Whether or not to teach feminism at school is a very controversial issue at the present time. According to the report by Dr Jessica Ringrose(2008), she has been made the rounds and instituted on Education in UK recently, suggesting that feminism should be taught in schools to arise the increased sexualization of girls in the media and to give girls role models outside of celebrities like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Ringrose(2008) suggests teaching girls about historic feminist leaders, like suffragists, to balance out all the myth that they’re assimilating through pop culture. By teaching feminism to younger girls, it is better for off showing girls what sort of feminist action is happening right now. In order to empower young women, the schools need to teach them about women’s accomplishments through history, and need to explore teaching methods that inspire girls to speak out and make a difference. If feminism is to mean anything to women in this generation, this is an emphasis that must shift.

When it comes to feminism, the universal might associate it with necessarily militant and anti-male. Feminism is a social movement that seeks equal rights for women. It is a coalition of women in bringing issues of coequality, sexual oppression, and sex discrimination into the community. It is all about women and men acting, speaking and writing on women's issues and rights and identifying social injustice in the status quo.

The term "feminism" first appeared in UK in the 19th century. During this period, the feminist movement campaigned for improved female rights in the law, employment, education, and marriage. In 20th century, World War I helped to advance the feminist cause, as women were much needed by the UK heavy industry at the time, and those working women became economic independence. Until now, feminism did win concrete battles, especially over equal pay and abortion rights. Notwithstanding, it gradually became primarily associated with sexual politics and culture. More broadly, feminism is to takes different means in order to gain respect or a more generalized demand for women's freedom.

Gaby(1994,p.51) has mentioned that ‘Feminists working in education have certainly moved forward in the last two decades from the position of having to provide evidence of female disadvantage and gender discrimination in order to enable girls’ and woman’s issues to be placed on the educational agenda to articulating a value-system and practice of feminist education that allows for greater sexual equality at the same time as acknowledging the differences that separate women.’ In fact, those feminists working in education move forward for twenty years hold the position to provide evidence of feminism disadvantage. Feminist postructuralism allows for exploration of how girls and woman actively position themselves in discourses that subordinate them as well as consideration of the workings of patriarchal structures such as the school and education more generally.
First, the study of feminism can “reinvigorate girls’ sense of self-worth and to help pupils think about the gender implications of their language and image. It is important for girls today to think about their role models. Many young women look to Miley Cirus or Britney Spears as role models today. This can impute to the increasing discussion of sex in the media, advertising and to give girls role models outside of celebrities. Therefore, school should instilling in young woman that the positive woman role in history and encourage them to learn from these strong, self-assured agents of historical change such as Virginia Woolf and Susan B. Anthony. By holding the work of these latter women up to be seen as at least as important as the wars fought by and the leaders who were typically men, we show young women that being strong and confident is nothing to be ashamed of, and we show young men that strong and confident women are to be respected, not coaxed into becoming something else, something they can control. This could overcome the negative influences of celebrities and media.
This leads to the second point; girls are accepting sexual assault at school as a fact of life. According to Ringrose(2008), schoolgirls often used sexualized language, calling each other ‘whole’ or ‘slut’ and boasted about being good at sex. Sometime, young women are being joked about and taunted by young men at school not because they lack confidence and strength. It is like the young woman have traditional thought that tells these girls that if they don’t let boys treat them this way, boys will not like them and there are few things worse when you’re in high school. By teaching students about feminism, we can show both young women and young men that equality in human rights is important, and treating someone as if they are beneath you is unacceptable.
Girls are not only under pressure when it comes to boys, but also when it comes to the clothes they wear and how that affects whether or not they will fit in with the right crowd in school. “According to the Girls Inc. Supergirl Dilemma report, 84% of all girls say it’s true that girls are under a lot of pressure to dress the right way.” I’m sure we all remember days in our youth when we wondered if we were wearing the right clothes or wanted to look just like someone we saw on television. Girls’ confidence can very often hinge on whether or not they feel they look “right” or fit in with the “right” other girls. Maybe, just maybe, by instilling in young women that the positive women role models in history have been auspicious agents of change – as much as the men that fill the pages of their textbooks – we can show them that what matters most are not the styles of clothing they wear, but the restyling of history made possible by extraordinary women. And who knows; maybe they’ll even be inspired to take up feminism themselves.
Apart from that, lessons provide space for the girls to discuss about their viewpoints. There are too many women in the UK won’t be exposed to feminism until college. Some of the girls might have misunderstanding or not familiar with this issue so they got messed up. Lessons of feminism could instill them to speak their mind and overcome the myth that “feminism” is not such a dirty word.
It is arguable that the continuous fallacious concept might bring negative notion to younger or even the next generation. More importantly, we should focus on how feminism should be taught in school. There seem to be two probably ways to go on: 1) Women’s Studies classes should be offered in high school, and 2) Feminism should be incorporated in core curriculum classes (English, history, etc.).
First of all, Women’s Studies classes, it can be presented in an elective classes form. Students would have to choose to take these classes, and those that choose to take them probably don’t have to. Meaning they might already have an interest in women’s rights and, therefore, don’t need to be “taught” to be progressive young adults.
Core classes, are classes that students must take in order to graduate. Teachers also began to develop broader strategies for change that depended on simultaneously challenging different areas of schooling. It included the changing in the content of curriculum areas, for example, in history, social studies, science, religious education, making science, computing, technical subjects and ,mathematics.
Comparing with woman’s studies classes, teaching feminism in a core class may be more beneficial and influential to students. As they must take these classes, schools can make sure they reach a wider audience even some students wouldn’t be interested in women’s issues. Also, there is the excess benefit of being able to teach multiple perspectives within these classes which encourages students to look at everything from multiple perspectives.
Last but not least, there some responsibility comes in is making sure that there is a sustainable development for feminism. School should let the students discussing these topics a truly safe environment. It shouldn’t be about ‘preaching’ unilateral values as but about fostering discussion on varies issues. Students who voice differing opinions are often silenced in a classroom setting, not only by fellow students out of peer pressure, but also sometimes from teachers. While teaching feminism and women’s studies, it is also important to teach about respect and practice respect yourself. It’s important to encourage all opinions, even anti-feminist ones if they are made in a respectful manner.
All in all, the bottom line in teaching is that schools have to do what is best for the students. This means giving girls a sense of unity over their education helps them as well as the male students understand the basic concepts of feminism and implement them in their everyday lives. Teaching feminism and women’s studies should be about fostering discussion and bringing awareness to feminist issues, not only in the lives of students but in society as well.