If you aren’t screaming you must have nothing to say.
Acknowledging the many ways we participate in the world and thinking about why.
You may have seen this tweet. When I read it and was like YEEEEESSS.
A lovely friend of mine had a different response and asked me about my feelings. Thought I would share my response because I realize lots of people might be missing a piece of understanding here.
“… if they are afraid to speak out now- How are they going to take on Trump. Not arguing here- just trying to understand her real appeal.”
My thoughts:
I like this because it highlights how women possibly engage in politics differently than men, I would extend that to highlight the many different ways people engage in politics, and make the point that just because these engagements and expressions are different and less noticed doesn’t mean these voices are any less powerful.
She also makes a good point about the fear of speaking out on social media. You may not be super aware, but I am, there is a horrible war going on against women in the social sphere, in many of the circles I’m in, both personal and professional, there is story after story after story of sick, scary attacks on women. I censor myself a ton on public social feeds like Twitter for fear of catching the attention of these hate mobs. Just google G a m e r g a t e. So, I like highlighting that the ability and desire to speak publicly and freely isn’t something that everyone shares in equally, and that this is heightened when the topics are in the areas of feminism, women’s opinions of anything not deemed a women’s issue, and the achievements of women. I also like taking note that people express themselves differently. The dominant mode for participating in society is just that dominant, but not “only” or the “right way”.
