Texas School Scraps 'Chivalry' Assignment Telling Girls To Dress in Feminine Manner To Please Men

By Mary Anne Webber Mar 05 2021, 23:26 PM EST

A Texas school district has pulled out a "chivalry" assignment after the images of the lesson went viral and sparked criticism from netizens.

According to NBC News, some parents have already complained about the English assignment, which includes rules on how female students at Shallowater High School outside Lubbock should behave around their male classmates.

"Hear Ye, Hear Ye Ladies... The ladies... will demonstrate to the school how the code of chivalry and standards set in the medieval concept of courtly love carries over to the modern day," stated on the image of the chivalry assignment.

Titled "Rules for Chivalry," the lesson also called for the female students to dress in "a feminine manner to please the men" and addressed the men "respectfully by title, with a lowered head and curtsy."

It also gave instructions never to criticize men, initiate a conversation, or whine and "walk behind men or walk daintily, as if their feet were bound." Female students were also told to cook, clean, obey and not show "intellectual superiority if it would offend the men around them."

The assignment said that "ladies deemed worthy of the honor by the gentlemen" will receive 10 points for each signature they received as they completed each task, ABC News reported. A local journalist shared on Twitter a photo of the assignment, which was supposed to be completed by students this week.

Shallowater Independent School District Superintendent Anita Hebert told NBC News that the chivalry assignment has been reviewed and looked at, adding that it does not reflect the district and community values.

"The matter has been addressed with the teacher, and the assignment was removed," Hebert said in a statement.

Meanwhile, male students were also handed an assignment that directed them to their female classmates with respect, "speak genteelly," dress appropriately, and "assist ladies to arise from their seats." They were also asked to pay all expenses if they chaperoned a female out on a date.

According to a Daily Mail report, the male students were instructed to have their acts be seen by a female who would sign off on the deed in exchange for 10 points. A copy of the male assignment, which also appeared on social media, did not spark the same outrage.

Reactions on the 'Chivalry' Assignment

Critics lambasted the "chivalry" assignment and circulated on social media the female students' lesson.

"Something like this is better to just be explained. Not demonstrated. WTH is wrong with people. Give examples of being chivalrous in the modern world, not require students to relive old times," one Twitter user said.

This is not the first time that schools draw flak for their assigned homework given to students. In Mississippi, a middle school is under fire over a slave letter writing assignment that asked mostly white students to tackle "the journey to America" or "the family you live with."

Purvis Middle School's assignment also gave the students the option to write about how one passes their time when they are not working, according to a New York Post report.

Jeremy Marquell, social media manager for Black Lives Matter Mississippi, said he does not know "how a logical person teaches this." Marquell added that the assignment is not helpful but rather "hurtful."