The most sexist thing that's ever happened to you might've been in your home

Hey people!

I know that I haven't written in forever, but today, I want to talk about a social issue.
The equality between men and women, boy and girls, and how their childhood is shaped, to be specific. To get my point across, I'm going to use myself as an example, because, well, you won't really realize what's happenning until it's narrated like this.

When I was five years old, my parents began to send me to a tennis class. I was hesitant at first, but I loved it. I spent two hours afterschool there everyday, and my teacher was pleased with me because I was able to hold my own and actually play a match with all of the older kids. This was beautiful, and I began to think of it fondly, but, then came a major setback. The school I was going to lasted until 3pm, and I got home by 4pm, which was when my tennis classes started. I also had homework to do. So, we stopped my tennis classes, and as a compensation, I began to ride my old, discarded bike with my friends, and I had started a trend. All of us began playing on our bicycles. Healthy, active, and great.

I thought I had a pretty active childhood, and that my parents had encouraged physical activity for me despite the stereotype of dolls, playing house and other things. But then my brother was born.

From the beginning, it was the expectation that he go to the park everyday. That was fine, you know. I had to go to the park too. Everyone in my neighbourhood did. But then, we moved to a different country, and my brother got older. For some reason, my parents got all worked up about him having a sport. My mother put him in swim classes for competitive swimming, football (Americans, that means soccer in English), and when the schedule didn't work out, insisted my dad make him play a sport on the weekends.

To be fair, they did the same for me. But the weird part was, with me, my parents tried once. If it didn't work out, then it was too bad. But somehow, for my little brother, playing a sport was of the utmost importance, and if he didn't find one (which he still hasn't) then the world would supposedly come crashing down.

Now, my parents aren't sexist, and they're the ones who put me in the more liberal mindset, telling me that I didn't have to be a conventional girl, getting me toys meant for boys as well as girls (which shouldn't exist, as in, toys are for both sexes what the hell, but okay). But what I'm trying to point out is that certain stereotypes are ingrained in the minds of people. If you EVER find yourself thinking, "But that's such a 'guy-thing' (replace synonyms with things such as 'manly') to do" or "That's only something a girl could think of" or "That's so girly" or, my personal favourites:
"You're so manly" and "I cried like a little girl".

The thing about these things is, we've grown up with them. My parents would've never realized it, and they still haven't, that all my life, through my physical activity, I have been trying to prove to them that I wanted to do a sport too. And I never got the chance because of circumstance, or because of difficulties staying afterschool with the team, my shyness, the fact that I broke my leg, and so many other things.

When I was 7, I got a basketball hoop in the backyard. My brother went to soccer classes with a professional coach.

This stuff is seared into our minds like it's normal. And only now, people are beginning to realize, it's NOT fair. I am branded as the weak and unable to play girl in PE. Whereas other boys got passed to and scored eaily in basketball, I had to steal the ball from my opponents, guard it from even my teammates and score a swoosh shot to prove myself to my teammates. My 'guy-friend' who wasn't even able to dribble 5 meters without passing was passed the ball instead of me even though everyone knew he couldn't play. I was closer to the hoop, open, and able to shoot, because no one thought I was even worth guarding. Three reasons I should've been passed the ball, but I wasn't. Sexism is everywhere. It doesn't matter what you're thinking, if you ever catch yourself thinking something is typical of boys or girls, or that someone won't be able to do something because they're a boy, or a girl, stop yourself. Please. The only way to make people less sexist is to start the change with you, to make yourself aware, so you don't endorse sexist things by accident, so you yourself can teach the others around you through just thinking a little bit more.

Is it really that much to ask?