My friend and co-worker Daniel Principe posted this eloquent reflection on his experience joining me in engaging with students at Macquarie College Newcastle on Facebook recently. His lament on the impact of the words of Yr 7-8 girls, and what they wanted boys to know, struck a chord with many. I thought Daniels’ words worth reprinting here.
Today I had the privilege to speak alongside Melinda Tankard Reist at Macquarie College to the students, teachers and parents about the challenges young people are facing in our current culture. However, the most important words spoken today that demand a response were those expressed by the Year 7 and 8 girls who were given the microphone and asked what they would like to say to boys, men and the society they live in. Below are their responses.
What do these words say about us, especially us men, and the culture we have created and the attitudes we have adopted? As each girl spoke it brought courage to the next girl who spoke with more tenacity than the previous and before we knew it dozens had grabbed the microphone to have their voices heard. While I couldn’t film their proclamations I want to share some of what they said so that their voices can be amplified beyond the school’s auditorium walls.
“My brain is more important than my body!”
“No means no and you aren’t going to change my mind!”
“Stop making jokes about us and our bodies!”
“Don’t try to pressure me to do things I don’t want to do!”
“I don’t want to talk to you about the porn you watch!”
“Respect me and my decisions!”
“Rape jokes are never ok!”
Their powerful words which echo the remarks of older girls from previous schools left all of us who witnessed this moment encouraged by their character but deeply troubled by what they are having to negotiate at such a young age. I want to say something hopeful but I don’t sense that anything other than lamenting is appropriate right now and examining my own heart and then, maybe, clinging to the faint hope I have that we can collectively create a healthier and more respectful world for the boys and girls of the future to grow up in.
See also: ‘The things girls tell me: 14-year-old girls bare their hearts in video’, MTR ‘Growing up in Pornland: Girls have had it with porn conditioned boys’, ABC Religion & Ethics ‘Taking a razor to toxic masculinity: The Gillette ad doesn’t shame men, it calls them higher’ MTR, ABC Religion & Ethics
