PE teacher asked the gym, 'Who’s the strongest gender?' then cheered when the boys won. One girl wrote it all down in a letter and graded him
She also recounted that she couldn’t join the softball team because not many girls wanted to play
Sexism begins in the schoolyard, and a recent incident just proved it. On a typical day in the gymnasium, the PE teacher pitted his students against each other. “Who’s the strongest gender?” he asked, but little did he know that, far from observing him, one girl was also taking notes. After the exchange, the girl vented her frustration in a scathing letter and gave him a failing grade in basic equality. Proud of her fearless daughter, her mom, Melody Rodrigues (@melodictunes), shared a picture of the letter in an October 27, 2026, Instagram Threads post. Her post has since received over 16,000 likes.
'You’re always so rude'
“I don’t think it's very nice that you’re always so rude to all the girls during PE,” Rodrigues’ little girl wrote, slamming her sports teacher. She listed recurring experiences that made her dislike her teacher. She blasted him, saying he often walks around the gym saying, “Who’s the strongest gender?” and then cheers when the boys win the fitness test. The girl also recounted how her PE teacher goes quiet when a girl beats a boy in the jump. She then complained that he expresses surprise when a girl completes just 27 sit-ups and remains unbothered when a boy completes 50.
She then shared a personal experience. “I really wanted to join the softball team, but there weren’t enough girls who wanted to, and I really wanted to be on the team, but you wouldn’t let me join the boys' team.” The girl protested that her teacher often tells boys to pick up bigger balls while the girls are told to pick smaller ones. “This really might not be rude to you, but it’s rude to all the girls that you say that stuff to,” she wrote, concluding the letter. “So proud to have raised a young lady who is still not afraid to speak her mind,” Rodrigues remarked.
A lesson in gender bias
Gender disparity and bias are universal problems, commonly observed among teachers. For example, a Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) study of more than 400 teachers over 8 years found that only 15% were gender-neutral. Likewise, in a Ddort University study, researchers found that on average, boys received 13.58% more teacher attention than girls over the course of the study. Bias towards girls is not a direct, apparent behavior but a series of unconscious patterns like these that discourage them from growing and being empowered.
‘Proud of her’
Viewers applauded both Rodriguez and her little girl for standing up for female empowerment at such a young age. @justfumblingthrough suggested, “As a teacher, please make sure a copy of this is made and shared with the principal as well. Children should not be made to feel this way.” @isittimeforgin said, “What a great thing for her to do! I hope she carries on calling this sort of thing out.” @ilyanafauzy added, “I love the part where she says, 'But you don't care when a boy gets 50.' So you can see that it's not just girls' empowerment, but imagine the boy who doesn't get any reaction when he reaches that number.”
You can follow Melody Rodrigues (@melodictunes) on Instagram for more lifestyle stories.
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