I Never Knew...

I was once told

I was once told

that my skirt was too short

because it stopped within inches of my finger tips.

I was once told

that women should be forced into arranged marriages

because we cannot make up our minds rationally.

I was once told

that boys would get the wrong idea about me

if I didn't button my shirt up all the way.

I was once told

that my arms were too sexy

to be shown in a tank top.

I was once told

not to allow my cleavage to spill out so much

because I didn't want to be 'that girl'.

I was once told

that my mind did not matter.

That I should not speak up when my male science teacher made a mistake in his equation.

That I should never try to get above average in a math class

because apparently it' a scientific fact that ''girls just aren't good at math'.

That we didn't read any Jane Austen

because she wrote chick-lit that was not worth our time.

That I had more time to run the mile

because the body I was told to cover up every second of every day would never be strong enough to make the line in a solid eight minutes.

I was once told that

my body was simultaneously the most important and the most distracting thing about me

That I should spend more time figuring out what I could wear that would be both modest and sexy

than I did trying to be valedictorian

because teenage boys just can't help looking at my body,

and male teachers just can't help sexualizing a seventeen year old.

It's simple biology,

the anatomy of the patriarchy.

I was once told

that dress codes benefited both genders,

but when my boyfriend wore a tank top no one said anything,

and when my best friend's collar bones were showing,

she got sent home.

I was once told

that modesty was the best policy

but what they really meant was 'You should hate your body until I tell you to love it'.

I was once told

that the education system is not sexist,

but with every year closer to graduation,

that gets harder and harder to believe.