Juliet Takes a Breath

by Gabby Rivera

“The thing is, Juliet, I’ve never appreciated someone else’s unrequested guidance on my identity. I don’t want their interpretation of who I am or where they think my politics should lie. My Blackness, my queerness, my theological inclinations, what I’m like at a family reunion, who I am in the classroom or in a relationship, all of that is mine,”

The patriarchy, aka the He-Man Woman Haters Club, created it because they don’t want us to be taken seriously. They don’t want us to have access to the divine knowledge our bodies possess. They fear our power. So no, we aren’t damaged. We have suffered from the brutality of an inherently violent system that favors maleness over womanhood. We’ve been victimized, but that doesn’t make us all victims. We’re not the outcomes of what men have done to us. I refuse to be reduced to that.

“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.”

Her consistent linking of genitals to gender as an absolute is violent as hell. It’s a closed fist instead of open arms, you know? And besides,” she added, staring at herself unflinching in the mirror, “womanhood is radical enough for anyone who dares to claim it.”