“The thing about patriarchy is that individual men, gay and straight, are often really wonderful people whom you love deeply, but they have internalized some really poisonous shit. So every once in a while they say or do something that really shakes you because you’re no longer totally certain they see you as a human being, and you feel totally disempowered to explain that to them.” —Unknown
It’s an extremely unsettling sensation- to simultaneously be disgusted by those who objectify themselves or others for the sake of social acceptance and approval, while also feeling the urge to “out-objectify” them because I feel like I am in competition with or even the need to prove myself to those very people. As a women, it’s no news to know that my societal value is dependent on my appearance, but it never fails to surprise me how hard it can be as an empowered free thinking human being to separate myself from these societal expectations...