I was an equal opportunity mocker - boy, girl, man or woman if the joke
was there I went for it. This was not a good policy. I know it is de
rigueur to pretend you believe in equality but not in the sense that
everyone is treated the same, never treat everyone the same or you
will be destroyed. I thought it would be funny to make fun of a tall
girl, which in terms of strict equality it was a big step forward. I
had made what I will admit was a rather lame joke about her looking
really skinny but probably weighing a lot because it was spread so
thin. One of my backwards, misogynistic, patriarchal, and chivalrous
classmates heard me making fun of this girl and told me to shut up. I
didn't take his recommendation and tried to work him into the mix as
well suggesting that maybe he was into tall girls and he may want to
stop showing off for this one in particular or she may fall in love.
They say that laughter is the best medicine but the laughter that
this joke elicited must not be because he decided it was time to
switch from diplomacy and head right into the punching and choking
portion of our confrontation. He was much stronger and much larger
than I and had a pretty good command of the grappling game and
quickly had me in a choke that was making my face turn purple. He
would only release me if I promised to shut up and apologize to the
girl. I thought the indignity of an apology a fair trade for my
consciousness and maybe my life. I gasped out an apology and tried to
gasp and wheeze a lot to keep from crying, I think it worked but I
can't remember exactly. I didn't even tell on the kid for beating me
up because I knew he did the right thing and I was in the wrong, he
was a good kid and I was a jerk. I am, in fact, still embarrassed
about how I acted that day. I feel terrible about embarrassing a girl
that was already self conscious about being different. I would have
much rather been the kid that was standing up in someones defense and
not the one who needed to be set strait, but maybe it is better that
I tell the truth.
