Is this normal? Because in my world it's called sexual harrassment...

At school we are making a newspaper for my predecessor. You know, fill him in on all the fabulous small town things that he is missing out on. Mainly, its all school stuff, like the sports fest or the choir competition. I know he doesn't really care, but it is a sweet idea, and i am sure he will appreciate getting mail from his old "home". Anyhow, one of the things that was assigned for the newspaper was a comic strip. There are seven 8th grade boys who "volunteered" for the task. Personally, I thought the teacher was a fool for letting them do it...I mean, I made kids do individual comic strips the week before, and it was this group of boys that did a whole violent bit about killing and ended with "FUCK YOU"....soooo...(teeth sucking moment....I'm turning japanese, they do that alot) Why on earth would my teacher assign the the comic strip? I mean, its obvious they are rebelling in the most immature fashion possible.

Anyhow, so I am helping the kids with their articles. Wander the class, pretending I am being helpful and caring (actually just trying to look busy, cuz the kids clam up whenever I get near them.) And I hear they group of comicstrip boys saying my name and laughing...of course, I can only guess what horrible version of myself they have managed to sketch. I figured it had to be either horns or big anime breasts....so I wander over to there group, and the boys quickly hide the paper and continue to giggle. I tell them to get to work. Then mention to the teacher that they are drawing nasty pictures of me. The teacher was like, how do you know? And I'm like, because I can hear them saying my name, and I understand enough Japanese to know that's what they are doing. She was like whatever, and ignores it. I probably should have done the same...but since the boys were becoming more and more disruptive and I had gotten curious as to how bad the picture was, I decided to take the paper away and have a look.....OH MY LORD...nothing could have prepared me for this...I mean, it was worse than bad...it was literally nauseating. The boys, drew a picture of my naked self...focusing mainly on my crotch...then drew graphic pictures of their loins (it's hard to say all of this in a pc manner) each taking turns drawing pictures of themselves with me....Yep, I got gang-banged on paper...as you can imagine I was FURIOUS....not mortified...Angry...Pissed off as all hell...and ready to spit nails at each one of them. But alas, its not my job to punish them...so I handed the paper over to the teacher and said, this disgusts me, you need to say something to them. The teacher completely ignored the entire situation (yes, I saw her look at the picture...and yes, I saw her wad it up and throw it out) That was how the situation was handled.

At first I thought, okay, she's embarrassed, that's why she isn't saying anything right now...but no...that was not the case, she ignored it.

I walked away thinking, obviously this is a cultural issue...but what is going on?? So I called my friend up and asked her to speak to her japanese boyfriend about it. He explained that yes it is cultural. Kids are exposed to massive amounts of Manga (comic book) porn from an early age. And that this kind of behaviour was common for boys that age...No one ever tells them that it is wrong. He said, the only reason he, himself knew it was wrong, was because he had 2 older sisters who wouldn't stand for that kind of behaviour.

In America, if a kid did that in middle school, they would be suspended and their parents would be called in for a conference. If a person did something like that on the job, they would be fired and would face the possibility of a lawsuit.

I understand that this is all cultural...and to them it is no big deal...but to me, being raised in a world where this is serious social faux pas, I am really having trouble wrapping my head around it. And I am really having trouble not being angry at these delinquents for thinking so little of me that I am a mere object that they can literally fuck. And i am furious with the teacher for the way it was all ignored (but again that too is cultural).....I know I can't change this whole society's views...but the way they treat women here has always bothered me...and now its personal.