degrading

amy

i am 15 years old in grade 10. I started to hear sexist comments in school by grade 5. On a daily basis I hear comments about women being unqualified to work, women belonging in the kitchen, women over using the term rape and sexual harassment and comments about feminists being cancerous, over weight and pretty much every other degrading word in the book. To top it off, every time i have spoke up to say something i get ‘its just a joke’ ‘take a joke’ ‘calm down its not like they really mean it’ … but my question stands, why is it that degrading women is so funny? It’s not a joke, it never was. I started getting cat called at 12 years old, when walking home from school on pajama day. In grade 7 i did a project on gender equality and was told by 4 boys in my class that it wasn’t real and it didn’t matter and to just sit down, shut up and look pretty. When i was 12 i was told by my friends grandfather that people need to stop making such a big deal about a few little jokes boys make time to time because boys will be boys. When I was 14 I went to a fair, and tripped on a rock. I fell to the ground and was immediately surrounded by boys I didnt know, all older than me. They turned to each other and said ‘what do we do with her? should we take her somewhere? what do you want to do to her? can i go first?’. so my bad for ‘not taking a joke’. im so sorry i don’t think my objectification is funny.

Em

I’m 16 and I go to school near NYC. I got hit in the face with a wiffleball in gym class and went to get ice. We were playing ‘tournament style’ but I asked to sit out because my chin was throbbing. My male gym teacher replied with, “you’re beautiful” and wouldn’t let me sit out, despite my objections. After i finished another round, i complained to him that my face still hurt and physical beauty didn’t have any correlation to that fact. He just said, “well it’s true! you are” and wouldn’t let me sit out or hold the ice to my face as i played.

Erin Doushet

Everyday at school I’m subject to rude looks by boys. That’s because they claim I have “big tits.” Furthermore, ever since Trump won the presidency, they keep on telling me they want to “grab me by the pussy.” I must admit, my breasts are quite large, but boys have no right to catcall me in such a degrading manner. I mean, who would they feel if I said I’d “grab them by the dick.” That’s why the world must come together to end the horrible misogynistic, sexist, and racist society that has plagued our downhill country today.