Texas school district removes ‘Rules of Chivalry’ assignment

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas school district has removed an assignment that called for girls to follow the “Rules of Chivalry,” including dressing “in a feminine manner to please men” and to “not complain or whine.”

According to KLBK-TV, the assignment was to be completed this week by students at Shallowater High School and was shared in a private Facebook group. The assignment sparked online criticism of the district.

According to an image of the assignment, it was intended to “demonstrate to the school how the code of chivalry and standards set in the medieval concept of courtly love carries over into the modern day.”

The instructions said “ladies deemed worthy of the honor by the gentlemen” would receive 10 points for every signature they received as they completed each task. The tasks also included cooking for the boys in their class, walking “behind men daintily as if their feet were bound,” cleaning up after the boys and outside of the classroom, not “show intellectual superiority if it would offend the men around them.”

Shallowater Independent School District did not immediately respond to calls from The Associated Press for comment.

In a statement to the station, the school district said the assignment had been reviewed and “despite its historical context, it does not reflect our district and community values.” The assignment was addressed with the teacher and removed, according to the district’s statement.

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