elementary-school

Carolyn

|

One time in 6 or 7th grade I was walking outside with my female friend during lunch. and I walked past this boy and he grabbed my butt. I was so angry and I think my friend told me I was over reacting. The boy only got a lecture from a female teacher. That was the extent of his punishment. On another occasion this time when I was taking the train during my freshman year in high school. This man sat diagonal from me in a 4 seat section. He asked me to use my phone to take a call. I was kind of frighted of him but I alway wanted to be kind to people so I gave him my phone. He held my phone for a really long time until I asked him if he was going to call someone. After fairly obviously pretending to call someone I got my phone back. When I looked at my phone I saw that he had opened a bunch of apps like contacts and messages, I felt so uncomfortable. He placed his feet up blocking off my exit and I couldn’t move I was so scared. I texted my mom and then I moved train cars. People still don’t really understand why I don’t like public transportation.

Hermione

|

Once in school when I was 11 I began to tell some boys off because they said they wouldn’t hit me because I was a girl. I told the they were being sexist and that they should be just as willing to hit me as any boy. I told them the reason they shouldn’t have hit me is because it was the wrong thing to do. Not because I was a girl, but because I was a person. They laughed at me for being a feminist and said I thought girls were better than boys. I told them I thought everyone should have equal rights. That’s what a feminist is someone who wants equality for ALL, regardless of any stupid stereotype or class. They continued to laugh and I remember wondering if it was wrong to be a feminist because the word female is in the name. A few years later a similar situation occurred. I came back with the same reply. Yet again I was laughed at and asked if I was a feminist. I simply hung my head in shame. The worst bit, I didn’t even think of it as wrong until now reading other posts. Right now the only thing I am ashamed of is that II didn’t give those idiots a piece of my mind. It is horrifying that something like this would happen to a child and even more awful that I believed it was acceptable.

Rey

|

This is the first time I remember experiencing sexism. I would have been four or maybe five – I was at school and we were drawing our favourite soft toy with coloured chalk. I was sitting next to a boy who looked over at my work, and saw what colours I was using (red and yellow). He turned to me (and as I said I was four or five so I can’t remember the exact words) and tells me that I should only be using “girl colours”, meaning pink and purple. Of course, because I was so young I didn’t contemplate it much, but I remember thinking: “Why are there only two girl colours, while the boy colours are the whole of the rest of the box? And why can’t I use them?”.

Kelly

|

Wait. Are we counting being honked at, screamed at, whistled at, yelled obscenities at, being grabbed, and having a boy check me for a bra (age 10)? If all of that counts, then the harassment started at age 10 and has not let up. At 40 with 4 kids, I would have thought this would have been a thing of the past, but no, it still happens. It happened 9 months pregnant. It happened while pushing strollers kids in tow. I was brought up to believe this was just “normal.” It has shaped my life in a very real way. I still will not go out alone (anywhere) at night.

Sexism from elementary school

|

When I was seven yo, a boy from our (first) grade dropped me off from a high jungle gym. I fell down, hurt myself and bit my tooth through my lip. I went to see our school nurse and got well nurtured. But when I told her what had happened, she explained to me that I should actually see that it was a nice thing, because” now I know that somebody likes me”. -Now at 26, I suddenly realize how very horrible and idiotic that was. Back then, “understanding” that made me feel nauseate but obviously thinking that its true when she says so. When I was at fifth grade, being 11 yo, boys at our class had a paper going round where they ranked girls based on how their “breasts” looked everyday. Mine where reputedly too small, so i bought filling for my top after a while. – Too small for child? I wonder now, if my breasts wouldn’t have later grew to be big enough for their scale, would I now have implants and scars on my upper body.. Same year boys started to slap girls butts constantly during breaks and trying to pull our underpants up. When I had an argument, I don’t remember about what, on that same year with one of those slapping boys, he called me a whore. I had heard that word many times already, so I knew what it meant. I had also heard a word gigolo recently from TV, and I remember how it stick to my mind like an absurd idea “a man can also be a whore?”. I then insulted that boy back. Weird thing that happened then was that I, who had been insulted first, didn’t even realize there was something I as a girl could or should go and report to teacher about. But the boy obviously felt big shock and unjust to be called like that, even though he was the one who started it, so he went and told the teacher. The most absurd thing with this incident was, when I think about it now and also was to me back then, that only I had detention. The male teacher was furious that I used that word, wanted to know where I had heard that word from, and made me swear I won’t use that word again. He explained to me that it is different from the word whore because whore is a common and normal word. I guess that was the second time I realized that this system is unjust. The first time was a one year before when fourth grade started. Girls were supposed to start knitting-classes and boys to start woodcraft-classes. I asked to start woodcraft instead of knitting and was then told by teachers it’s not acceptable because I’m a girl. It would have though been acceptable for boys to attend knitting-classes from time to time, if some would so want. My great parents had to come to school to request it in person for me before the male principal took it into consideration and year after that granted me right to attend woodcraft-classes. In that condition though, that I would still continue to take knitting -classes too.. My gosh, this was in turn of the millennium and in Nordic country,