Like Me

by Hayley Phelan

I thought of my body as a tool, something I owned. I could rent it out if I wanted to—which is more or less what I did.

If ignorance is bliss, then it’s also the greatest luxury money can buy.

you could never really tell whether you were in a certain place, or in a place that looked like a certain place, or in a place that looked like a picture of that certain place.

I couldn’t afford anything, and knew I would never buy any of it, but it was comforting to know the clothes were there, and that if I wanted to, I could purchase them simply by moving my finger.

I’ve heard people say that rape is worse than murder, which is to say that a woman’s sexual purity or dignity is more important than her life.