students); and what we, as a society, have learned from it. Luttrell's study involved interviewing working-class women who had decided to return to school in middle age. She conducted the study with two groups, one from rural North Carolina and the other from urban Philadelphia. Although there were many differences in how the two groups felt about many aspects of school, none of the women interviewed reported feeling comfortable at school. Many women attributed this to class differences between themselves and their teachers, and these class differences very often involved geographic distinctions. For women in Philadelphia, it was a “suburban-urban” issue (55), and for women in North Carolina, it was an “urban-rural” issue (55). These c...... middle of paper ......implement. In my opinion, it is the sexual stratification in society as a whole that is the problem, not its reflection in the school system. But, ultimately, the debate over gender stratification in society, or the reflection of that stratification in schools, is a chicken-or-the-egg question. I believe a complete overhaul of the school system and curriculum is needed to help schools emerge from the 1960s (the last time much of the curriculum was seriously overhauled, including my high school in Baton Rouge) and to 21st century. This overhaul would eliminate hidden assumptions about gender and place boys and girls on an equal footing in the academic setting. This egalitarian class would then translate into society as a whole and we would finally become a society in which gender equality is not just talked about, but actually exists..