When I was in middle and high school, one of the greatest sources of trauma I have ever endured was being forced to change in front of the other girls in locker rooms. They would make fun of my body relentlessly throughout that entire time. Not only was I the nerdy kid, but I basically had the body of a 11 year old until I was 16 and went through a major growth spurt where I went from completely flat chested to 32DD in the span of a single summer. So, my gym experience went from being made fun of for having a child's body to being accused of "getting implants" and further ridiculed the rest of my school life. Because it was solely my word against that of 8 other girls, the administration did nothing to stop it, even though the rumors spread like wildfire throughout the entire school. It's worth mentioning that i was extremely embarrassed by how fast my breasts grew, so I wore extreme baggy shirts to try to hide them. However, those attempts to hide them were moot thanks to the locker room before gym.
The worst incident crossed the line into full blown sexual assault. Four of the more popular girls circled around me and violently poked and squeezed my breasts, to the point where it was incredibly painful and they hurt for several days. It was some weird test to see if they were real or implants.
I was molested by a male adult as a 7 year old child and, to be completely honest, the abuse I suffered from my peers that i just described was every bit as traumatizing as that. In a way, it was even worse because there was no escaping it. At least when I told my parents about the abuse from the adult, it was dealt with and I never had to see him again. With the abuse from my peers, I had to suffer for years.
Some of you might argue "that was an especially shitty crop of girls, not every locker room experience is like that". Yeah, but a) the administration didn't believe me because it was my word against everyone else's so I had to go through this shit for SIX FUCKING YEARS despite making literally 8 different complaints. b) quite frankly, it shouldn't take a seriously traumatic scenario to justify the idea that CHILDREN SHOULDN'T HAVE TO STRIP IN FRONT OF PEOPLE UNNECESARRILY WHEN THEY'RE NOT COMFORTABLE. c) if you think locker rooms abuse is rare, you are living under a rock.
Honestly, I gotta say- I genuinely don't see how anyone, besides pedophiles getting off on it, could stand by the idea that we should continue to systemically force children to strip in front of each other.
Edit: oh lawdy thanks for all the awards!
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