A stage set by naive educators
I had a lot of challenges as a youth, mostly related to bullying rooted in social awkwardness - because I didn't relate to the boys when it came to physical aggression. Nor was I athletic and was fairly incapable in sports of any kind that relied upon visual coordination or dexterity (due to my total lack of depth perception - a genetic defect). I remember in middle school one coach that loved on rainy days to pit us in captive combat in the gym on each other dodging volleyballs (he called it 'Bombardment') I was always terrified because I literally could not see the incoming blows before they happened. I was an easy target, making me a point of ridicule; and ultimately breaking my glasses several times in two years. Also because of the self-consciousness I always felt and my lack of self-esteem, I did not relate to the girls because I was so afraid of being rejected / mocked / bullied by them as well; and hanging around them during recess and other non study times