Juliet Takes a Breath

by Gabby Rivera

“We are all women. We are all of the womb. It is in that essence of the moon that we share sisterhood”—that’s

If you don’t know my life and my struggle, can we be sisters?

How do you tell the people who breathed you into existence that you’re the opposite of what they want you to

“Rabid animals get put down. Those types of heathens should, as well.

America is an enormous frosted cupcake in the middle of millions of starving people

All the moments where I was made to feel like an outsider in a group that was supposed to have room for me added up and left me feeling so much shame.

“Don’t be afraid of anything. Submit your story but most of all submit to joy.

I was a beast in the library. Libraries were where nerds like me went to refuel. They were safe havens where the polluted noise of the outside world, with the bullies and bro-dudes and antifeminist rhetoric, was all shut out.

Libraries had zero tolerance for bullshit. Their walls protected us and kept us safe from all the bastards that never read a book for fun.

I never had much say in the matter. Get good grades or else! Worship God or go to hell. Do as we say or suffer the consequences. What the consequence would be, I was too scared to ever find out.

I’d rather sit tight in emotional purgatory than dive right into the fiery pits of hell and question my parents’ motives behind our upbringing.

“I walked past you twice, and it’s okay that you didn’t notice, but it made me wonder what you were reading because, like, I’ve been reading all day and it hasn’t stopped me from noticing you.”

“Tonight is Harlowe’s night to do what she does best. Rage against the patriarchy and talk to women about how we’re all spiritually bonded,”

“Well, a whole lot of life has come your way this summer. You came out, experienced your first breakup, learned about veganism. All the big things.”

“Your one job is to just accept what a person feels comfortable sharing about themselves. No one owes you info on their gender, body parts, or sexuality.”

“Love all the vaginas you want, prima, just remember they’re attached to people. Okay? And it’s the people that matter most.”

it’s not our job to be like, ‘Oh, in order to be a woman, everyone has to have all these things checked off the list’ or something like that,” I mused, my face a little scrunched up, trying to get it all out right. My cheeks felt hot. “That. Hold on to that thought right there and stick with it,”

Fucking Dixie Chicks, yo. I loved them.

You said reading would make me brilliant, but writing would make me infinite.”

You don’t have a home until you leave it and then when you have left it, you can never go back,’”

The idea is that once you’re able and confident enough in yourself to leave, the world changes you, and you’re not the same person anymore ever again and that’s the beautiful part,”

All the women in my life were telling me the same thing. My story, my truth, my life, my voice, all of that had to be protected and put out into the world by me. No one else. No one could take that from me. I had to let go of my fear. I didn’t know what I was afraid of. I wondered if I’d ever speak my truth.

Instead of asking 'Can I live?' gotta demand to thrive.

womanhood was radical enough for anyone who dared claim it.