The environment is in trouble. We all know that, even those who won’t admit it. For centuries, humans have altered the natural systems to suit them; now, they may have started the process of their own demise by altering the environment so much it will no longer support them. You may wonder what this has to do with Women’s History Month. Fair enough. It is my belief that the damage to the environment is intimately bound in with misogyny and women. In fact, they are so inextricably bound together they cannot be separated.
Read More“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
Darlene had tears in her eyes; she could barely see the stage through her cataracts, but she could hear the applause. This was her big moment, even if she was the only one who knew it. All around her, audience members stood, clapping their hands raw for the play she wrote. She hadn’t expected that…she never knew she could accomplish anything so…beautiful.
Read MoreNothing.
What is nothing?
Jordan stared at the bewildering array of bottles. She picked one up to read the label, but it was written in science. She didn’t understand. She closed her eyes, grabbed a bottle, and headed to the counter. The girl who checked her out stared at the bottle as if it were a snake. “You’re going to take this?”
Read MoreThe girls crouched behind their desks, staring at the door. Ms. Albee stood next to the door, ready to deal with any attacker, keep them away from her class. This school was the last refuge for girls wanting an education. The country shut down the last school that accepted females about six months ago, and now she remained the only thing between these girls and a life of being married to a man they didn’t love…if they were lucky, he wouldn’t beat them.
Read MoreBeing born female
Challenged my coping skills.
I never knew anything else
But I never wanted to role I was taught.
Time drifts away.
Wrinkles stay.
Years of ironing,
But the wrinkles get worse.
She can’t iron out the wrinkles
On her face.
When a woman tells you something is sexist, should you accept that it is, even if it doesn’t seem it to you? What if it is true? Does that make it not sexist? That’s a loaded question, really. After all, not all women agree on what is sexist. Some women might be more sensitive to sexism than others. Some things that seem sexist on the surface might just be fact if you dig deeper.
Read MoreHer phone beeped; she jumped with excitement. Someone got through! She checked; there was nothing. The number displayed wasn’t even a phone number. She thumbed the phone anyway, hoping against hope, but no one was there. She heard a pop nearby; it sounded electrical. Her phone beeped again. She threw it against the wall and lay down.
Read MoreMarch 8. It is officially International Women’s Day. I don’t know about you, but I always enjoy all the special treatment I get for Women’s Day. Of course, I’m just kidding. But it’s nice someone thought about us.
Read MoreMusic is supposed to soothe the savage beast, or so I have been told. Why is it, then, there is so much music that threatens women? I have a very good vocabulary, and nowhere in my thesaurus is threat listed as a synonym for soothe. So which is it? Soothe the savage beast? William Congreve would have it so. Perhaps because he never heard modern music? Or maybe just because he was not a woman.
Read MoreWomen suffer much
Read MoreWe all saw it…the wave that grew and grew until it became a tsunami. Women for the first time speaking up about harassment, sexual assault, and rape. Women reporting the men who abused them…and doing it publicly. The house of cards was about to tumble and we all got to watch, even those of us who don’t do Twitter. We might not report our own assaults, but we watched it go mainstream. It was on all lips, on every news outlet…#MeToo.
Read MoreMy mother told me every story begins with a single word. “What’s the word that starts my story?” I was only six; could I understand? She didn’t answer. She couldn’t look at me. “Mama! What word starts my story?” I stomped my foot. It might be temper tantrum time.
“You…you’re too young to know.”
“You always tell me something, then say I’m too young.” I put the pout in my voice; temper tantrum would be the next step.
Read MoreDon’t get huffy.
I was just asking.
Nothing harmed.
AMANDA: We can see that…everyone can see that…Mother, are you all right? Do you feel…sick? Dizzy?
SAMANTHA: I feel fine…quit fussing over me. I am invisible, but other than that, there’s nothing wrong with me.
AMANDA: Colin, call the ambulance. We need to take her…
SAMANTHA: You are not taking me anywhere. Put down that phone…put it down…that’s it, just lay it on the table…good. Now you two sit and do your puzzle, I’m going shopping.
AMANDA: Okay, Mother, what’s going on? What’s up now?
“You have no rights. You gave up all your rights when you became pregnant.” He slammed the door and slid into the front seat. He hit the lights and siren even though they were on a country road with no cars in sight.
Read More“Pinkie war? Just like a woman.” Norman sneered. “I think…wrestling. Baby, you made the biggest mistake of your life. I’m gonna pin you, and then I’m gonna show you the science. Men are simply bigger, smarter, and stronger than women.”
Read MoreI reject.
I challenge.
I ignore.
I dissent.
When I was a teenager, I somehow imagined by now the default would be women and men finding an equality, and men possessing their wives would be an outlier. I assumed we would not have to hold our breaths as the Supreme Court decided our reproductive future for us. I assumed we would not worry about the changing of Congress every two years because someone was up for election that had a desire to shove women back into the kitchen. Well, we all know what they say about assuming.
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