We Will Live To Tell Our Stories

Back in the day, I had some crazy friends. Great fun, but out there! They either had me in fits or shocked into silence; but sainthood wasn’t exactly my forte, sooo...

One rainy weekend, we eschewed London, cooked up a storm, drank copious amounts of alcohol, and had a very deep discussion (with how-tos!) about life and how to survive our teens and twenties. I guess we unconsciously looked into the future, and prepared ourselves for the abyss.

Fast-forward a few years and I’m dating a regular Adonis who casually says that "on a bad day" the (innocuous) comment I've just made could easily earn me a slap. I quite simply channel that Saturday afternoon in Bedford and tell him that the 'bad' would be in him attempting it, adept as I am at using the penknife in my bag.

I was totally bluffing, but in those days played poker to win. "Just kidding!”, he grinned uneasily. We parted ways that day, and I bought a Swiss Army knife the next. I mean, why use pepper spray on men who snack on pepper soup...👀

Was this an anomaly? No. Nor is the inevitable follow-up. We are enmeshed in a system of our forebears' making, and are yet to extricate ourselves. Tradition keeps us bound, whereas modernity scares us. What then is the path to freedom and self-worth?

We rock.
We should be ruling the world instead of wasting time dealing with misogynistic bosses, errant boyfriends, disdainful colleagues, disrespectful strangers, unfaithful husbands, and conspicuous innuendo.

We are tired. Of watching our backs; being passed over; enduring insults; playing dumb and turning a blind eye; being too loud, too pushy, too forward... Oh, the stories we could tell.

Twenty-twenty, however, requires plans not stories. In this RESET, in which the unthinkable is still playing out, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women holds myriad possibilities.
For ourselves and every woman and girl who needs a role model to give them hope. It would be scandalous not to take a stand in such a season.

I don’t know about you, but I need a seat at the table and my voice to be heard long before my body is seen.

#MeTooIsNotDead
Let both conversation and struggle continue unabated.