My brother and his wife came for a visit today. While we were talking, my brother made a sexual joke about my chest. I got upset with him and suggested that he wouldn’t like it if I started to talk about his dragging genitals. After they left, my husband tried to placate me by saying that he thought my brother was only joking and didn’t mean to be offensive.
All my life, my brother made inappropriate jokes about my chest. When I would get upset, my mother would say that I was being overly sensitive. She’d say that I didn’t have a sense of humor. However, the truth is no girl should have her older brother making sexual jokes about her. I shouldn’t be told anything when I stand up for myself.
The weird thing is that my sister-in-law recognized that it was an awful joke, and she also told my brother that it was inappropriate. All these years hearing these awful jokes that are meant to make me feel ashamed of my own body and no one stands up and tells him to stop. Instead my mom encouraged him and told him it was funny. Now my mother is no longer around. I have confidence to say that he can say whatever he wants, but I don’t have to listen to it anymore. I can’t control his behavior, but I can control mine.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
