On 17/06/2005, at 8:18 PM, Miriam Ruiz wrote:
I don't wanna have to constantly be on guard, to be prepared to
ignore trolls,
to be able to cope with sexual or sexist attacks and so on. Boys do
not have
to cope with all that. We girls also don't have to cope with that
being in
D-W, that's why it is important. We have the same rights to be able
to have
fun with our hobby without having to contantly be on guard or angry.
I remember when my elder daughter, then 12, came home from school one
day and talked about a social development class they'd had that day.
In the course of describing it, she said that one of the questions
had been, "Who would be more upset at being sexually abused, boys or
girls?" She had answered, "Boys, because they're not used to it."
She didn't turn a hair while describing this, it was like saying
black is not white. I think it was one of the saddest things I've
ever heard. I had hoped, by her generation, things would have
improved. I think we've all hoped.
I asked her to describe the types of abuse she was talking about, say
at school, and by the time she'd listed getting your breasts pinched,
guys flattening you against a wall and slobbering and jerking all
over you, continual groping, and the range of thoroughly disgusting
taunts and suggestions, including a public count-down until your
"cherry is picked", I realized that things haven't changed much.
Great way to enter womanhood at 12 years old, huh?
Good high school, normal type of community. Nothing unusual. :(
And it goes on...
from Clytie (vi-VN, Vietnamese free-software translation team / nhóm
Việt hóa phần mềm tự do)
Clytie Siddall--Renmark, in the Riverland of South Australia
Ở thành phố Renmark, tại miền sông của Nam Úc
