you know, i attended the “reclaim the night” march the other evening because i find it appalling that in a western, democratic country with one of the most developed judiciaries in the world, only one in twenty rapists are ever convicted.

and then i read about the 19 year old saudi girl who was gang-raped and will be punished by 200 lashes and six months in prison.

i suppose i should reflect, once again, on how lucky i am. but i’m tired of always trying to find some measure of solace in comparing my fortune with women elsewhere. i’m tired of trying to assuage the guilt of privilege by telling myself i’m standing up for them as well. i’m tired of the complete and utter lack of surprise when i read about women being punished, tortured and killed for the crime of being born the wrong sex in the wrong place at the wrong time.

i’m tired of being angry and i’m tired of being sad, and i’m tired of feeling compelled to write the same damn shit over and over again and i’m tired of feeling so completely helpless to change a fucking thing. tiring to think of throwing grains of sand into the winds of history and religion and soul-crushing hatred.

i wouldn’t want to trade being a woman for anything in the world. but fucking hell – some days it’s so bone-deep, grind-you-down, hollowly, dispiritingly, tiresome, a body could just lay down and cry from weariness.

bob dylan – just like a woman

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