Why I write, or the revolution of love

Illustration by Sveta Dorosheva

I was always told to ignore my emotions, to shove them down, to think about the emotions of others, to make sure the other people were happy before me. Partly it was the Soviet rearing of the loyal citizens devoted to the state as the state always came first, partly the grooming of a female to fulfill a servile role in her future patriarchal family, and partly it was the upbringing of my parents and the other parental figures in my life who themselves were e...