{"id":56350,"date":"2021-03-11T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T08:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=56350"},"modified":"2021-03-10T11:43:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T19:43:58","slug":"he-had-hundreds-of-pictures-of-me-tales-of-sexism-from-female-teachers-in-elite-boys-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/he-had-hundreds-of-pictures-of-me-tales-of-sexism-from-female-teachers-in-elite-boys-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He had hundreds of pictures of me\u2019: tales of sexism from female teachers in elite boys\u2019 schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Recent\u00a0allegations of sexual misconduct<\/a>\u00a0at parties involving private-school students have exposed the toxic culture in many schools.<\/p>\n

The ex-schoolgirl who launched the online petition that led to the revelations, Chanel Contos,\u00a0told the ABC<\/a>\u00a0schools needed to address:<\/p>\n

locker room talk [\u2026] and throw-away comments because I really think they lay the foundation of the rape culture.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Contos also pointed to all-boys schools where she said objectifying women was normalised. The interview came after a prefect at an all-boys school\u00a0wrote an opinion piece<\/a>\u00a0talking about the need to shift the way boys see women. He wrote:<\/p>\n

[\u2026] there have been times when I\u2019ve heard about disgusting behaviour and not done anything about it, times when I\u2019ve tolerated boys referring to women in derogatory ways [\u2026] times when I\u2019ve stood by.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I interviewed 32 teachers in three elite private boys\u2019 schools, in two capital cities. I conducted this yet-to-be-published study between 2015 and 2017 just before the #MeToo movement really took off.<\/p>\n

At the time, I wanted to understand the teachers\u2019\u00a0moral purpose and their ability to seek and make change<\/a>\u00a0in the privileged schools they taught. I was unprepared for the accounts of sexual harassment and sexism female teachers relayed.<\/p>\n

How boys behaved<\/strong><\/h4>\n

One young teacher described a troubling account that had her almost leaving the profession:<\/p>\n

I had year 9, year 10 boys, being very sexually explicit to me [\u2026] making nasty rumours up, being quite, very sexual, very, very sexual. Telling me I\u2019m wearing hooker shoes and I look like a hooker to claiming that they saw me on the weekend doing particular things with particular people.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I also heard stories of up-skirting (taking a sexually intrusive photograph up someone\u2019s skirt without their permission), boys participating in sexually explicit discussions about their teachers on social media, and propositioning them. I observed inappropriate personal questions and teasing with sexual innuendo in classroom interactions.<\/p>\n

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The first step in smashing patriarchy: take the hammer to elite boys schools. This is where the rot sets in. https:\/\/t.co\/UNQKFL92kP<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mel Thomas ???????? (@photogramel) March 2, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n