Girls Will Be Girls
This happened when I was 15. A boy in my neighborhood would often cat-call me and try to grab me. He was around my age. I had told him to leave me alone, I had complained to his parents, but to no avail. When I told my parents about it, they just told me to ignore him. One day when I was walking home from school, he caught up with me.
As usual, he made some filthy comments about my body, things he would do to me, etc. I walked faster in an attempt to lose him. I just wanted to get home, but he grabbed my arm and lifted up my skirt, exposing my underwear. I freaking lost it. I began punching and kicking with all my strength and with all the rage that had been building up inside me.
I didn’t stop until someone pulled me off of him. It was his mother. She screamed at me for hurting her “little boy” and told me she would be speaking to my parents. I said “fine” and walked home. I knew it would get ugly that evening, but his blood on my knuckles made me feel a little better. That evening when my parents got home, Karen was already waiting beside our front door.
Apparently, she had been messaging my parents all day, telling them about the beating. She berated them again in person. The “boys will be boys” defense was used. Here’s the fun part. My parents actually apologized to her and promised her they would discipline me. When she left, I told them my side of the story but my dad just repeated what he had said earlier: that I should have ignored him.
And, the icing on the cake, he told me if I didn’t want to draw the attention of boys, I should lengthen my skirts. Never mind the fact that I had pretty much been a victim. My mom told me to grow up and be more “ladylike” instead of getting into fights with boys. My two brothers who are younger than me were much more sympathetic.
My 13-year-old brother said he’d get his friends to gang up on him if he ever came near me. Thankfully, it never came to that. The coward never harassed me again. I guess getting beaten up by a girl can really hurt a misogynist’s confidence.