I’ve got to admit, being a young woman moving through the world has felt kind of terrifying as of late.
I have personally suffered violence at the hands of men, and while I generally don’t consider this past history to be something that negatively affects me in the present, the Toronto incel attack proved to be a bit of a trigger for me.
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It brought home the savageness of the hatred for women that still exists in our supposedly progressive society. I found myself Googling whether it’s legal to carry a penknife, and what substance, when sprayed in the eyes, functions as the best legal substitute for mace.
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But here’s the thing (and it’s going to sound SO fucking twee, so brace yourself): the best antidote I’ve found for my anxieties is to surround myself, literally and figuratively, with irrepressible women.
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I’ve spent time hanging out with my mum (the strongest person of any gender identity that I’ve ever met), and delighted in the company of my work wife Dinah (the baddest of bitches).
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I’ve also been reading the work of brilliant, inextinguishable female writers, spending a lot of time in particular hanging out in Stephanie Danler‘s debut novel ‘Sweetbitter’.
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This is maybe the third or fourth time I’ve read it now, such that I don’t exactly ~read~ it anymore per se, but more exist in it. Her book always inspires me to live boldly and experimentally, and to write better and braver and deeper.
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I guess the point of this rambling thread is just to express gratitude. To the specific women I’ve mentioned, to the many strong women I am privileged to know, to the pioneers and torchbearers filling my social media feeds with hope in what sometimes feels like a desperate time.
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You have all lent me your strength during a critical moment when mine was wavering. So, from the bottom of my heart: thank you.
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