Happier Abroad Forum Community

I'm from Scandinavia, that is "advanced" in women's right, according to many. I'm a teen.

I want to cry at how disgusting it is for women to live in this kind of envirronment. Here are some of the things I noticed in my first months:

1) None of my friends have 'permission' from their parents to date.

2) My friend's dad has forbidden her from dating. He interrogates her when he sees her with boys. He wants her to be a virgin until she gets married.

3) My friend's family say she dresses as a prostitute. Her brother told her to get changed. Do you want to know what she was wearing? Not that it matters. No teen girl should be called a prostitute by her family. Or anyone else. She was wearing a dress that went down to just over her knees. It was tight, but f***ing hell! YOU DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE TELL YOUR DAUGHTER SHE LOOKS LIKE A PROSTITUTE.

4) The girl's mother not only called her a prostitute but said it was not appropriate for her to be proud of her body, as she's 'only 16'.

5) Slut shaming. Slut shaming. Slut shaming. Girls are called sluts for the smallest things. Makeup? Slut. Lots of male friends? Slut. Wear the school uniform skirt intead of pants? Slut. Ties her hair up in a certain way, rather than another? Slut. Skinny jeans? Slut. Even girls start saying "Oh, hahah! I'm such a slut!" They identify with it.

5) My friend has to clean the whole house when her (working) mother is ill. But, you ask, what about her father? Her brother? No. Her father is a man, it is not his job to clean and cook. True, her brother is not yet a man, but he is a boy, so for him the priorities go: homework, cleaning, cooking. For her, it goes: cleaning, cooking, homework.

6) Her father tells her to wear white clothes, he wants others to notice that she is a virgin.

7) I had a sore throat, and my voice was funny. I was told: "Shhh!! That cute boy is here if he hears you he wont talk to us".

I could go on forever.

I suffer here. I am laughed at, ridiculed, when I stand up and denounce the macho culture and sexism. They don't take me seriously. Why should they? I'm a woman.

I will never, ever, let my future children grow up in such an envirronment. I'd rather hang myself than to see my future kids think a woman has to be a virgin to have value or that calling a girl a slut is okay.

I suffer a lot here, and the disappointment doesn't help. Is this a motherf***ing third world country? No! This isn't Saudi Arabia! This is Australia! A developed first world country? What. The. f**k. Is. This.

I am utterly disgusted, and I feel alone. Girls laugh at my opinions. Boys too. f**k this bullshit.

I know, I know. "Don't be a stuck up bore". Honestly, I try not to be! But when a friend tells me her family tells her that eating in public isn't decent for a woman, I just want to scream my lungs out.

Edit: my rant got a lot more attention than I expected! Just wanted to say:

1) This is not in some country town, or poor part or whatever, like some people have PMd and asked. This is in a rather wealthy part of a major city of NSW.

2) I am keeping an open mind, I know how it hurts to have someone judge your whole country and culture based on a single experience. I am still very dissapointed, angry and honestly surprised. I travel around a lot, and I guess you have expectations for every country, depending on which one it is. I've been in countries where it was much worse, but my expectations were lower, and met. I was surprised that such a not only developed and rich, but beautiful country wouldn't meet my expectations. Still, I understand I can't generalise a whole country based on my first 8months. I have to give it time, meet more people, and see the country.

Cornfed wrote:Australia is just another feminist shithole dystopia with no redeeming features. Avoid it like the plague.