Small
experiences like that may be easily looked over, but they do add up, especially
when concentrated in one area, just as communities. I live in a red community, where
women’s rights were challenged and made fun of constantly; especially when I was
in middle school. I didn’t attend the same school kindergarten through twelfth
grade. From sixth grade to eighth grade I went to McBain Middle School, which
was coincidentally the rival school of where I graduated from. Now, this
community was very religious and very republican. In sixth grade, I was still
shy, which meant I was not as outspoken as I am now. However, one day my
history class was too much for me. I was sitting in the front row, quietly
doing my reading, when some boys in the back of the classroom began being loud.
We were just finishing up on covering
the topic of women attaining the power to vote, and women’s equality in
general. Being in a class with mostly boys taught by a male, when the “women
jokes” began, everyone started to laugh. I, however, didn’t think it was funny:
I felt demeaned. At first, I was confused. When I looked up, I expected to see
the teacher upset and ready to scold, not smiling and softly chuckling under
his breath. As the hour continued, the discreetly shared jokes became louder
and more obnoxious as the fear of getting in trouble for them dissipated. I sat
in my seat, shocked; my face had turned red in anger and frustration. As I
overheard one of my classmates condemn the government for giving women the
right to vote, I decided in that instant that I’d rather be mocked than sit
there and listen to something I knew wasn’t right. I rose out of my seat and
looked that boy straight in the eyes. The room gradually turned toward me, and
I waited until I held their attention, then I told them, “Do you really think
your moms would be proud of you right now? You go home tonight and explain to
her why you think she shouldn’t have a say in this country and how her only
place in this world is in front of a stove. Women’s jokes are NOT funny, and
you all need to shut your mouths so you can learn about how important we women
are.” As a sixth grader, just thirteen years old, I, as well as the rest of my
gender, was placed into a lower playing field than men were. I learned that sometimes
you have to stand up for what you believe in even if it means being ostracized,
and that is hard for a young, shy girl to know. However, that is what led me to
become the passionate women’s rights activist and feminist that I believe
myself to be.
I
strongly consider myself a feminist. I am very vocal about what I believe to be
fair or not. Activism is something that I have always imagined myself being a
part of, even though as of right now the closest I have came to doing that
would be arguing my views on social media. During the election time I remember
seeing this girl wearing a Trump shirt, and after that I went online and
ordered two shirts, one saying “Make America Love Again,” which I wore the day
after the election, and “Nevertheless, She Persisted.” I proudly wore those
shirts to combat that Trump shirt I had seen. I believe education and activism
are two things that can combat this problem. My junior year of high school I
was in a college speech class. For my final speech, it had to be a persuasion
topic, so I chose to do mine on why feminism is necessary/important. I gathered
a ton of information and worked really hard on this speech, even preparing a
PowerPoint to go along with it. I included things like the price difference for
a male hair cut and a female haircut at a local hair salon; why wasn’t it
categorized by length? Are girls not allowed to have short hair nor boys
allowed to have long hair? After delivering my speech, two of my guy friends
who were also in the class were very impressed, so much so they made a point to
stop using phrases like “man up” or using “you do that like a girl” as an
insult. They told me I had the best speech in the class, and from then on I saw
a difference in how they acted. By educating them about some sexism that was
occurring, they realized some of the things they did and said fell under that
category, and stopped doing it.
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