Cath

My teacher was once making a point about sexism in society. He asked: “Who’s ever been discriminated about because of their gender?” I didn’t raise my hand and he asked me: “Did your dad never ask your brother to wash the car instead of you? Did you never have a pink room?”

I’d never experienced that at all. My dad’s non-gender. He was the ‘house-husband’ while my mother was the ‘breadwinner’. If anything, he’s more feminine than masculine. He even wears dresses. My family has therefore always been a ‘be who you are’ family, not a social stereotype conforming one. I was raised to be myself, not a ‘girl’.

When I told my teacher I’d had a pink room, he said: “There you go then, you’re a girl.”

I’m a girl? I’m Catherine. I’m whoever I want to be. I had a pink room because when my brother moved into his own room when I was five, I chose to paint over the green with pink because it was pretty. My room’s now white and aqua because I like that colour.

Never assume a person’s something when they’re not. That teacher knew and knows nothing about who I am, nor does he deserve to. He was trying to prove a point about stereotyping in society being wrong, but the way he treated me showed his ignorance.