Imagine a girl from any female empowerment movie and think of that scene when she gathers her fingers and crosses them together, stretching her arms out in front of her. You see her neck muscles tighten and when the camera zooms in on her face, she’s serious, more serious than she’s ever been and you just know, she means business.
That girl is me right now. I’m every girl in the Suffragette Movement, every girl who calls herself a feminist and sadly, I’m every girl who isn’t shocked by the fact that 97% of us have been sexually harassed in the UK. What is actually going on? What’s happening to this world? It’s ingenuous to think things are getting better, that more people are educating themselves and telling their friends to not say phrases like ‘feminism is cancer’ or ‘that’s so gay’. We’re in the 21st century, where girls here and there are doing STEM degrees. We’re breaking boundaries, without acknowledging how far we’re taking the next generation of women. Actually, it’s all good until you realise even the police can’t be trusted or someone very close to you says ‘half these girls are not worth looking at twice, how did they get raped’?
No. No, you’re not allowed to feel just a little bit safer. You’re not allowed to dress the way you want. You can’t go out after 5pm. The rules will always be different for you. Life will always be tougher, more complex and no matter how hard you work, you won’t be paid the same as the man sitting next you, with a job title no different to yours. We empty our lungs of air, begging for this to stop. They say mindsets will ‘eventually’ change. I hate hearing that, because I have no patience, I don’t want to wait to have the freedom a whole gender so easily has, to get a taste of what life could be like if things weren’t so intricately wrong. I can’t wait. I can’t wait until I don’t have to deal with mansplaining ever again. Often, I find myself at this point. All these thoughts push on the walls of my skull and I feel like I’ll burst off to infinity, like one of those cartoon animations. The exact location is a concept, but sometimes I wish I was a cartoon character and could accelerate off to wherever this infinity is, maybe I’d cool down there and be at peace. Maybe everyone is equal there?
The flight attendant of my fantasy plane announces we’re still on Earth and that not much has changed here; this narrative of superiority over women is an old one and even though we couldn’t be more and sick and tired of demanding basic rights, everyone thinks feminism is unjustified and won’t give half of this HUMAN population the respect they rightfully deserve.
Finally, I come to the last stage of the war I mentally started with the world. The guns of feminism pause, as I rationalise my thoughts and put out the fires of rage. I’m going through the millionth cycle of this whole process right now and if you feel the same way, let me remind you to collect your thoughts and think about what you need to do the next time someone downplays the seriousness of a sexist joke or you see another woman tolerating any kind of backward, misogynistic behaviour. If we don’t act and react when necessary, progress is truncated. OUR mindsets and attitudes cause the ruckus and empower movements, sparking off those who fear what the women of today are truly capable of. Then, the statistics come out, which are questioned by the most ‘logical’ men and labelled as ‘unreliable’. I’ll tell you why the ground beneath them is quaking. Everything will be out in the open and it’ll reveal just how deep the water is and who’s drowning.
The ONLY thing that makes me weaker than a man is my lack of physical strength and some day, we’ll put an end to the world’s hamartia, to history’s biggest failure. Remember, I only said the guns of feminism paused. They never stop, so keep firing.
Diya, every time we read your blog … we feel connected and also it’s like you have put your heart outside … while writing … you have done yet again wonderful job here … and I enjoyed reading every sentence… god bless you … keep growing with every passing day and year … so proud to be knowing you as a brilliant write and our very own cute Diya …😘😘
Thank you so much for reading and understanding the purpose of this blog, I really do pour my heart out and it’s a wonderful feeling knowing people like you appreciate the honesty and rawness I usually express in my writing. You’re awesome and I’m very grateful for your kind words, do check out some of my other posts!
Beautiful writing…..Oppression of women is very much linked to the Patriarchal form of our society. I hope all our women find strength and power to stand for themselves. Girls Rocks!!
Who run the world? GIRLS! I couldn’t agree with you more, you’ve just taken the words out of my mouth and written them down in the most clear way. I love that. Honestly, comments are the best thing about writing on here, I get to engage with wonderful people and it’s so nice to have conversations like these, please keep reading and always let me know what you think. 🙂
OH MY GOD! This is something that needs to be heard, understood and acted upon. I also class myself as a feminist, and the amount of anger inside me when I hear these comments is unimaginable. I feel extremely inspired that you have wrote about this!! Thank you so much <3
Oh you’re amazing!! Don’t let that anger go anywhere, make use out of it, but in a productive way. Challenge yourself everyday and make sure you boost a girl’s confidence when you can, god knows who’s put her down in the last hour! We will, slowly but surely, bring about some change and make sure we aren’t so vexed about all this anymore. As I said, we’ll amend history’s biggest mistake.
This really brings light to the issues women have to face so often. Being male myself, I cannot relate, but simply hearing this is saddening. I look forward to the day when we don’t have to feel this, and give you kudos for helping to understand the injustices faced daily.
There are a lot of unjust things out there we have to deal with everyday, but knowing we have allies like you who understand and pay attention to their surroundings, even though they aren’t the victims, is something that gives us a great sense of comfort. Thank you for your comment and for being an ally!