Remembering the lengths I used to go, and the amount of time that was wasted trying to cover up my body, so that I didn’t get crude comments from men and boys or disapproving looks from adults just for being a teenaged girl. In the end it didn’t even work that well, despite the baggy clothes and uncomfortable layers, I STILL got sexist comments and harrassment. Shopping for clothes was a nightmare, everything for girls and young women seems designed to be sexualised and revealing, when in reality not all teenage girls want to express themselves this way. I even had to wear a hot, uncomfortable tshirt under my school uniform shirt to stop my bra from showing through, and PE class meant too-short shorts which many girls were embarrassed to wear. That is before even mentioning the hassle of trying to deal with periods while in school where privacy and time are in short supply, or the absolute Hell that is PE class on your period. (Stephen King’s Carrie doesn’t do it justice!) We shouldn’t have to go to such lengths to hide our body-shape and something as natural as the menstrual cycle but while girls bodies are sexualised by the media, fashion and just about everybody else, school dress-codes make having a female body into something shameful to be punished for if your clothes are a little too tight or short, making life especially difficult for tall or curvy girls who have to fit into the same uniform as everyone else. Sexual harrassment of girls is widespread and too-often tolerated, there is still shame and stigma around periods, clothing retailers and school-uniform-designers don’t do anything to make life easier for girls. This is actually sexist (boys experience sexism too, but the world doesn’t seem to make such a big deal out of their bodies and appearance) because it means girls are being treated unfairly and have to waste a lot of time which could be spent on studying or something more useful.
