In an age where women still earn cents on the dollar compared with men, a history teacher at Wareham High School believes it is important to teach students "Herstory."

The new class, called Herstory, aims to teach students history from the perspectives of women who have lived through it. The class will meet in the spring and will be taught by veteran history teacher Liza Boardman.

Boardman, who minored in women’s studies in college, and has been at the school for 30 years, believes it is important to teach history from a woman’s perspective, because “I think women have been overlooked and misunderstood.”

“When you talk about women’s issues, I think the first stereotype is you are anti-men,” Boardman said. “People think [sexism] is no longer an issue. … I believe it’s still out there.”

Boardman said she will look at women’s issues throughout the world, not just in the United States. Among the issues the class will address are how women are received in the workforce, portrayed by the media, and treated in personal relationships.

“We will look at how movies and music videos portray women, and how female artists even portray themselves,” Boardman said. “We will also look at gender violence, and why is it, statistically, that women are more apt to be in bad relationships, and why it’s considered acceptable.”

So far, Boardman said, she has eight students interested in the class, two of whom are boys. She says it is important for interested students to understand this will not be an “anti-men” class, but an anti-stereotypes and anti-sexism class.

“Women are just searching for equality, just like religions and races over the years,” Boardman said.

Boardman expects students to be surprised at how recently women won certain rights, such as legal recognition of sexual harassment in the workplace.

“Students don’t realize sexual harassment was acceptable in the workplace, until it came out in the 1990s with Anita Hill,” Boardman said, referring to the 1991 case in which University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill alleged Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. “If your boss made a comment to you, there was no recourse for it. It was acceptable behavior for a guy.”