A young girl about five or six years old sits in the sandbox at the park while her mother sits talking with her friends on a park bench. The girl sits there in her pretty color dress with her hair up in pigtails, playing pretend with her dolls. Then suddenly a boy her age comes to the sandbox and takes her dolls. She begs for them back. He tells her that they are his dolls and he can do whatever he wants with them. The little girl cries for her mother who instantly goes over to her crying daughter. At the same time the boy’s mother follows to see what all the commotion was about. The little girl tells her mother what the boy did but instead of trying to get the doll back from the brat.

The mother turns to her daughter and says “He’s a boy dear, he’s entitled to what he wants.” The little girl is confused; she has no idea what that has to do with him taking her doll. Now the little girl is left feeling confused and hurt while the little boy gets away with stealing and left with a feeling of empowerment. Soon these two grow up learning things about the real world. The girl is forced to grow up in a world where she must fear for her life every time she leaves her house because there are many people will grow up learning that they are entitled to anything even the female body. Just the way the little girl’s doll was stolen, this girl’s voice was stolen. She is not allowed to say she isn’t interested, she is not allowed to say she doesn’t want to date, she is not allowed to say “No!”
   

On the other hand, the boy grows up learning that in this world he is not allowed to show true feelings because society says that men can’t express their feelings. The boy learns that he has no right to express feelings and if he were to, then he is sissy. He grows up feeling that he needs to harden his heart and that the only emotion he should express is anger. He’s not allowed to cry, to suffer, to feel sorrow or heartbreak only bring about heartbreak. In this world Sexism affects both females and males differently, with teenagers it can be very crucial. This is the time in our lives we start to open our eyes and see the world; we start to realize that the world isn’t always fair.
   

As females we start to learn that we cannot do the same things that boys get away with. If a girl were to have many boyfriends, she would be labeled as a slut, a thot and many other disgusting names. While a boy could do the same thing but then he labeled as a ladies man, or a player who is just playing the game right. Our bodies are overly sexualized and seen as something to cover up; while guys never have to cover up and wear what they want. If a girl is in school and her bra strap happens to show then suddenly there is a problem because “she may distract other students who are trying to learn.”
   

While boys walk around sagging without a care in the world, but a bra strap is a problem. It’s situations like this that sexism rears its ugly head. This shows how sexism still exists in the world. Then we have the fact that boys can’t do anything that is seen as feminine, like drawing because it’s “gay” There’s also the fact that a teenage girl can’t do anything that is seen as masculine because now she’s labeled a lesbian for wanting to play football for instance. Another example is the phrase “Boys can’t be raped.” This phrase is the most sexist phrase you can ever say. It’s tells survivors that what they experienced never happen and they should suck it up. Teenage males who are raped are told to suffer in silence which leads to pent up anger. With no outlet it leads to situations that could have prevented suicide or doing drugs for example.
   

Female rape victims on the other hand go through similar situations when it comes to suffering. They are constantly questioned as if they did a crime. What were you wearing? Did you reject his advances? Did you have too much to drink? Were there anyone who saw him assault you? Then the victims are left confused and feeling like they may have done wrong. Then there are the supporters of the rapist who slander the poor girl name, leading her to think that maybe she shouldn’t had come out.
   

Finally, I interviewed one boy and two girls in my high school to get their opinions on this subject. I interviewed Hannah Minko (16), Raven Buchwald (18) and Andie Hayles (15). I asked all of them the same three questions to show the many different responses and how sexism affects them; but I will only reveal one response for each. I first interviewed Raven Buchwald, I asked him if sexism still exist today he told me that sexism does in fact exist in the way that women still are having disputes over work ethics along with their ideals. He also said it wasn’t just women who experience sexism there is men who get harassed to in a variety of ways
I then interviewed 15 year old Andie Hayles, I asked for her own experience when it comes to sexism which she replied “When it comes to my experiences of sexism, it manifests in the form of both adults and kids alike; “You can’t dress like a boy, you’re a girl.” This makes me angry because, hey, I’ll be honest and say I identify as a boy sometimes even though I was born a girl. That’s just me. I’ve had plenty of older adults (mostly old church ladies) tell me that the fact that I sit like a man isn’t “lady-like”. Let me paint you a picture here. I’ll be straight up and say I’m fat yo. I have super thick thighs and it is near impossible to cross my legs at the ankles and be comfortable. So I sit like a man case and point.” I then asked her how we could change sexism so it will no longer exist in this world. She told me that idealistically, the world would be better without sexism; but it won’t change unless people ideas on what masculine and what feminine change.

Finally I asked sixteen-year-old Hannah M. her own experience when it comes to sexism. She replied to the question with “A lot of times I was always told to ‘be a lady’ and refrain from a lot of things. Whether it’s playing in the mud to basic human functions (like it’s a sin if I burp.) Another thing is I have to be careful of what I wear because it might give someone ‘ideas’ like it’s not my fault that you can’t keep it in your pants because I’m wearing a skirt you douche.” These interviews show how sexism still exist, it shows that as teenagers with affected by it. Yet we as a society choose to turn a blind eye to it and allow it to happen. We need to make a change so that in the future the next generation can live in a world where they don’t have to fear and can expressed who they are. The only way for this to change, society needs to change their views on what is considered masculine and feminine. If this ever happen we can finally live in a world without sexism.