Silent Warriors | Teen Ink

Silent Warriors

August 23, 2011
By HannahBK SILVER, Discovery Bay, Other
HannahBK SILVER, Discovery Bay, Other
6 articles 4 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Imagination is the only escape from reality"


Growing up in a modern, liberal family, I spent my entire childhood oblivious to the fact that I was any different from my three brothers. Undeveloped, I ran shirtless through the sprinkler in summer; I beat all the neighborhood boys in races; the whole family would bake in the kitchen together; I would run in the mud in overalls rather than pink dresses. I knew the difference linguistically between ‘girl’ and ‘boy’, but that was truly the full measure of my understanding. I had no knowledge of what society believed, what society had always believed. I was too young and too free to realize that in my future, a transformation of personality was to be expected from me.

As I made the transition from kindergarten to elementary school (and at the same time, from America to England), the distinction between male and female became stronger. Girls and boys were two separate groups in the playground: the girls would play house while the boys played soccer. Later, when some of the girls wanted to play sports, the boys turned them down because it was “a boys’ game”. And so the girls retreated back to the playhouse where they would take care of baby dolls, sometimes managing to lure a boy in to be their pretend husband.

Changing for gym class became a terror for girls wearing crop tops, as the boys would see and mock them, while the girls envied their grown up figure. I was among the more developed in the class, and so I hid in a corner to change, ashamed of something that I was too young to recognize. As secondary school began, the girls and boys were separated while changing. The girls would suck their stomachs in and push their bosoms out, craving the admiration and jealousy of onlookers. The more confident girls would wear shorter and tighter clothing and strut past the male population of the school, absorbing their objectification with pride. It was a good thing to be sexy, and a bad thing to be ugly; the treatment of these groups differed accordingly.

I transferred to an all girls’ school when I was fourteen, and a very different vibe greeted me. Although there were no boys to impress, the competition of how much of a woman one could be existed between the girls. They would read celebrity magazines while making condescending remarks; they would go on ‘Thinspiration’, (a website created by a severely anorexic girl to ‘inspire’ other girls to lose weight) and covet the starving models’ bodies, calling them beautiful and perfect. However when one student was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, scathing whispers went around the cafeteria about how disgusting she was. No one could win.

Around the same time, the messages from boyfriends and male acquaintances demanded a different body: one of curves and often of nudity. It came to light that the said boys regularly watched pornographic videos, and harassed girls they knew to give them images of their bodies. When confronted about their disrespectful behavior, it was shrugged off with talk of hormones and puberty. Girls began to have an inner conflict as to which side of society to please: the girls who wanted to be thin, yet looked down on people who were too thin; or the boys, who wanted more womanly bodies, but for degrading purposes.

Closely after this debate began, I moved to Hong Kong, and the terrible speak of losing one’s virginity came. Girls claimed to want it to be romantic and magical; boys claimed to want it for the sake of physical pleasure. If either of those statements were true, I will never know. However, those in relationships lasting over a month were expected to ‘put out’; if not, they were called frigid and uptight. It became at least a tri-daily occurrence to hear so-called jokes aimed at women, all with punch lines to do with cooking or dishwashing or having sex. Boys shamelessly stared at my chest and spoke about girls’ bodies in front of the other girls and me. The girls were so used to this treatment, that they sat and said nothing, and kept a placid smile on their faces as if they were content with their situations. When I chose to speak up, I was met with cracks at the female population, condescending remarks about my body and my purpose in the world, and orders to “get back in the kitchen”. Walking away from the crowd, I heard the boys talking about how my curves were my best feature, and the girls remaining silent and passive.

There are expectations of women, which have been accumulated since the beginning of time. When cavemen hunted and provided, the women would take care of the children. When men went to war, women kept the home front running. Women were brought up to serve as a wife and child bearer, while men were made for education and greatness. They were considered their father’s property and then their husband’s property, never their own. Girls went to charm school while boys went to grammar school, girls played netball while boys played rugby, and so one and so forth through the whole of history until we come to today, when despite feminists and activists, some gender roles are just accepted. And that made me angry: I hated that the world would accept things that are so unjust, so unfair. I hated men; I hated people for molding half of the world’s population into nothingness.

I was finally faced with a question: should I conform to societal standards of what a woman is and should be in order to be accepted, or should I stand up in an effort to be considered a person of equality to any other man or woman; for that matter, to be considered a person at all?

I made my choice: I would not conform. And so I began rebelling against what is required of a woman. I dressed how I wanted, I read many books by and about feminists, and was greatly inspired by them. I blew up every time someone made a bad remark or generalization about women, willing to argue with anyone for the respect of my kind. I became a warrior: a warrior against society, against men, against stereotypes, against anything that I felt restricted me.

I would like to say that all of my strife was out of goodwill, but that wouldn’t be true. A lot of it was for goodness, but also a large part of it was my anger. I felt that the treatment of women represented more than just that: it showed the condition of the human race. We are so quick to judge and put each other down; we always want to feel better and more powerful than our neighbor. We are xenophobic, racist, ageist and sexist. I wanted to know why people were so cruel, and why we couldn’t just be better to each other. And through all this, an outrage was formed, and it made me want to fight for my rights and the rights of everyone and everything I identified with. I resented the human race, and yet it is unavoidable. Everywhere I went I saw reminders of how I was not considered an equal: the looks of men, the models in magazines, the signs on taxi cabs for ‘gentlemen’s clubs’, even the fact that in most languages a group is expressed in the masculine rather than feminine term.

