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Ain't I A Woman? newspapers, June 1970-July 1971

1971-07-02 "Ain't I a Woman?" Page 8

These Articles are about junior high

Last year we were two students attending the ninth grade in one of Iowa City’s Junior High Schools.

Before we started the school year we did not expect it to be the way it was. People kept saying it was a very nice school, the teachers were excellent, and the children were lovely.

After a few weeks, losing all our fears of the people there, we began to state our opinions of a few of the things we discussed in the classroom.

After our fellow students learned our beliefs about God, the war in Vietnam, marijuana, women’s liberation and homosexuality, they felt that we were too much of a threat to their way of life and resorted to name calling.

Their favorite name to call us was Lesbian. When we quietly and calmly tried to explain to them that we were not homosexuals and that it made no difference to us whether or not a person was gay, they immediately decided that if you accepted homosexuality you must be gay.

They took pleasure in calling us junkie, hippie radical, crazy (although that was one of the nicer ones), gook, among many more. We learned to ignore this name calling after a while.

They resorted to writing obscene phrases on our lockers such as “fuck off hippie,” 
“motherfucker,” “fuck you” and other such things which showed us the extent of their vocabulary and mentality.

Gym class was one of the favorite classes in which the oppressors verbally attacked people.

The whole gym class was appalled when you didn’t wear a bra, shave your legs or armpits, or wore men’s long underwear. The reasons why, we feel, that they were appalled was because they felt women should shave their legs and armpits, wear a bra, shouldn’t wear long underwear, but they should be very feminine and wear clothes as such.

Also in gym class, we were always picked last by the team captains to be on their teams. This happened even though we were good in the sport.

We were about the first people to wear long dresses. People would give us weird stares and call us “witch.” One girl told one of us that we looked like a “cute hippie” when we wore long skirts and dresses.

[photo - credit/Rising Up Angry]

[photo - credit: Rising Up Angry]

At the end of the year when the high school students were taking semester tests, some of them would come to the junior high to visit. One of our friends, known as the “short little greasy-haired kid,” was kicked out of the school almost immediately when he came to visit. However, the former football stars and athletes of the junior high always seemed to get a warm reception and they always got to stay a longer period of time when they came.

Another incident took place one morning when these high school boys, including the “short little greasy-haired kid,” came to visit. All of these boys had long hair. After they left we heard such comments as, “Who were those kids?” One teacher said he was going to find out who they were. He said it in a manner as if they were threatening the school.

These incident were not infrequent but quite common and these along with a somewhat apathetic family made our ninth grade year an unforgettable experience. 

[photo - credit/LNS]
H.S. FEMINISM IS ALIVE AND GROWING

Page 8   Vol. 1 No. 17  Ain't I

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These Articles are about junior high Last year we were two students attending the ninth grade in one of Iowa City’s Junior High Schools. Before we started the school year we did not expect it to be the way it was. People kept saying it was a very nice school, the teachers were excellent, and the children were lovely. After a few weeks, losing all our fears of the people there, we began to state our opinions of a few of the things we discussed in the classroom. After our fellow students learned our beliefs about God, the war in Vietnam, marijuana, women’s liberation and homosexuality, they felt that we were too much of a threat to their way of life and resorted to name calling. Their favorite name to call us was Lesbian. When we quietly and calmly tried to explain to them that we were not homosexuals and that it made no difference to us whether or not a person was gay, they immediately decided that if you accepted homosexuality you must be gay. They took pleasure in calling us junkie, hippie radical, crazy (although that was one of the nicer ones), gook, among many more. We learned to ignore this name calling after a while. They resorted to writing obscene phrases on our lockers such as “fuck off hippie,” “motherfucker,” “fuck you” and other such things which showed us the extent of their vocabulary and mentality. Gym class was one of the favorite classes in which the oppressors verbally attacked people. The whole gym class was appalled when you didn’t wear a bra, shave your legs or armpits, or wore men’s long underwear. The reasons why, we feel, that they were appalled was because they felt women should shave their legs and armpits, wear a bra, shouldn’t wear long underwear, but they should be very feminine and wear clothes as such. Also in gym class, we were always picked last by the team captains to be on their teams. This happened even though we were good in the sport. We were about the first people to wear long dresses. People would give us weird stares and call us “witch.” One girl told one of us that we looked like a “cute hippie” when we wore long skirts and dresses. [photo - credit/Rising Up Angry] [photo - credit: Rising Up Angry] At the end of the year when the high school students were taking semester tests, some of them would come to the junior high to visit. One of our friends, known as the “short little greasy-haired kid,” was kicked out of the school almost immediately when he came to visit. However, the former football stars and athletes of the junior high always seemed to get a warm reception and they always got to stay a longer period of time when they came. Another incident took place one morning when these high school boys, including the “short little greasy-haired kid,” came to visit. All of these boys had long hair. After they left we heard such comments as, “Who were those kids?” One teacher said he was going to find out who they were. He said it in a manner as if they were threatening the school. These incident were not infrequent but quite common and these along with a somewhat apathetic family made our ninth grade year an unforgettable experience. [photo - credit/LNS] H.S. FEMINISM IS ALIVE AND GROWING Page 8 Vol. 1 No. 17 Ain't I