I never understood the significance of women empowerment until the lack of it inadvertently affected me.
I was raised in a two-parent household, where all of the attention was devoted to me and my sister. My dad taught us how to treat others, he always treated my mother with respect and wanted nothing but the best for his daughters. He led by example and allowed us to express ourselves and our femininity freely, which as I’ve grown up, I’ve realized that most men don’t do. My mother was also an excellent parent, she was the breadwinner of the family, teaching my sister and I how to be independent and take care of ourselves. Like my father, she also wanted nothing but the best for us, and was always there when we needed her.
As I grew up in school, I realized that not everyone had the same home-life as I did. Not every little girl in my kindergarten class had a mother with a job and a father who played dress-up with them. As more time passed, the differences between my classmates started to become more significant and the older we grew, the more evident it became that no one else was raised by my parents.
Boys would slut-shame girls in passing in the hallway, boys would inappropriately grab girls’ bodies, girls would be mean to other girls, and worst of all, sometimes adults would take a jab at girls too.
The most eye-opening experience that I had during this period occurred in middle school. The boys created a “game” where they would receive “points” if they touched or spoke to girls inappropriately. The goal of the game was obviously to receive the most points, so many girls were assaulted throughout a couple of weeks. The game got so out of hand that the adults began to notice. The boys were gathered together for a meeting with the teachers, while the girls were separated for their own meeting.
Although I cannot speak about what occurred in the boys meeting, the girls meeting was incredibly disheartening. We were essentially blamed for the boys’ behavior, being told that our shorts were too short, our clothing was too tight, and maybe if we didn’t dress the way that we did, the game would’ve never happened.
This experience changed the way that I perceived the world. As a pre-teen girl, I imagined the world to be so much different. I imagined my teachers and other students encouraging me the way that my parents had. I imagined that I could take on any career that I put my mind to. I imagined welcoming environments where I could express myself freely. Instead, my middle school experience was met with boys that could get away with sexual assault and teachers that blamed girls for boys’ bad behavior.
Everything that I was taught by my parents somehow seemed so insignificant. Why should I continue to be so confident and secure in my femininity, when everyone around me seemed to be tearing it down?
A similar chain of events continued throughout the rest of my grade school career, I and many other young women seemed to have to work overtime to gain an equal amount of respect that the boys’ received without hesitation.
As I started college, I decided that I wasn’t going to continue on this path. I decided to take courses that expanded my knowledge on women and women’s history, I joined clubs that prioritize women, and I made sure to voice my opinion as a woman if anyone was speaking over me.
I make sure to empower women whenever I am able, whether that be by speaking to them, sharing their accomplishments, or spread awareness about situations that put women in harm’s way, much like my middle school experience.
- A Girl’s Experience – by Jana Pursley - April 6, 2024