Being A Girl: A Brief Personal History of Violence

This is an incredibly difficult read. 50% of the population should not have to put up with this.
I’m not sure I can fully comprehend what happens to boys, that they can grow up to be the kind of men that perpetrate, deny, or turn a blind eye to the types of behaviours listed.
And in just writing that, I burn with shame for every time I chose to ignore the boorish behaviours of my own sex. For what? To “fit in”? Fear of becoming the target of their venom?
Hateful…
This shit’s gotta change…

The Belle Jar

1.

I am six. My babysitter’s son, who is five but a whole head taller than me, likes to show me his penis. He does it when his mother isn’t looking. One time when I tell him not to, he holds me down and puts penis on my arm. I bite his shoulder, hard. He starts crying, pulls up his pants and runs upstairs to tell his mother that I bit him. I’m too embarrassed to tell anyone about the penis part, so they all just think I bit him for no reason.

I get in trouble first at the babysitter’s house, then later at home.

The next time the babysitter’s son tries to show me his penis, I don’t fight back because I don’t want to get in trouble.

One day I tell the babysitter what her son does, she tells me that he’s just a little boy, he doesn’t know…

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