Theo looked around the desolate courtyard from behind his hood, almost feeling ashamed to be out in what had become a prison for the male population. Every day he attended his submissive school, counted the hours till he was safe enough to go home, only to wake up and do it all over again. He lived in a world where reality had flipped, where the dominance and aggression now rested on the shoulders of the female.
At Theo's school, he was taught to be compliant, malleable, and acquiescent. He learned to be still and speak little, to always choose humility over pride. He was trained to be inferior to the greater power, the greater power being female.
Theo was but a grain of sand, caught in a larger wave. Females who had attended schools on the opposite side of the city taught a very different message than the one he had been learning his entire life. Girls were being taught that it was okay to be powerful and strong, that aggression was acceptable and in some cases, encouraged.
The message of Theo's school was, as a result, all the more important to uphold. The female population saw itself better than the male, smarter, braver, more intimidating. Any man unlucky enough to go without a mistress was ridiculed, seen as useless and a disgrace. But no one ever wished to see anything change in the system, even Theo.
Sure, it was unfair that Theo was consistently put down and expected to be submissive. But he was taught that it was his role in life, one given to him and would bring him greater honor and respect in the end. So he embraced it, wearing his hood with a sense of pride. For although he was an oppressed figure in society, he was brave enough to still be his true and gentle self.
