Dreadful

by Caitlin Rozakis

“No one cares what do, just what look like,” Orla explained. “Heroes good because wear white and people like. Villains bad because wear black and ugly. Heroes kill goblin children, everybody cheer. Villains give home to goblins, everybody hiss. Goblins can serve evil master and sometimes safe in castle walls, or can live in stinky swamp and still get killed by baby heroes. So goblins evil?” He swallowed. “I don’t think goblins evil.” “Orla not think goblins evil.” She shrugged. “Some people disagree.” “But why even bother trying to be good, if people will always think you’re bad anyway? What does it matter? You said it yourself—if you’re going to be thought of as bad, the ones who everyone decided are heroes are just going to ride right over you anyway. At least if you lean into the evil, you get to have a little power.”

She snorted. “You need to understand—if a woman gets even a hint of power, the first thing everyone assumes is that she’s slept her way to it.” “So you’ve turned that into a weapon,” he said. “Women don’t have to do anything to be branded a whore in the first place,” she said flatly. “All you have to do is displease someone. So I might as well use it. It’s effective. And it turns out that if you’re bold enough about it…” “You don’t even have to do anything,” he said, suddenly understanding. A deep enough décolletage, heavy enough innuendo, and you could be a slut without sleeping with anyone at all. “But a man-eater isn’t a whore,” he said slowly, thinking it out. “If you give in, you’re contemptible. But if you’re aggressive, you’re frightening.” She nodded.

“Who’s the real anyone? When does who you’re pretending to be stop being a pretense and turns into who you really are?”