An Independent Woman

Here is something which might shock you: I am a woman who is capable of thinking for herself.

I'll wait for you to fall off your chair or spill your drink or have a heart attack or something (not that I want you to do any of these things). Go on, go on and be shocked.

What? You're not even surprised? Not even startled? Of course women are capable of thinking for themselves, you say, congratulating yourself for supporting the liberation and emancipation of women everywhere.

I for one judge people by their deeds and attitudes, not by their words, and what I see is the very same people who claim to think that women can be independent-minded are also the ones who think that because I'm a woman, and quite a young one at that, anything that they don't like about me is because I've been corrupted by books and men (which probably says something about the kyriarchy wanting to keep women stupid, since then they can't rebel, and under control - sexually and otherwise).

It's not impossible to articulate precisely how I feel about this, but it's difficult to articulate it elegantly. When someone claims that I act the way I do because of men or books they don't like, it strikes at and negates my self, the core of my being, me. It denies my ability to think for myself and treats me as an object. To say that it makes me angry or upset would be an understatement - and why? Because I am capable of thinking for myself, because I am a person, because I am sapient, and I hate having that denied. I hate having to fight just to be seen as an equal, as a fellow person.

I am that equal and that fellow person, that person capable of thinking for herself. I am not a brainless female, I am an independent-minded woman and I won't ever let anyone take that away from me.

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