Girls Belong In School
Public school didn't suit me.
I don't know if I've ever spoken about it here, but here goes; I'm a high school drop out. I didn't drop out because of bad grades or because I wasn't clever enough to complete the year, but because of medical reasons.
I'm autistic. I hit my wall and burned out pretty hard. My mental state was awful for several years, and I needed time and space to bounce back.
When I had my head on straight, I worked hard to get caught up. I home schooled, took classes and tutoring, and I completed my GED and graduated with decent marks.
Except in math. I barely scraped a pass in math– dyscalculia is a real bitch.
People who lack an education are often looked down on and treated poorly, so it was very necessary for me to get my diploma. I'm incredibly thankful that I live in a country where my right to have an education is fully supported.
As a woman, I consider myself extremely lucky in that regard. I had difficulties in school, but nobody gave up on me and I was able to eventually go on to college and start a business on my own.
Girls in other parts of the world are not so fortunate as me.
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Last year, the United Nations published a report indicating that over 130 million girls were being actively barred from basic education around the world.
While few countries explicitly deny women and girls access to education under the law, many cultures do it anyway. Some see women as inferior to men, insisting that a woman's place is in the home and there is no need for her to build a knowledge base outside of what a wife and mother should have.
Her autonomy, wants and desires are not a priority. Her purpose and life path was set in stone when she happened to be born with a uterus.
In many cultures, female children are considered less important than male children. Girls are more likely to be malnourished, discriminated against and exploited for domestic labor and human trafficking.
When education is considered, many people focus on giving their male children the funds to pursue learning while the girls are left behind.
We see this in North America as well, particularly in families that ascribe to 'traditional values.' Religious fundamentalism or deep-seated Conservatism in a household will often lead to sons being given advantages and girls being encouraged to seek relationships instead.
After graduating high school, many girls in fundie families are considered 'done.' She's now expected to focus on finding a husband and volunteering in the church.
It's that Tradwife grift all over again. A college education is just a waste of money if all you're going to do is have babies and clean the house.
Note: Our culture has a very backwards view on post-secondary education. You don't need to want a career in a particular subject to be fascinated and curious about it. This is why a college education shouldn't be so unreasonably expensive! People should be able to learn for learning's sake, not just to make money.
We only get one life. We shouldn't be so limited in what we can do with it.
Restricting access to education is like clipping a bird's wings. It keeps somebody contained, unable to fly.
If you limit what a girl can learn, what she can do with her life, then you place road blocks in front of her so that she can never achieve her true potential. This is not only damaging to her as an individual, but also to society as a whole.
AFAB people (assigned female at birth) make up half of the world's population. How is it good for society to block us from schooling?
Think of what the world would look like without genius scientists like Marie Curie, with her exceptional research and discoveries in physics and radiation.
Where would we be without the work of Hedy Lamarr? She was a famed actress on the silver screen who had a fascination with technology and went on to invent a frequency-hopping technique that became the basis of our modern-day WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth.
How about Ada Lovelace, recognized today as the first computer programmer? She was emphasizing the importance of computation and analytics during the freaking 1800s, working alongside Charles Babbage as he invented the precursor to the modern day computer.
Clearly, women are perfectly capable of genius and innovation.
Suffice to say, girls belong in school. Girls can excel in academic pursuits, and are perfectly equal to boys if given the chance to shine. The only thing stopping them is old-school run-of-the-mill sexism.
Thankfully, that means the problem can be fixed.
The battle for women's equality in education is a brutal one, but not without its warriors. There are great charities and organizations out there that focus on small, rural communities around the globe.
There are truly inspiring activists working on the ground to promote this issue and seek solutions.
We all know the story of Malala Yousafzai and her wonderful work. Her charity is always in need of support, by the way:
There are also organizations like CAMFED, the Campaign for Female Education. They focus mainly on the continent of Africa, working to empower women and girls to seek education and take positions of leadership in their communities.
The bottom line is this: women and girls, AFAB or otherwise, are fully capable individuals with every right to thrive.
Blocking people from seeking an education based solely on anatomy is complete bullshit.
That we're still fighting this battle in 2024 is demoralizing, I know. But that's not a reason to give up and throw down our metaphorical swords. These girls deserve a chance to thrive and flourish and contribute their knowledge to the world.
I had the opportunity, and I'm grateful that I did. I'm looking forward to the day when every other girl can say the same.
Solidarity wins.
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