Haritini

I’m a 17 year old girl that tries hard to balance being a healthy teen, every day being one step closer to fulfilling my dreams and living life to the fullest. Trying to fit everything into 24h is hard, so not everyone gets to see my “instagram 17 year old of 2017” every day. I am into football (or soccer) and exactly because my topic of conversation is usually not my love life and boy crushes, more than a few members in my family ask if I am gay. Nearly all boys in my class, if I happen to participate in a conversation about football, value my opinion as long as I agree with them. As soon as I say the words “well, I disagree with that” -God forbid, a girl disagrees- my opinion is worthy of nothing but trash.
When I told my mum I want to be actively involved in ending gender inequality, she shut me down by saying “Hari, what inequality you’re talking about? We’ve come such a long way, stop making a fuzz about it”.
When I complain about the gender pay gap, I am told it doesn’t exist. And when I dare to say that my Math teacher jokes are sexist (“Why doesn’t a woman need a clock? Because the kitchen will have one for sure”), and insist on the seriousness of ‘banter’, I am treated as a “triggered feminist”.
Tired of being reading about or experiencing assault in every day life, being a woman should be nothing less of a gift.