Silence of the Women
Today, like any other average Monday morning, I attended my Speech and Communications class in hopes to catch up on sleep and get ahead of my homework. However, what occurred in the class most definitely awoke me way more than any nap ever could. As we were catching up on the latest current events, one thing led to the other and my teacher, once again, proceeded to go off topic. She began to inform us about a recent story involving a working woman who was called into her Boss' office just to get asked to take off both her shirt and pants. As she complied, midway, she underwent a panic-attack and passed out right on the floor in front of her boss. My teacher then followed by scoffing at the whole situation. "Psh, some women need to think; she could have easily just said no!" As the majority of the students nodded their heads and began to whisper amongst themselves, I hesitantly raised my hand. "Though she could have said no, don't you think it would be hard to do so?" My teacher, baffled, asked me to expand. I followed the advocation by pitching the idea of a situation in which the woman had a family to provide for and children to feed. My teacher rolled her eyes, "work at Burger King then". A little more frustrated, I communicated the detriments of getting fired. I received from the teacher, "she better work double shifts then". The class roared with laughter. I began again. "And what if she was scared he may have raped her? Scared enough to have a panic attack and pass out." The majority of the male students challenged me. "He wouldn't have raped her in an office setting, there are people right outside the door." The bickering went back and forth for a while. However, I was the only one in a room full of 30 students, to speak up for the victimized woman who was sexually harassed in the comfort of her own workplace.
What gave her boss the right to ask her to take off her shirt in the first place? The fact that he has more power over her? Because he can? And yes, though she could have said the one syllable word "no", what power does the word "no" even really have in our society today. It's challenging to defy imposing people. If she takes off her shirt, she faces psychological harm, but if she refuses, she can very well face physical harm. However, the point of this article is more than the sexual harassment story that my teacher told us, it's the fact that throughout the entirety of the class, I felt alone. Looking around for back-up, nobody spoke up. I could not have been the only one that thought this way. Was I wrong? Could she have just said no and walked away? In no way was I condoning the exposure of a woman's private parts, I just wanted to assert what was on my mind. The class went on and I attempted to neglect the feelings eating me up inside; I was embarrassed. I was scared even, that this mild conflict can potentially ruin my grade. My teacher holds that much power over me. The boys beside me didn't fail to mention "girls are so dumb, they're always scared for no reason", "there are so many false rape-accusations, maybe the girl deserved it". But what scared me most wasn't the insensitivity of the hormonal males around me, or even the teachers ability to be so one-sided, it was the feeling that I felt after I shared my minority opinion. I was afraid. I was afraid of the overpowering boys around me that would completely shut off whatever I tried to entertain. I was afraid that the teacher would grade my papers differently. So yes, when my friend asked me after class if I was embarrassed to have been the only one preaching my thoughts to the choir, as much as I wanted to say no, it was very hard to do so.
XX
What gave her boss the right to ask her to take off her shirt in the first place? The fact that he has more power over her? Because he can? And yes, though she could have said the one syllable word "no", what power does the word "no" even really have in our society today. It's challenging to defy imposing people. If she takes off her shirt, she faces psychological harm, but if she refuses, she can very well face physical harm. However, the point of this article is more than the sexual harassment story that my teacher told us, it's the fact that throughout the entirety of the class, I felt alone. Looking around for back-up, nobody spoke up. I could not have been the only one that thought this way. Was I wrong? Could she have just said no and walked away? In no way was I condoning the exposure of a woman's private parts, I just wanted to assert what was on my mind. The class went on and I attempted to neglect the feelings eating me up inside; I was embarrassed. I was scared even, that this mild conflict can potentially ruin my grade. My teacher holds that much power over me. The boys beside me didn't fail to mention "girls are so dumb, they're always scared for no reason", "there are so many false rape-accusations, maybe the girl deserved it". But what scared me most wasn't the insensitivity of the hormonal males around me, or even the teachers ability to be so one-sided, it was the feeling that I felt after I shared my minority opinion. I was afraid. I was afraid of the overpowering boys around me that would completely shut off whatever I tried to entertain. I was afraid that the teacher would grade my papers differently. So yes, when my friend asked me after class if I was embarrassed to have been the only one preaching my thoughts to the choir, as much as I wanted to say no, it was very hard to do so.
XX
Comments
Post a Comment