Saddle Making School
Did anyone else have to deal with this?
People have always known me as a horse rider, it's been a major part of my identity for as long as I can remember. I'm 14 now and a lot of people at my school make disgusting sexual jokes about me riding my horses. I used to just laugh with them but thy carried on so I tried ignoring them for a while but that still didn't work. Today, someone who I thought was my friend (But I now know that she changes around more "popular" people) asked me if I had a dildo on my horse's saddle and she spent the whole of one lesson harassing me about it with another girl. No-one else in my year rides and i'm hardly a popular kid. Not the most attractive, either so people seem to think that because I can be perceived as different, they have a right to make school a living hell for me. How should I handle this?
This is something I would take up with your principle. Get a recording of everything this girl says to you and present it as a case. It could be considered sexual harassment and can get the girl and several of your classmates suspended. It won't help your popularity but it will scare the other kids out of harassing you.
If you do not want to bring this up with your principle try to be the bigger person. This is a very immature and sexually oriented age, unfortunately, and there will be many sexual jokes tossed around about anything, not just horseback riding. If you are a witty person you can try to make the girl sound like a fool. One example would be to ask her if she likes you, fantasizes about having sex with your, or anything along those lines. Basically accuse her of being a lesbian. If she is straight she will find this very embarrassing. If she is gay then she is very young to already know and might already be embarrassed. I'm sorry because I know how this feels. Most of us horse kids get teased for it sooner or later. I got teased a lot in elementary and middle school. Ignoring it is almost impossible to do. I usually found myself teasing the kids right back.
Another tactic you can try is to have the teasers come try riding a horse. After they learn that it has no sexual connotation and that it is actually hard they will most likely stop teasing you. I wouldn't put them on an easy horse either. Then you can get on the horse and show them how it's done. Or yu can show them how to do it and then put them on, so they think it will be easy but then they realize it's hard as hell.
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