By Lucy Limanowski I’ve been at Latin for thirteen, going on fourteen years. I am comfortable saying that I know most of the student body, and the faculty as well. I am also aware of Latin’s reputation as a promising, highly prestigious private school and the student stereotypes. What most people don’t know, though, is the social dynamic at Latin in the student body, and the issues within it that no one ever wants to talk about. I spent last summer interning at the Attorney General’s Office in the Community Relations and Civil Rights bureau, and I learned a lot about the sexual assault crisis not just in Illinois, but across the country; I studied everything from lawyers and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) dealing with the issue of backlogged rape kits to talking to the victims themselves about how to make the system more patient-oriented. What I took away was the realization that in high school, not just Latin, women have been subjected to harassment daily without even processing or understanding the severity of the situation. According to Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), 44% of victims of sexual assault/harassment are under the age 18, 68% of the incidents are never reported, and 98% of sexual predators will never spend a day in jail. These statistics are not to scare any high schooler but make them aware of the treatment that goes unnoticed so often. Catcalling, labeling a girl based on a guy she likes, unwanted messages and conversations that make someone uncomfortable because their gut feeling implies an unwanted sexual undertone, are all examples of harassment that I know both me and almost every other girl in my class have experienced at Latin at one point or another, and everyone accepts it as “boys being boys” while the girl becomes a “slut.” A majority of these instances, however, I notice take place out of school, with little to no recognition of it two days later in class. Too many times have I seen a girl too vulnerable to know that the boy she’s flirting with is aware that by taking her into the other room, alone, it is illegal. When I have tried to intervene, I am seen as the person making things harder for him as he tries to get with her. Then, a day or two later, I see those exact same two people walking throughout the school after having yet again a normal weekend. To follow this procedure, the girl will be called in the hallway and cafeteria by the name of the boy who took advantage of her, and he gets high-fives from his friends whenever she passes by. I understand how the youth can have an underdeveloped sense of self, especially in high school, but under no conditions do I reinforce nor support this insane acceptance of this aspect in our culture. The other day I overheard two girls in the science center walking to class talking about two people dating. One girl questioned why the boy keeps cheating on his girlfriend, to which the other replied, “Oh well that’s just Latin guys.” I know this conversation is not the best representation of our male students, but the reputation predisposed to incoming students is that gender and your features are the ultimate qualities that will determine where you are on the social scale. Even worse, I don’t see anyone telling a teacher or counselor immediately whenever they feel uncomfortable in any situation. Not that one has to, but there needs to be an open dialogue on these matters. Latin, of course, as a student body, has a lot to work on socially by accepting not just women, but any individual of any ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference as not objects or outsiders because they don’t look like you or kiss who you would, but rather as just another person. The reason why I draw closer attention to the issue with women is because little to nothing is being done in our curriculum on gender equality, and hopefully Latin will be able to bring awareness to the sexist behavior that we so comfortably and shamefully disregard.]]>
hahmed • Apr 22, 2016 at 8:56 pm
Great amount of confidence for writing on this topic, Lucy. Keep speaking up, that’s all it takes.
jwalsh • Apr 22, 2016 at 10:38 am
Hi Lucy, thank you for writing this article and highlighting what is and has been going on for decades. I am proud to say that Ms. Lawrence and I just showed the documentary the Hunting Ground, sexual assault on college campuses to our senior class. We also had some great discussions following the movie. We also plan to have another meeting to continue the conversation.
We also have begun teaching consent to the 9th grade in wellness class and we did a consent program with our 10th grade this year. We were not able to do a program for the 11th grade class this year (very sorry)
Thanks again for writing this article. If you would like to see the movie, come by our offices.
Ms. Stevens
sara.harrisshuck • Apr 18, 2016 at 11:39 am
Love it Lucy. Several MS parents have been discussing this as it occurs in MS as well. I’m going to push for better education in MS regarding this issue!
rmbouomb • Apr 18, 2016 at 9:32 am
I completely agree that sexual harassment and sexism anywhere should not be condoned nor celebrated, and I love that you had the courage to shed a bit of a light on an issue that is so often ignored and looked over. You’re so right in saying that these discussions almost never happen, and that’s horrible because there’s no way we can solve these solve these sorts of problems without acknowledging they exist and
It’s really easy to point out the surface level instances of harassment, “catcalling, labeling a girl based on a guy she likes, [and] unwanted messages,” but in doing so, you give deniability to those who, due to their internalized sexism or other implicit/explicit biases towards women, say or do things, even subtle things, to make women feel uncomfortable and unsafe. What I mean by this is a student who, for example, uses male pronouns like “he” when describing people in a male dominated profession or even uses parts of the female body as insults can easily say, based on your definitions of sexism and harassment, ” I’m not a sexist because I didn’t [insert surface level example of sexism here],” which is incredibly dangerous because these microaggressions can make people, specifically women in this case, feel just as marginalized and unsafe as the blatant examples you chose to show.
lmccutch • Apr 17, 2016 at 10:34 pm
I agree with you. The school does have a lot to work on, particularly in the role of gender, sexual preference, and gender identity, all of which are very important parts of an individual’s life. That being said, I also believe (based off of experiences I have had in and out of school, like at my summer jobs) that Latin is significantly better than other schools and environments. So, that being said, what should we as students do to combat this so that it doesn’t exist or gets as close to disappearing as it can possibly get?
rdasgupt • Apr 18, 2016 at 10:06 am
Logan, although Latin may be better, the problem is still very big. Good job, Lucy!