Challenging social rules

[pegkerr]

This was a comment I made at sartorias's journal at a discussion about social rules, and I thought I'd re-post it here.

I vividly remember two instances when I was growing up when on separate occasions two teachers told me something I knew was DEAD WRONG.

One was in kindergarten, when another child was drawing a (rather inept) picture of a turkey. She painstakingly drew a circle on the turkey's tummy, and told the teacher, "That's the turkey's belly button."

Now even I, at the tender age of five, knew that turkeys didn't have belly buttons. But I was genuinely startled by the teacher's response. "Linda," she sniffed, "it isn't nice to talk about belly buttons."

I knew, even then, that there was nothing wrong with any part of the body. Even belly buttons.

The other time happened in eighth grade. I was stopped by a teacher in the hall. "Margaret," he told me loftily (he could never grasp the fact that I went by Peg, not Margaret), "ladies don't whistle." (Edited to add: Oh yeah, and I just remembered: he actually quoted to me, "Whistling girls and crowing hens/Always come to some bad ends.")

Again, I was so startled by the immediate and sure knowledge that he was wrong that I didn't make the obvious answer until he had passed.

I was a lady.

And I damn well could whistle anytime I liked.

Tell me about a time a teacher or a parent or someone else in authority told you something that you knew immediately was wrong.

Comments

[leiabelle.livejournal.com]

That's bizarre, considering that the Catholic Church has supported the Big Bang theory since the 1950s. Then again, it's not like most people are aware of every teaching that their particular brand of religion supports, though they ought to be. -_-

(Also not Catholic-bashing. Am Catholic myself and know very few Catholics who believe in creationism or the "Earth is 6000 years old" thing, so your story makes me facepalm on behalf of most Catholics.)

[weaselmom.livejournal.com]

Hmm! This would have been back in the very late 60's, so maybe he was just really Old Skool. When the kids went to catechism, I was sent to the church basement to be Glared At By Nuns. Man, nobody glares like a nun.