How the "Girl World" differs from the "Real World"

These recent Forest Ridge graduates produced a school newspaper on same-sex schools. They spoke in June.

Divya Bahl, now at Boston University:
"I think we're a little sheltered here. We had a guest speaker from the business world and she said the workplace is not completely fair to women. We said, 'No way!' It was so eye-opening to hear that. ... "

"For every single prom I've gone to, I've had to ask the boy."

Michelle Scharlock, now at McGill University:
"I don't know any guys. But do I care? Not really. Boys are so annoying, so immature. They need to have attention all the time."

"I was definitely a math-phobe in public school. But I came here and started taking algebra in sixth grade, got thrown into honors math in eighth grade and now I'm in calculus and really like it. There's no stereotyping of girls being bad at math and science, because we're all girls here."

Gena Brigham, now at University of San Francisco:
"I interviewed five guys for a story about [all-boys school] O'Dea. We talked about stereotypes. ... At Forest Ridge, we're seen as the 'lesbians with laptops.'

"They're fighting the 'O'Gay' stereotype. Many said they'd prefer a coed school, but some said their sense of brotherhood would be lost. They said the downside was too much competition to be manly."

These Roosevelt High School June grads give a coed perspective:

Juliana Shadlen, now at Sarah Lawrence College:
"My dream would be to go to a school where there's no leg-shaving and everyone is really supportive. But I know that's not realistic. I used to go to a private school and I knew girls who went off to girls' schools. They were catty, silly and seemed really young for their age."

"I visited both Sarah Lawrence and Bard. At Bard, the guys dominated and sucked up to the teacher. They loved to hear themselves speak. But the women were so smart. You could tell when they got off into small groups and talked."

Zoe Ferrigno, now at Seattle Community College:
"When you go out and get a job, you find that men have so much power. If you've never experienced sexism before, you may be able to just shoot ahead in the job world. Or you may find it [extra] discouraging when you first encounter it. I think it's good to get used to it so as not to be intimidated by it when you see it. "

"At a coed school, boys get more attention. They're the football players, while the girls are the cheerleaders. A girls' school would be more empowering — but I'd miss the everyday social interactions with men. They help you learn and grow and be well rounded. You're not going to be stuck with all girls all your life. You're going to go out into the world and get a job where you will be working with men."

Ruhi Parashar, now at Bellevue Community College:

"Everyone learns from others' opinions. The opinions that girls have can make a difference in boys' opinions."

Elaine Schwennsen, now at Pratt Institute:

"We had a sex forum for the school newspaper and were talking about guys' and girls' feelings about the other sex, and the opinions were so divided about how guys experience emotions. We said: If they let a girl go, they don't show any emotions, whereas we cry. And if the girl screws them over, they hold in their emotions and take them out on the next girl they date. They said that was not true at all."