The Truth Behind the Transitive Property
As far back as I can remember I’ve always been that “overly” emotional person and I’ve always been told its okay because of my gender. I am a female, females are emotional, and that’s why I am so emotional. According to the transitive property that may be so, right? There’s one part of that equation that has always bothered me though: Females are emotional. Isn’t everyone? Having emotions is one of the main properties of humanity that distinguishes us from every other aspect of the world around us. What does being a girl have anything to do with the fact that when I’m sad, it’s a deep pit of oblivion; when I’m happy, I can’t keep the smile off my face; or when I love someone, I feel it in my bones and it tends to consume me? Why does being emotional set me apart from any man?
It doesn’t. The stigma may say otherwise, but in reality it means nothing. I am overly emotional because that is who I am. Being a woman is no added factor to that characteristic of my persona. I am Becky. I am a girl. I am sensitive. They are all linked together by who I am, but one does not cause another. I don’t remember when or how, but I know that when I finally came to this realization, everything clicked. There wasn’t this huge climax where every puzzle piece fit and I decided I needed to teach the world that your gender doesn’t define you. I just came to see that feminism lingers in everything I do; I’m a female, I’m feminine, I embrace feminism. It’s not this great force that’s inflicted upon everyone, it’s a personal realization.
I’ve come to see that feminism settles in the air around me on a day to day basis. It’s in my every movement and thoughts, the way I function. My emotions. Feminism is just a deeper understanding of who I am as a person. I am human. Like every other single person on this planet. I am also a woman. And there is undoubtedly an underlying wire that connects me to every other woman and does separate me from every other man, but it does not define me or make me in any humanly way different from the next person. It simply adds to my character and, on a daily basis, is my common sense, and a natural born instinct.
By Becky Harrison
Originally published at obviweretheladies.com on July 22, 2014.
