It was acceptable in the 80s

In my last year at school there were two girls in chemistry and the teacher told us that "girls couldn't do chemistry". As it happened we both did well; in my instance it was mostly out of spite.

I remember commenting on a text I was reading for class which talked about "the Aboriginal people and their women".

In a class on ethics (which was thinly disguised religious instruction), we had a session on "perversion", which encompassed homosexuality and single motherhood.

JustOneMan

Teach them to scream and shout now.

Pick up on EVERY word that is ever said that is anti girl/women so 'you throw like a girl' or'make me a sandwich'.

And don't think this is for the future, unfortunately at your eldest's age I'd had two assaults, one in a swimming pool, one an older child pulling my pants down.

I went to an all girls school. An all girls RC school run by nuns. For some men that apparently means that from the age of 11 I was gagging for sex.

We had the flasher, he was in a block of flats and the bus stopped outside, we got in trouble because he flashed for a week and no one told the school, police or parent. One day Sr Mary Dominic took the bus home.

Teachers going to the pub at lunchtime.

Lech of an English teacher, I was squatting between two desks talking to the two girls sitting at he desk, he came over, bent down and wrapped his legs around me, I could feel his erection in my back, None of us said anything.

He would give us regular spelling tests and the words included things like 'buxom' he would then suggest sentences the word could be used in.

I don't remember being academically disadvantaged though for being a girl, but perhaps I was and it was just so normalised that I didn't register it.

In September 2012 I was doing some supply at an FE college and two things rankled so I wrote a very nice email to the head of sport and got a very nice reply.

The first hing that annoyed me was a poster for boxing to keep fit, it had pictures of three men with those big belts they win. In the blurb it was made clear that boxing was open to both men and women, I suggested he was unintentionally sexist as Nicola Adams had just won a gold Olympic medal and whatever the men had achieved she will always be the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal for boxing.

The second thing was a round up of sports in the college, the men's basketball team had defended heroically to get to a final, the women's team had done well to get as far as a semi final. I pointed out that until that game the men's and women's team were at the same stage so both teams should have been fighting heroically.

The reply, as I said was nice and had opened the eyes to the head of sports to unintended sexism.

Teachers dated pupils - the other teacher said tutted but that was it really. Do you remember it was even a storyline on Grange Hill..?!?

School priest slept with the boys. The bishop got him moved. The police left it to the church to deal with in those days.

Yes to 80s/90s naked communal showers.

Mixed comp in the 90s.
Six of my former teachers were or have since been sacked for sleeping with pupils.
Yes to the communal showers and being made to go through naked.
Girls couldn't do woodwork (but could do metalwork oddly).
Sixth form boys would hang out of their common room window and shout at passing girls. Sadly this is how I met my ex who I then ended up stuck with for 3 years while he grew increasingly abusive.

Despite all that I'm still glad to not be young now with social media, online porn etc.

PerfPower, there was something similar at my school with a male PE teacher who apparently got in the showers with the boys. Don't think it can be the same one (surname began with R and he also taught something else, possibly geography) as he was definitely there for at least a couple of years, but this was around 1980 too. There was also a lot of seemingly innocent, but still inappropriate, touching and comments from this same teacher, all done in a jovial grooming manner. Arms round you, hands on your knee, singling you out for attention with compliments etc. I'm sure he wasn't sacked, but I do remember the older kids having to have a 'special assembly' after Mr R was accused of touching someone's boob though.

The May Queen for our village carnival was chosen from the final year if my primary school. This involved girls being taken in to the hall for a discussion about periods whilst the boys stayed in the class room and voted on which girl should be the queen. Girls came back in just in time for the queen and the runners up (who also got to hold flowers etc) to be announced.

At senior school girls did needlework and cookery for the first 3 years whilst boys did metal work and technology. In fourth year girls could choose to do 'boys' subjects at GCSE. I chose technology and was seen as awkward and trying to prove a point. As the boys had been doing the subject for 3 years more than me I struggled, particularly when it came to using some of the tools etc that the boys had been shown how to use before (the teacher did not show me, just left me to copy the boys). I was constantly asked if I wanted to swap subjects and eventually did.

One that sticks in my mind, is having the table lined with newspapers in primary school when we did art. Including page three.

My experiences are tame by comparison. Like junebirthdaygirl above, it was a mixed comprehensive and I wasn't aware of anything inappropriate from any teacher.
Girls (certainly the clever ones) were encouraged to do science.

However, we were watched in the showers, naked, by our severe PE teacher who was also deputy head. And made to go back through if we hadn't cleaned properly. I understand this happened to the boys too.
Same teacher also regularly went though our bags looking for cigarettes, pulling out sanitary products and embarassing us.
And she measured skirt lengths to ensure we hadn't shortened them too much (some girls made them very short).
Girls and boys did textiles, cooking, woodwork and metalwork till GCSE when we had a choice.
No boys did textiles and cooking, and no girls did woodwork or metalwork, even though we were allowed.
The one that I remember as being most ridiculous is that girls had to do ballroom dancing in PE. It was some relic about making sure we were ready for society or something.
The boys didn't, so we had to partner with girls .

This is so unusual that if anyone else went to this school they'll recognise it - it's unusual because it happened to boys. I went to the same school as my ex and we were 13/14 in 1980 when his PE teacher used to 'show' the boys how to wash properly in the showers. He would offer to help them do a good job, and demonstrate on himself, whilst sporting an erection. He was sacked. My ex only remembers him being there for about two weeks.

