They often don't have a choice. They can stay, but as just one vote they cannot reform the system. They can fight for thier kids, but they may have limited results. (My mom faught hard in ~1965 to be able to take shop, but it was a boys only class and she didn't win)

I'd bet that the school she went to would let a girl into shop class today (assuming the school and class are still around). Change is possible, but it's slow. It also matters if there's one girl who wants to take shop class vs many girls who are asking for it. Parents and students can work to change the ways their schools are run. They may have to campaign for and promote their causes so that "one vote" grows into more votes, but votes still mater.

Sure, but it was too late for my mom. My mom would have been better off finding a different district that would let her in (this may not have been possible), instead of fighting a system that ultimately failed her.

>Sure, but it was too late for my mom. My mom would have been better off finding a different district that would let her in (this may not have been possible), instead of fighting a system that ultimately failed her.

An interesting and important anecdote. But rather than focusing on your mom's inability to take shop class, perhaps you might reflect on the fact that your mom (and many other women/girls) fought for such changes and, eventually (albeit too late for your mom), won.

That's how change happens. If you just throw up your hands and say "well, I/my mom/whoever couldn't have something that was good and important. So there's no reason to ever fight for change," seems incredibly reductive and doesn't reflect how change has been wrought throughout history.

Please understand, I'm not poking at you or your mom (in fact, I don't know her, but I think she's fabulous!). Rather, I'm taking issue with the idea that we "can't win, so don't try." That's a recipe for those who understand how change is made to create the world in their image, whether you like it or not.

It's interesting to think what might have happened if every girl who wanted to take that shop class just found another school that allowed for it instead of putting up a fight. I'd like to think that all schools would eventually abandon the arbitrary restrictions left over from outdated gender roles, but it's not impossible that without repeated pressure from a growing number of frustrated parents/children they'd continue to keep that shop class male-only hurting those girls who weren't able to switch schools

I get that it's hard to ask people to think of the wider implications when they've got their own life to consider though.

There are two different issues here. Long term change and short term better. Both are very important. There is no reason you cannot work on both at the same time and many reasons you should. My mom trying to get into shop class was part of both, and if she could have switched schools to one that allowed it (see the other reply) that would have done even more as it would prove women are not too [weak, stupid...] to do so.