CCHS English department teacher Lindsay Coleman-Taylor stands in front of a yellow background that reads “Womankind.” Coleman-Taylor wants to use her platform as the upcoming Introduction to Women’s Literature teacher as a way to be a guide for young women at CCHS as they grow into womanhood. “Feminism isn’t saying that all women have to grow up and be astronauts and scientists. It’s saying that young women can be whatever they want to be even though we’re ‘unfortunately in possession of a womb.’ So, I think that my goal with women’s lit, is to just start the conversation (and) hopefully educate young women on the history of the difficulties of being a woman because it’s just undeniable,” Coleman-Taylor said. Illustration by Lilli Sams
Clarke Central High School English department teacher Lindsay Coleman-Taylor shares her experience as a woman, personal stories and advice she has for girls at CCHS.
Illustrator Lilli Sams: What made you want to choose to teach Introduction to Women’s Literature next year?
CCHS English department teacher Lindsay Coleman-Taylor: I’m not exactly sure what started the trend for me. Potentially, my own personal experience with feeling as though my gender had somehow affected the way that the world was looking at me and treating me. But at some point in my 20s, I began to be a lot more vocal about the fact that women have been disadvantaged over time. I started sort of saying, ‘Don’t we all need to talk about this? Shouldn’t we all be talking about this?’ And there are very few opportunities for that conversation to really come out in academic and educated ways. And quite honestly, one of the reasons that I’m so adamant about being a teacher is that I have the opportunity to speak to young women and tell them the things that I wish someone had told me when I was your age. And sort of let me know that I don’t have to put up with these sort of actions, and that I can stand up for myself, and that these are the appropriate ways to stand up for yourself and these are the things to know you have a right to this that and the other.
LS: What are your thoughts on how you plan to make this class the most meaningful it can be?
LCT: I have ideas, but generally speaking in terms of making it matter, I’m not sure how to do that for the kids except engage in as many discussions and conversations as I possibly can and be up front with kids and say, “This class is gonna talk about rape.” Like there’s no talking about the history of the woman’s experience without talking about the many many times that women have been done dirty. And so we’re gonna have to talk about difficult things and my hope is that every time someone discusses something that is difficult, that they learn from various perspectives and they learn more about themselves. So I would love for young women to come out of this class with more knowledge about who they are as a woman fitting into the grand scheme of ‘what does it mean to be a woman’ and ‘what is my womanhood going to look like.’ Because there’s no right or wrong, and you just have to go out and you have to be confident that ‘this is exactly who I’m meant to be and I am a mess, but I am the mess that I have designed myself to be.’ And I want women to be confident because high school is so impossibly hard, and especially for young women. And there’s so much peer pressure. And there’s so much self hatred. And there’s the media that you guys have access to telling you what perfection looks like so that you can know that you’re not that. It’s just impossibly hard for these young women to find confidence. And I want to help them find it. And I want young men to go out into the world and be advocates, and be better husbands, and be better fathers and treat women well.
LS: Was there a moment where you realized you were being treated differently because you are a woman?
LCT: My dad owned a restaurant and I worked at it when I was in early college– so I was 20-ish. And I remember being treated very very differently by the male customers. It was all very objectifying and sexualizing. And even my dad, who is a very progressive man, but he told me you know, “Hey we need to get some tank tops on order so you can wear those and get yourself some more tips.” And you know, he was right. When I wore a tank top I got more tips. And so I quit wearing tank tops because I’ve always been very very sensitive to not wanting to be seen in a sexualized and objectified way. It makes me amazingly uncomfortable… It’s just ridiculous that if you flaunt your shape, and if you’re happy and secure and you’re like, ‘I love who I am and how I look,’ then you’re called a conceited skank. And then if you cover up you’re called a prude, and there seems to be no way to live life correctly as a young woman. And I remember constantly being sort of told to be one way or be one way else, and sort of ‘be a lady.’ Act like a lady. Don’t curse. Don’t spit. Don’t belch. And there would be certain things that I would do in order to sort of push back against that and eventually I realized that I was just a product of the roles that society had given to me. And I’m still in a predominantly female perceived field, you know. I’m a teacher. I’m not really pushing back all that much. If I were a welder that would be one thing. And by the way, I can weld. But, you know, it’s just, it’s interesting to sit as a woman aware of the insecurities of men, and just sit and watch the way that they try and make the world around them fit so that they can feel comfortable. And I think everyone does that, not (just) men. We all want to be comfortable in the world. And I just think that (the) male voice has been the voice that history has seen value in. And so I want us to see more value in women’s voices and I want us to acknowledge the horrible things that women have had to put up with.
