Since I was young, my body has been looked at by men, with their lustful eyes and drooling mouths, as an object. Today wasn’t any different. As I patiently waited for my piece-of-junk car to be fixed at the auto shop, two older men leaned their sweaty, obese bodies out of their pickup truck and whistled and catcalled as they passed by. To be completely honest, I wished they would fall out on their faces onto the graveled road or crash into a fire hydrant and have it explode all over their pimped out Toyota Tundra, but unfortunately neither of those scenarios that I imagined in my head ended up happening. As I turned and walked away from the scene, I started questioning myself. Was I asking to be yelled at as I waited on the sidewalk in my ripped up, baggy jeans, old blue high tops, oversized white t-shirt, and baseball cap? Should I take that as a compliment? Am I supposed to feel good about myself? Or what about last week, when I was buying a smoothie after working out while wearing a scandalous pair of leggings and a t-shirt, was I just asking for that guy to tell me I had a nice body? Maybe if I start working out in a snowsuit, then I wouldn't get hit on by men half my age. But even then, I still doubt that I would be left alone.
I questioned myself, wondering what I did wrong when in reality it wasn’t my fault at all. I was enraged and disgusted; all I wanted to do was cover every inch of myself I could, go home and cry.
I’m tired of being an object. I’m tired of being told what I can and can’t do. I’m tired of being told I can’t be funny because I'm a woman. I’m tired of being told that I can’t be “too powerful” in a relationship because men are supposed to be dominant. I’m tired of being called pompous just because I said no. I’m tired of being told I can’t be strong. I’m tired of young girls being forced to cover up so little boys don’t get distracted while in class because of — heaven forbid — a bare shoulder. I’m tired of women not being able to vote or have a voice. I’m tired of feminists being seen as crazy, obsessive, man-haters. I’m tired of my passion being misinterpreted as PMS. I’m tired of not receiving equal pay for my hard work. I’m tired of 13-year-old girls too scared to walk home from school because of fear of being raped. I’m tired of being told at a young age that I should dream about being a receptionist instead of President of the United States because it is more "realistic." I’m tired of watching women silenced. I’m tired of being told I’m too hormonal to see clearly or act rationally. I’m tired of being told I can’t have a family and a career, that I have to choose between one or the other. I’m tired of being told I play like a girl. I’m tired of being a woman.
How depressing is that?
I don’t know about you, but I have had enough. I am done abiding by these stigmas that oppress women. I am done viewing my body as an object when that is what society tells me that is all that I am. Female is just a gender; I am more than that and so are you.
