An angry woman
And yet my home is peaceful
My interactions are kind
My relationships are loving
My mind is focused and clear
I am an angry woman
Only when pushed
Only when disrespected
Over and over and over again
I am angry
After a lifetime of being undermined and underestimated
How long does it take for a man to become angry?
The moment he doesn't get his way?
The moment he isn't regarded as the best or smartest in the room?
The moment
He doesn't get his expected spotlight and applause?
A man's anger
Despite it being the greatest source of destruction on our planet
Is somehow
Normalized
And rationalized
Oh the way men love to rationalize their violence
Men cling to patriarchy the way white people cling to white supremacy
Even the "good" ones can't give up their precious seat
At the head of the table
Equality feels like oppression
When you're accustomed to privilege
The irony of it all
Is that the most privileged perpetuate their own unhappiness
Dear men,
Dear white people,
Dear white men,
We all suffer under white supremacist patriarchy
You are no happier at the top
Than you are when you are called out for the harm you perpetuate
To step aside
To
Make
Space
For literally anyone else
Dear men,
Dear white people,
Dear white men,
You would be so much happier
If you could be kind, and empathetic, and loving, and caring
You don't know
The fulfillment of reciprocity
Of intimacy
You don't know
That when you care for others
They'll care for you
Not because you force them to
Not because you manipulate or coerce
Or beat them into submission
But because they care about you
Because caring
Begets caring
You wouldn't believe
How simple it is
How possible it is
To live a life imbued with love
Instead of power
The world the rest of us envision
Includes a version of you
That is kinder and more loving and caring
A version of you
That seeks out joy
Instead of pain
You don't know
That when we fight for ourselves
We're fighting for you too
You're the only ones
Who think you are alone
Because you make yourselves alone
It's lonely at the top
We don't envy you
We are worried about you
Because your violence and manipulation and control
Are symptoms of a much deeper
Scarier problem
You have internalized our violent, twisted system
To worry for ourselves
Is to worry for you
You are sinking this ship
Willfully
You are forcing the rest of us
To exclude you
Because you are unwilling to listen or adapt
You are missing out
And you know it
So you want to make us suffer
We all see the terrors of this world
We've already been suffering
We have been glazed under the fire
We have courage
Because we know what life is like without it
We aren't better or stronger or more insightful than you
We have simply experienced more
And your inability to learn from us
Puts you at a disadvantage
What the colonizer doesn't write in history books
Is that there has never been a time of oppression
Without its continuous resistance
They love to depict their "conquered" as inherently weak and submissive
Inherently less than
But at no point in time
Has the oppressed ever accepted their oppression
The "progress" we have made
Is the progress of resistance against repeated oppression
It makes us smarter and cleverer and wiser
We learn from experience
You will never fully conquer this world
We will never go quietly and peacefully
And it begs the question
Why are you so dead set on domination?
Why is that so important to you?
Why do you need a constant struggle?
Why do you need to hoard your treasure
When there is plenty for everyone?
You could be so much happier
If you learned how to share
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