"Girl Power...." Article

I have a few different views about the article : "Girl Power in a Digital World.." by Bronwyn T. Williams.

- Growing up, I usually felt intimidated by the male gender in the classrooms. Boys were more likely to call out and say the answer that I was patiently raising my hand to say and they were a very big distraction. I do not think that I was ever less encouraged for my efforts and I cannot say that I have ever seen a female experience that either. (lucky for me huh?)

- The article seems to have a negative perspective on competition in classrooms. To an extent, I think competition is a good thing because it motivates students to work a little harder and try new strategies to get the answer a little faster then other students. Granted the article says that boys are more then often socialized to compete, why should we discourage girls to do so?