I was an only child brought up in the late 1940s on an isolated croft, miles from the nearest town. None of my age lived nearby until I turned eighteen, when the Smyths and their twins, Brenda and Brian, moved into the area. Brian joined an all-boys class, while Brenda joined the co-ed class I was in. Indeed, she and I shared a desk, which was good for me because we were an academic match and fared far better together tha...

I was never the brightest candle in the box. In today’s world, I would be diagnosed with some sort of ism, but in the 1950s, there were no such understandings. I was just considered to be dim and stupid. So, teachers did not bother with me, as in their ‘supportive’ words of the time, 'you will never amount to anything'. In addition, I was shunned by the other girls in school who did not want to associate with a simpleton....

I was born in 1955 and raised on a croft in the North of Scotland. The nearest neighbours with kids were several miles away, but I never had the chance to mix with them because my parents were old-school and kept to themselves. I was generally well cared for by my parents. Still, following the customs of the time, I was there to be seen, not heard, never talked to other than to be given orders, and certainly not shown ope...

I was an only child brought up in the late 1940s on an isolated croft, several miles from the nearest town and more than one mile from the nearest neighbours. They were an elderly couple whose family had grown up and moved away. So, for most of my early life, I had no close friends of my own age. This situation changed when I turned eighteen and was in my final year at secondary school. Our neighbours moved to a small hou...

My brothers John, Harry, James, Robert, and I (Jean) lived with our mother (Ailsa) in North Scotland during the 1950s and early 1960s. We had a good and relatively happy upbringing, albeit a strict one. Mum was austere and did not tolerate misbehaviour; her hairbrush or plimsoll regularly lit up my bottom for my misdeeds. By contrast, I had a charmed life at school until I reached eighteen and moved into the all-girl clas...

I was raised in a very traditional region where the patriarchy still held sway, and gender roles were set in stone; men were to be the breadwinners and in charge of everything, while women were to be housewives and baby-makers, with no rights and little or no say over their lives. Single women were allowed to go out to work to financially support their family until they left home upon marriage, but only doing the most men...

Children born in the North of Scotland during the 1950s and early 1960s had a tough upbringing. Parenting was Puritan and very strict, and since my brothers and I engaged in our fair share of mischief, our bottoms were regularly set alight. However, even then, there were well-entrenched differences in how I and my brothers were dealt with. Many of their misdeeds were dismissed as ‘boys being boys’ and dealt with by a seve...

A peculiarity of life in Britain is sending sons and daughters to private Boarding Schools from a comparatively young age. This separation is generally portrayed as good because it promotes self-reliance and independence, builds character, and provides exemplary education. But, for most, this is nonsense. It is just farming the inconveniences of parenting off to someone else. I was raised, educated, and disciplined by a s...

Louisa and her mother Judy lived four streets from my Mum Cathy and me. She and I went to the same school but only met for the first time during our final year. We hit it off straight away and soon realized that we both had gender dysphoria—Louisa was a boyish girl while I was a girlish boy. We became best friends and supported each other through many trials and tribulations. Outwith school, we began meeting at Louisa’s h...

I was raised in a village in the North of Scotland where the kilt was the standard male dress. All boys, therefore, wore the kilt while attending the local primary school. When we moved up to the secondary school in a neighbouring town, some switched to long trousers, but my parents insisted that I retain the kilt. This was not a big problem as it was still the most common attire amongst the boys at this school, so I did...

Life for North of Scotland children in the 1930s was strict and harsh. Due to the distorted beliefs of the time, adults were convinced that boys and girls would run amok if they were not kept apart and strictly under the thumb. Consequently, they were raised and educated separately. Corporal punishment was the usual response to even minor infractions, real or perceived, to maintain this order and encourage acceptable beha...

I have been a teacher and then a Deputy-Headmistress for more than thirty years. During that time, education for girls had developed from the dark ages when they were mainly excluded from higher studies. Now, they are free to tackle any subject at Senior Secondary School. In addition, they can go on to College and University and do better than their male counterparts more often than not. This is not to say that they have...

Louisa lived with her mother Judy, only four streets away from where I was raised by my Mum Cathy, and we attended the same school. However, due to the strict separation maintained between girls and boys at the time, we did not meet until we were eighteen and starting our final year of school. We ran into each other by chance and found out straight away that we were both the targets of merciless bullying. We did not confo...

Louisa and I were of the same age, lived with our mothers only a few streets from each other, and attended the same Secondary school. Yet, we had never met. In the 1950s, the belief that boys and girls should be kept apart and raised separately still held sway and was strictly enforced. Incredible as it may seem today, a boy or girl observed so much as talking to each other would certainly be punished for wanton behaviour...

I first met James when his family moved into the area, and he and his twin sister Sally joined the fifth-year class at the Secondary School. We did not hit it off straight away but slowly got to know each other through work projects at school and then began hanging out together at break times. We both liked hill walking and exploring the countryside and soon started spending weekends together pursuing these interests. A b...