Dear beloved readers,
Well it’s November, which is pretty bizarre considering July was literally yesterday. This week had it’s lows, starting with a bunch of bullshit from group projects for college, which no, I still haven’t learned to deal with them, and of course, it’s highs, because that is life and as shitty as life can get, I will always be a Halloween person so it’s safe to say that nothing can bring me down when I am dressed as Violet from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, stuffing my face with chocolate and doing a six hours long Halloweentown marathon, thank you very much.
I come here today, a little later than usual, because the truth is, in this past week I’ve been thinking a lot about things that are as scary as any dystopia movie that ever existed – The Hunger Games included and god knows the amount of nightmares I’ve had knowing damn well I’d be the first to die in that arena – things such as our reality. Recently I had my first voting experience and safe to say the results of such weren’t at all what I was expecting. Since then, everything blew up and I am not even kidding when I tell you guys how terrified I am. Never in my life I thought the constant fear of being a woman would turn into something even major than that. And I guess this whole thing, plus the words from many amazing women from college’s my feminist front, plus my literature class about 1984 by George Orwell, plus riots on campus about sexism and racism, are the the reason why I am here, writing about this, today.
In dark times, such as the ones we live right now, in which hate rules and equality is the furthest thing from our reality, it’s easy to feel faithless and even, dare I say, hopeless. Growing up no one told me this, but after enough conversations with inspiring women, I learned that being a woman is some sort of superpower, one that our patriarchal society tends to take for granted but sure one that I carry proudly inside my veins and love with every inch of my being. And one thing I wanna talk about is that, in these dark times that we live, I may die fighting for my rights and what I believe to be right, but I will refuse to settle for what hate wants the world to be, and I sure as fuck will refuse to be a victim as they will try to rewrite me and all of my sister in a history book someday.
I often think of that powerful quote from Maya Angelou, about how whenever a woman stands for herself, without even knowing she stands up for all women, how accurate and strong this statement is. And I also often catch myself thinking of this other quote by Courtney Martin, “We are the girls with anxiety disorders, filled appointment books, five-year plans. We take ourselves very, very seriously. We are the peacemakers, the do-gooders, the givers, the savers. We are on time, overly prepared, well read, and witty, intellectually curious, always moving… We pride ourselves on getting as little sleep as possible and thrive on self-deprivation. We drink coffee, a lot of it. We are on birth control, Prozac, and multivitamins… We are relentless, judgmental with ourselves, and forgiving to others. We never want to be as passive-aggressive as our mothers, never want to marry men as uninspired as our fathers… We are the daughters of the feminists who said, “You can be anything,” and we heard, “You have to be everything.’” And I am quoting all of this, and saying all of this, to remind you, reader, woman, daughter, regular person, superwoman, that in times like the ones we live, we must be proud of the superpower that was gifted to us, we must fight back, we must stand together, we must throw roses and blood at their guns and weapons, we must get our hairs out of ponytails, burn our bras, be the witches they wrote our past to be, be the sinners they still blame us of being, raise our fists, and be the most beautiful rebels that this world needs.
In my 19 years of being a woman, I’ve had men telling to shut up, to talk less, to dress better, to take off my clothes, to wear that lipstick, to sit down properly, to face down, to calm down, to be less. Not always with every word I just wrote, but always with the intension of them regardless. And since no means no, I am here today to say a big fat NO to this sexist bullshit, a big fat NO to being a victim and not a warrior, and above everything a big fat NO for the people in power who believe I am weak and not worth it, because if they choose to make my voice soundless, I will have to make my actions the loudest they’ve ever faced.
Democracy is a right we achieved and one I am not giving up, even if I die trying to keep it intact. I speak all of this not in fear for my sisters, my future daughters, my LGBTQ+ community, every person of color that exists in this planet, but also as a warning that we may be a minority, but we are the ones who grew up already knowing we would have to resist, and I am not joking when I say that simply because of that, the power is and will always be in our hands. Because just like fear spreads easily, if we are lucky enough, so does love. And after reading about how Harry (with a lot of fucking help from Hermione) defeated Voldemort at least 200 times (because yes, I’ve read Harry Potter that many times), I have to say that love is the most powerful thing that exist, and love always wins.
So, as one of the granddaughters of the witches they couldn’t kill, you can count me on this fight, and you can count me to never give up on what should be ours by right, and mostly, you must know that just like you I am not giving up on this, even if at times my faith gets shaken and I feel so terrified I don’t even want to leave my house. I promise I will do my part as a woman together with every other minority, and I know we will be so loud, so proud and so goddamn powerful, that not only we will take down the evil, hateful forces that are our leaders, but hell we probably will be the ones to defeat Thanos. And it will be my honor and pleasure to be along with you guys during it.
Until next week, while we wait for our time to actually fight, please know that the second best way to be heard, other than a revolution, is by voting, so please do it and know it’s importance! I love you all and together we are magical, we are strong, we are powerful and we sure as hell are unstoppable. I hope you guys stay out of trouble, unless the trouble involves taking down the patriarchy, and if that’s the case, fucking do it, just tell me all about it.
– Your Girl on the Go