"There's no school today. I think the school burnt down."
"The school didn't burn down, let's go. Besides, you have After School movie day tomorrow, and you like movie day."
"It will be fixed by tomorrow."
"Get in the car."
Total shock on 5 year olds face at how you knew the building wasn't gone.
If the tale is harmless, the adult may even play along. But the adult knows the school hasn't burnt down.
Adults know that you can't do whatever you want and make up stories about why it's ok...
At least, some adults know you can't make up stories.
Which brings us to #metoo, because there is a made up story out there and it goes something like this: men have a say in what women do with their bodies.
Storytellers justify that story with a series of sickening spoken and unspoken excuses, most based on one of a selection of simple and non-relevant "becauses":
Because she's my wife, my daughter, my mother. Because I'm not one of those men. Because I am one of those men. Because I know what's best. Because I'm bigger. Because I'm stronger. Because we're religious. Because I say so. Because I'm too weak to stand up to other men. Because I value men more than women. Because I'm too cowardly to take a stand.
Lemme' just school you a little here. Male people, what you have to say or think about women's bodies doesn't matter at all.
No matter who you are. No matter what "because" has oozed out of your mouth or slithered through your mind. No matter what story you are telling yourself and the people in your life.
Listen to this, male people, really listen.
Shut the holy fuck up and open your ears because you need to be woke. Female and femme and even other male people are sick to death of being touched by men without permission. We're sick of behaving as if your ideas about our bodies were meaningful. We're sick of being spoken to as if we were objects. We're sick of being threatened. And we have a real reason to worry about those comments, and looks, and touches, and threats.
1 out of every 5 women is the victim of rape or attempted rape by a male person in her lifetime.
46.4% lesbians, 74.9% bisexual women and 43.3% of hetrosexual women report sexual assault other than rape, by a male person, in their lifetime.
We're sick of being told that the world is just like that and because you are not worried about being assaulted then we shouldn't be.
You know what, if you think like that, then FUCK YOU.
No, really.
Rape culture, #metoo culture, hasn't come into being through some random act of God. It isn't a mysterious natural event.
And women are waking up to that fact.
Women are waking up and realizing that we are stronger together. Women are waking up and finally beginning to understand that if men look, if men touch, if men speak to women and femmes and yes, other men, in a way that takes what is not theirs, in a way that sexualizes the space between us without our permission, then we are called to resist.
We are called to resist and to refuse and to do all of the damage that we can do in defense of our own bodies.
In defense of our own lives.
We are allowed to say not just no but hell no.
There are no grey areas here. If you support the men who abuse and assault women, if you deny women the right to claim their own bodies and their own fears because you are not afraid, because you are not threatened, because you do not see the problem, you are every bit as guilty as those who rape and assault.
No more of the old boy network. No more explaining to us why we shouldn't be worried because it doesn't impact you. No more defending your buddy, your brother, your father, your son. No more "men are like that".
Are you really sure that you want to tell women that men cannot behave like human beings?
We know that story isn't true. We already have evidence that plenty of men are kind and decent people who treat everyone like, well, people.
If you are really telling us that some men just can't behave any better, then the solution isn't to tolerate them- it's to cage and control them because they are too dangerous to be allowed to mix with human beings. And if you think all men are like that, then you are part of the problem too.
If some men are perpetrators of sexual violence, and some men support them, and some men are really only uncontrolled animals fixated on breeding, then we can take those men out and get that fixed for them. Veterinarians have been doing it for years and geldings are much more gentle after all. Let's face it, if there is a rabid dog in the street, we don't all wear armor and study up on how to stay safe from dog bites; we go out and shoot the dog.
I'm tired of being told to buy armor instead.
I want to end the need for a hashtag like #metoo, in one generation.
For everyone, not just for women and femmes.
I want to hear a unified message, "If you rape or sexually assault, or if you support the actions of someone who does, you are not okay. Your beliefs are not welcome, not in our homes, or our schools, or our job sites."
I'm tired of playing Let's Pretend it's all okay, because it isn't and it hasn't been.
I'm sick of rape culture. I'm sick of the need for #metoo.
I want to fix it, now, with your help.
Teach our kids that other people are not there for their gratification.
Teach boys and men that women and femmes do not answer to them, are not owned by them, and do not owe them sex or sexuality.
Believe women when they tell you they are afraid.
Believe that there is no good way to side with a perpetrator.
Stop supporting the perpetrators rather than the victims.
Dare to change the world, because this story isn't a good one, and we all deserve to live, if not happily ever after, at least happily without assault.
Please, help to end the need for #metoo now. Make the world a safer place for all of us.
#metoo
Shut the holy fuck up and open your ears because you need to be woke. Female and femme and even other male people are sick to death of being touched by men without permission. We're sick of behaving as if your ideas about our bodies were meaningful. We're sick of being spoken to as if we were objects. We're sick of being threatened. And we have a real reason to worry about those comments, and looks, and touches, and threats.
1 out of every 5 women is the victim of rape or attempted rape by a male person in her lifetime.
46.4% lesbians, 74.9% bisexual women and 43.3% of hetrosexual women report sexual assault other than rape, by a male person, in their lifetime.
We're sick of being told that the world is just like that and because you are not worried about being assaulted then we shouldn't be.
You know what, if you think like that, then FUCK YOU.
No, really.
Rape culture, #metoo culture, hasn't come into being through some random act of God. It isn't a mysterious natural event.
And women are waking up to that fact.
Women are waking up and realizing that we are stronger together. Women are waking up and finally beginning to understand that if men look, if men touch, if men speak to women and femmes and yes, other men, in a way that takes what is not theirs, in a way that sexualizes the space between us without our permission, then we are called to resist.
We are called to resist and to refuse and to do all of the damage that we can do in defense of our own bodies.
In defense of our own lives.
We are allowed to say not just no but hell no.
There are no grey areas here. If you support the men who abuse and assault women, if you deny women the right to claim their own bodies and their own fears because you are not afraid, because you are not threatened, because you do not see the problem, you are every bit as guilty as those who rape and assault.
No more of the old boy network. No more explaining to us why we shouldn't be worried because it doesn't impact you. No more defending your buddy, your brother, your father, your son. No more "men are like that".
Are you really sure that you want to tell women that men cannot behave like human beings?
We know that story isn't true. We already have evidence that plenty of men are kind and decent people who treat everyone like, well, people.
If you are really telling us that some men just can't behave any better, then the solution isn't to tolerate them- it's to cage and control them because they are too dangerous to be allowed to mix with human beings. And if you think all men are like that, then you are part of the problem too.
I'm tired of being told to buy armor instead.
I want to end the need for a hashtag like #metoo, in one generation.
For everyone, not just for women and femmes.
I want to hear a unified message, "If you rape or sexually assault, or if you support the actions of someone who does, you are not okay. Your beliefs are not welcome, not in our homes, or our schools, or our job sites."
I'm tired of playing Let's Pretend it's all okay, because it isn't and it hasn't been.
I'm sick of rape culture. I'm sick of the need for #metoo.
I want to fix it, now, with your help.
Teach our kids that other people are not there for their gratification.
Teach boys and men that women and femmes do not answer to them, are not owned by them, and do not owe them sex or sexuality.
Believe women when they tell you they are afraid.
Believe that there is no good way to side with a perpetrator.
Stop supporting the perpetrators rather than the victims.
Dare to change the world, because this story isn't a good one, and we all deserve to live, if not happily ever after, at least happily without assault.
Please, help to end the need for #metoo now. Make the world a safer place for all of us.
#metoo
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