AITA for thinking it’s sexist that girls in our computing class can’t attend a school trip?
A Reddit user (17F) shared her frustration about a decision made by her school to exclude girls from a computing class trip to a gaming festival. Although the trip was initially planned for their entire class, only the boys were allowed to attend.
The reason given was that the girls had attended a women’s festival the previous year, though it wasn’t organized by the school. Despite the user voicing her concerns, the teachers cited “logistical reasons” for their decision. Check out the full story below.
‘ AITA for thinking it’s sexist that girls in our computing class can’t attend a school trip?’
I (17F) am in my last year at school, and we recently got an opportunity to go to a games festival in a city next to us that was originally planned specifically for our class. The catch? Our teachers informed us that only the boys in our class are allowed to attend.
There are around 40 spaces available for this trip, and our class only has around 20 people in total, so there was definitely room for us. Instead of letting the five of us girls go, they decided to replace us with boys from the year below us.
The only reason we’re being told we can’t go is that we had a trip to a women’s festival a year ago, which wasn’t even arranged by the school—it was to support more women into joining the industry and equalize the gender amongst STEM type jobs.
This new trip, however, is for everyone, and it was the school’s decision to exclude the girls. This feels especially frustrating because we’ve been active participants in our computing class, and our contributions are often overlooked. We want to engage with the gaming community and learn from this festival, just like everyone else.
I believe that everyone, regardless of gender, should have the same opportunities to participate in events like this, especially since it’s related to gaming, which is enjoyed by all.
I brought up my concerns with the teachers, but they just brushed it off and said it was for “logistical reasons.” It’s disappointing to see that everyone from our class is going except for the five of us girls. I think it’s unfair and discriminatory. AITA for wanting to challenge this decision? (And yes, I used chatGPT for some parts to reword some stuff to help you understand my god awful English)
Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:
Apresmitski − NTA this is probably a Title 9 violation if you’re in the US and it’s a public school. I would contact the ACLU.
Fragrant-Duty-9015 − NTA challenge this! Go to the school board and the local news.
ConsistentCheesecake − NTA, I would make a big stink about this. You might not be able to change their minds, but challenging sexism is still worthwhile. I would think carefully about how you can plan a respectful challenge to this.
You don’t want them to be able dismiss you by saying you’re being rude or disrespectful to adults, so my advice is to make sure you’re extra polite and calm in tone—that can make a big difference. Your approach depends on where you are. If it’s a US public school this may be illegal. Good luck!
oaksandpines1776 − Tgere is a womenintech sub reddit. Please go get advice from career professionals. They are grown adults still dealing with this crap.
Skybeam420 − NTA – my private opinion follows; If the school didn’t use any school funds for the women’s festival a year ago, then that women’s festival is completely irrelevant.
rilakkuma1 − NTA. I’ll add that you should contact the games festival as well. They will likely not be happy
Billy_of_the_hills − WTF? NTA obviously. I’ll bet your local news stations would be interested to know about this.
adobeacrobatreader − NTA. As a computer science major, I know how hard women have it. It’s not pretty, I had 2 women join our class, and both dropped out in the first six months. It’s a toxic space for women.
amyloulie − NTA. Totally discriminatory and deserves to be challenged. Crazy reasoning too!
dsdsds − I’m going to guess this is not in the US and all these comments about Title IX, local news, and school boards are irrelevant.
Do you think the school’s decision to exclude the girls from this gaming festival is fair, or is it an example of gender bias? How would you address this if you were in the user’s shoes? Share your thoughts below!