I guess I was looking at the whole topic as if the answer was simple: just stop discriminating against other people. But the fact is, it’s not that simple, and it’s definitely not simple enough for me to fix on my own. It’s also not a topic that most of the world would agree with me on. And then I began to understand why those girls remained silent at the sound of the boys’ disrespectful remarks: they felt hopeless. They knew that the world would not change because they wanted it to. And that is the way for any minority, any nation in poverty, any family who have lost their possessions due to a fall in the economy: it is just too big a problem to face, to change.

And so now I am not as angry, but at the same time, I am not completely hopeless. I have stopped making every remark into an argument; I have stopped hating the world and hating men. Because I have a part of me that still believes one day, maybe not in my lifetime, things will change, due to women who are not speaking out but know that they are equal. And I think that most women are like me: they do know that they are equal; they just don’t know what to do about it. They are silent warriors: they soundlessly wish for a future of equality, and I will always kindle the hope that it will one day become a reality.



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This article has 12 comments.


on Sep. 2 2011 at 12:35 pm
Primarily fantasy or science fiction stories honestly but yeah, I do in fact write.

on Sep. 1 2011 at 10:22 pm
HannahBK SILVER, Discovery Bay, Other
6 articles 4 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Imagination is the only escape from reality"

Thank you Emily! Love you xxxx

on Sep. 1 2011 at 10:22 pm
HannahBK SILVER, Discovery Bay, Other
6 articles 4 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Imagination is the only escape from reality"

Thank you Beckie! I'm really glad you read it :) 

on Sep. 1 2011 at 10:21 pm
HannahBK SILVER, Discovery Bay, Other
6 articles 4 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Imagination is the only escape from reality"

Thank you Glandor, I'm very glad that you read and liked my essay. Do you write?

on Sep. 1 2011 at 10:20 pm
HannahBK SILVER, Discovery Bay, Other
6 articles 4 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Imagination is the only escape from reality"

Thank you Damien! It means a lot to get good feedback from a skilled writer like you.

Emily said...
on Aug. 31 2011 at 5:30 pm
This is Fantastic Hannah! You are a very talented writer, you should feel so proud of yourself! I'm so proud of you !!!! Well done babe, Love you lots xxxxx

Beckie F said...
on Aug. 30 2011 at 9:28 am
Aww babe i am so proud of you!! This is an amazing read!! Im so tired but had to keep reading! Ur an inspiration & u should be proud of yourself, you have come so far and to identify all of these feelings you have is incredible.. All my love always, beckie xxxx

on Aug. 29 2011 at 5:56 pm

Ma'am, I apologize that I don't know what to say here.

I was going to put a comment down praising every detail of this, but not only could I not come up with the right words, but it'd feel odd.

Just know this, this gives much perspective on the views of feminists and the views of a girl who hates this society.

Thank you for the perspective~Tim Ray, aka Glandor Trayce


damiend said...
on Aug. 29 2011 at 6:50 am

Woww! This is truly brilliant in so many levels.  You can really feel the emotion in here,  yet its done in a way that's never disjointed or rambling. The points you make are all deep and thought provoking too - I totally agree with every point you raised, and was completely surprised by how true some of them were! And of course, you have a GORGEOUS writing style. Really sophisticated and concise. Trust me, i dont give out compliments like that a lot! So yeah, amazing work. Functions great as a story, an opinion piece, and a diary entry. Start on your blog and keep on writing!

- d.


on Aug. 29 2011 at 6:16 am
HannahBK SILVER, Discovery Bay, Other
6 articles 4 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Imagination is the only escape from reality"

Thank you so much for reading the article Ana! I really admire you for having such a good stance on the issue.

Ana Scherer said...
on Aug. 29 2011 at 6:11 am
Nicely written Hannah and I acknowledge you for being brave and courageous in expressing your feelings.  Although I am from a few previous generations, I went throught the same dilemma you'been thought and I was quite outspoken and warriorlike about defending women.  Since I had sports on my side and I was good at it, that gave me a lot of confidence and strenght to face the world.  Many times though, I had to look at myself and realize that I was fighting and loosing energy in the process.  But it is a process and we need to go through a few experiences to find our place in the world.  I am glad I did and I am glad you did it too.  As for the last paragraphs, there is hope.  Once you aligned yourself with your purpose in this world and you live from that essence, you begin to realize that respect comes to you in a effortless way.  You begin to attract people who will join "the fight" and promote equality.  You begin to look at the world from an inspired perspective because you are following your heart.  And you begin to influence others who want what you have.  You will then realize that our ultimate mission in the world is to join hands with others and rebuilt the world, one person at the time beginning with you.  Enjoy the journey my friend!

on Aug. 28 2011 at 12:23 pm
Tayrodactyl PLATINUM, Palmyra, Indiana
20 articles 1 photo 62 comments
Well, I agree with you. I hang out with a lot of guys, but they all kind of treat me like a guy. I'm not. I sometimes wish I could have more friends that are girls, but I've learned that a lot of them are very jealous. I think you wrote this very well, and I hope that one day everyone will see that EVERYONE IS EQUAL. :)