Ally sat in her first hour class. She spent an hour last night putting her outfit together. It was perfect. It gave off just the vibes she was going for, extremely studious but still cute. She was wearing an gray t-shirt with an owl on it, pink corduroy shorts, grey sparkly tights and brown booties. She had confidence she would definitely be the most stylish girl in the 7th grade. She was looking forward to first hour, reading, and feeling like her best self. She was about to walk into the classroom when the school counselor Ms. Vandaveer stopped her. She grabbed her by the arm, looked her up and down and said "your shorts are too short." Ally started to panic. She knew her shorts didn't fit the school rules but thats why she added the tights, they even made everything more boho. She could feel her cheeks starting to flush and knew hot tears would follow quickly. Ally was a rule follower and did not deal well with negative confrontation from authority figures.
Before she knew it she was sitting is Ms. Vandaveer's office completely petrified. Ms. Vandeveer began her condescending lecture. "You're outfit is very cute and I can see you put effort in but the tights are just not appropriate and they don't bring your outfit up to code." She sighed and continued. "We have these rules in place because if we didn't it would just be too hard for the boys to focus."
Ally looked down at her chicken legs, and pre-pubescent 13 year old body and was so confused. Ms. Vandaveer made her sit outside the office. So to add to her shame she got pitying looks from her class mates and the occasional "What are you doing here?" from her peers as she waited on her mom to bring her a pair of pants. This day was starting off quite differently than she imagined and frankly she didn't want to be at school anymore.
I based this story off of Narayan's Mahabharata part C, by Laura Gibbs. This is inspired by the part of the story where Draupadi is raped and instead of being helped she is exiled for the crime committed against her. I believe a lot of victim blaming still exists in current culture and this exile is dramatic but not far fetched. Many times when a woman speaks out about sexual assault she is blamed, called a liar and told she was "asking for it".
Hey (again) Maddie. Despite Draupadi getting revenge later on in the Mahabharata, I agree that the situation was uncomfortably similar to...well, precisely the one you chose to reframe it within. It was cool to see things from that perspective. If you decide to expand on the story later, you might add in the eventual comeuppance, maybe in the form of Ally's mom confronting the teacher about the whole ordeal - just a thought. Either way, great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Maddie!
ReplyDeleteI really like your story because it is relatable. This exact thing happens everyday in school all across the country. Girls are punished and lectured for wearing clothes that are not even close to inappropriate. Tank tops and leggings are not allowed. While these are normal clothes, they are not allowed because apparently boys will be distracted. We should be teaching boys how to respect women and how to focus on their own business and their own schoolwork, not teaching women to hide themselves for the sake of men. I really like how you took an older story and make it pertain to the world we live in now. Good job!