- Students at a high
school in Shallowater,Texas , were recently given an assignment about chivalry. - The assignment asked girls to "obey" and "follow" men and dress to "please" them.
- The school's superintendent told TODAY Parents the assignment has been removed from the syllabus.
Girls at a high school in Texas were told to dress to "please the men" as part of a homework assignment about chivalry.
The Shallowater Independent School District in Lubbock County, Texas, faced criticism Wednesday after Dallas-based journalist Brandi D. Addison Davis shared a photo of the assignment on Twitter.
The assignment is from a Shallowater High School English class in which girls were asked to follow the rules of chivalry from
The homework asked students to "demonstrate to the school how the code of chivalry and standards set in the medieval concept of courtly love carries into the modern day."
The assignment ordered female students to "address all men respectfully by title, with a lowered head and curtsy." Students were also told to "cook (preferably not buy) something for the gentlemen in their class. Sweet baked goods are preferable" and asked female students not to "show intellectual superiority if it would offend the men around them" outside of class.
—Brandi D. Addison Davis (@BrandiDAddison) March 3, 2021
It also asked the female students not to "complain or whine" or initiate conversations with men, and asked them to clean up after - and obey - men. Another order said the girls should walk "behind men daintily as if their feet were bound."
By each order, there was a space for an "adult witness" signature so students could earn points for following the rules.
"Fathers and other adult males may insist on following the rules into the evening and may report to the judges ... in these matters," the assignment stated.
Boys in the class also had an assignment and were told to "have manners towards the ladies and treat them politely in some situations," according to a screenshot shared by Addison.
The assignment asked boys to "dress appropriately in jackets and ties or suits," "assist ladies to seat themselves," call women "milady," speak "genteelly" and avoid profanity.
The homework was criticized after it was first circulated online in a Facebook post, according to EverythingLubbock.com.
The Shallowater Independent School District did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but TODAY Parents reported that the homework was removed from the class syllabus and administrators had spoken with the teacher who assigned it.
"This assignment has been reviewed, and despite its historical context, it does not reflect our district and community values," district superintendent Anita Hebert told TODAY Parents.