Sexism at McLean

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 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

[somewhere],” Zhang said. “[They would tell] girls to be careful and [avoid] talking to strangers or people online. But there was nothing saying how people shouldn’t be texting strangers or asking others for [inappropriate] favors.”

Girls are exposed to this information as early as seventh grade, and Zhang said that the current curriculum is relatively unsuitable for young audiences.

“Before [learning about sex-trafficking], I would just walk around outside and not be scared at all,” Zhang said. “But after that, I [became] pretty scared.”

Jang finds that these tactics perpetuate the idea of victim blaming.

“[Scare tactics] create this feeling of fear and shame around the subject, [reaffirming the idea] that if it does happen to someone, it’s their fault for not protecting themselves instead of the other way around,” Jang said. “It’s definitely important to teach people how to protect themselves. But it’s also important to teach boys how to control themselves.”

Jang agrees that the current curriculum is in dire need of an update. She is particularly critical of the burden the curriculum places on women, who are more likely to experience harassment.

“[Harassment] is scary,” Jang said. “But instead of making it seem scary and super dramatic, [the school] could just inform people about this subject and teach to both ends.”

Health and P.E. teacher Rebekah Person said the current curriculum aims to be equally targeted at all students, regardless of gender.

“The curriculum makes it clear that the victim is never at fault and that bad things can happen to anyone regardless of what actions you take to prevent it,” Person said. “Sexual violence is a crime, and crimes occur no matter how safe you are, unfortunately, so this is why the victim is never at fault.”

Zhang sees room for improvement, calling for a shift in the curriculum’s direction and suggesting that certain repetitive lessons be replaced by more relevant content.

“I [don’t] think they need to teach us the same things [about anatomy] every year. It’s not really necessary,” Zhang said. “Instead of doing that, they could spend more time talking about consent, and they should also explain that [harassment and rape] don’t only happen to girls.”

Other students suggest that health lessons should take a holistic approach to sensitive topics.

“I would definitely suggest more emphasis on teaching boys how to better respond to these situations themselves,” Jang said, “and more focus on how to create a safer environment at McLean, [specifically].”

But the curriculum isn’t the only issue for many McLean students. Several have reported explicit instances of sexism and harassment both on and off school grounds.

“I have had students come to me about difficult and uncomfortable situations that have involved male-female dynamics,” Otal said.

This problem manifests itself more seriously through social media, where girls are often subject to unwanted attention and crude comments.

“A student I didn’t know from McLean replied to my story on Instagram one day,” a student who asked to remain anonymous said. “He made some really objectifying comments and outright said he wanted sexual favors from me. The messages just made me feel really uncomfortable and disgusted, and I’ve been scared to post again since.”

A McLean student said they lost trust in their teachers after reporting an incident of inappropriate groping.

“In ninth grade, we were playing flag football, and this guy was supposed to be guarding me. He basically reached out and grabbed me [inappropriately],” said a student who asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of the incident. “I went to talk to my teacher. She was visibly uncomfortable [when I told her] and briefly tried to console me, but she did nothing, and I verified that [later].”

Otal wants students to know that all claims are taken seriously and that equality between male and female students is important to McLean’s administration.

IT’S DEFINITELY IMPORTANT TO TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES. BUT IT’S ALSO IMPORTANT TO TEACH BOYS HOW TO CONTROL THEMSELVES.”

- OLIVIA JANG SOPHOMORE

“If we see something or hear something we address it right away, even little joking comments,” Otal said. “If a student [told] me, as a counselor, about that, the administration would directly get involved. One of the principals or assistant principals would deal with it because we take it very seriously.”

In the meantime, Scott would like to see support from all students when discussing these issues.

“Male classmates need to show support,” Scott said. “It is the responsibility of men to learn about and speak against these issues so that they can support women, who are disproportionately affected by harassment, but also so that they themselves can learn how not to perpetuate this culture.”

Although Moukheiber believes men, along with women, should speak out in difficult circumstances, he does not think it should be expected of everyone.

“I think that it’s a personal choice.” Moukheiber said. “It would be the right, mature, responsible thing to do, but I don’t know if it’s necessarily a [man’s] responsibility.”

Gender-based issues can be divisive, but while the students, teachers and administrators at McLean have varying opinions on the matter, they all agree on one thing: there is hope for progress.

“To some degree, that [sexist] mindset will always be there,” Jang said. “But we can do a lot to help lift that and change that attitude as a whole. We can still do a lot to fix it.”