It's Okay, I'm Used to it

            Before I took this class I understood and could see blatant sexism, but it’s the underlying sexism that you may not pick up on until you’re really looking for it. In this blog post I’ll share a story from my own life and a story my friend experienced.

            A few years ago I went with my church to help fix and clean up Camp Gilmont. It was an experience I was excited for because I loved spending time with my friends in my youth group, and spending an entire weekend with them was such a treat. The first job we were assigned was to clear the walkway of the many logs strewn about. I grew up camping and doing a lot of physical activity, so lifting and moving logs wasn’t a big issue for me. I began moving the logs, but my friend’s father decided it was not okay for me to be lifting logs on my own, so he took the log from me and told me I should do a job more suited for a girl. In that moment, I was pretty upset, but being raised with a conservative extended family I was used to the implications that I couldn’t perform certain tasks because of my gender. Thinking back to moments like this makes me sad that women, not just me, experience sexism every day and just brush it off as a natural occurrence instead of facing it head on and fighting the “social norms.”

            This next story both my friend Grace and I’ve experienced. When we were in high school there was this boy who would always make crude comments about our bodies and the activities we do. One day he decided making comments about our bodies wasn’t good enough, so when we had a passing period he lifted our skirts and grabbed our butts. It was mortifying and so upsetting, but we didn’t report it. I understand now that I should’ve reported the incident, but sophomore me thought there were bigger issues the school had to deal with than a guy grabbing girls butts. But that is the mentality many people have, and little incidents become bigger and bigger until we’re victim blaming.

            What really makes me upset is that my experiences don’t even compare to those of women around the world. I don’t mean to sound like a total white feminist, but if I’m experiencing these smaller sexist instances, what are my peers experiencing around me? We need to understand that women aren’t objects that men can use for their pleasure, and women need to understand that they can stand up for themselves against sexist comments and actions.