THE NAMES THEY WILL CALL YOU

Christine has nailed it as she speaks directly to many of the issues women leaders are facing as they stand up to be counted. I love the part where she says that your brothers would be called ‘revolutionaries’ for the doing the same things as you would be called ‘incorrigible and defiant’ for doing.

It’s true that we need to be kind. It’s true that we must have integrity. It’s true that our lives count for something. When you put all those things together, you end up with women who need to stand and be counted, whatever that may look like to others.

They will call you angry, as if it were a curse word. As if it proves you can’t be trusted. As if it were some kind of magic that makes what you have to say irrational.

They will call you emotional—as if emotions were not part of a healthy human experience, the opposite of logic, rather than it’s necessary companion. As if you were supposed to accept inequity cold.

They will call you combative, as if you weren’t made for a fight, as if it were wrong to challenge iniquitous structures, as if you were supposed to smile upon receiving crumbs from the table.

They will tell you to calm down and be quiet, as if your silence would not be an act of complicity in your own dehumanization and the dehumanization of countless others.

Please don’t misunderstand—you will need to be kind. You will need to be strategic. You will need to walk and speak with integrity. Don’t go for the cheap shots, tempting though they may be, or use the same tired weapons that have been unfairly wielded against you.

Cheers, Christine, for an inspiring article. Right here