A Christian/Anglican school in Australia has garnered negative attention after getting its students to participate in a misogynistic and extremely disturbing exercise.
St. Luke's, a grammar school in Sydney Australia, separated its year ten (or 9th grade, in the USA) students into groups by a gender binary and gave the boys and girls very different assignments. The girls were to read articles on "preserving" their virginity until marriage.
The boys were told to list "qualities that you would look for in a girl."
This exercise was given to Year 10 boys at St Luke\u2019s Anglican Grammar School, teaching the boys how to choose a girlfriend. The qualities listed speaks volumes about how girls are perceived and what is being valued. #education #sexism #religionpic.twitter.com/Mdrf5iegxh— Peter Murphy (@Peter Murphy) 1624360724
6 points for a virgin \u2026 who verifies that, and is there a refund option?— The (Vaccinated) Ghost of August West (@The (Vaccinated) Ghost of August West) 1624450364
Is this actually real??— shirkeynot (@shirkeynot) 1624369992
\u201cRight height\u201d - for what purpose?— RoosterDownUnder (@RoosterDownUnder) 1624402443
Students voiced their displeasure for the assignment to the Sydney Herald.
"All the girls were disgusted and really offended," said one student.
This is grotesque. Girls don\u2019t need to be rated by boys; doing so encourages misogyny, and the commodification and objectification of women. \n\nAlso, PEDIGREE? Women are not Labradors.pic.twitter.com/a7knABtpBV— Anita (@Anita) 1624347368
WHAT! Is this the St Luke\u2019s Grammar School that\u2019s located on Sydney\u2019s Northern Beaches?— Michael Wu (@Michael Wu) 1624347595
WTAF?— Paul H\ud83c\udf69wat\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08AbolishTheDay (@Paul H\ud83c\udf69wat\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08AbolishTheDay) 1624347989
Grotesque indeed. Six points for a virgin. The conflation of sporty and sexy. And the rest of it— Alex Thomson (@Alex Thomson) 1624347702
It is beyond gross. Hopefully those peddling this will be disciplined.— Dr. JakMich Her/She (@Dr. JakMich Her/She) 1624360450
In response, the headmaster of the school sent a letter home to parents acknowledging that the lesson was completely inappropriate.
"St Luke's always has been, and always will be, a school that respects, values and honours all students."
However, the damage was done: according to the female students, several male students were joking around, calling the assignment "Build A B**ch."
"They think joking about it was OK because their own teacher was telling them it was OK."
I'm disgusted by the lessons being taught at St Luke's Grammar in Sydney where boys were asked to rank and score girls. \n\nIn my sister's diaries, she wrote about how the man who murdered her viewed her as an object. This is the kind of entitlement culture that school is breeding.— Tarang / \u0924\u0930\u0902\u0917 (@Tarang / \u0924\u0930\u0902\u0917) 1624422325
*St Luke's Grammar\nTeaches boys, a girls virginity is a prize to be sought\nHistory of a woman's vagina, is for male selecting good breeding stock\nTeaching boys to value a women as the sum of the history of her body parts -FFS this is disgusting\n#EnoughisEnough— Emergency&BushfireKits (@Emergency&BushfireKits) 1624490787
Thinking of starting a support group for all the women who would have been complete non-starters as far as the St Luke\u2019s Christian Grammar school dating point system goes. I know I\u2019m devastated.— Celeste Liddle (@Celeste Liddle) 1624420344
Disgusting - no surprise that Australia has such astounding toxic masculinity and shameful rates of violence against women - St Luke\u2019s Grammar School asked boys to use rating system on girls, female students taught to keep virginity #auspolhttps://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/school-asked-boys-to-use-rating-system-on-girls-female-students-taught-to-keep-virginity-20210622-p58358.html\u00a0\u2026— Lisa Toohey (@Lisa Toohey) 1624401524
I hate to break it to the incel lads of St Luke's Anglican Grammar School, my willingness to put up with this bullshit is a non-negotiable 1 Billion Points.— KimmyBakedOven, because what's a name anyway Jeph? (@KimmyBakedOven, because what's a name anyway Jeph?) 1624368054
The Christian Studies teacher has "voluntarily stood down while the matter is under investigation," according to the school.
Christian Studies classes for the students will be co-ed in the next term, and the headmaster has committed to overseeing a review of the curriculum.