ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Following Sarah Everard’s death, McLean students speak on sexism HANNA BOUGHANEM REPORTER She was just walking home. Since the death of Sarah Everard, this simple phrase has been the rallying cry for women and activists around the nation. On the night of March 3, 2021, Everard walked down a well-lit London street, keeping in contact with her boyfriend while on her way home—a destination she never reached. A police officer has since been charged with her kidnapping and murder. “[Everard’s] death is a tragedy that is cause for outrage,” said senior Tallisen Scott, co-president of the McLean Feminist Club. “It is reflective of a worldwide and ongoing issue of violence against women.” Scott, like other students at McLean, was angered by the tragedy and didn’t hesitate to share her opinions. While some students expressed resentment and shock, others were unsurprised by the incident. “[Everard’s death] was definitely sad and tragic, but it wasn’t completely surprising,” sophomore Olivia Jang said. “Things like that happen all the time. Her case was just one that kind of blew up.” The tragedy ignited a movement that inspired discussions about the normalization of harassment and rape culture as a whole. This normalization is prevalent in schools, especially among impressionable teenagers. “I’ve absolutely heard of other people having those kinds of experiences [with sexism and harassment],” Jang said. “I’ve seen microaggressions and people definitely have those kinds of attitudes.” According to junior Luca Moukheiber, subtle signs of sexism are common at McLean, especially from his male classmates. “I have [heard male students] say certain slurs or disrespectful terms [towards female students],” Moukheiber said. “I think it’s more common than harassment, and it’s really not OK.” This “locker room talk” and degradation doesn’t just come from male classmates, but from other girls themselves. Junior Doris Zhang, for one, has overheard a lot of harmful rhetoric, from slut-shaming to jokes about other girls’ appearances. She believes these rude comments are rooted in sexist 14 | FEATURES | APRIL 2021
and misogynistic ideals. Zhang said she has experienced this kind of sexism from teachers. “Sometimes, when we would do group work in class, [teachers] would assign the guys to the leadership roles, and then the girls would be the organizer or something,” Zhang said. “A guy might say that I seem organized and [ask me] to be the organizer or do the handwriting aspect [of a project].” Like several of her fellow female classmates, Zhang feels she is often handed secretary-like roles in group projects. Scott said that while assumptions like these may seem harmless, they are indicative of a much larger problem at McLean, where these subtle biases are inadequately addressed. “While McLean puts effort toward giving equal opportunities, it doesn’t account for individual sexism or biases held by individual teachers or students,” Scott said.
Counselor Kathleen Otal, who is the co-lead of McLean’s Equity Team and sponsors the Girls Leadership Committee, acknowledged the potential biases that exist but said everyone has positive intentions. “We try very hard at McLean to treat everyone fairly and equitably. It’s basically impossible for us to be completely fair all the time [because] we have our own biases,” Otal said. “Although we’re not perfect, we are striving always to be better, and I really do think we’re pretty good here overall.” Zhang pointed out that part of the problem with the way these issues are discussed among students at McLean is the health curriculum itself, which she said promotes dangerous messages about harassment and gender-based issues, relying on scare tactics directed at women. “[When I first] learned about sextrafficking, every single example was a girl and some sketchy guy who would bring her
Infographic by Cameron Tebo | Page design by Hanna Boughanem
