Being in school is awkward enough – especially if you identify as a woman. Sometimes, your body is doing weird things like bleeding (or not), growing tender boobs (or not), or becoming gangly yet curvy at the same time (honestly, wtf was that). The last thing we want is for a teacher to shine an unwanted spotlight on us. However, Twitter user @shaTIRED recently went viral for asking, "What’s the meanest thing a teacher has ever said to y’all?" The responses were flooded by women who tolerated body shaming, slut shaming, and outright inappropriate comments from their teachers. Here are some of the most cringe-worthy stories:
1.
@shaTIRED I had a teacher pinch my arm and then pinch her own. “See how much more flesh I can pinch on your arm? That’s because you’re fat.” I was in third grade, I think.
2.
@shaTIRED Band director; there was a stir with some of the boys, he confiscated a phone to see what was up, saw what was on it, and then laughed and showed the whole class. It was a pic of me in a bikini from a family beach trip a boy had taken from my Facebook.
3.
@shaTIRED In high school a faculty member told me I had such a nice speaking voice that I should be a phone sex operator. I asked him why I couldn't just read books on tape. He said I should focus on the money and if he could talk to girls like me he would call all the time. Wtf
4.
@shaTIRED -That I was being dramatic after being bullied by a boy because he liked me -I had my old white male teacher ask me if I was keeping my legs closed & that he imagined I wouldn’t be able to run track b/c my thigh size. -that they hate teaching in schools like these
5.
@shaTIRED In 3rd grade I wore a pink plaid skirt, fishnet tights and sleeves and hot pink top and sneakers (feeling myself) and my teacher told another teacher I looked like a stripper, which was overheard by another student who then told me
6.
@shaTIRED My fifth grade teacher told me I was gonna be alone for the rest of my life if I kept choosing to spend my recess in the library and would constantly take my books away saying I had to go socialize in the real world.
7.
@shaTIRED It’s not mean but in 3rd grade my teacher pulled me to the side and said I needed a bra and the next day in class they needed to know if I was wearing one
8.
@shaTIRED Not mean lol but very weird- in 6th grade, my male teacher pointed out that I should wear red lipstick to school to cover up the mole on my lip... #cringe I think that’s why I really don’t wear makeup like that...
9.
@shaTIRED I was in first grade, my mother kept my hair in pixie cuts and a middle-aged male teacher — not even my own teacher — called me “boy” every time he saw me. It was the malicious tone in his voice, dripping with contempt-? misogyny-? that bothered me more than the label. It was
10.
@shaTIRED My elementary gym teacher: "Running is sometimes harder for heavier people. Right, Elizabeth?" Humiliating as fuck. And then a long term sub in middle school told me girls aren't good at math and because I was 12 and already a nervous wreck I listened.
11.
@shaTIRED She told my parents that I was only excelling in my classes because of pretty privilege. I was in the 5th grade. I was an honor roll student from 1st-8th grade, salutatorian, in the top 100 at my high school and I graduated with a B.A and a 3.4 GPA in 2019.
12.
@shaTIRED One of my teachers once told me as I was trying to find my locker that I was the “blondest Black woman he’s ever met.”
13.
on the last day before summer break he touched my stomach and told me that now i'll have time to get rid of that. i was 10 and had an eating disorder. https://t.co/07TbwptEhO
14.
@shaTIRED Got a few. One perverted teacher always pinch the girls on their chest just above their boobs as a punishment. He was fired. Two of my other teachers are so bad tempered they always scream and throw our books and table when mad. Too bad their students always perform in exams.
15.
One time I was walking down the hall and this lady stopped me and said “women like us should wear shorts”. I live in Texas. I’m not wearing jeans everyday, my big thighs deserve to breath too. She really tried to make me feel insecure about my body cause she didn’t love hers. https://t.co/OrMSWeqdJh
16.
At my grade 8 grad, when my name was called my teacher grabbed the mic and said (in-front of the WHOLE ceremony) “this one better marry rich”. https://t.co/6AuVYRX92k
17.
@shaTIRED In high school, my physics teacher said my fascination with science and math is “hilarious” because “statistically” I am far more likely to be “another pregnant Hispanic” than a scientist. A few students laughed and nodded in agreement.