School

Lily

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In Year 7 a group of girls got called in at break and told that they need to wear more appropriate socks because the ones they were wearing had their ankles showing which was apparently distracting. SOCKS. 1- it’s not the fucking Victorian times I don’t think ankles are distracting. 2- THESE GIRLS ARE 12 YEARS OLD WHO EVER IS GETTING DISTRACTED IS DISGUSTING. And this kind of thing happened again I’m Year 9, all the girls doing pe were told that they can’t wear leggings that have any sort of mesh because we ‘have male teachers who will get distracted’. EXCUSE ME. IF A MALE TEACHER CANT CONTROL HIMSELF AROUND 14 YEAR OLD GIRLS THEN HE SHOULDNT BE WORKING IN SCHOOL.

Anon

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I am a secondary school teacher, during one of my planning periods I could hear a trainee teacher struggling with the behaviour of a class. This particular class, GCSE age, boy heavy could be rowdy at times. My intention was to stand in the room and assist with behaviour while the trainee focussed on teaching the lesson. As I stood in the doorway to survey the situation a boy loudly wolf whistled at me. I was shocked, I was a member of staff, a person and yet this boy thought it was acceptable to further disrupt the learning and disrespect me. Thankfully, the schools response was brilliant. They launched an investigation straight away, found the culprit and suspended him. Before he returned to school I was reassured by senior members of staff including the headteacher that this wasn’t tolerated and my safety was paramount. When the boy returned to school he gave me a formal apology. I don’t blame him, in fact now when we pass in the corridor he always says hello and is polite. What I do blame is the lack of support and education our young people are given about everyday sexism. As an educator, I know individual teachers try their best to prevent and tackle sexism but there is no wider support from society. Sexism is still largely accepted and our young people are falling victim to it.

Beta

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I was at school, and some boys came to me and tricked me into doing a sexualised pose and sticking out my butt, disguising it as a handshake. It was only two months later until I realised the true nature of their actions

Zoe

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Down the road from my all girls school is an all boys school, the schools used to be quite intergrated ,with sixth formers going to the other school if that school was offering an extra lesson and whatever, but they had to stop it because of how disgusting the boys were being with rape threats and all that. Now on my way home from school I have to walk past these boys who catcall specifically me out of my friend group and make every day I have go from good to bad and I go home feeling disgusting. Me and my friends have tried reporting them and telling teachers, so have other girls apparently, but no one does anything. At one point a friend of mine threatened police action to the school because they had called me an “ugly fucking dyke” (and that’s apparently enough to tell the police but lord knows they don’t do anything either) because I had told them that they’re not funny. No one seems to do anything because of the teenage boy stereotype and it’s doing nothing but make me feel disgusted with myself every day. I’d go the long way home but I’m not letting them win.

anonymous

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i had this ex boyfriend who would always ask to hang out. it was never day time and he would ask me to sneak out of my house to see him. i was scared but ended up doing it. i looked at him in the eyes and told him i did not want to lose my virginity because i was 15 and i didn’t completely understand the whole sex thing. he said he understood but i’m not sure if he did because he did it anyways. once i realized that that is what he did i kinda tried to stay away from him. but turns out i was a teenage girl seeking male validation so i stayed with him. He did multiple things along those lines and ended up cheating on me with his ex gf(she cheated on him multiple times and he would use her as an excuse for the way he acted.) so hooray.

Sofia

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All my life I have been subject to male criticisms of my work and how I structure my answers. In essays, this does not bother me. However, in classes focusing on Women’s rights and Women in general, there was a particular ‘team’ of boys who would not only mansplain everything, but snigger and laugh every time I, or indeed another woman in my class, explained something at university. During secondary school, I was harassed in public, at the canteen of my school, by a boy who had a ‘crush’ on me, who even strangled me off of a bench, along with other things. It was witnessed by all of my friends, but they were simply under the influence of everyday sexism. As I was told ‘he was just flirting’. To a point where I was scared to say no when he asked me out. Which led to a toxic and abusive relationship. I was 14. I am now at university and still seeing everyday sexism everywhere.

Charriess

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In second grade, I was arguing with a boy in my class, and midway through it he stated that “you’re a woman, so you should listen to me and do what I say”. I still remember it to this day, and wonder what was wrong with the way his parents were teaching him.

Grace

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I’m a medical student, and we tend to work in pairs to see patients. I would say that more than half the time, when I see a patient accompanied by a fellow male student, the patient completely ignores me and addresses all their questions to him. This is despite the fact that my colleague and I are at the same level of education and schooling, and usually about the same age. Even if my colleague steps back and lets me lead the interview, they still address him and him only.

Anonymous x

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He asked me to come back his house. Deep down I didn’t want too, but i know if i said no to him the things that he would tell all of the boys at school would ruin my life so i thought a few hours of talking is better than my school life being more hell than it is. We sat down on his bed and the first thing he done was come on to me and started kissing me. I got him off me and said ‘is it okay if we just talk’ he said ‘yeah thats fine’ and i believed him. He than came onto me again kissing me and pinning me down. I said no so many times and he just begged and begged to fuck me. I tried leaving his house he didnt let me. Eventually i knew there was no way out i HAD to say yes to him. So i did. I was 13 and a virgin and now i still have a forced sexual relationship with him because i know theres no way out. The things other people would say about me and the secret photos i know hes been taking of me when we have been having sex would get shown to every boy at school and social media. I feel like its my fault surely i should just never give in to him again. I dont know wether my story is even the right story lto put on here so i am sorry if its not

Dana

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My own mom is a misogynist. I was once simply stretching and my mom asked me to stop ‘showing off’ my boobs because some guy might grab them. I told her that if someone were to grab it I would punch him in the face. My mom replied, ‘ohh but you provoked him.’ This was when I realised that my mom was a misogynist and had ingrained misogyny.