Our English teacher managed to keep his job until he retired despite rubbing himself against girls regularly and reeking of whiskey. Our male French teacher used to promise good grades if girls would see him after school for extra tuition (euphemism). All well known by the Head, but nothing was done. I don't remember being academically disadvantaged though for being a girl, but perhaps I was and it was just so normalised that I didn't register it.

Same here Knee

We are still training boys to think that they do all the important stuff. Gender stereotypes are just as bad now and cause real harm.

The books we read wound me up too, always about boys and men, always

If you have primary aged kids check out the class books and topics for each term. I've complained several times about how boy focused every single one is. The answer I get is that if there isn't a strong boy focus the boys will be turned off it (subtext and will then be difficult/bored). The girls apparently will behave and be interested whatever the material. Again the message strongly given: male gender focus is empowering, interesting, exciting, girls benefit from being included; female focus is boring, disempowering, boys can't be expected to put up with it.

So many of these experiences. Remember being pinned against a fence by a construction worker on the way home as he rubbed himself off on me. Workmates turned a blind eye before I managed to escape. I was 10.

Lots ringing bells here. School in 70s - bra pinging, communal showers, pervey PE teachers. Sexually assaulted by older boys, ( I had largish breasts at an early age)
No science except domestic, No wonder I couldnt wait to leave.

It almost feels like girls are expected to take a more active role in their own exploitation now So true. I feel we are grooming kids en masse now.

The eighties were mad, so much was known, but accepted and normalised. We had a teacher who just loved the little girls, had done for years, we all knew, everyone did but it was so accepted and he still held several positions of power in the town. Every town had it's Saville.

Not so severe but I remember the term "prick tease" and how awful it was to be one. Like boys had zero control and their pricks must be satisfied at all costs.

The books we read wound me up too, always about boys and men, always. Billy Liar, he was a git, Of Mice and Men, don't even get me started on that!

I was at Secondary in the 70s and had none of these experiences. My male teachers were completely respectful and there was no difference in girls or boys at Maths or Science. It was a mixed school and we were all treated the same.

When I told my headmaster that I would work after I was married, even if my husband didn't want me to, he said: "Dont be ridiculous!"

All of these stories just reinforce what I’ve always thought, some adults don’t see children as humans with emotions, wants and needs - they’re just possessions to be told what to do and when, never mind their comfort or feelings.
I’ve never experienced anything as bad as some posters but I certainly recognise being hit on and cat called from an early age and being asked about family planning in job interviews when I was late teens.

I agree Sunshine. I think the 24hrs a day constant attachment to the internet has a lot to do with it.
Boys are encouraged to be dominant and aggressive, whilst girls told that being attractive and submissive is the no. 1 goal.

Gender stereotype 101.

I got "let go" from my first pub job for telling a customer to leave me alone when he stuck his hand up my skirt while I was clearing tables.
Apparently the customer is always right.

In pubs and clubs in the 90s being groped, picked up, and having clothes pulled down or lifted was very common.

One night in a club a man yelled "stunner" in my ear so loudly it really hurt. I was about 18 and realised at that moment when men harass they're not doing it to get your attention, pay you a compliment or hope that you like it, they do it to exert control, intimidate and humiliate the female. I'm glad I had that lesson so young, before that I genuinely believed harassment was often clumsy attempts to get a girls attention or because men had little self-control.

Men have no idea how much harassment girls and women experience, and it starts very young. I believe most harassment is experienced by girls aged 11-18.

It almost feels like girls are expected to take a more active role in their own exploitation now

I've posted this on here before....90s, primary 7 so 11 years old. Friend wrote me a letter saying her cousin was raping her. As an adult I'm devastated I even knew what that word meant at 11. I showed my mum and dad the letter. It detailed where she'd stood on a staircase one of the times he'd attacked her. Clearly my mum and dad thought this would be considered some sort of evidence by the police. My dad disappeared and came back with my friend, saying we were having a sleepover. She ended up staying with us for about a week. My mum bought her lots of new clothes, and I also remember my mum caught her shoplifting. It turns out my dad had gone to my friend's house to let her parents know about this letter. Dad had assumed they didn't know, and explained she could come to ours for the night as who knew how long they'd be at the police station because surely they'd immediately report the bastard fucking cousin. Actually they did already know, considered it "just one of those things" and my mum and dad kept her at ours for the week as they thought surely to fuck they'll see sense and go to the police. They never did. She ended up having 3 kids really young, never given a chance at life. I think of my dad compared to her dad and how difficult my dad's life was probably made for sticking his nose in "family business".

Recently I saw footage of Steven Lawrence's mum being introduced on the news as "Steven Lawrence's father". I know this would have been the least of her worries but for fuck sake! She says she was aware they were trying to break her, his dad had already been broken and she knew she was the biggest challenge the police/system faced. The pressure she must have been under is just inhumane.

I do still feel that this generation of teenagers have it harder than us in a lot of ways - expectations of body, make up and how you are supposed to perform for men. That’s really depressing.

Attention from creepy men at the age of 11/12 brushed off with "don't be so silly, why would he be paying attention to you?"

Yet another pervy teacher - usually taught English but somehow wangled himself into covering girls' PE and sex ed sessions. He would get us to do gymnastics and touch our legs under the guise of correcting our posture. I know that gym coaches sometimes need to do that, but he wasn't a gym coach, he was a substitute teacher supervising a bunch of bored teens trying to do forward rolls.

I remember hearing about women who left work shortly after they got married. Not due to moving away with their husbands or going on mat leave, just because they were married now.

Soft porn pin-ups everywhere. Card racks of peanuts in pubs that revealed a scantily-clad woman's image as the peanut packs were sold. Porn was everywhere, although it was somewhat tamer than it is now.