Recaps!

Misogyny is still an issue.

No, it’s not “women are superior to men.” Its “women are not getting the same rights as men.” In every situation I have been in personally, there is always a undertone of misogyny.

The arts department at the school that I go to is a prime example of Men>Women. They meet a man who can sing, and they go feral. I have been doing everything in that department since year 7, for free. Because I love the arts. The one thing I have ever asked is to be appreciated by the teachers running it. And yet time and time again I get mocked and treated lesser than. I have choreographed eisteddfod dances, fully blocked scenes from both Popstars and All Shook Up, performed at many competitions and even co-hosted a whole event (Harmony Day) for the school. And as a person I have not gotten a single word of encouragement, gratitude or even a simple “good job.” Words mean a lot to teenagers, they are what shapes a kid’s identity, and the fact that they can give so many kind words to a boy who has done nothing but parade around his voice, diminishes a person’s sense of reality so much. All the teachers ever say to me is how I could to better if I came to school more often because God forbid an adolescent mixed girl in the 21st century feels something other than joy. During last year’s musical, I brought to the teachers with full confidence how I was sexually harassed all through my life and how I do not feel comfortable with the fact Lachlan Collinson was on all fours crawling directly at me. We did have a formal meeting about the situation, however during this meeting they did not let me say anything. Maybe because in their eyes saying “I have had really damaging experiences with men” automatically means that I am a prostitute who will do anything for the attention of anything with two balls and a dick. While letting the only boy in this situation to act like the victim because “this rumour will ruin his entire school career.”

They then proceeded to end the meeting with “the show is in three days, just act like you like each other. All of you are good at acting.” Not only did he victimise himself over the actual victim who has gone through mind boggling trauma no 16-year-old should ever go through, but none of the teachers have looked at me the same. Teachers opinions mean everything to me because I don’t have any friends. Another example of this blatant misogyny in the school is during harmony day. The filopino dancers were the last act to perform before the event ended. During the process of getting this dance ready and actually performing the act, we were given no help whatsoever. And on the day, we had the school chaplain say its okay for us to miss out on first period, however my music teacher, decided otherwise, by letting everybody know that the three girls in her year 10 music class was getting detention for missing out on first period. When we decided to rehearse what we were doing for the day, we all decided to practice in the dance room, we practiced for 10 minutes before we were kicked out of the room because no students are left alone when two of the girls were seniors and we got permission from the schools deputy principal. All the teachers then proceeded to complain about not having any participation from the students and blaming every little thing on the students when, in reality, how are the students supposed to do anything if the teachers wont allow it? After this incident they also made us shorten our performance to 2 minutes when the boy who claims to be every culture under the sun gets to perform a 6 minute Italian ballad. And even after, we are still the ones getting cut out of the video. Make it make sense I’m begging.

They get mad when girls leave for more then 5 minutes during classes when the girls are on their period, but when boys must go for a drink its all sunshine and rainbows. How many times do men get whatever they want but when women do it, its immediately disgusting and horrible? Women are more than just objects and every single one of them that goes to my school are women. They are not girls or objects, they are women. It’s unfair to immediately associate, misogyny as man-hating. Misogyny kills. It’s built into institutions affecting women’s rights safety, opportunities etc. It has global history about it and until men are faced with systematic oppression, they have zero rights to victimise themselves in situations where they are clearly not the victims. As long as you keep framing basic human rights as favours granted by men, they will continue to be snatched away because anyone who grants favour also has the right and power to withdraw it anytime. YOU are born with these rights. They are instinct to your humanity, not something allowed by men.

How many women are lost to time because they were overshadowed by a man. And more and more amazing, beautiful and talented women are forgotten and sexualised because after all,

boys will be boys.