Grab her

[babylonsister]

http://www.todayletter.com/home/grab-her


Grab her
October 09, 2016


snip//

I am not mad at Donald Trump. I expect no more from him than I would expect from a cockroach. At least a cockroach knows that when you turn on the light it should hide. At least a cockroach knows how to stay out of sight. At least a cockroach has a purpose, helps to break down the world’s detritus so that it can be used to build something new. At least there are limits to the amount of damage one cockroach can do. I am mad that so many people don’t seem to understand that Donald Trump is worse than a cockroach. I am mad that people don’t understand why his bragging about grabbing a woman “by the pussy” is a breaking point. So let me try to explain.

snip//


This war is not about men and women. This war is about those who believe people of all races, cultures, sexes, genders, classes, and religions deserve kindness and respect, and those who don’t. We have to speak out, for ourselves and for each other.

We are done being quiet. We are done looking for our place, trying not to cause trouble, trying to smooth things over. We are done being told that we are worth less, both for the work we do and for the nature of who we are. We are done being tasked with bringing the next generation into this world and raising them and feeding them and loving them only to have them grow up and spit in our face and lurch at us and whistle and tell us how much we do or do not please them with our looks and our behavior and our words.

We are done feeling threatened walking down the sidewalk in our own neighborhood, in any neighborhood, at any time of day. We are done with feeling unsafe in our skins. We are done with being told our views and opinions are “emotional” and not logical. We are done being dismissed and diminished and interrupted and talked over. We are done with people not listening—never really listening—to what we say and how we say it, until a man says it, too.

We are done being told that we are only attractive up to a certain age. We are done being told that we can be sexy or motherly and that both are acceptable but nothing but and never together. We are done with people telling us we’re “sweet.” We are done with trying to dilute ourselves to make someone else feel bigger. We are done asking you about your day and you never asking us in return or asking only as an afterthought when you realize you should. We are done feeling like imposters, never asking for more, only taking what is given.

We are done waiting—for respect, for health care, for equal pay, for the same sense of safety and entitlement that others get to carry with them through their lives.

We are done being the ones who always have to compromise our own dreams and ambitions for yours.

We are done.

[shraby]

1. Excellent and sadly, true. It's time to pull back the window blinds and let the

sunshine in. It's been a long time coming.

[babylonsister]

2. So perhaps in an odd way,

trump is going to allow women to have an open conversation about this. We can hope something good comes of this election season.