Tea Party

Yes, the boarding school girl is back. It is an annual tradition in my school for the senior girls to host a tea party for the female faculty in order to visually depict the girls’ gratitude before graduation. As a product of four years of private, boarding school education, I embrace the message behind the event since showing appreciation is a nice gesture.

But why the tea party? It is my impression that the school is enforcing senior girls to uphold the image of refined and educated ladies who have mastered the tea party manners. The girls are expected to send elaborate invitations to female faculty, dress nicely in sundresses, wait tables with big smiles, and pour teas with our dainty little hands. If this was the students’ choice, I would respect the decision and volunteer as a fully-functioning member of my class. However, the event is mandated by the school and what ticks me off the most is that it’s a girls-only event. Our male counterparts are not required by the school to host any form of appreciative event for the faculty and male faculty generally do not attend the tea party. When I consider all these disparities, I can only arrive at a conclusion that my school is, once again, trying to make housewives out of us. Moreover, my class’ seeming ignorance or apathy towards an-extremely-visible gender discrepancy in the school infuriates me. In fact, when I kept bringing up the issue during class meeting, most girls dismissed it as another “complaint” from “that feminist girl.” (Luckily for me, I found a great excuse to miss the event.)

I find this to be a potentially great opportunity for the senior class to give back to the teachers but when the expression of gratitude is expected to be delivered by the ladies (while the gentlemen sweat away in fields and the gym) through pleasantly-domestic means, it makes me wonder what the purpose of my high school career was exactly.