body

At The Doctor’s

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“She – Waits He – Speaks & speak & speak & speak & speak & speak & transforming a girl becomes a shell where life is cut.” M.B. I wrote this poem just now, after being at the doctor’s in my hometown in Italy. Because I am a woman the doctor implied that I am “just stressed”, and I don’t need further tests for my symptoms. I have been at A&E 4 times in a week because of an allergic reaction. Today I supposed to have some test done. Why as a woman I can’t even speak of & for my own suffering body?

Aleksandra

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At a house party last night, I was participating in a chat about soreness and injuries from the gym. (So it happened that I was the only woman in this group). I mentioned I related to these problems and only performed particular exercises with someone to spot me. In response, one guy shifted the conversation to bluntly asking me how much I squat or bench press. I disregarded it, saying lightheartedly that I didn’t want to share, but he kept asking repeatedly, demanding an answer. He laughed loudly, *do you even put any weights on the bar?*… I casually pointed out it was sexist, that he wasn’t saying that to any of the guys, and I just didn’t wish to share my personal fitness progress with a group of guys at a party. Of course, I got laughed off. It’s not the first time a woman was expected to be weak. Judged for what she does with her body. Expected to share numbers regarding her body. Laughed at for not wanting to share them. Disrespected when saying “no.” But I sure as hell won’t be having it because I’m a woman, and we are strong if we only decide to be.

A Confused Teacher

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Inspired by this website, a talk from Laura, reading Laura’s books and many others, I have begun questioning policies that, as a teacher, I am expected to enforce. Uniform is an issue, but what has concerned me recently is a particular aspect of mufti day outfits. My school, like many others, occasionally has days when pupils are allowed to wear their own clothes. Particularly in the summer time, this causes an issue over midriffs. Now, in principle, the rule about covering midriffs applies to boys and girls, but in practice, it only effects/has an impact on the girls. Now, as a teacher of politics, I am a big fan of students asking for clarification and challenging rules. As long as it is done in an appropriate way this is a mark of an intelligent and independent person who will not blindly follow orders. When a pupil wears a crop, or a short top that may ride up, they will ask why it needs to be covered. To be honest, I can think of no good answer to this question other than a woefully inappropriate ‘because that’s the rule’. In a bid to find a justification, I have been trying to find possible justifications online. After many searches, these are basically the only justifications I can find for why girls (or women for that matter) should cover their midriff: It’s disgusting (what a wonderful message of bodily pride to give to women and girls) They’re just doing it to get attention (really? Even if that were true (which in many cases I doubt) why is that an issue?) It’s too sexual (firstly, it only seems to have become sexual because everyone is trying to cover it up, much like the Victorian obsession with ankles, and secondly, surely the issue is with the people who find the stomachs sexual) It will distract the boys/make male teacher’s uncomfortable (seems to be a bit of victim blaming here; covers girls legs, shoulders and, basically everything else too (pun intended). Maybe girls should hide until no one is distracted by them, or maybe men should hide themselves away until they’ve learnt to control themselves and stop,blaming girls for their issues) A general trend seems to be that by exposing the midriff girls are asking for trouble, which is just completely wrong. I could go on, I really cannot find any justification for requiring girls to cover midriffs other than boys/men sexualising them or that girls,stomachs are disgusting (which seem very contradictory views). Sorry for the long post, but if anyone can give me a reasonable justification for girls and women being required to cover their midriff (or shoulders or legs for that matter) I’d be eternally grateful.

anon

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This seems minor but it has really annoyed me. In maths class, we were discussing how weight was different on the moon. The teacher then said, girls, if you want to lose weight go to the moon. He was implying that girls all want to be thin and lose weight which is not the case. Also, some boys may want to lose weight etc

Alice

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So I was watching the news with my mum and Theresa may comes on and she is doing a speech about globalisation. She is wearing a nice dress which she looks great in. Said dress is completely shoulderless. I couldn’t help but get annoyed when the first thing my mum mentioned when the prime minister was delivering her speech was how good her arms looked?? This is the prime. Minister. Who cares about her arms? If it were a man my mum wouldn’t have mentioned how nice his arms were. Why is it that because it’s a woman she suddenly started analysing her appearance and completely ignored the entire speech? Rant over.