This is not a how-to post. This is not a tips & tricks post.
This is a "how-in-the-world-did-we-get-here-and-what-do-we-do-now" post.
I was recently asked to express in just one word what my life is at this very moment.
And the only word I could find was "off-kilter". And the last few days have begun pushing me from a state of unbalance to a state of "Alice in Wonderland tumbling down the rabbit hole".
In the midst of professional chaos, personal health scares, and relationship stress, I am seeing something even more terrifying unravel before my very eyes.
I'm not sure how much longer I am going to be in charge of the decisions I get to make for my own body. My body. The one shell that I get to inhabit for this lifetime. There are people in this world who believe that they know what's better for my physical body than I myself know.
Whether or not you agree with the practice of abortion, the true issue doesn't really lie in whether or not we decide to keep or abort a fetus. That's the distraction factor.
It's incredibly frustrating to not get a say in what happens to your own body.
But women have been experiencing this for centuries. We're used to the world policing our bodies. We're told what we're allowed or not allowed to wear. Our doctors disregard our symptoms & pain, often times writing it off as "women's issues". Men tell us to stop overreacting, stop being dramatic, "don't be a psycho".
We're fighting for equality in the workplace. I recently picked up "Kick Some Glass", a phenomenal book that outlines the many issues women face in the workplace. The one that really got me? "Women face a double bind of being competent or being liked - but not both. Research bears this out. When men and women are perceived as competent, women are liked less than men. When men and women are liked by others, the women are perceived as being less competent than men."
Women can't win. Not at work, not at home. Women are constantly being criticized for how much they weigh, what they consume, their everyday choices.
This world is dismissing us as people and it has got to stop.
I'm at the point now that I don't even know what to do next. I recently tried bringing up this concept to a person that I love more than most in this world and his immediate response was, "Sounds about right." Even if he isn't condoning it, he sure as hell isn't condemning it.
Men. If you have ever loved a woman, perhaps the one who gave birth to you, the one who was raised beside you, the one who has decided to be your partner, your best friend, your person - DO SOMETHING.
Stop sitting back and letting this happen. Stand up, join the outrage. Educate yourself. Advocate for your mother, your sister, your wife. Advocate for your future daughters.
This has gone on for too long.
