78.3% of people interviewed at Woodside Middle School have noticed or lived thought being treated wrongly because of their sex, all of them were women. Woodside Middle School is a, mixed-sex, public middle school in central Iowa. Women and students at Woodside Middle School see and experience sexism every day and it needs to stop, and this is why. From February 19th- February 26th responses poured in. One question that was asked was, “Have you ever felt discriminated against because of the sex that you identify as.” 60.9% of the 23 responses said yes and all of the yes answers were women. Men were also surveyed and out of all the men that were sent the survey there were 4 responses, they all stated how they had never been treated wrongly because of their sex, it really does show the difference between men and women and how women feel sexualized and men don’t. Concluding the survey the survey participants were questioned by the following; “Do you have anything to say going further.” One unique answer that stood out and caught the surveyor's eyes “Especially in male teachers they can be really sexist but the school chooses to ignore it and it continues to go on.” Even this shows that even teachers at a school that students aged 10-14 attend every day are sexist, this then transforms into children thinking this is okay at a young age.  

There could be many reasons why this still goes on in today's age and society. For starters, maybe at a young age, everyone accepted the stereotype that women are less than men. Maybe women still believe that they shouldn’t stand up against sexism in fear of humiliation. Maybe students are afraid to say something in fear of being called liars and “just wanting to seek attention”.  Conjoining into a media stereotype, even Mulan had to change into a man in order to live her dream of fighting for her country.  Mulan chose to fight for her country after learning that her dad couldn't. With the army only accepting men to fight in the war, she had to change into a man, lie to superiors and ultimately change who she was in order to be accepted into the fight. 

Research shows that men even think that sexualizing women is acceptable, in this article an expert says “It is clearly unacceptable that boys think they have a right to a girl's bodies without consent and without consequence.” Men think that they have a right to girls bodies and feelings, they think that because a girl is wearing a dress she thinks she looks pretty in that it means consent. It does not. Sexism and rape blend together into one detrimental issue. Men feel like women's feelings and bodies are things that they can just take advantage of and that is not the case. 

 The behaviors and experiences that women have gone through effects women’s mental health as well. You may be surprised to learn that even experts say that “This behavior harms girls both physically and psychologically.” When women are raped or sexualized or experience sexism it can cause mental abuse you just don’t see to the naked eye. and can seriously hurt your self-worth and how you see yourself. 

What could you do to help? This is a question you might be asking yourself after reading this. Everyone has to understand that not giving consent does not mean go ahead. Sexism is wrong and everyone is equal, you need to stand up for yourself and the rights of women. Sexism is a manageable issue but everyone has to help. 

Works Cited

Ei-Ie.org. “‘Sexism Is a Problem in Every School. Now We Must Take Action’, by Sally Thomas.” Worlds of Education. 

“It's Just Everywhere - Sexism in Schools.” NEU. 

Sexism isn’t Visible to the Naked Eye