LS: How will you integrate these ideals into your class?
LCT: I would love to be able to start the (first day of class) with sort of a poster board on the wall that says, “Ladies, what have you done to avoid being raped. In what ways have you tried to protect yourself from some sort of harm?” And I think that that’s a conversation– I had the benefit of having that conversation with several men in my life. My husband is incredibly understanding. (And) I had friends in college who would just sit there and listen to girls be like, “OK, I’ve got a rape whistle, I’ve got pepper spray, I’ve got this little cat claw thing that’s on my key chain that has metal pieces that come out. I’m worried about (the) slashing of tires. I park next to the light but not too far away from the door.” You know, every single thing is ingrained in a woman. Like we don’t even know that we are scanning for potential predators.
LS: What is your biggest advice to either your younger self or a young girl at CCHS?
LCT: Honestly, I don’t think that I can stress enough that there is no right or wrong way to be yourself and you are enough. And you should go ahead and figure out as soon as you know a little bit more– everyday you learn a little bit more about yourself and in that process you learn a little bit more about what you want out of life, and at no point should you put up with any sort of treatment, or any sort of partner or any sort of job that does not build you towards that goal. And I see a lot of young women in this field who are accepting less than they deserve. Because they just want attention. They want to feel as though they are worthy of a young boy’s love, or they are good enough to be on the team, or they are this that and the other. And I have to watch young women sort of self sabotage in a lot of relationships and a lot of unhealthy things that unfortunately you have to learn the hard way. But I wish that I could take that away from young women. I remember when I realized that I deserved better was (when) I was dating a boy. It was like a Friday afternoon and we were throwing the ball for his dog and it was just us two. There was no one else around. I was in a great mood and I was singing an Elton John song at the top of my lungs because you know how I love to just belt it and dance with my ridiculous shoulders. And I was singing so loud. He turned to me and he said, “Can you please stop. You’re embarrassing me.” And I don’t know where it came from, because at the time I was a very prim, proper, demure, passive young lady but I turned and I went, “In front of all these people?” And I did sort of the hands to like survey, ‘all of these (people),’ and there was no one around. And I realized that I was embarrassing him to his core. There was no reason for him to be embarrassed, so it became startlingly apparent to me that I deserve to be able to sing out loud next to someone who thinks that that is hilarious and cute and whatever else. And it can be irritating. Yes, it’s very irritating. I (sing) to my sister at like the fabric store and she’s just kind of like, “Another this please (to the employee).” And she doesn’t bat an eye at it, and my husband doesn’t bat an eye at it because that’s what I deserve. I wish that I could go ahead and tell my young women: be exactly who you want to be. The good and the bad. And then through your experiences, you’ll figure out which actions and which behaviors and which traits serve you and which ones harm you. And get rid of the bad and try and just keep the good. Be silly, be optimistic, be negative sometimes. And then just sort of be like, ‘I’m not gonna do that right now.’ You know, I can’t make my anxiety go away. I can’t make my negativity go away. But I can certainly tamp it down and say like, “This is the worst of me but let me now spend a minute looking at the best of me.” Everybody’s telling you you’re wrong. You’re the wrong shape, you’re not good enough at this, you have freckles and society doesn’t like freckles, or you have, you know, this type of shape, and this type of hair and this type of face. And it’s just like, love exactly who you are. I can’t do that for (young girls). But I want to tell them to just be happy with– if you hate it, change it. If you can’t change it, learn to love it. Right now.
