Good morning, Readers.
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
To my sisters everywhere,
It’s not easy to be a woman. This has been true of every age, but it feels especially true now. We all know how hard we have to fight every day just to exist. Just to have our voices heard; our personhood respected. We have variously been denied education, the right to vote, to fully participate in political or civil life. Our historical contributions have been ignored because erroneous biases dismissed them as unimportant or even untrue. Our expertise ignored in nearly every area of life.
Our medical decisions were made by the men in our lives, diagnoses made by doctors using research that has ignored us, our own choices stolen by the state, or deferred to our husbands’ wishes. Our research and discoveries have been ignored, or stolen and attributed to the men in our fields. At every meeting, our ideas go unheard, only to be praised when spoken from the lips of a male colleague. Our ability to rise stifled to favour our mediocre male coworkers for all manner of nonsensical reasons. John has a child, you know.
We’ve been talked over, patronised, infantilised.
If evil things befall us, we are questioned as if we were the perpetrators. What was she wearing? Why was she drinking? She should have known better than to go for a walk. Our attackers are almost never charged, and fewer still see any consequence whatsoever. Sometimes, when we do what we must to escape, we face greater punishment than those who harmed us ever would.
Every interaction is dangerous. We are well aware that denying the wrong person could end our lives, and we all know that should that happen, there will always be too-loud voices who espouse sympathy for our killers. Surely only men are ever hurt by rejection?
We are variously too big, too small, too tall, too quiet, too loud, too opinionated, not opiniated enough, too educated, undereducated, too experienced, underexperienced, too weak, too strong…
We walk this world with a boot on our necks.
And yet.
And yet, some of the greatest discoveries in medicine, biology, astronomy, palaeontology were all made by women. Women who were denied a formal education. Women who stole an education in secret. Women who fought tooth and nail for the right to an education.
And yet, we take up our keys and go out in the world; despite the danger, despite the fear.
And yet, we open our hearts to those that may harm us.
Every single day is a fight. We do not always win. But we never give up.
The strength this takes would beggar anyone else. It's a wonder we don't recognise it. It's no wonder they refuse to.
Certainly, our shoulders might not be as broad. We may not be able to carry the same number of stones.
But my beautiful warriors, we carry the world.
You need not be the strongest fighter in the room to win the fight. You just need to be strong enough.
And you are.
You are strong enough.
Know that we are stronger if we stand together. So fight on. I am beside you. Fight like your sisters depend on you. Fight like you can change the fate of the world. Fight like a tiger defending her cubs. Fight like a devil.
Fight like a girl.
It’s not easy to be a woman. This has been true of every age, but it feels especially true now. We all know how hard we have to fight every day just to exist. Just to have our voices heard; our personhood respected. We have variously been denied education, the right to vote, to fully participate in political or civil life. Our historical contributions have been ignored because erroneous biases dismissed them as unimportant or even untrue. Our expertise ignored in nearly every area of life.
Our medical decisions were made by the men in our lives, diagnoses made by doctors using research that has ignored us, our own choices stolen by the state, or deferred to our husbands’ wishes. Our research and discoveries have been ignored, or stolen and attributed to the men in our fields. At every meeting, our ideas go unheard, only to be praised when spoken from the lips of a male colleague. Our ability to rise stifled to favour our mediocre male coworkers for all manner of nonsensical reasons. John has a child, you know.
We’ve been talked over, patronised, infantilised.
If evil things befall us, we are questioned as if we were the perpetrators. What was she wearing? Why was she drinking? She should have known better than to go for a walk. Our attackers are almost never charged, and fewer still see any consequence whatsoever. Sometimes, when we do what we must to escape, we face greater punishment than those who harmed us ever would.
Every interaction is dangerous. We are well aware that denying the wrong person could end our lives, and we all know that should that happen, there will always be too-loud voices who espouse sympathy for our killers. Surely only men are ever hurt by rejection?
We are variously too big, too small, too tall, too quiet, too loud, too opinionated, not opiniated enough, too educated, undereducated, too experienced, underexperienced, too weak, too strong…
We walk this world with a boot on our necks.
And yet.
And yet, some of the greatest discoveries in medicine, biology, astronomy, palaeontology were all made by women. Women who were denied a formal education. Women who stole an education in secret. Women who fought tooth and nail for the right to an education.
And yet, we take up our keys and go out in the world; despite the danger, despite the fear.
And yet, we open our hearts to those that may harm us.
Every single day is a fight. We do not always win. But we never give up.
The strength this takes would beggar anyone else. It's a wonder we don't recognise it. It's no wonder they refuse to.
Certainly, our shoulders might not be as broad. We may not be able to carry the same number of stones.
But my beautiful warriors, we carry the world.
You need not be the strongest fighter in the room to win the fight. You just need to be strong enough.
And you are.
You are strong enough.
Know that we are stronger if we stand together. So fight on. I am beside you. Fight like your sisters depend on you. Fight like you can change the fate of the world. Fight like a tiger defending her cubs. Fight like a devil.
Fight like a girl.
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