To live as a woman is to be continually and constantly reminded of exactly what the rest of the world thinks of you, not only today but in history as well, and just tolerate it.
I read my little stories in English class, most of them written by men and most of them starring almost exclusively male characters with the few if any female characters being essentially props.
I watch some of my favorite shows, most of them written/directed by men with almost exclusively male casts as if women, despite being like 50% of the population just never existed. The few, if any, female characters being essentially props. And I have to just tolerate the fact that it’s a good, well-written show...just with no good female characters.
It’s almost as if these people don’t understand, not even now and definitely not in the past, that women can be their own people and have their own thoughts and motivations. They can have personalities that are in no way shaped by the guys that are around them. They can exist to fulfill a purpose outside of providing something for a man. There is such a thing as a woman outside of a stereotype. Like we’re all people and I can bet that there’s a man and woman out there with exactly the same presented personality.
I feel so bad for women that are always presented with this definition of womanhood and femininity and end up internalizing it to the point where they either wholeheartedly present in that way or completely deny it. That type of representation of gender is such a small freaking box that people are sometimes forced to fit into. It’s so suffocating.