This is dedicated to all the kids out there who have ever been embarrassed about something they love. Keep your head held up high and keep doing what makes you happy!

Preface

 Children are taught at a very young age to spot differences when it comes to race, gender, and socioeconomic statuses. Gender has been a large source of discourse in education that leads students to discriminate against others. "Brilliant or Bad: The Gendered Social Construction of Exceptionalism in Early Adolescence" by Michela Musto conducted identifies how from kindergarten to college, male students were perceived to be smarter than girls, and that varying levels of intelligence influenced how gendered statuses were shaped and causing an imbalance between the genders. She found that in higher-level of education courses, boys tended to be reprimanded less and monopolized the setting over the girls. In lower-level education courses, the girls were deemed to be smarter than boys, but not exceptionally smarter. Depending on how boys were regulated by educators within these settings, it directly correlated to the gender-based inequality. Society has enforced gendered beliefs onto to impressionable children through trusted adults, thus only gaining a passive belief and dismissing controversial behavior when exhibited. This causes them to marginalize those who they believe are not following society's standards of gender at a young age. 

This is Tilly! Her favorite thing in the entire world is baseball. She has been in love with baseball ever since her dad took her to her first game as a young girl

This is the best day ever!!

Today is also Tilly's first day at a new school! She can't wait to meet her teacher and make all sorts of new friends!

I'm so excited for today!          I hope I can find friends    who also like baseball

As Tilly and the rest of her classmates filed into the classroom, her new teacher, Mrs. Smith, addressed the classroom. 

Good Morning students! Today, I would like to introduce a new student. Tilly, please come up here and tell us about yourself.

Hi! My name is Tilly! I just moved here from Indiana and my favorite thing to do is play baseball!

Dylan, one of Tilly's new classmates, started to make fun of her for her love of baseball. The rest of the class started to laugh as Tilly stood there, shocked and upset.

Baseball? Girls can't play that, it's a boy sport! I bet you throw like a girl too!

Tilly went home after school and was really sad. She had a baseball game tomorrow, but how was she supposed to play like this? Her whole life was baseball, but she wondered if she should quit to find a more girly activity? She knew she was one of the few girls that played, but did that mean that only boys should be playing baseball? Her whole world has been turned upside down now. 

What do I do?

Suddenly, Tilly's best friend, Mia, came over. Tilly told Mia her dilemma and how she might not play in the baseball game at all now. This is what Mia had to say:

Tilly, you are the best player I know! It shouldn't matter that you're a girl, you love this game and if anyone thinks you shouldn't be playing because it's a "boy's game", then they need to grow up!

I guess you're right. I'll go to the game. Thanks Mia.

Suddenly, the day of the game came all too quickly. Tilly was still unsure about playing, she wanted to run away. It was finally her turn to bat, but she was shaking so much that the bat almost fell out of her hands.