OutDigest: [New post] Celebrating Women’s History in 2022

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Celebrating Women's History in 2022

by mseddy

March is Women's History, and like Black History, the history of women has been erased and silenced. Why?

If we're really as weak, stupid, and worthless as the misogynists around us suggest, wouldn't shining a light on what we've been up to show the world that the misogynists were correct?

Like racism, misogyny is baked into society, through custom, law, and policy, so individual misogynists simply think of themselves as "not sexist," and refuse to think further.

Having worked as the only woman on an openly misogynist construction crew and in a public school where I was "guaranteed Title IX protections," I can say that I experienced less gender-based mistreatment as a general laborer on the construction crew than I did working as a teacher.

The gender-based harassment I faced as a construction worker was like that perpetrated by 8th-grade boys: sex jokes and bathroom humor, and lots of talk about dicks--partially because our boss was named Dick, and many of the jokes were at his expense. On the other hand, when I partnered with any other worker, I did all the same shit the men did, and never had an issue with a single man on the crew. When their jokes were out of line, "Fuck you, asshole," and a certain look from me would let him know he'd crossed the line, and he stopped. Problem solved. There was no reward for him to fuck with me; we were both standing on a roof in the winter, and fucking with me was not going to get our work done any faster or improve the quality of the experience.

As an educator, the misogyny was constant, insidious, and was a major factor in causing me CPTSD over 25 years of teaching. Just typing that sentence has brought on tremors. I have written about it before, but I'm not willing to dive in today. I have a life to live.

What I will say is that what made it so much worse is the fact that laws and policies are in place to address gender-based harassment in schools, but when the people in power are misogynists, laws and policies are useless.

What good is Title IX if the Title IX coordinator cannot recognize that commanding women to smile is gender-based harassment? If, after being asked by women athletes to make the school fight song gender-inclusive in 1990s, everyone's still singing about "valiant men" in 2022? If administrators can direct employees to "never identify as a feminist?" If the district continues to sexualize girls and embolden boys to sexually harass them for wearing clothes that are acceptable in all other public places through a puritanical dress code? If a superintendent can equate the Women's March for Equality with anti-abortion marches that seek to restrict women's access to medical care and try to prevent teachers from offering extra credit for writing about how issues from signs at the Women's March related to issues and themes in the literature they study? If students are still denied science-based, comprehensive sex ed that will teach them how to enjoy a long and healthy sex life and given abstinence-only religious propaganda?

While we clearly have a long way to go to make schools a safe place for girls and women, we continue to achieve and excel, even while we handle the misogynist bullshit on the daily. In celebration of girls, women, and education, I will end this post in celebration of women I admire, with a story and a song. Enjoy!

Malala, Activist For Girls' Education" by Raphaële Frier

I Will Survive